This was another day with my friend and she wanted to go to Orlando, so to Orlando we went.  We passed “Dinosaur World” and “Disney World” and found our way to the Basilica of Mary Queen of the Universe.  It’s a relatively new structure built to accommodate the tourists who come to the area in hoards.  And it is an interesting blend of “old” and “new” Catholic.  Something for everyone, I guess.  Yes, very Catholic.

We walked the nave and sat before the Blessed Sacrament and went to noon mass.  Then we went to lunch at a Texas Longhorn place next door.  Following lunch we returned to the Basilica book store and museum.  We met a very famous person there and had our pictures taken with him!  And as the afternoon grew long, we started back to Tampa to meet Randy for dinner at a restaurant close to where we are staying.

But, Randy had to wait a little longer than he thought he would as we got lost on the way home and found our way back to “Dinosaur World” more than once!  We laughed that if we’d just decided to go there first, we might not have had such a problem.

Another fun day in the hot and sweaty; sunny and rainy mid-section of Florida.  But it was all worth it just to be with friends and be photographed with Pope Francis!

Subtitle: Nothing but fun!

My friend picked me up and we went out for a fabulous breakfast at a little hole in the wall place that was jammed with people.  My friend assured me that’s the very best sign that an establishment does food well.  And, they did.  Sufficiently fortified for the day we made our way to St. Petersburg and the Chihuly Museum of Glass.

Chihuly is a Northwest artist, but obviously has students and admirers here in Florida.  And, a museum.  The lights, colors, forms and displays of glass art objects was stunning.  We stayed and sat among the colored glass, not to mention the air conditioning, and talked and talked, renewing our friendship.

We traveled farther down to Treasure Island and walked the boardwalk, but it was so hot in the afternoon sun that we ended up in “Bubba Gump’s” for iced drinks.  A young man came to serve us and I had to look twice . . . he looked just like Forest Gump!  I asked him if anyone ever told him he looked like Forest Gump and he just looked at me like I was from another planet.  Then I realized, he probably wasn’t even born when “Forest Gump” was a popular movie.

Wanting to avoid the heavy traffic back into Tampa we decided to make a side trip to the St. Petersburg Cathedral of St. Jude.  I was amazed as I walked in!  It is probably one of the most stunning examples of post Vatican II architecture I have ever seen.  It was beautiful beyond words and had many subtle suggestions of scripture and nature embedded within the artwork and the structure.

All of that was followed by dinner at “Hog Heaven BBQ” and the day was complete!

Randy occupied himself by taking the car in for service and then taking a nap.  Sometimes the hard things just have to be tended to!

From Ocala, we drove the short 100 miles into Tampa and found my dear friend Jennifer’s place right on Bay Shore Boulevard.  What a reunion to see an old friend from Seattle who had moved to Tampa.  We enjoyed catching up while at lunch and then proceeded to explore Tampa together.
She took us to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and we spent a couple of hours musing over his many and varied works of art.  What an interesting character her was!  At 13 he painted his first painting and everyone close to him recognized his talent.

While in the museum, which is an amazing conglomeration of steel and glass with a stunning spiral staircase up to the third floor, there was a typical Florida thunder storm.  And I mean storm!  It POURED for at least 40 minutes.  POURED.  As if someone had turned on all the faucets full bore.  And, then it stopped.  I had totally forgotten it could rain like that.

After the rain, we drove out to one of the piers and explored around and then found a lovely Italian bistro for dinner.  After checking into our hotel, I walked a short distance where I could see the sunset over Tampa Bay.

What a beautiful day.  Sun and rain; friends and food; art and nature – all to fill the soul with grace.

Another driving day today – through    the varied landscapes of Florida. And the varied weather. We hit several spotty rain torrents, but then drove through them to sun on the other side.
Other than another Air Force Museum at Eglin AFB and another B-17, we drove all day. So, I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

Another driving day from New Orleans to Crestview, Florida. It was cloudy and spattered with rain at various spots along the way. This is the flattest of flat lands along the Gulf Coast.

We stopped about half way through the day at the Gulf Coast National Sea Shore, the longest protected sea shore in the country.  Unfortunately, because it was actively thundering and threatening a down pour, we did not stay long.  Bit what we did see was beautiful.

I’m always inspired by John Muir, and his words were certainly appropriate for this amazing place – a stunning cathedral of water, trees and sky filled with a stunning variety of many of God’s creatures.

I only wish we had the opportunity to see more. Now that we know it’s here, we will certainly return one day.

One major milestone for me, personally, today.  With a lunch stop in Alabama, I have now been in all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and the American Territory of Guam.

And, to top off the day, we WALKED across the street to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain to watch their wonderful fireworks display.

No other words necessary!  Waiting by the Lake and then . . . 

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!  What more appropriate place to go on this day than the National World War II Museum right here in New Orleans?

After an interesting – very interesting – consternation trying to pay for parking by phone (it’s all the rage, but does it work? Apparently not in New Orleans!) we found our way to the museum.

Your journey into the past begins by taking on an identity of someone who served in the War and then taking a virtual train ride to your first  posting far from home.

There are miles and miles of history to walk and absorb as we traveled the trails of the museum.  All of it fascinating, if just a little difficult to follow in chronological order.  We made short work of the Pacific War, since we had just covered that in the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX last week. (Was that JUST last week?)  So, we spent more time on some of the information about the air war, the ground war, and the home front where so many women went into the workforce for the first time.

Except that we did do the submarine experience, where you are assigned a place on a sub and must fulfill your duties as the action is taking place.  Randy and I were to take the wheels that submerge and surface the boat.  When we heard “Dive, dive, dive,” we turned, turned, turned.  The guys next to us were firing the torpedoes.  But the sub sank anyway.  Chilling experience, but unlike the men who served on her, we were able to walk off and continue our lives.

More than the explanation of the events of history, I was interested in the personal stories of those involved.  And there were many, accompanied by personal belongings, or as in one case, belongings that had been lost in a forest in Germany and were returned after the war.  Uniforms also intrigue me and there were some excellent displays here.  And, of course, the B-17 Flying Fortress is a favorite subject of mine and they also had an excellently restored specimen. (“My Gal Sal” – see above.)

We had to stop mid-day for some C rations at the “American Sector Cafe” and found ourselves ordering the Louisiana chicken meat pies.  And, they were excellent – much better than C rations, I must say!

I was particularly touched during one of the films when as they closed the narration they had a string of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines file out as if on parade.  They faced the audience and then one out of three in the line grew into old men taking on civilian clothing and walked toward the audience, while the other two out of three stayed young men in uniform and faded from the screen.  I teared up and couldn’t stop the water works.  It made me very appreciative of the sacrifice so many have made on behalf of our freedom.

What a way to celebrate Independence Day.

We made our way out under partial cloudy skies to find the Chalmette Battlefield.  For those of you who would like an historical capsulization, click here.  I learned this song when I was in about 3rd grade and I still remember it today.  Especially today.  The battlefield and the Mississippi River are surprisingly close together, but then everything here is close to the Mississippi River.  It is a beautiful place and, of course, hallowed ground.

From the battlefield we drove in to spend the rest of the day in the French Quarter downtown.  We found parking easily and then realized we were actually on the edges of the Quarter.  No matter, we would walk.  And, walk we did – absorbing the sights, sounds and smells as we went.

Impressions of New Orleans: Make of it What You Will

• Cobblestones; cornerstones; Carnival masks; and crowds.
• Hucksters; hilarity; horses and horns.
• Buskers; barkers; balconies and benches.
• Flags; food; flowers and fragrances for free.
• Crayfish; candy; heat and hotels.
• The blending of cultures – French influence tells.
• Trinkets; jazz; monuments; markets and music galore.
• That’s what I experienced in New Orleans – and more!

And, one lasting impression of New Orleans from this beautiful flower reaching beyond imprisonment.  Grace can never be locked away for only the “deserving.”  Beauty and grace are available for everyone, everyday, everywhere.  We only have to be present and awake to see it!

We awoke to the first real cloudy day of the trip, and spent much of the day under the clouds.  But that didn’t keep the temperatures any cooler!

We set out from Vicksburg Military Park and drove east to find the Natchez Trace.  What’s a Trace, you ask?  I had no clue, either.  But it’s Mississippi’s response to a trail.  The Trace began as a trail used by the Native Americans who called these lands home.  Then hunters, trappers and traders began to use the Trace.  Specifically, those who used it only went north along the Trace.  This was largely because they could go south on the Mississippi River using any kind of boat.  But before steam or even paddle wheels, no one could boat UP the Mississippi.  So, anyone who had come down the river and needed to get home after a lucrative trip of trapping and trading, had to walk home along the Trace.  The Trace is a National Park today and runs along the original trail going from New Orleans to Memphis.   Because we didn’t have a boat, we went down the Trace backwards for just a short part of the entire trail, from Vicksburg to Natchez.

Once in Natchez we parked and walked to the river overlook to admire the Mighty Mississippi at this point in its geography.  Then we found ourselves lured into “The Pig Out Inn” for lunch.  The smell of BBQ smoke coming out of the place and the multiple cars parked in front told us we could not go wrong. And both were right.

We stopped at Melrose Plantation and walked the grounds of an 1840’s cotton plantation.  The massive houses and immense grounds always look so picturesque, but I can never see these stately places without thinking about who had to clean the houses and care for all the grounds, not to mention who did all the farm work.

The hours along the Trace were accompanied by an audio book by Robert Ludlum.  Nothing like Ludlum to keep a person awake!

We arrived in New Orleans at rush hour and made out way to our hotel on the outskirts of the city – actually, we came to find out – right on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.  We had a salad in the cafe at the hotel and then took a moonless night walk out to the lake shore.  It was beautiful, and after the sun went down, only about 88 degrees.  I almost needed a sweater!

Target for tomorrow: New Orleans.

A morning drive into town and down to the river allowed us to see the river boat docked for the day. It’s a regular visitor at Vicksburg as it makes its run from New Orleans to Memphis weekly.

Morning coffee was the first stop for my traveling partner and I poked my head into the Coca Cola Museum – the first place in the world to bottle Coca-Cola.  As I passed the morning conversation of the locals, I stopped to chat for a few minutes. And, then we moved on the the Military Park.

The battle and the siege of Vicksburg lasted six months and it was a decisive battle for the Union and for Gen. Grant, who afterwards was named the Commander of the Union Armies.  It takes almost six months to go through the hills and dales of the park and see all the sites and information there is to absorb.  What we thought would take us a full two hours, took us a full four hours and some more.

First, the terrain is high hills above the Mississippi River and and the dips and vales that accompany them.  Along the driving route there is a monument every 100 feet or so.  Many, many soldiers lost their lives here and the units they fought with have honored them.

One real joy was to find the names of two of my great, great uncles who fought for the Union in this place.  One of the brothers lost his life here, and we found his grave site.

We also learned about the Cairo, the first U.S. ship to be torpedoed. I had never heard this fact before.  The ship was excavated from the river in the ’60’s – 104 years from the date it was sunk.  And, it is being preserved and reconstructed today.

At the top of the hills, over the town, the whole vista shows the mighty river that was so much a part of this battle scene.  One would never know today that so many men fought here to preserve union and ensure freedom for all.  It is good to remember.  It is good to have places like this so we don’t forget.