Chattanooga weekend

Barbara's Christmas trip for her family this year was to Chattanooga where we stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel ...it included a ride to the North Pole on the Polor Express train, a visit on the train from  Santa  himself, his helpers who served us gingerbread cookies, chocolate milk and music!!! After the ride we enjoyed great pizza at Lupi's on Market St. downtown Chattanooga...I highly recommend it.  .At 10 pm Santa's Elves visited  the childrens rooms where they told them a story, gave them a gift and tucked them into bed. We had breakfast Sunday morning at the hotel ...a delicious buffet.  Then, as the weather was worsening...very cold, freezing snow flurrys, etc. we headed for home ....a two hour drive from Huntsville. Thank you, Barbara.

http://www.choochoo.com/

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Callaway Gardens, Cecil B. Day Butterfly Garden, Sibley Horticulture Ctr, and FDR's Little White House

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Byars Hall HS decade of the 50's

Covington, Tn.
Sept. 24 & 25

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Lincoln County, Tennessee

Barbara and I took a long, afternoon drive today...we went by the cemetery and continued through the country to Fayetteville ... and beyond .When returning from another trip last month she had noticed a place that sold garden bridges, etc. . After calling the phone number that was posted there she decided to go back by and check it out. She purchased the one in the picture... to be placed across a ditch between our two backyards...and she is considering buying the gazebo to hang her wooden swing in. We then stopped by a country store...I don't believe they were Amish or Mennonite but they sold homemade fresh breads, candies, fruits, nuts, jellies and jams... sandwiches, fried pies, etc. We had a late lunch and then stopped by WalMart in Fayetteville on our way back.

Last night we saw George Clooneys new movie, The American...I have to give it a 2...my recommendation is "don't waste your money"...

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Trinity In The Fields

Trinity In The Fields, or "Old Trinity" as it is also called, is an Episcopal Church located in Tipton County on the Charleston/Mason Rd. off hwy.70, four miles east of Mason, Tn.    Built in 1847 by slaves to replace St. Andrew's, which had burned in 1845, the church with it's 20 x 40 foot sanctuary was named "Trinity Episcopal."   In 1977 it was placed on the National Register of Historical Places. Some of Bob's ancestors are buried there....his great grandparents, Edwin Robert Peete and wife, Jane Eleanor Taylor and their children, one of whom was his great uncle, Judge John Y. Peete and wife, Roberta Somervill.   When Judge Peete died in 1928 he left a farm which was to be sold, with the money to be invested in the Episcopal Endowment Corp.  This fund was to be used for the upkeep of Old Trinity...with one stipulation - one service a year was to be held at Old Trinity, with a bishop of the church present and with dinner on the grounds.  In 1994, Bob, Barbara, her son Ben,  and I visited on that Sunday. I believe it was in May. This past Monday when LL and I stopped by there we observed the condition of the floors inside the church.....very unsafe..she would not come past the front door...so I'm not sure that they still meet there.

The large angel monument marks the graves of Judge Peete and Roberta Somervill.  The six  infant grave markers to the right of it are his brothers and sisters, three dying at birth and 3 dying very young.  Another brother was Eugene Hart, Bob's grandfather, who lived  49 years...from 1858 to 1907 and is buried in Covington.. He was killed accidently while attempting to intervene in an altercation betweet his friend,  James Rutherford  and James' wife.  Eugene had served as county clerk of Tipton County.

In September of 1994 vandalism occured and many of the markers were knocked down by auto and broken.. The broken pieces have since been placed on concrete slabs and bonded together, as you can observe in the pictures. Also measures have been taken to cause it to be very difficult to  drive onto the property.

some of the pictures in this slide show were taken this past Monday, others are from previous years visits.

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Tennessee

This past Sunday afternoon Laura Leigh drove me over to Covington, Tn. to  attend a luncheon on Monday. We enjoyed a nice meal and visited briefly with some of my high school classmates from "class of '53"... before and after...(whom I have not seen since 1953) ...this monthly meeting preceeds the "50's decade reunion" that will be going on later this month..

We traveled on hwy.64 along the southern edge of the state.....from middle Tn. (Fayetteville) to far west Tn... (Memphis)...then north about 35 miles to Covington. We enjoyed it in spite of the persistant rain. I amused myself by shooting pictures along the way...most of which was through the windshield..so are not the best quality...it was a pleasant and peaceful drive. Thank you my dear LL...

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goin on an over- nighter

Laura Leigh and I will be heading out  this afternoon..to Covington, Tn....just north of Memphis. That is where I lived from age 10 to 19. The high school I attended is holding a "50's decade" reunion next month and some of those involved with the planning, along with other "old-timers" who still live around there have been meeting for lunch one day a month for a while....so we will be taking the five hour drive to join them  on Monday..long drive for a lunch :)...My sister still lives in Memphis and my brother-in-law near Covington...so it's not as though we were just going for lunch. Barb had planned to go with me but forgot and enrolled in  a class that's out of town...She's been a hair stylist for 30 years and is one of, if not THE best in this area...but still takes classes a couple of times a year...that's probably why she's so good  and has such a successful business...she stays current on everything related to the beauty industry....anyway, she would not agree to my going by myself so my sweet grand-daughter is taking me...what a trouper!..willing to have lunch with all us old-timers.
 I'm looking forward to (I think) driving around Covington and seeing the places Bob and I spent time together...we stayed in Covington for the first year after we married before moving to Memphis.

the county courthouse on the square..present day

1987 we were back for a visit...I worked at Roper Drugs for several years while in school. The house Bob and I had an apartment is down this street, on the left..and down at the very end of the street you can see a small building...that is a clinic where my mother worked and where our  first child  was born.

520 W. Liberty...the home my mother grew up in and where, until Bob and I married, I lived with her, my grandmother and my four siblings

my mother, grandmother and possibly my great grandmother on the front steps of that house

Bob and I rented an apartment in the upper left hand side of this house on Main St. ..the first year we were married. ...we paid $50 per month for a three roon, furnished apartment in this lovely old home....This picture was made much later..ie  auto in drive is not a 50's vehicle and there was no cirular drive in the front at that time..

Weekend in Florida

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a travel log

Bob loved the outdoors...camping, hiking, walking, riding, rafting, climbing...he didn't  care for swimming but he did enjoy going to the beach (Florida,  Santa Cruz, Ca.,  Galveston, Tx.,  Kauai, Hawaii) ...and taking the little sightseeing cruises in Chicago on Lake Michigan, or in New Orleans on Lake Pontchartrain. When we lived in Palatine, Il. we really enjoyed hooking up our bikes to the auto and driving into Chicago to bike along Lake Michigan...Lake Shore Drive...We also biked in the Forest Preserves there. He perservered with his exercises much  longer than I did ...'think thats one reason I was so surprised that he did not outlive me...I think the radiation was just too much for him to overcome...because he was free of cancer when he died....it was the treatment that took his life.

Lake Michigan, Chicago

 

                                     

                                 1984  outside Ellis Airforce Base, Nevada             

                                        

                                  cleaning shrimp ...Pensacola, Fl.  1985

Lake Geneva, Wi. 1987

Biking  on Sanibel Island, Fl.  1989                     

doing a back-flip...1991   age 62

          overnight raft trip on the Rio Grand, 1992                                              

             climbing Enchanted Rock, Tx. 2004 age 75

Mena, Ar

Driving up Rich Mt....1955
It saddened me to hear that Mena was struck by a tornado this week. We lived in that little town in 1955-56. Bob was a "sales rep" and his company transferred us to Mena from Memphis. Our second child, Laura, was born there and the next door neighbors we had almost 55 years ago, Bill and Beth Shipman, remain dear friends to this day. They are no longer living in Mena, nor any other friends that we had at the time but we return often....it's only a five hour drive from Dallas.
Queen Wilhelmina Lodge is situated atop Rich Mt. about 12 miles "up" from the town. They offer camping sites as well...and we've also enjoyed aome camping there. It's a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere and a good place for children to play outdoors in the wide open expense of the yard that surrounds it, the playground areas, miniature golf, small train ride...a few things to do but its not a crowded, commercialized place like so many vacation spots are today. Six years ago when our family was celebrating our 50th. wedding anniversary we all spent a weekend together there. I think we needed about 10 rooms to accomadate us. Last year Bob and I were back for our 55th. wedding anniversary and in two weeks we will be there again on our 56th. anniversary weekend.
We've also stayed at a lovely place in town...The Carriage House. I believe that it actually was a carriage house at one time. It, along with the large Victorian home on the property had been purchased and restored by a young couple who moved back to Mena from Dallas a few years ago. I seem to recall that Mena was the wife's home town and she desired to raise her children there.

The Lodge is very historical..It was constructed in 1898; was closed in 1910 and fell into ruins. It was rebuilt in 1963 but was destroyed by fire 10 years later. The State of Ar. declared the area a state park and the lodge was rebuilt for the second time and opened for business in 1975. When we were living there it was just a shamble of stone and rocksbut we would ride up there with friends just to have something to do and enjoy the beautiful view of the valleys below. There was little TV reception in Mena...so we would go up on the mountain where radio reception was better and listen, on the car radio, to "Gillette's Wednesday Night Fights are on the air"...(radio airwaves that is) ....Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, Joe Lewis, Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott, etc. Bob liked boxing....but I digress...

I know from the news that the tornado hit downtown...I sure hope that the lovely older homes of Mena were not destroyed.... We're anticipating what we will see when we're back there the 24th.

Ruins of the Inn in 1955...
The Inn 2006

Homes of Mena

When entering Alabama on our past trip we were greeted by this lovely rainbow