Category Archives: Travel

Savannah’s Southern Charms

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horse, ship

Figurehead, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Last week I wrote about the terrific walking tours we did in Savannah last Thanksgiving. And there was so much more! Here are just some of the highlights:

  • Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum (41 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard; ) at the William Scarbrough House and Gardens– If you like stories of the old sailing days and maritime disasters, as I do, this is your place. No sightings of Captain Jack Aubrey, but unbelievably gorgeous ship models, carvings, artworks, and short videos. Note: a lot of ships have been named Savannah!
  • Inspired, we did the one-hour Savannah Riverboat Cruise of the harbor and from the water, you see the city differently. Savannah was a strategic port city in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and today is one of the nation’s largest seaports, with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. Having taken a lot of riverboat tours, I can authoritatively say this was one of the best narrations ever. Interesting and informative. Located at 9 East River Street.
  • Too much city prompted us to take the short drive to the 175-acre Oatland Island Wildlife Center, which is quite manageable for people of all abilities (strollers), and you see some pretty impressive critters up close (gators, mountain lions, buffalo, wolves, and much more) and in their natural habitats. There’s a boardwalk through the salt marsh and well-marked trails: 711 Sandtown Road; 912/395-1212.
  • Congregation Mickve Israel on Monterey Square was founded in 1733 with the largest single migration of Jews to the colonies—mostly Sephardic Jews who’d fled to London to escape Portugal’s Inquisition. The sanctuary is in gothic style (consecrated in 1878) and its museum includes two 15th century deerskin Torahs.
  • Being in town at Thanksgiving, we got to see the Christmas Lights Boat Parade on the Savannah River, with scores of boats “decked out” in lights, displays, Santas, music, and fun! We initially watched from the balcony of one of my favorite restaurants of the trip—Vic’s on the River (26 East Bay Street)—then from the esplanade.
  • cemetery angel

    Bonaventure Cemetery (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

    On the must-see list (but too far out for the trolley tours) is Bonaventure Cemetery (330 Bonaventure Road), site of the unforgettable scene with the hoodoo priestess in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Alas, the statue of the “Bird Girl” from the cover of that book had to be moved to a more secure location. But there you’ll find an unforgettable southern gothic atmosphere, as well as graves of national treasures Johnny Mercer, whose tombstone inscription is “And the Angels Sing” and Conrad Aiken, whose reads “Cosmos Mariner, Destination Unknown.”

 

Not to mention Forsyth Park where the elaborate fountain reportedly came from a Sears, Roebuck catalog, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the childhood home of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts . . .

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Savannah Walking Tours

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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt, Savannah, Georgia

Savannah (photo: wikimedia.org)

On a recent week-long trip to Savannah, my family group indulged in a number of interesting walking tours. Not only were they a good way to explore this beautiful city, they helped us stave off any extra pounds we might have put on, thanks to this city’s fabulous food! One of us wore a fitbit, which provided electronic validation of the more than 16,000 steps we accomplished on our most ambitious day, but 14,000 was not unusual.

Flannery O'Connor, Savannah

Mini-lending library outside Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home (she raised peacocks)(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

It’s hard to believe that at one point, developers wanted to destroy the system of squares that make the city so unique, as the nation’s first “planned city.” Each square has different features—statues, fountains, styles of benches—and most are filled with live oaks draped in Spanish Moss.

How much you enjoy walking tours depends a lot on the personality of your guides and what they choose to highlight. Maybe we were just lucky, but all our tours were great. In addition to several house tours—including the Mercer Williams mansion on Monterey Square, featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and the tiny early childhood home of author Flannery O’Conner—we especially enjoyed:

  • The “Savannah Walks” one-and-a-half hour Civil War walking tour (912/704-1841). We heard the story of how Savannah wasn’t burned by General Sherman—the precise reason depending on the guide—probably some combination of: the Confederate forces had already abandoned the town, Sherman was set up in the beautiful and comfortable Green Meldrin house on Madison Square, and he had friends who lived in the city.
  • The “Southern Strolls” history walk (912/480-4477). I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this, as we’d already done so many, and maybe others felt that way, too, as only three of us showed up at the Johnny Mercer Bench in Johnson Square at the appointed time. The guide gave a very quirky, personalized tour, and while we saw a few of the same sights, his interpretations were so entertaining, we all agreed it was the best tour of all!
  • To explore some of the area’s African-American history, we took the Freedom Trail Tour led by Johnnie Brown. While not strictly speaking a walking tour, this minibus excursion does let passengers out to visit the Civil Rights museum and the First African Baptist Church—organized in 1773—whose upstairs pews, made by slaves, retain markings indicating which African tribe the congregants came from.
Savannah carriage

Our carriage awaits! (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

For a general orientation to the city, the hour-long carriage tour that leaves from City Market provided a good overview (912/236-6756) at a pace slow enough to absorb the stream of information. We did that one our first morning. Later that day, we also took one of the many trolley tours. Although it covered a wider area, the presentation was canned, and added little to what we had already learned. There are several trolley tour companies and you can’t walk a block without seeing one pass.

So, going to Savannah? Pack your walking shoes!

Your Travel Circles:

Although Savannah is well worth a visit on its own, you can add on a couple of days there pretty easily if you’re traveling to:

  • Charleston, South Carolina (106 miles)
  • Jacksonville, Florida (139 miles)
  • Atlanta (250 miles)

Christmastime In NYC

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New York, Christmas

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

New York, Christmas

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

New York, Christmas

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

 

 

Best Salvation Army Bellringer Team Ever!!

More Philadelphia Outdoor Art Magic

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Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia

(photo: Rob Wanenchak, creative commons license)

Although Philadelphia street-art may be most famous for its astonishing array of some 4000 public murals and several world-famous sculptures, the city is also home to a quirky collection of outdoor mosaic art by Isaiah Zagar. He has covered storefronts, purpose-built walls, doorways, and the fully mosaicked gallery spaces and labyrinth sculpture garden called “Magic Gardens” at 1020 South Street. Online resources include a map of the locations of Zagar’s mosaic installations in his Center City neighborhood.

Philadelphia-born Zagar assembles his elaborate designs from broken pottery, pieces of mirror, bottles, and even unexpected materials like bicycle wheels. They are a sprightly addition to the area’s staid colonial architecture, and on a sunny day wink at passersby with their color and shine. In order to make art more accessible to wider audiences and to engage more people in artistic creation, the Magic Gardens hold monthly Mosaic Mural Workshops and Family Jams.

Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Zagar’s work is included in the permanent collections of a number of prominent museums, and he has received numerous awards. He says his work makes reference to other visionary artists from around the world who have created memorable public art environments, such as those here. (If Philadelphia isn’t near you, perhaps the work of one of these other eccentric creatives is!)

Zagar’s son Jeremiah made a well regarded “warts and all” film about the family and Isaiah’s artistic ambitions, In a Dream.

 

Enlarging Your Travel Circle:

  • Philadelphia is less than 50 miles away when you’re visiting Wilmington (33 miles)
  • About 100 miles away when you’re in New York (96) or Baltimore (101) and
  • Only 140 miles away when you’re in Washington, D.C.

Mural Capital of the World!

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mural, philadelphia

“Building the City” by Michael Webb (photo: Erik Anestad, creative commons license)

Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program has become a world leader in public art and community involvement with the amazing 4,000 murals it has supported now gracing the exterior walls of all types of buildings. Many of them, like “Building the City” above, use trompe l’oeil techniques that make you look twice: where does the building end and the mural begin?!

The roots of the program are in an initiative city government began 30 years ago to combat graffiti. But it has gone far beyond that limited goal, to become a positive force in the community, with a rich array of activities and initiatives. A key success factor was the decision to create a nonprofit organization to run the program, which allows it to raise money and increase its annual budget manyfold. Now only $1 in $6 comes from City of Philadelphia coffers.

The murals are community projects in every sense, in that neighborhood people actively participate in decisions about what and whom each mural should depict, and they also may help actually create the mural. The technology for producing murals has advanced in ways that enable groups as diverse as schoolchildren and prison inmates to help. Inmates are taught program-related job skills that may help them find future employment. Graffiti is rarely a problem on walls with murals, and community murals can motivate local development and pride. As MAP director Jane Golden says, “Art ignites change.”

In the old days, scaffolding or cherry-pickers were used to lift painters to the top of their big outdoor “canvas.” Some murals are still produced that way, with paint applied directly to the carefully prepared wall. Today, however, many murals are painted in pieces—usually five feet by five feet—on parachute cloth, which is what allows them to be worked on off-site. The painted cloths pieces are then glued in place on the wall. Over the years, paints used in the murals have improved too.

Because of UV protection, they are less likely to fade, and are expected to last from 25 to 30 years. Eight to 10 are scheduled for refurbishment each year. Although most of the murals are painted, some are partially or wholly completed in ceramic tiles.

The Mural Arts Program offers many guided tours—by neighborhood, by theme, by artist—allowing visitors to explore this remarkable public resource. Some of the tours are by trolley, segway, or bicycle. People who want go their own way will find a guide online. Many murals have collateral information available by app or phone.

Enlarging Your Travel Circle:

  • Philadelphia is less than 50 miles away when you’re visiting Wilmington (33 miles)
  • About 100 miles away when you’re in New York (96) or Baltimore (101) and
  • Only 140 miles away when you’re in Washington, D.C.

Lincoln and More — Springfield, Illinois

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New Salem, Lincoln, log cabin

New Salem, Ill. (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

A recent visit to Springfield included both highs and lows. Among the highs: the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum provides a creatively constructed retelling of the Lincoln story. While a familiar one, there also are a few surprises. The displays include two “Journeys”—the boyhood journey and the White House journey—special exhibits and a short film. All very nicely done. What surprised me most, perhaps because I’d forgotten in the recent outpouring of regard for Lincoln and my admiration of Daniel Day-Lewis, is the extent and viciousness of the press coverage of his Presidency. His critics weren’t above taking swipes at Mary Todd Lincoln, either. Perhaps our political dialog hasn’t moved toward more civility in the last 150 years, alas.

Lincoln home

The Lincoln home (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Other Lincoln-related highs were the reconstruction and historic district where his Springfield home stands—the only house he ever owned. Very interesting. And shifting back in time and creature comforts, New Salem, a recreated village a few miles northwest of Springfield, recreates the community where a young Lincoln lived for six years. There he tried to run two general stores and their failure prompted him to try something else—the law. New Salem includes 23 historically furnished buildings—homes, stores, shops, tavern, and so on, with costumed interpreters happy to tell you about life in this short-lived frontier outpost.

The state capitol was an unexpected beauty! Construction began in 1868, and it now appears to be in the last stages of a major renovation, complete with recreation of the elaborate stenciling and its acres of marble gleaming. There are tours, but we did it on our own, and since the legislative bodies were not in session, we could duck into the elaborately detailed house and senate chambers. If beauty is elevating, the people doing the people’s business have a lot to aspire to.

Illinois Statehouse, capitol, stenciling

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

We also enjoyed historic Edwards Place, home of the Springfield Art Association and a good demonstration of the stages of architectural renovation, and especially the Dana-Thomas House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902. Owner and widow Susan Lawrence Dana wanted a place she could entertain for her various charities, and Wright gave her so much more! Small rooms, but 35 of them in 16 different living levels totaling 12,000 square feet, a nine-pins alley, a feast of leaded glass ornamentation in stylized Midwestern motifs—butterflies, corn, other plants—the largest collection of site-specific original Wright art glass.

On the downside, Springfield itself is tired and dusty. Several things we wanted to see were unexpectedly closed. The restaurant where we’d made an Open Table reservation was closed for vacation and—worst of all—someone stole my umbrella on a day it was pouring! Luckily, I saw her with it outside the capitol and said, “I think that’s mine.” It must have been my New Jersey affect—Tony Soprano and all. She surrendered it immediately.

Your Travel Circles:

  • Springfield is less than a hundred miles away when you’re in St. Louis (96 miles)
  • You’re only about 200 miles from Springfield when you’re in Chicago, Indianapolis (213), or Columbia, Mo. (185)

Indianapolis Gems

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Indianapolis has been on a 50-year path to assuring its downtown remains vital and inviting. More than a billion dollars has been spent in downtown development, which included its successful early efforts to become a sports mecca (it’s home to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and National Federation of State High School Associations).

In the last decade, the city has created 150 miles of bike lanes and trails. The award-winning Cultural Trail alone has generated about $300 million in new development. Opened in 2013, this wide pedestrian and bicycle path makes an eight-mile loop around the city’s center, linking the Capitol, the Indianapolis Zoo (Luckily we didn’t go there on the day we visited downtown. A cheetah got loose—no end to the excitement in Indy!), the Canal and White River State Park, six cultural districts, and major museums.

One of these is the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art—an unexpected delight in this flat Midwestern city. Noteworthy paintings and bronze sculptures in the downstairs galleries provide a mostly romanticized view of their subjects—settlers, Indians, cowboys, and the landscape. Such works were how Americans on the East Coast first came to appreciate the beauty of America west of the Mississippi.

Upstairs are beautiful photographic portraits and artifacts from many American Indian cultures. The museum offers hands-on demonstrations for kids, too, as well as special exhibits and sales throughout the year. The museum’s indoor-outdoor cafe overlooks the canal and offers southwestern cuisine. A great stop. Also see my review of the Eiteljorg’s neighbor, the Indianapolis State Museum.

Your Travel Circles:

  • You’re only an hour from Indianapolis when you’re in Bloomington (51 mi)
  • About two hours away when you’re in Cincinnati (112), Louisville (115), or Dayton (117)
  • About three hours away when you’re in Columbus (175) or Chicago (182)

Cover-Ups and Freak-Outs

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quilt, stars

“Stars and Sparks” by Judy Tescher (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

A terrific show is at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis through October 4. Titled “19 Stars: Quilts of Indiana’s Present and Past,” the show was conceived as a way to mark the upcoming 200th anniversary of Indiana statehood, the 19th state to join the Union. The quilts on display—19 historic ones and 19 contemporary designs—all have reference to star patterns and themes. The photo at right is a portion of one of the modern quilts, “Stars and Sparks,” by Judy Tescher (and now the screensaver on my iPhone).

The historic quilts were made from the 1830s to 1980s (historic? I remember the 80s!), while many of the contemporary quilts were created especially for this exhibition. All show both literal as well as creative interpretations of the star motif. The 2010 artists use a wide array of construction techniques and often work collaboratively. Modern sewing machines have expanded the types of actual quilting they can accomplish.

quilt, stars

“Stars” by Mary Kay Horn (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Some of the quilts are beautiful mostly because of the fabrics used, and some, old and new, because of the intricacy of the quilting, which is what holds the fancy top together with the (in historic days) cotton batting in the middle and the usually plain backing. At left, “Stars,” by Mary Kay Horn, and, below, “Bohemian Fireworks,” by Sandra Peterson, which uses the same color techniques the Impressionist painters did to make the colors pop.

I still have and use quilts my grandmother and great-grandmother made, and I have a dim memory of visiting my great-grandmother’s home when a neighborhood quilting bee was in progress. The tops of the patchwork type of quilts were made from material leftover from sewing. Adult family members could point to a patch and say, “I always loved that dress”—one they’d had when they were schoolgirls—or “That’s the dress I wore to cousin Louise’s wedding!” Other tops seemed to have been made from purpose-bought fabric because the whole project uses the same materials—too much material to be just leftovers. A “Lone Star” quilt—popular in my grandparents’ home state of Texas—and a detail from it are at the bottom of this post. It’s from the 1830’s, the oldest quilt in the show and the detail indicates they were no slouches when it came to intricate quilting in those days either!

quilts, stars

“Bohemian Fireworks” by Sandra Peterson (photo by Vicki Weisfeld)

A unique aspect of this museum visit that other patrons cannot count on experiencing was that the power went out shortly after we arrived. Thankfully, emergency generators kept the quilt exhibit well lit. Though parts of the museum were in darkness and had to be forgone, we became fascinated to watch catering staff soldiering on with the setup of a wedding dinner and reception for about 350 people (counting place-settings), and the band members snake their many cords across a stage. This space was well lit by windows in the middle of the day, but at party time, who’s going to take the chance to plug in that amp?

The reception was booked for a room on the top floor, so cocktail tables, plastic bins of glassware, and everything had to be carried up four flights. The wedding guests, I’m guessing, would miss those elevators, too! If you’ve ever organized an event of this size, you’ll see how it had all the makings of a major freak-out opportunity. I couldn’t help hoping no one had told the bride’s mother yet, that the power would kick back on, and she’d never have to know.

Your Travel Circles:

  • You’re only an hour from Indianapolis when you’re in Bloomington (51 mi)
  • About two hours away when you’re in Cincinnati (112), Louisville (115), or Dayton (117)
  • About three hours away when you’re in Columbus (175) or Chicago (182)
quilts, stars

“Lone Star” from the 1830s (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

 

quilts, stars

“Lone Star” detail (photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Classic Cruisers

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Packard Museum, Dayton

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Think of Dayton, Ohio, and you probably think of the Wright Brothers and latter-day U.S. Air Force resources, but it also contains a unique tribute to the automobile. “America’s Packard Museum,” located a short distance from downtown, displays an impressive collection of more than 50 classic cars from the Packard Motor Car Company. The company began producing true luxury vehicles in the early 1900s, with models that cost more than the average price of a home in those days.

Packard Museum, Dayton

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

The museum’s restored cars are beauties even now. I especially liked the yellow model pictured, which offered its passengers a literal “trunk.” James and William Packard weren’t fussy about body design. Customers could purchase their chassis and engine and add their own custom-designed body. One model in the museum had a French-designed body, for example.

During the Depression, the company began producing a more moderately priced line, as well as its luxury models, which in the long run diminished its reputation as an exclusive brand. During the early 1940s, the company gave over total production to the war effort, building aircraft and marine engines. When automobile production resumed, the luxury and lower-priced, lower-profit models were too difficult to distinguish, further diluting its reputation as a high-end manufacturer.

Packard Museum, Dayton

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Two of the “Caribbean” luxury convertible models, produced from 1953 to 1956, are shown in the photo at left. The museum includes a gorgeous mid-century red convertible once owned by Perry Como. According to the docents, a recent visitor said, “Oh. He’s the governor of New York.” No, you’re probably thinking of his dad.

You can easily spend an hour examining the wide whitewall tires, the perfect paint jobs, the leather interiors, and real chrome details of these cars. The volunteer docents are full of information and affection for the collection. It’s easy to see why.

Appropriately enough, this award-winning museum is located in Dayton’s old Packard dealership, built in 1917. Emblazoned on the wall is the company motto—created when the company president was too harried to talk to reporters about his cars—“Ask the man who owns one.” Packard merged with the Studebaker company in the early 1950s, absorbing a boatload of Studebaker debt, and produced its last vehicle in 1959.

Your Travel Circles:

  • You’re only an hour from Dayton when you’re in Cincinnati (54 mi) or Columbus (71)
  • About two hours away when you’re in Indianapolis (117) or Louisville (155)
  • Just over three hours away when you’re in Detroit (209) or Cleveland (211)
Packard Museum, Dayton

(photo: Vicki Weisfeld)

Your Literary Dream Vacation

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road trip, map, travel

(photo: rabi w, creative commons license)

Need an organizing principle for your next vacation? Here are four literary-themed travel ideas, heavy on the mystery element:

See the U.S.A.

I’ve written before about Esotouric’s fun mystery/literary tours of SoCal. They scout out the locations of sites in classic books by Raymond Chandler (and other authors), researching “the mean streets that shaped his fiction” and inspired such lines as “There was a sad fellow over on a bar stool talking to the bartender, who was polishing a glass and listening with that plastic smile people wear when they are trying not to scream” from The Long Goodbye. Next Raymond Chandler tour: 8-22-15.

Not available that day? The following week the possibly even juicier “Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice” tour covers the history of the “ribald, racy, raunchy old promenade where the better people simply did not travel.” Something always cooking there.

Atlas Obscura has created an “obsessively detailed map of American Literature’s most epic road trips.” Follow in the footsteps (or the oil pan drips) of such non-fiction bushwhackers as William Least Heat Moon (Blue Highways)—I’ve read this book, and it’s great—Jack Kerouac (On the Road), Mark Twain (Roughing It), and nine other classics that describe “this quintessentially American experience.” Literature AND a map. Can’t get much better.

And NYC by neighborhood from the New York Public Library.

Across the Pond

In case you want something a little more, ahem, Continental, the San Francisco Chronicle has created a map that marks literary highlights of Paris’s Left Bank and includes classic book shops as well as author pilgrimage sites. You can spend a day’s worth of shoe-leather on this one, easy.

Prefer a more sedentary mode of travel? By bus, perhaps (the big advantage of which is all that reading time and three beers at the pub, no problem!). The Smithsonian offers “Mystery Lover’s England,” which explores “the lives and settings of famous detective novelists”: Colin Dexter, Andrew Taylor, Simon Brett, Agatha Christie, and the like, plus the haunts of the characters they wrote about in Devon, the Cotswolds, Oxford, and London. But why anyone would want to risk going to Oxford, with its astounding murder rate—which the Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, and Endeavor have shown on the telly—is beyond me.

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