Endings and Memories

This is it....All the stuff is put away and although there is lots more to remember, when I toted up all the bills it brought back some highlights...In no particular order.

The dressed up black ladies in the local Western Skillet in Mississippi, after church on Sunday. Wonderful dresses, hats, shoes. And the men.....suits, ties, shiny shoes, stick pins, diamond rings, handkerchiefs in jacket pockets.

The Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia, where FDR spent time and where he died. (His mistress was hustled out of the house right away.) It was so small it's hard to believe in today's world. A narrow bed, another in a guest room, a small sitting room with a radio and a small desk, an adequate galley type kitchen, a living room with a dining table at one end. Up narrow winding stairs, a maid's room. I don't remember a bath at all; they probably closed that off. A garage below with a vintage car in it, one that he had designed with hand controls so he could drive himself.

Callaway Gardens, Georgia. Beautiful. Complete with butterfly house.

Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. Amazingly huge, room after room. On the patio restaurant where we had lunch an adjoining table had a small dog at his owners feet in a travel bag. Lucy soon had her own, which enabled us to take her occasionally into places that didn't allow pets.

The beautiful old grist mill off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Driving on the Natchez Parkway, going into a small town with a used bookstore and trading some books I had for two she had....a mystery about the Natchez Parkway and short memoirs of the Deep South. Same small town (I think it was Clinton, no relation) had only a Mediterranean restaurant.

Hot Springs Arkansas....the Clinton Library is outstanding.

The Ozarks are wonderful and the Corps of Engineers, whatever damage they have done, have redeemed themselves in my eyes for their wonderful campgrounds...at under $10 night for us oldsters.

The night we were in a driving rainstorm seeking shelter in a small RV place when the manager came out under the umbrella to tell us to take the no-long-reserved spot.

The camp in Asheville NC where the rv across the way offered funnel cakes every morning...bring your own coffee and chat a while.

The poodle whose owner combed him out every morning and he went walking proudly about.

The American Portrait museum in DC...Great building, good art, and a couple of fun contemporary installations.

Discovering the local grocery stores and farmers markets. This is still a regional country.

Seeing all the corn being grown to feed to animals. What a disaster that is for our milk and beef.

Lucy's $120 haircut (including pick up and delivery to the NYC apartment). When we were too shaggy to go a step further, we had our hairs cut at WalMart.

The North Cascades....beautiful and worth another trip.

115 Cottage Street, looking very good.

Happy travels to you all.