Renate and Sandy's Retirement Trip - Summer, 2010 - Map and Calendar

42 Days

 4400 Miles

25 Cities

10 Families

16 Beds

Calendar

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Note:   Boldfaced, underlined words represent first day arriving at a place we stayed.                Italics are restaurant or food references.						June 19   Day 1 Richmond Hills Lousy southern
June 20   Day 2 Roadside peaches Savannah Hilton Head Charleston Italian delivery	June 21  Day3 Leesburg Danielle, Peter, Alex, Emma Pilates Quick chicken	June 22 Day4 Washington, DC POGO.org Washington Hotel White House roof Thai take-out	June 23  Day 5 New York Tribeca Grill Schu : Salmon Steve, Debbie, Mark, Steffi	June 24 Day 6 Cafe Edison Azalea Wicked Sugarless Hersey	June 25 Day 7 Myron – Ollies South Sea Port Debbie computer City Hall Restrnt Scallops Bananas Foster	June 26   Day 8 Billy Elliot Debbie’s friend Next to Normal Times Square / Kodak screen
June 27   Day 9 Philadelphia Downtn Marriott Sole Food Cosmos	June 28  Day 10 Hair dresser Howard, Nicole, Ben, Josh, Alexander	June 29   Day 11 Sid & Ed arrive College Comp. Swedish Match Prestige Spanglish Go Fish	June 30    Day 12 Quartet Quarter Finals Maggianos	July 1  Day 13 Semi Finals AIC Show NewTradition 25th Vocal Spectrum Crossroads O.C. Times Fondue	July 2 Day 14 Chorus Comp. Westminster Vocal Majority Dallas N.ern lights-Toronto McCormick-Schmitt	July 3    Day 15 Harmony Found. Debbie’s train Quartet Finals Storm Front Old School Ringmasters Late: Chilis
July 4   Day 16 Sid / Ed fly out Drive around Estia 4th of July Deb n Sandy seek fireworks	July 5  Day 17 Scranton Syracuse East Aurora Roycroft Inn	July 6  Day 18 Taste! Maid of the Mist Brigit / Sam Gator or piranha Mlad, chess Fisher Price Tantalus pizza	July 7     Day 19 Canadian Falls Nebors(on QEW) Toronto Scarboro HoJo Pickering,CmftInn Knight’s Corner Open late!	July 8   Day 20 Sarnia Lake Huron Detroit Ann Arbor, Mi Victory Inn TV swap Thai in Inn	July 9  Day 21 U. of Michigan Oasis (Greek) on campus	July 10    Day 22 Schoops(Indiana) Chicago Morton Grove Best Western 7 Brothers Diner No AC! Walmart Fan.
July 11 Day 23 7 Brothers Balley’s Gym Sandy / Liz do Oak Park / Chicago Italian ices Bakery sandwich David / Caroline Piano tuner/cello	July 12  Day 24 Balley’s Gym Chicago Architec. Cruise Oak Park Prairie Bread Kitchen Fr. Lloyd Wright 7 Bros.Diner	July 13    Day 25 Evanston B’Hai Worship C in Wilmette Winnetka Avli Chicago Botanical Louie, Maria, Lefteri, Costas	July 14     Day 26 BK pork sandwich Columbus, Oh Hyatt on Cap. Sq Kerouac, Fox Sports online Sara approves pharmaceut testing Miles / Radley	July 15 Day 27 Kerouac tour Sandy continues park, market,  Jenni’s ice cream Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in Germantown. Jenni’s ice crm Goat chs/ coffee	July 16  Day 28 Mason, Ohio Best Western (near Cincinnati) Chinese delivery	July 17    Day 29 KentuckySpeedwy Kroeger’s lunch L’ville toilet seat Wind turbines Nashville, Tn Rodeway Inn Grand Ole Opry Waffle House
July 18 Day 30 Vanderbilt Noshville Green Hills Mall Nails “Cyrus” (movie) Jack’sBarBQue Italian delivery	July 19   Day 31 Jack’s BarBQue Lane Bryant at Sts of Indian Lake Barnes n Nobles Gerst Haus	July 20    Day 32 KFC Oak Ridge Clinch River Knoxville Pigeon Forge Super 8	July 21     Day 33 Gatlinburg Las Ositas Tanger Outlet Mountain Grill Salmon / Burger Sevierville Cirque de Chine	July 22 Day 34 Ginny Dollywood Kingdom Heirs Adventure Mt. Carinos	July 23     Day 35 Smokey Mountains Wood bridge to gas Sinks, Chimney Tops Cherokee Newfound lodge Maggie V Ramada, Asheville Hair Emporium Mr. K’s Used books Cheddar’s	July 24    Day 36 Bele Chere Grove Arcade Carmel’s pizza Rosetta at fountain Axzel, Petra, Wren Catherines clothing near Ramada Hair Emporium J / S Diner
July 25  Day 37 Grove Park Inn Biltmore Village Gianni Panini Chicos/Coldwater C Folk Art Center Chimes Thunderstorm Sandy: Rosetta’s Ren:Italian delivry	July 26    Day 38 Black Mountain Apple a Day Art from Heart Bramblewood Town Hardware Hickory, N.C. Ole Hickory Tap Room on Union Square	July 27    Day 39 Josh’s crab sandw on Union Square Dave the Birdman Drive for ice-pack Chrissy, Eric, Miles, Larkin Chrissy’s take-out Brazilian Music	July 28   Day 40 Coffee politics Eric’s tour Lenoir-Rhyne I Thai (our treat) 2 tiles at Loves Richmond Hills, Quality Inn Steamers	July 29 Day 41 St. Simons Gnat’s Landing Smoked, pulled, chopped bbq pork Jekyll Island St. Marys Fernandina Comfort Inn Brett’s Waterwy C Grits/Fr Calamari Boat ramp live music@ beach	July 30     Day 42 Logging trucks Jensen Beach Dolphin Café (Francis Langford Outrigger) Buffalo Wgs/Burger West Palm Beach Rained when Sandy 4 blocks from walking home after car drop-off.	Life goes on…

Day 1 - June 19 - Leaving West Palm Beach

Day 1 - Saturday June 19: WPB to Richmond Hills, Ga.

Packed in about an hour, picked up Renate in Century Village, went to my father's to get an ice chest and ice packs.

Not dad's best photo. He just came from the pool.

Decided to add Renate to driving.

Stopped at Lake Park Hertz: Telling them that the rented Hyundai pulled slightly to the right, was able to exchange for Buick LaCrosse. GREAT IMPROVEMENT.

The photo above is the only one with the Hyundai Sonata.

We also stopped at Sea Shell place in Riviera to buy schlocky gifts for friends. Yes, I know they'll be reading this.

Shell trivet actually works. I use one at home. Basket is nice momento.

Except for rain, uneventful drive sans gasoline stop to Richmond Hills, Georgia. Cheap $40 motel.

Day 2 - Sunday, June 20 - Savannah, Hilton Head, Charleston

Day 2: Sunday, June 20 –20 minute drive to Savannah. Sunday morning. No traffic. Easy to cruise the city. Downtown has beautiful tree-lined streets with large square drive-around parks every few blocks. Heavily shaded.

Followed the rough cobblestone River drive past all the (closed) restaurants and shops. All old but maintained. We never traveled to see serious colonial mansions but were impressed with the city.

Exited north on state roads towards Hilton Head. We didn’t crash large resorts, but saw golf courses, beautiful country-club homes, and small but pricey old beach-front streets.

Leaving Hilton Head, we pass near Parris Island and Navy base

US-17 north, (near Parris Island) to Charleston Day’s Inn.

Charleston is not a pretty town, but tres historic. Civil War started at nearby Ft Sumter. We did no tours and quit early. One and two blocks from water, restaurants filled inside and out. We ate in. Pizza.

Day 3 - Monday, June 21 – Leesburg, Virginia

Day 3 - Monday, June 21 – Leesburg, Virginia

Leaving Charleston, we see large Carnival Cruise ship getting ready for departure.

Interstate-26 picks up inside of town and takes us 40+ miles northeast to I-95. We resume northward through South and North Carolinas. Into Virginia. Danielle called inquiring about our progress. “Soon be there,” I reply to which she responds she’ll skip pilates class to have dinner ready for us.

A minute or two later it dawns on Renate and me how silly that is. I call her back to say we’re fine and she should keep some normalcy in her life even with guests.

The I-495. D.C. Beltway. Tricky looping with construction to get to the Dulles Greenway (toll road) to Leesburg, Va. and to the home of Peter and Danielle. Less than 2 minutes from the “Greenway”, the house is beautifully perched on a hill of the 2.5 acre property which also has a pond and a small barn.
We zoomed up on the hill onto the grass to avoid 4 steep, authentic rock (i.e., uneven) steps.

Renate near Danielle's side door

Danielle used to be married to a fellow PBL student, Paul – whom Renate and I both know. They remain close. Their son Alex is now 22? and interning for Danielle’s non-profit group: POGO - Project on Government Oversight. (Pogo.org). Alex was staying this week with his father. Another PBL alumna Kim J. has a son about same age as Alex – also interning at POGO.

Among other things, POGO looks at misuse of Federal funds. Both Renate and I saw Danielle on evening news a year ago. Her group helped protect whistle-blowers from Black Hawk firm that provided security to US Baghdad embassy. There were reports of excessive partying at government expense. 
Her husband, Peter, is also a respected government/political investigator in the D.C. area.

Danielle and Peter have a daughter, Emma, whose summer-time friends kept her mostly out of our sight in the large, rambling house - which was begin in ?1750.

Danielle arrived and - constantly talking - created a chicken pasta dish in 20 minutes that was remarkably good. Secret’s in the sauce she says, sneaking a brand name to Renate.

We caught up on things about Danielle - much already described above.  


Here’s an odd one: Emma’s instances of impossible deja vues. Past lives? Hmm.


Danielle got to catch up on Renate, who dutifully handed out the "business card" of Axel, her "significant other". 

Renate proudly spoke of his looks and his photographic and writing talents - bits of which are viewable at www.ibeariter.com. (Think: "I be a writer".) Here are a couple of copy/pastes from it.

Above: Homepage header for    www.ibeariter.com


Below: Header of the "Writing" page.

Tomorrow: Ren & Schu take Washington.

Day 4 - Tuesday, June 22 – Washington, D.C., POGO

Day 4 - Tuesday, June 22 – Washington, D.C.

Danielle left early for work, and Peter left for a double-header baseball game – which he plays despite (or maybe because of!) heart problems and knee replacement.

After cereal including more raspberries picked by Peter and Emma from adequate garden, I wandered and jogged the property taking pictures.

We drove Dulles into D.C. I think I avoided $4 in tolls when I inadvertently went to the Dulles airport. In the city, I zig-zagged passed the Lincoln Mem, Washington Mem, White House, Smithsonian, Senate and House Office Bldgs, Capitol, Library of Congress and Supreme Court.

With the magic of Renate’s Handicapped Parking sticker, I parked free at a meter near POGO, Danielle’s office at 11th St N and I St - about 1/2 a mile from the White House.

First we had lunch at a Cosi. Sort of upscale sandwich chain, unknown to us but (we discovered) common up north.

At Danielle’s office, I thought I could see what people actually did in this business of
”government oversight”, but we also admitted our mission to see the results of Paul and Danielle’s union. Renate confessed embarrassment at staring so much at Alex and a staff member took a photograph for our souvenir.

Danielle, Alex, Renate, Sandy

Danielle offered to send Alex with us but we thought this too much and allowed him back to work. Amazing to me was how composed and ready to oblige Alex was during this bartering.

Kim J (aka “ba” to us) was out of town when we visited and we did not get to see her son, also interning at POGO. Readers of this blog are encouraged to visit www.POGO.org

Sample home page of POGO.org show Danielle with ?

At Danielle recommendation, we went to the nearby Washington Hotel. From its 14^th floor outdoor restaurant seating we could look down at the neighboring White House. Notable were the two snipers stationed on its roof. They moved about doing surveillance and I imagined must be replaced often, especially in the 98º heat.

Back to Leesburg. We imagined that we would take the family out to dinner, but instead Danielle brought home Thai. Pretty informal household. I never saw Emma eating.

Peter and Danielle discuss politics and especially cases that both work on. Lots of insider networking, including congressional staff, news staff, and free-lance reporters.

Website photo of Peter and POGO staff

But Danielle doesn’t appear to share Peter’s passion for baseball and other sports. ESPN.