Category: Trips

Natural Bridge VA

We took a day trip to see Natural Bridge VA. We had never been here before.
After you walk down 137 steps, go through the gate, and there it is! It is much larger than you can tell in a picture. It is really quite a sight!
Looking up at the bottom of the bridge. Route 11 runs right over the top of the vridge.
Looking up at the bottom again.
George Washington climbed 28 feet up the rock and etched GW in the rock.

Cashiers NC

So a nice trip to the mountains of western North Carolina – the Highlands, originally settled by Scottish immigrants.

Laurel Knob, the tallest crag east of the Mississippi. It is 1200 tall, and is considered the finest piece of granite this side of Yosemite in California! A rock climber’s challenge, but there is only one route that is open to the public for climbing.
Large cleft in Laurel Knob
Bear Mountain in Lonesome Valley development.
Independence Day fireworks for Lonesome Valley owners. A spectacular show!
Silver Run Falls on the Whitewater River near Cashiers. One of many waterfalls close by.
Scenic Overlook at Tamassee SC on the way to Clemson
With Jacob at Clemson. He’s a sophomore now!
Memorial Stadium, aka Death Valley, home of the multiple-National Champion Tigers!
This rock is from Death Valley CA. Before each home game, the Clemson football players touch this rock for good luck, then run down the hill to take the field.
Clemson campus
Fort Hill, the home of John Calhoun, who held numerous political offices in the first half of the 19th century – Congressman, Secretary of War, Vice President under two presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson), US Senator (twice) and Secretary of State. Calhoun’s son-in-law Thomas Clemson ultimately bequeathed Fort Hill plantation to create Clemson University (originally Clemson Agricultural College).

Greeneville TN

Home of President Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States. President Johnson was sworn in as president when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865.

This is one of two homes in Greeneville that Johnson lived in.
This is the other. He lived in each home about the same amount of years.
This is a replica of the house in Raleigh NC where President Johnson was born. The original house no longer stands. He was born into poverty.
The inside of the birth house.
This is a replica of Johnson’s tailor shop, which is inside of the museum.
The inside of the tailor shop.
President Lincoln added Johnson to the ticket for the 1864 election. Lincoln, a Republican, chose Johnson, a southern Democrat in an effort to unite the nation as the Civil War was drawing near an end.
After Lincoln died, Johnson was sworn in using this Bible.
President Johnson was a conservative, constitutionalist…
President Johnson was the first US President to be impeached. The Republican-controlled Congress opposed virtually everything Johnson did. Congress passed a law called the Tenure of Office Act, which essentially tried to disallow the president from removing his cabinet members. Johnson vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode his veto. The president went ahead and fired Secretary of War Stanton, believing the act to be unconstitutional.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson, which is a political action that is similar to an indictment in the criminal justice system. The trial in the Senate, requiring two-thirds vote to convict and remove Johnson from office, voted 35-19 to convict and remove, which was one vote short of removal!
Senator Edmund Ross of Kansas cast the final, and deciding vote, against convicting President Johnson.
Statue of President Andrew Johnson
Close-up
Monument and grave of President Andrew Johnson.

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 15

President Ulysses S. Grant Birthplace
Moscow OH

This is the birthplace of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the US. He was the first president elected who was born in Ohio. He was also the youngest president up until that time – he was 46 when he was inaugurated. Prior to his presidency, Grant was the victorious Commanding General in the Civil War.
Moscow overlooks the Ohio River, about 25 miles east of Cincinnati.

Boyhood Home of Ulysses S. Grant
Georgetown OH

Grant lived in Georgetown until he went off to West Point.
Georgetown is a cute small town.
Boyhood home of Ulysses S. Grant
Grant attended this school in Georgetown. As with the birthplace and boyhood home, we were there too early in the morning to go inside – they were all closed.
I was able to get this picture of the schoolroom, which is typical of schools in the 1820s and 1830s.
Native Son statue.
Lee and Grant, together again.
We travelled through deep countryside in Ohio.

Ohio Statehouse
Columbus OH

This is the rear entrance of the capitol. I totally blew this one. The “dome” such as it is, is not visible from this side. It is, however, perfectly visible on the other side, but I forgot to go around the block. If we would have driven around the block, we would have seen this…
Darn it!
This is what we saw at a diagonal.
Looking up inside the rotunda.
This Ohio maps has a different tile for each county.
Liberty Bell replica.
Abraham Lincoln bust.
Abraham Lincoln bust atop a memorial of the Battle of Vicksburg.
Senate chamber
House of Representatives chamber

Columbus OH

Almost heaven, and almost home. Here is a West Virginia countryside farm scene.
West Virginia countryside

The End!

We made it home Thursday night. It is hard to believe we were gone two weeks and packed so many things into each day. We saw so much of the beauty of God’s creation, and so much history! America is such a great country! This trip we crossed twelve presidents off the list! And five state capitols!

And all five Great Lakes!

Ontario
Erie
Huron
Superior
Michigan

We hope you have enjoyed seeing what we have been up to the last couple weeks!

Great Lakes Trip 2019 Day 14

Ark Encounter
Williamstown KY

We looked forward to visiting this museum.
This is a reproduction of Noah’s Ark, built to the specifications as God gave Noah in Genesis. Of course, the exact shape and look are artistic representations, since the Bible does not give enough descriptions to understand what the ark actually looked like. But the dimensions are faithful to biblical directions, which are 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide, or 450 feet long by 75 feet wide. It is massive in person!
Looking up at one end.
Impressive structure.
Again, all the displays are artistic representations of the insides of the ark. Whatever is specifically in the Bible is incorporated into the displays.
Noah and his family worshipping God inside the ark.
Grain and seed storage
This museum does not shy away from the dinosaurs, in fact in my opinion focuses on them too much. They do propose that dinosaurs were on the ark with Noah.
Bears
Deer
Pigs
This is a representation of feeding the animals.
There were many good explanations of how biblical perspectives are correct.
The sheer size inside the ark is incredible.
Looking up at some skylights
This contraption is used to twist strands into rope.
We are at ‘The Door”, which is intended to be both a representation of the door that God shut in Noah’s family behind, but also that Jesus Christ is the door to our salvation. There is a very strong emphasis on Christ and the Gospel throughout the museum.
Why the Bible is true
Why the Bible is true
Why the Bible is true
Why the Bible is true
Why the Bible is true
Family living quarters
Vegetation storage and growth
The dove returns…
… with the olive branch.
The rainbow and God’s covenant with Noah.

William Howard Taft Boyhood Home
Cincinnati OH

This was the boyhood home of William Howard Taft, 27th president of the US. President Taft was President Theodore Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor in 1908, and served as president from 1909-1913. Taft lived in this house until he went off to college at age 18. Taft was one of three presidents born within two years of each other. Theodore Roosevelt in 1858, Taft in 1857, and Woodrow Wilson in 1856.
Taft’s family was very active in public life. His father Afonso Taft, was Secretary of War, then Attorney General in President Lincoln’s cabinet. President Taft’s son, would become Senate majority leader as well as a serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination three times.
Most of the furnishings in the house are not original to the Taft family, but period pieces. However, the desk in the upper left did belong to Alfonso Taft, President Taft’s father.
William Howard Taft at age 3 in 1860. The practice at the time was that children who were not “potty trained” would wear a dress-like gown. Also, boys would have their hair parted on the side, and girls parted in the middle.
Taft did not play the piano, but he did enjoy music, and he was quite a fine dancer despite his very large size – he was 300 pounds! And when he moved into the White House a special bathtub had to be installed to accommodate his size!
The parlor
As president, Taft was a fierce trust-buster, trying to break through large corporate monopolies.
In 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt decided he was not satisfied with President Taft’s performance, so Roosevelt challenged Taft for the Republican nomination. Taft barely won the nomination, but an angry Roosevelt ran as a third party in the general election, thus splitting the Republican vote and allowing Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency. Roosevelt was the most successful third-party candidate in history, finishing in second place with 88 electoral votes. Combined, Roosevelt and Taft won over 50 percent of the vote.
President Taft was the only president to go on later and serve on the US Supreme Court. In fact, Taft became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Creation Museum
Petersburg KY

The Creation Museum is related to the Ark Encounter. It focuses more on the six days of creation as described in the Bible.
The grounds of the museum are very nice.
Like the Ark Encounter, the Creation Museum puts a lot of focus on dinosaurs.
The museum tries to stay faithful to the Bible.
Explaining how and why the Bible and Human Reason come to different conclusions about creation (and science).
God created the heavens and the earth. Like the Ark Encounter, the Creation Museum uses artistic license to produce displays of biblical events.
Adam and Eve. As we went by each display, the biblical text for the scene was read over the speakers.
The serpent
God clothes Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness.
Man toils the field by the sweat of his brow.
Cain slays Abel.
Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, lived 969 years.
The ark on the water.
As the flood waters rose, the people were desperate for salvation. Notice on the top right of the rock, two men fighting
The rainbow, which signified God’s promise that He would never again destroy the world by flood.
Zoom in to read these explanations.
Actual fossilized skull of a allosuarus, one of the most complete allosuarus skulls ever found.
The museum is full of promoting the Gospel, Jesus is God, Lord of all.
God’s sovereignty is Jesus Christ’s sovereignty.

Cincinnati OH

Cincinnati skyline
Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Great American Ballpark
We had dinner at Hofbräuhaus in Newport KY, across the river form Cincinnati. It is a German beer hall, very loud!
Live entertainment. They sing German songs in German! Pretty cool!
Heidelberger Rahm Spätzle (with pulled chicken)
Jäger Spätzle (with beef tips)
Schwarzwälder Kirsch Torte (black forest cake). All the food was delicious!