6 days, 6 cities

After Philadelphia, we stayed a couple days with friends in Lancaster. Very nice stay. Nice adults, kids, dog and birds. The second day there, we drove back to Phili to visit the Barnes collection. Pretty amazing, worth the trip back. We had to make reservations at least two weeks in advance and they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so Wednesday it was. To learn more about the Barnes, look it up.

From there, we went on to Washington, DC. The afternoon we arrived, we went to the National Gallery. We were then going to go on a walking tour around the monuments, but on the way there, a torrential rain storm hit. We hid in the entry way of a large building. The archway was probably 6 feet deep and we still got wet cowering by the door. The door mat said Internal Revenue Service, so thanks to all the tax payers out there for shelter from the storm. When it cleared, we opted out of the walking tour and taxi-ed back to the hotel. Day 2, we went to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. More people should go there, a very nice collection, but they do charge admission. Then we headed back to the corner we tried for the day before and joined the DC by Foot tour. It was very fun, good information and humor all rolled into one. Among other things, we saw the new WWII memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. Maya Lin sure had an amazing vision. The only down side was the 95 degrees and the shining sun. I forgot sunscreen and now have quite the clown nose.

We drove to Pittsburgh the next day. On the way there, we stopped at Fallingwater. An amazing home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright back in the '30's. Quite something, if you are ever in the area, it's a must see.

Pittsburgh was an Andy Warhol pilgrimage. We began the day by visiting his childhood home, his high school, and the recycling center still run by his brother. AJ Warhola Recycling is located near the Heinz factory. Apparently you can buy a trendy condo there. Sounds nice, except for the constant smell of ketchup in the air. The Warhol Museum was next. Cool, cool. Not as densely packed with Warhol stuff as I had expected. Everything is very tastefully displayed. Did you know Warhol loved Fiestaware? The room with silver mylar balloons was pretty great. There are three matching bridges in Pittsburgh and they have all been named for famous locals. The middle one is named for Warhol.

Then we hopped back in the car and headed off on our second consecutive 4-5 hour drive. This time to Charleston, West Virginia. Wild, wonderful WV is entirely contained within the Appalachian mountains. That makes for some exciting driving for a mid-westerner, especially when we have another torrential rain storm. Blinding sheets of rain and huge semi trucks! Yeeha. What is there to do once in Charleston? Well, not much. There is a relatively new arts and science center that looked very interesting, but was closed. We toured the lovely, and highest in the nation, state capitol. The building was designed by Cass Gilbert. Minnesotans should know him. After a one hour walk around the capitol and grounds, it was back to the car and the third, and final, 4-5 hour drive. This time the destination was Cincinnati.


Cincinnati is just on the border of Kentucky, so most of the drive was in Kentucky. We spent less than 24 hours in one little corner of Ohio. I believe there is plenty more to see on another trip. We toured the National Underground Railroad museum. Very interesting exhibits. I liked the portraits by Robert Shetterly the best. They were of "Americans Who Tell the Truth". Then we dined on the official chili of the Cincinnati Reds at Skyline Chili. My companion enjoyed a 3 way and I went for the 5 way. Our final stop was the Cincinnati Art Museum in the lovely Eden Park. Looks like they have a very nice collection, but one of us is a bit tired of looking at things. There was an interesting exhibit of drawings by David Macaulay.

After the three intense days of drive a lot and tour a little, we had less than a 2 hour drive to Louisville, KY. Hoping for a nice hotel with a pool, we are disappointed on both counts. We have not had a pool that was open for swimming since Philadelphia. Keep your fingers crossed for Indianapolis. Tomorrow, the Kentucky Derby and the Louisville Slugger Museums.

Ta ta ~ xzfz