| Carlisle,
PA: May 17
The "Smells Like A Boat On
A Hot Day" Nationals at Carlisle, Pennsylvania where they host many, many
car events--their fairgrounds are known for it.
I could probably do a coffee
table color photography book on the rooftops of Carlisle. Spires,
turrets, slate, even round porches way aloft with wicker chair under weathervanes.
With an open car you see so much more and I could have gotten a crick in
my neck looking upward in Carlisle. Historic markers are on nearly
every corner. This town is the origin of Molly Pitcher which was
probably a real person and evolved into a concept--sort of like Rosie the
Riveter. Molly hauled pitchers of water to soldiers during the Civil
War, legend goes, and then took over firing cannons when soldiers fell.
There were probably many Mollies but the original came from Carlisle.
David from the Carlisle Sentinental
interviewed me downtown and his hyper busy photo took pictures. (More
about a coincidence later...)
The best way to tell you about
the car event here is to do that in photographs and they are on their way
to this web site. Saw a couple of very amazing things that words
won't adequately describe--one is Steve and his Bradley and the other is
what to do with any leftover 1959 Caddie fins you might have stored out
back.
Spent the night at the Ironmaster's
Mansion again in Pine Grove Furnace, PA. You may recall from my visit
trek thru Pennsylvania that I stayed here and that it served the Underground
Railroad over 100 years ago. Built in 1826 it is at least 12,000
square feet of old brick building and probably one of my favorite hostels.
This time I met Karl, a lawyer from Philly who was hiking the Appalachian
Trail.
The Trail is over 2,000 miles
and runs from Maine to Georgia. Many people hike it a section at
a time. And it runs right long side the hostel. So Karl had
arrived after days on the trail and his food drop had gone to a place that
was closed. We rounded up groceries, missed a turn--easy to do in
the forest out there--and had a good ole spaghetti feed with Shawn, hostel
manager and another traveler. Met Diane at the Mt. Holly grocery
store who wanted more info on Seno--I gave her a card and flashed her picture.
You'll see her soon here too.
Anyway, the most unusual thing--Karl
and I said YES! we wanted to see the space under the house where slaves
were
hidden during Railroad times. Shawn said the first time he went
down there his fully charged flashlight went out and he left in a hurry.
Karl had a spelunkers' head lamp and we crawled down the ladder from the
secret hiding place near the side hallway. You can't stand up fully
down there and of course, there is no light. Saw what we could, the
passage to another chamber and where, if the tunnel was still operational,
it would be. Remember traveling at night was essential so the tunnel
goes out into the woods. Karl's headlamp immediately started fading
so we scurried out. The whole adventure gave me a sampling of what
it must have been like--the family would have lost their home if they had
been discovered. This is not unlike the house in Amsterdan where
Anne Frank's family hid for nearly two years.
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