Today we are going to Muse about a road trip. If this is your first visit, welcome to Musings. If you have been here before, welcome back. Over time we are going to talk about many things: the past, the present, perhaps the future, travel, art, society and more. Wherever my musing takes me. I hope you will come along with me.
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On the Road Again
We are just back from a road trip north. I’m trying to get back in the groove.
A month or so ago, Jeanette and I decided to play in the Green Gables Croquet Club Invitational Tournament. The tournament takes place on the New Jersey National Guard base in Sea Girt, New Jersey. Rather than just fly up we made it a driving trip using it as an opportunity to visit sites and see friends along the way.
If you have ever driven from Florida where we live to the northeast on the I-95 highway you know it can be tedious, boring and stressful with heavy traffic and nothing to see except pine trees. We decided to go inland where possible and avoid the I-95.
Augusta, GA
Getting out of east coast Florida avoidance is not possible, so the first day we drove the I-95 from West Palm Beach to near Savannah where we went inland to Augusta, Georgia. The traffic was heavy and we were in rain much of the way. We saw two crashes, one right next to us nearly involving us. A long and stressful day.
Charlotte, NC
The next day we drove only a couple hours to Charlotte, North Carolina, where we stopped to see an old friend. A nice dinner, a nice visit made the day a winner. And it allowed the stress of the first day to fall away.
We left Charlotte traveling, through the Shenandoah Valley, on our way to Gettysburg where we planned to stay with our friends, Jim and Scott. They recommended that we stop along the way at Natural Bridge, VA, a state park.
“Its half way from Charlotte and a beautiful place to stop. At the bottom by the river there is a funky place to grab lunch, which is pretty good”, they said.
So we did.
Natural Bridge State Park
When you arrive you go through a large reception building which sells tourist stuff: tee-shirts, tchotchkes, hats and more. And entrance tickets!
Off we went.
Jeanette led the way down the winding path to the bottom of the gorge.
At the bottom a river runs along the gorge and under the Natural Bridge. The bridge was formed over the millions of years by the erosion of the river. In the late 1700’s it was purchased by Thomas Jefferson and today it has a road across it.
We had our lunch riverside and then took a shuttle up to our parked car. Thank goodness for the shuttle. It was hot and the climb up would have been difficult.
Gettysburg, PA
Leaving Virginia behind us, we continued on to Gettysburg where we stayed two nights with our friends Jim and Scott. They purchased a home there several years ago. Jim’s family goes back several generations there and he has a fond attachment to the area.
We had been there a number of years ago, visiting the battlefield, but had not really spent anytime in the countryside. One afternoon while some of the party was napping, Scott took me for a drive through the surrounds. If you find yourself in the Gettysburg area, I recommend you do the same. The countryside is beautiful, rolling hills, apple orchards, cherry orchards, peach orchards, corn fields, with farmers markets, farms and small quaint towns. Very peaceful.
Jim, when he was in high school, had been the youngest battlefield tour guide at the time. He knows the battlefield and gave us a much better understanding of how the battle unfolded.
The battlefield is immense. I think Jim said the national park is 35 square miles and does not include all of the territory where the battle was fought.
As you can see, it was a great day to visit the park.
Around the battlefield there are many monuments, monuments to fighting units and monuments to individual commanders like Reynolds and Meade. Most are union monuments.
This monument is typical. It is a monument for the Pennsylvania Infantry. The plaque lists the number of officers and men killed, wounded, captured, or died by disease.
Some are placed in location as if they were in the battle.
The most interesting monuments from an artist’s viewpoint are those of Mississippi and Louisiana.
I came away very impressed with the area and appreciative of Jim’s and Scott’s hospitality.
So, then it was off to Sea Girt, New Jersey and the Green Gables Croquet Club.
Sea Girt, New Jersey
The area is beautiful this time of year. Our hostess, Peggy, keeps a summer home there. I asked her what the winters were like and she responded with one word: Grim.
The Tournament
The tournament started Thursday and concluded Sunday with both singles and doubles match play. There were thirty nine players. Rain threatened but never came and it was hot.
One day I played four matches, which is a bit more than five hours, in the sun. Another day I played four matches, nearly four hours in the sun. Each night I was beat.
In the end, I played in the finals match in the first flight losing to Quinn Reinhardt, age 18. He played a great game.
I knew I was in trouble when Quinn, three ball dead with his black ball on the line behind wicket one, going for wicket two scored the wicket across the court. If you don’t know croquet I will tell you that is an unbelievable shot. Wickets are set to 1/32 of an inch clearance in tournament play.
Quinn will be a national croquet presence, I predict.
It was a fun tournament.
Here are some scenes:
First Flight Singles
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Monday we were on the road again and drove down the dreaded I-95 to Fayetteville, NC. Long day but uneventful.
West Palm Beach, Florida
And finally, home to West Palm Beach, FL. Long trip. Had fun. Glad it is over.
More to come
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