OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE....

SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2015
Well, right on schedule, the rain moved in over night and it looks like it will last all day. So I opted to find something to do indoors, which can mean only one thing, Find a museum.  Being the weekend, and traffic would hopefully be light, I decided to head into Norfolk and see what I can find. My trek takes me east on Interstate 64, through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, (not to be confused with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel), and right on que there is a broken down vehicle in the eastbound tube, and it take me about 25-minutes to make it through the tunnel and across the bridge.

Once across the bridge the rain let up long enough for me to make a quick stop at Forest Lawn Cemetery where I was able to quickly locate the grave of one of the early stars of NASCAR, Little Joe Weatherly. Little Joe was known as the Clown Prince of Racing because of he light hearted personality, but once inside a race car he was one of the sports toughest competitors.

Joe Weatherly died on January 19, 19464, when his car crashed into a retaining wall at the Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California. Being a native of Norfolk, Virginia, he was laid to rest in the Forest Lawn Cemetery with many of his competitors in attendance.

Also buried here in Forest Lawn is George Dewey Hay, know to country music fans as "The Solemn Old Judge," and founder of the Grand Ole Opry, which was originally known as the WSM Barn Dance which followed NBC's Music Appreciation Hour that featured classical and grand opra.  ONe night in 1927 Judge Hay took to the air and stated "For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opra. Now we present the Grand Ole Opry." And as they say the rest is history.  The Grand Ole Opry is still broadcast every Saturday Night over WSM.   Late in life and following his retirement he moved to the Tidewater area of Virginia where he died in 1968.

Just as I was leaving the cemetery the rain returned and I made my way into downtown and found a parking garage right across the street from the MacArthur Memorial. I had visited the MacArthur Memorial, many, many, many years ago when I had been on a Junior High school trip. So I would say that thing have changed some in the last 45 years.

The MacArthur Memorial is housed in what was once the Norfolk City Hall, which was built in 1847 and housed the city offices until 1918. After the city offices moved into a newer building the building was used as a courthouse until 1960, when the city official suggested that the old building be turned into a memorial for one of the country's best known military officer, General Douglas MacArthur. Having received approval from the General the interior of the building was totally reconstructed and housed the Generals artifacts and paper.

On April 5, 1964, General MacArthur died at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D. C. After a full State Funeral, his remains were brought to Norfolk where a final funeral service was held in St. Paul Church. Following the simple service, General Douglas MacArthur was laid to rest in the rotunda of the MacArthur Memorial.

I spent the better part of 3-hours touring the memorial, largely because I am a reader. I like to read the plaques and take in the information that is being presented. And there were a large number of veterans visiting the memorial and I enjoyed talking and visiting with them.  Over the years, I have found that a simple "Thank You for your service," is a great conversation starter and goes a long way toward making new friends. I spent a good bit of time talking with these old soldiers before "the just fade away."

THE BEGINNING AND AN END

FRIDAY - MARCH 13, 2015

After spending the night in Richmond, I made my way down Virginia Route 5, also know as the John Tyler Highway with the intention of visiting the James River Plantations; Berkeley, Shirley and Sherwood Forest. Berkley was the home of the Harrison's of Virginia and it was at Berkeley that the William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States was born on February 9, 1773.  William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office and his Vice President John Tyler, who was born just a few miles away at Sherwood Forest became the first Vice President to ascend to the presidency.

Evidently, the recent snows and rainy weather had a bigger impact that I thought, because I arrived only to find Berkley, closed and not available for Tours.  I drove on down to Sherwood Forest to also find the gate locked. 

With the plantations closed I drove on down Route 5, eventually ending where it all began, Jamestown.  I should start off by saying that there are two completely different historical attraction here with two completely separate admissions.  

I cost me $16.75 to enter the Jamestown Festival Park which is a recreated attraction, about a mile from the original Jamestown Settlement. The Festival Park features a recreated Indian Village, Replica Fort and full size replicas of the three ships that brought the first settlers to the new world. 

After taking in the exhibits in the Visitors Center, I made my way down a paved path coming first to the Indian Village, which featured costumed characters demonstrating the Indian way of life back in the early 1600's. I particularly enjoyed the cooking demonstration. 

On down the path is the replica fort with full size replica building and more costumed actors. There were a very large number of elementary school groups visiting and it was very difficult to get into most of the building and the Indian Huts.

After briefly visiting the fort, I made my way down to the water front where I found full sized replicas of the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery.  These were the three ships captained by Christopher Newport that brought 104 men and boys to establish the Virginia Colony.  

The Susan Constant was the largest of the three ships, while the Discovery was the smallest of the three ships at only 66-feet long and carried only 12 passengers and a crew of 9.

After spending a couple of hours at the Jamestown Festival Park, I opted forgo a visit to the Historic Area, which cost another $14.00

I decided to have lunch in the Park Cafe before heading over to Yorktown. While most everything else is over price, I found the food prices while inflated, was reasonable compared to other similar attractions.  Burger, Fries and a Drink set me back at total of $7.87, including tax. 

After a quick lunch, I made my way across the Colonial Parkway to historic Yorktown. It was here at Yorktown, 174-years after those 104 men and boys first set foot on Virginia soil establishing the first English colony in the New World, that the Revolutionary War ended.

While I enjoy my tour of the battlefield and surrender site, I think I enjoyed my visit to the Town Of Yorktown more.  The historic town has been preserved and many of the original building still stand along Main Street adjacent to the water front.  

As I made my way from the Yorktown Visitors Center, I first come to the Yorktown Victory Monument.  The Victory Monument was first authorized by Congress on October 29, 1781, however it wasn't until 1881 that actual construction of the monument began.  The Victory Monument is the tallest structure in the area, standing 98-feet tall including the 14-foot statue of Liberty at the top. 

After leaving the Victory Monument I made my way down main street passing several historic homes including the Dudley Diggs House (circa 1760); the Cole Diggs House (circa 1730); and Grace Church (circa 1697).

It was certainly a beautiful day and I really enjoyed my leisurely walk around historic Yorktown. 

By the time I made it back to the car the clouds were moving in from the west and it looks like the forecast of rain for tomorrow was going to come true. Tomorrow may be a good day for museums, I will just have to see what I can find.

MR. MADISON AND STONEWALL

Day one of my 2015 March Madness Vacation begins with a visit to Montpelier, the home of our 4th President. Located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Rural Orange County, Montpelier has been carefully restored to looks as it did when James Madison crafted the Constitution of the United States in the second floor library. 

Montpelier

I last visited Montpelier in 1995, and looked very different than it does today.  In fact back in 1995 President Madison would not have recognized his stately home.  After the Presidents death, Dolly continued to live here with her son Payne Todd, who had a problem with strong drink and gambling and over the years he found himself deep in debt.  Dolly, in her final years was living in poverty while Payne sold off most of the Madison personal possessions.  Following, Dolly's death in 1849, Payne found himself deep in debt and having already sold off almost everything of value left Montpelier and died 3-years later in Washington, D. C.  During the next 50-years or so Montpelier endured several different owners before being purchased by William and Ann duPont in 1901. Over the years the duPonts added to the original house including covering the brick with an ugly pink stucco.  

When I visited Montpelier in 1995, I felt that I was visiting the duP aont home and not the historic home of our 4th President.  So, today I was very pleasantly surprised to discover the duPont home was gone and thanks to a $24 million restoration project, Montpelier had been returned to its original state. 

Graves of James & Dolly Madison

In fact much of Montpelier interior has been furnished with several of the Madison's original artifacts and furniture.  Over the years the curator's have managed to track down and secure several pieces of the Madison original furniture that was sold by Payne Todd.  

During My visit I was truly amazed at how different the house appeared today as opposed to my last visit in 1995. 

The restoration of the main house is not the only thing going on on the property. There is currently an archaeological dig adjacent to the main house and period out buildings are being recreated.  

Located just a short half-mile walk from the main house is the Madison Family Cemetery where President Madison and Dolly are buried.  One would think that Payne Todd would also be buried here but he died in Washington, D. C and is buried in Congressional Cemetery.

After completing my visit to Montpelier I made my way out Route 20 to the Wilderness/Chancellorsville Battlefields. It was during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863 that General Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own men.  After being shot, General Jackson was taken to the nearby Wilderness Tavern where his left arm was amputated.

Jackson's Arm at Ellwood Manor

Later in the morning, General Jackson was visited by his chaplain, the Rev. Lacy Tucker. As Reverend Tucker was leaving the Tavern he saw the amputated left arm lying outside the door. Reverend Tucker picked up the bloody limb and carefully carried across the field to Ellwood Manor, which was the home of his brother Horace.  A short time later, Reverend Tucker carried the left arm of General Jackson to the family cemetery and buried it.

In 1903, the Reverend James Smith, erected a small marker over the spot where the arm was buried. Reverend Smith has served on General Jackson Staff during the war and later married Agnes Lacy who was Horace Lacy's daughter.

After General Jackson arm was amputated he was transported by field ambulance to the Chandler Farm at Guinea Station, some 25-miles away.  Jackson and his troops had camped at the Chandler Farm a year earlier and General Jackson recalled that the Chandler's has treated him and his staff well.

The building where Jackson Died

General Jackson's ambulance arrived at the Chandler Farm on the afternoon of May 4, 1863, two days after being wounded.  Opting for privacy, General Jackson and his staff turned down the Chandlers offer for them to use the main house. General Jackson was carried into the small farm office and place on a bed in the southwest corner of the building.

Six days after arriving at the Chandler Farm, General Stonewall Jackson died of pneumonia. Upon learning of Jackson's death, General Robert E. Lee said, "He may have lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm."

Many people think that when Jackson died, so did the Confederacy.

MARCH MADNESS VACATION - YEAR 15

This is the 15th year that I have taken much of the month of March off to enjoy what has become my annual March Madness Vacation.  Fifteen years I have managed to use the NCAA Basketball as an excuse to travel to places near and far. So before I starts this years edition of my March Madness vacation, I thought it might me nice to look back on the previous 14.

It all started back in 2001, when on a whim I decided to try and get tickets for the first and second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, which was being held at the Greensboro Coliseum.  If there is a better venue for tournament basketball, I haven't found it.  The Greensboro Coliseum has hosted more ACC Tournaments than any other location for a reason. They simple embrace the event and do it right. The ACC Tournament has an identity in Greensboro and it should be its permanent home. Greensboro is known as Tournament Town for a reason. But I will save that for another rant, and another time.

After attending that first Tournament and seeing and feeling the excitement of March Madness, I was hooked.  The next year I selected Greenville, South Carolina as my tournament venue. The Tournament was held at the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. The one thing that I remember most about Greenville is the protests that were held around the arena.  As we arrived at the arena we were greeted by a large group protesting the fact that South Carolina was still flying the Confederate Flag on the grounds of the state capitol in Columbia.  Another group was standing nearby silently waving the Stars and Bars, while still a third group, obviously the Ku Klux Klan had assemble in a near by parking lot and was waving the Confederate Flag and preaching their doctrine of segregation. Both days of the tournament saw peaceful protests.  After the tournament, the NCAA announced that they would not hold any further NCAA Championship events in the State Of South Carolina until the Confederate Flag was removed from the capitol ground.  The flag is still flying and the NCAA hasn't been back.

In 2003, I hit the road for my first real March Madness Vacation and traveled to Birmingham, Alabama. Before arriving in Birmingham I stopped in the small town of Lynchburg, Tennessee and spent some time learning how Mr. Jack made some of the best know Bourbon in the world.  The highlight  of the trip was a stop at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Space flight has always fascinated me and I spent much of the day touring the facility.

I selected Orlando as my 2004 Tournament site on the day between round, drove over to the Space Coast and spent the entire day touring the Kennedy Space Center and all of the space related attractions.

Music City, Nashville Tennessee was my 2005 tournament site. But rather than heading straight to Nashville, I took a side trip up to Dayton, Ohio for the Opening Round Games on Tuesday Night. While in Dayton I also had the opportunity to visit the United State Air Force Museum at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base.  Man what an outstanding museum! From an original Wright Flyer to a B-52 Bomber and everything in between, they have it here. But the highlight of my tour was a visit to the Presidential Hanger. It is here that a number of Presidential Aircraft's are on display, including FDR's Sacred Cow, Truman's Independence, Ike's Columbine III, and perhaps the most famous if all presidential planes, SAM-26000. This was the plan that President Kennedy used to fly to Dallas in 1963 and was where President Lyndon Johnson took the Oath of Office following the assassination of President Kennedy in downtown Dallas.

Dallas, Texas was my destination in 2006. I was able to visit the Texas School Book Depository and to stand where Abraham Zapruder recorded the assassination of a President on that fateful in 1963.  I even ventured over to Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth and found the grave of the alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.  But what I will remember the most about this trip is, THE RAIN.  It started raining on Friday night and rained all day Saturday.  By the time we got to the arena on Sunday there was some local street flooding. But it really got real when they made an announcement between games that wide spread flooding was occurring. We were staying about 4-miles from the arena and when the last game ended we found out it was virtually impossible for us to get back to our hotel.  We made it to a nearby IHOP restaurant where we met a few other fans who were staying in the same hotel. We exchanged phone number and agreed to call each other if we were able to find a way back to our hotel.  Over the next 4-hours we tried street after street only to find them blocked by high water. Finally about 10:30 p.m. we received a call from one of our new IHOP friends telling us that they had made it and gave us great directions and we were soon back at our hotel. I will always remember the Dallas Flood of 2006.

I stayed close to home in 2007 as the first and second rounds were held at the Joel in Winston-Salem. I will always remember this tournament because I was able to got get autographs from three of the games greatest coaches, Tom Izzo, John Thompson, Jr., and Bobby Knight. Yes, that Bobby Knight, he was coaching at Texas Tech and I must have caught him on a good day when he was standing in the tunnel watching his team warm up.  All I did was politely ask him to sign my ticket and to my surprise he did. You never know until you ask.  Also at that tournament I was able to get autographs from, Magic Johnson, Jud Heathcote and John Thompson III.

In 2008 it was back to Birmingham, followed by returning to Greensboro in 2009. In 2010 I made it to Oklahoma City, which is one of my favorite tournament cities. Lodging is great and reasonable, restaurants are great and there is a lot to see. Plus the people that I met are just down right nice.


In 2011 and 2012, I again stayed close to home attending the tournament in Charlotte and Greensboro. I will always remember the 2012 Greensboro Game where little ole LeHigh managed to send might Duke packing. It's always a good tournament when Duke goes home early.

In 2013 I hit the road for my longest trip (14 days) ending up in Kansas City for the tournament at the Sprint Center.Just as I remember my 2006 Dallas trip for the wide spread flooding, I will remember Kansas City in 2013 for the snow that blanked the area on Saturday Night. It started snowing mid-afternoon on Saturday and snowed most of the night. When I got up Sunday Morning there was 8-12-inches in the Kansas City Area. The one thing going for us was the Kansas City Games were scheduled for late afternoon and early evening starts. By the time it was time for me to head to the arena MODOT had Interstate 70 virtually clear and the City of Kansas City had busted their butts to clear the downtown parking lots and the games went off without a hitch.

Last year (2014) it was off to Raleigh, where the highlight of the tournament was getting to see the Mercer Bears bounce the Mighty Duke Blue Devils from the Tournament right in their own backyard.  I am never sad to see Duke leave early.

This year its off to Charlotte, but before I get there I will be touring some of the historic site of my home state of Virginia before moving on to the Carolina's. We will see what I can find and where I end up. The Madness has begun.