States – Page 82 – Kevin's America

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 4

Lawnfeld, Home of President James A. Garfield
Mentor OH

This is the home of James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States. When Garfield bought this house it was a 1-1/2 story 9 room farmhouse. He expanded it to a full two-story 20 room house to accommodate his growing family. When he was alive this was a 160 acre working farm. When he campaigned for president in 1880, he did so from this front porch, the first of the “front porch campaigns”.

Garfield served as president for only 200 days; he was shot by a disgruntled office seeker on July 2, 1881 (Garfield was inaugurated on March 4, 1881) at the Washington DC railroad depot, then the president hung on and eventually died on September 10. The president was coherent during that entire time, his condition fluctuated numerous times, and finally took a turn for the worse and died on September 19.

This is wallpaper on the ceiling of the entry foyer. The wallpaper was somewhat unusual, but it used on the ceiling because it was easier to clean the kerosene lamp soot from wallpaper rather than paint and plaster.

James and Lucretia Garfield’s summer bedroom, on the first floor.

Dining room china cabinet. The china on the right was the Garfield family china, and is what the Garfields took to Washington to use at the White House. They never had time to pick out official state china.

Garfield’s mother Eliza’s room. Eliza was the first mother to live to see her son inaugurated president, and she was the first president’s mother to live in the White House (albeit for only a few months).

The Garfields’ upstairs (winter) bedroom.

Carpet on one the floor of one of the bedrooms upstairs. Prior to its use by the 20th century Nazis, this design was used to indicate well being or good luck.

Garfield’s study. His children bought him the chair for reading. Garfield was a voracious reader, and he liked to read in a semi-reclined position.

After Garfield’s death, his widow Lucretia created the first presidential library with an addon to the house.

Garfield’s campaign headquarters office.

Garfield’s campaign headquarters office. During the campaign Garfield had a telegraph installed here.

Lucretia had this windmill installed in 1894. This windmill would pump water up into the tower, which held a 500 gallon storage tank. There was a water line which gravity-fed the water into a 300 gallon holding tank on the third floor of the house, which then flowed to the faucets in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room!

A mock-up of President Garfield taking the oath of office.

President Garfield with First Lady Lucretia at his bedside.

James A. Garfield Memorial and Grave
Cleveland OH

It was a great disappointment to see the Garfield Memorial under renovation. Normally, this gigantic monument looks like this:

This is where President and Lucretia Garfield are entombed.

Inside the main hall stands a large statue of Garfield, standing as he would as a congressman when he served in the House of Representatives.

The ornate designs throughout this chamber are spectacular. This is looking up to the top of the tower.

Down below the main chamber are the caskets of the President and First Lady.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cleveland OH

There are many, many displays like this. So many outfits, posters, guitars, handwritten letters, etc.

Elvis has the largest section, of course!

So the Hall of Fame has a “Garage” section, where you can jam like you are in your garage. There are people to teach you to play something simple, so a couple people tried it out…

Cleveland OH

Lake Erie redo! Yesterday’s Lake Erie picture in New York was a bit overcast and gray. Today in Cleveland it is clear and beautiful!

First Energy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns.

Statue of Cleveland Browns great Jim Brown, perhaps the greatest football player ever!

Our hotel in Cleveland

We are staying at the Key Tower Marriott. The Key Tower is the tallest building in Cleveland at 57 stories tall.

The view from our 19th floor room – the Terminal Tower, a Cleveland landmark.

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 3

East Aurora NY
Home of President Millard Fillmore

This is the home of our 13th President, Millard Fillmore.
This is the only house built by and lived in by a president.
He and his family lived here for about 4 years in the 1820s.

There are many items in the house that actually belonged to the Fillmores.
Our docent Kathy was a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide who truly seemed to love the Fillmore legacy.

President and Abigail Fillmore’s bed. The quilt was made by Abigail, and is silk.

The bookcase was the actual first library in the White House. First Lady Abigail Fillmore, a teacher by training, was stunned to see there were no books in the White House when they moved in, in 1850. She petitioned Congress for the funds to create the first White House library.

Vidler’s 5&10 Store

This is a throwback vintage 5 and Dime store with many vintage items among a huge store.

Buffalo NY
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site

President William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo in September 1901.
Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as President at this location, a private home.

This is where Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in.

Both President McKinley and Vice President Roosevelt were in Buffalo to attend the Pan-American Exposition, which was a very large exposition demonstrating modern conveniences, including, for the very first time – French Fried Potatoes!
The museum has a nice setup of panels explaining the scale of the exposition.

At the time in 1901, Buffalo, New York was the 8th largest city in the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office at this “pie crust” table in this room.
(The table is a replica.)

Replica of President Roosevelt’s Oval Office desk.

President Roosevelt faced many issues as he assumed office.
This museum was pretty neat. The docent “transported” us back to 1901, painting a detailed picture of Buffalo in 1901, the excitement of the exciting exposition, and then the shock of the assassination, and then the Roosevelt swearing in.

Lake Erie

Buffalo skyline from about 8 miles away.

Jamestown NY
Lucille Ball Desi – Arnaz Museum

Crossing off a bucket list item. This was actually a pretty cool museum for any Baby Boomers who grew up watching I Love Lucy!

This is what the production crew and studio audience looked like to the cast as they were being filmed.

This is me doing the Vitameatavegamin sketch. I can show you the video if you are up for a laugh and a cringe!

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 2

Downtown Buffalo

McKinley Memorial.
President William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo in 1901.

The Liberty Building. Each of the two towers is topped by a replica Statue of Liberty.

Of course, in Buffalo you don’t have to go far before you see a buffalo of some kind.
This is at the front door of out hotel.

Lake Ontario

Looking across Lake Ontario at Toronto, 27 miles away!

Old Fort Niagara

Old Niagara Lighthouse, the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes.

This location at the mouth of the Niagara River into Lake Ontario, was crucial to Colonial shipping in all the Great Lakes. Ships had to pass through here before they could continue to Lake Erie, and on to the rest. The French built the fort in 1727; the British took it from the French in 1759 during the French and Ind1an War, and the United States took it from the British during the American Revolution. There is much history of Fort Niagara if you are interested, it would be some fun research to do.

This is the reconstructed US flag that the British took from the fort during the War of 1812. The dark areas are the original fragments of the 1815 flag. Notice there are 15 stripes. It was later that Congress changed the flag makeup to maintain 13 stripes – until then, a stripe was added to the flag whenever a state was added to the US>

This is a cannonball oven. A cannonball would be dropped into the oven until it got really hot. It would then roll though a track and come out on the other side…

The extremely red-hot cannonball would come out of this hole. It would be picked up with tongs and rushed up the steps and put in the cannon. When fired, the cannonball (if it hit its target) would burn whatever it hit.

This is the “castle” that was completed in 1727. The French made an agreement with the Seneca leaders that the French would not build a fort but a facility for trade.
The French lied. This was a fort in disguise – the top floor dormer windows extended out over past the roof line so the French could attack from above. Several other clues convinced the Seneca that they were lied to – a moat with a draw bridge, and a well was inside the front door!

The castle, the oldest building on the Great Lakes.

Just inside the middle front door, a well.
If you are able, zoom in on the portrait – and see Louis XIV.

A hallway – this building had a “Game of Thrones” vibe.

Trade Room merchant explaining his wares. Beaver furs were the most valuable product that Europeans wanted from this trade route.

Southern redoubt, complete with drawbridge.

Niagara Falls NY

Niagara River, Niagara Gorge. Beautiful aqua-hued water.

This is a “must-see” in Niagara Falls – The Prophet Isaiah’s Second Coming House!
These designs have been meticulously placed. This house is in the middle of a plain, kind-of run-down neighborhood.

The Falls

Our very first look at Niagara Falls. The American Falls are nearest, The Canadian Falls in the distance.

These pictures cannot do justice in any way to the awesomeness of Niagara Falls. I took many videos of the falls from various angles, and we would love to show them to you!

This is a Maid of the Mist boat. We got on a boat just like this one.

Approaching the Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls on the boat.

Getting closer to Horseshoe Falls…
We got very close, but I took a lot of video rather than pictures.
You have got to see them!

We were in a boat just like this one, and we went in even further into the mist! You couldn’t see out of the mist!

Rainbow Bridge. We walked across this bridge to and from Canada.

Niagara Falls, Canada.
Skylon Tower is the tall tower on the right.

The Canada – US border over the Niagara River.

American Falls from Canada, ground level.

Horseshoe Falls from Canada, ground level.

Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls, Canada.
The observation deck here is 520 feet tall.
We ate dinner here in the revolving restaurant, and we had a beautiful view all around!

Buffalo skyline from the top of the tower.

Niagara Falls, Canada has much beautiful landscaping everywhere.

New York City 2019

Freedom Tower

The Mets won the World Series 50 years ago – 1969 – and the Mets are celebrating that championship this weekend. That is why we planned this trip.

We decided to see how much we could do in only two days in New York City!

First stop: Freedom Tower – One World Observatory

One World Observatory.
The elevator ride to the 102nd floor was amazing!
The four walls were a video of what the area looked like throughout history, and from the viewpoint of the elevator altitude – from just trees, then Colonial buildings, then 19th, and 20th century buildings, then the missing World Trade Center.

Empire State Building.
We went to the Empire State Building observation deck 2011.

This is the “Jenga Tower”, completed in 2017.
It is 54 stories tall, and the top penthouse, at 5500 square feet, sold for $28.5 million!
The lower penthouse is 6400 square feet, and sold for $32.5 million.
The views from the top penthouse are licensed, meaning you can’t take pictures from there!
(If you ever got to visit!)

Brooklyn Bridge

This is the view I wanted to capture:
New York City on the East River.

CitiField

This is the reason for the trip – the 1969 World Champion New York Mets!

It was kind of sad to see how old these guys are, and so many couldn’t attend because of health problems, and quite a few have died.

Of course, my hero Tom Seaver couldn’t make it because he no longer makes public appearances due to dementia. His family represented him at the ceremony. His four grandsons threw out the ceremonial first pitch, each to a 1969 Met player. Pretty cool.

126th Street at Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing was renamed Seaver Way, and the new CitiField address officially changed to 41 Seaver Way.

This sign was unveiled this weekend as part of the celebration.

There was a nice video showing scenes from the 1969 season.

Seaver’s plaque in the Mets’ Hall of Fame.

The Seaver display in the Mets’ Hall of Fame.

The stage for the players who were able to attend.

1986 World Championship trophy.
The 1969 trophy was being used for the weekend ceremonies, so I didn’t get to see it.

Last year’s Cy Young Award for Jacob DeGrom.

Oh, and there was a game, against the Braves. The Mets lost 5-4 after a rain delay.

Flushing

We stayed at a hotel in downtown Flushing, which is extremely Asian! We ate at a Chinese restaurant where the workers understood very little English! The food was good, though!

Fox News Headquarters

We planned to go to Fox News headquarters Sunday morning before church, hoping that we could make it on national TV with the Fox and Friends Show.

We met and spoke with Gordon Chang, who is an expert on Chinese and North Korea nuclear issues. He is a frequent guest on Fox News and Fox Business. We actually saw him on Fox News earlier this morning at our hotel before we left! He was very nice, and even gave me his business card!

Me with Ed Henry. He was very friendly and offered to take a picture with me!

After our national TV debut, we walked 18 blocks to church. Along the way, we saw…

This is an interesting one. It looks like it is only 3 rooms wide!

6th Avenue, aka Avenue of the Americas – empty at 9 AM Sunday!

Before he became president, Donald Trump almost single-handedly revitalized Manhattan for the last three decades. His name is very prominent – because he had the visions and made them become realities! Here is Trump Parc, a high end group of shops on 6th Avenue near Central Park.

We walked through a part of Central Park to get to church. Tim Keller started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in the 1970s with the desire to reach the unchurched in New York City. It is very multi-ethnic, and there are now multiple churches throughout the city. His son is the pastor at the one here at Lincoln Square. We sang traditional hymns, and an Andre Crouch spiritual! The preaching was very Christ-centered, and was refreshing. The people here were very welcoming and friendly.

After church we walked to Trump Tower, along the way we saw…
Greystone Arch in Central Park.

The “tower” of Trump International Hotel and Tower.

I thought this was pretty funny – this side of a Central Park monument is covered with pigeons, in the shade. The other side, in the sun, had no pigeons!

Columbus Circle, Christopher Columbus statue.

Trump Tower

This was another major goal of our trip – Trump Tower, another building built by Donald Trump, and his name is prominently displayed all over this magnificent building!

This elevator was prominently in the news after Donald Trump won the 2016 election. Many people were filmed getting on these elevators to meet with President-Elect Trump as he began building his transition team.

Donald Trump leaves an elevator at Trump Tower in 2016.

We ate lunch at Trump Grill:
Shrimp Scampi for her; Trump Burger for me!

This wall is a four-story tall waterfall – simply beautiful!

This is the famous hallway to the Trump Tower restrooms.
At the end of the hall, women to the left, men to the right.

I really wanted to recreate this scene from Trump’s escalator ride in June 2016 to announce he was running for President, so…

Fifth Avenue

Leaving Trump Tower, we strolled down Fifth Avenue, window shopping and soaking in the famous buildings. We had over three hours to spend on our way back to our bus.

I never knew there were so many flavors of Lindor Chocolates!
It will take several months for me to go through them all, but I’m working on it!

The interior of St. Patrick’s is incredibly beautiful and impressive.
The Neo-Gothic architecture, stained glass, statuary – almost breath-taking.

Atlas is across the street and facing St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

“Behind the Walls”, by Jaume Plensa
Sculpture on 5th Avenue in front of Rockefeller Center.

Leaving New York, I was able to snap this skyline shot from the bus.

Salubria

This is a hidden gem in Culpeper County on Route 3. The house was built in 1757. It is now an archeological site of 19 acres controlled by Germanna Community College Foundation. They rarely open this site to the public, but on Friday June 21, they opened it for 2 hours, and I had an opportunity to take a look.