Carl Henning

NO, not THAT border – the North Carolina Border. South of the Border does have a Mexican theme, Mexican gifts, and a Mexican mascot, Pedro. We enjoyed the gift shop and its shark, but skipped the other amenities.

A fair piece off I95 is Wilson, North Carolina. And worth the detour. Made from scraps and recycled parts these 30 wind-powered sculptures at Whirligig Park are fun to watch.

I expected this to be called “Reston Zoo” but the internet search returned NOVA Wild.  NOVA is short for Northern Virginia. We were looking for an activity to enjoy while visiting our oldest great granddaughter in the Washington, DC area. (We actually had lived in Reston over 30 years ago and had visited the zoo then.) [And an apology to subscribers.]

The Saratoga Springs History Museum is in the former Canfield Casino and the casino history was fascinating. I especially like the biographies of the famous (and infamous) gamblers. Many were wealthy summer residents.

One of the real highlights of the trip was visiting Baseball Hall of Fame with our college ball playing grandson. Highlights included Cleveland Indians glory years, Negro league stars, and Japanese internment camp baseball.

On the site of the Battle of New Market sits the Virginia Museum of the Civil War. It’s administered by the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) which had a real connection to the battle. There is information about the battle plus a chronological history of the war.

Our journey was mainly about visiting family and friends with some sightseeing thrown in, but this visit combined the two. Cowpens National Battlefield preserves the battlefield and some artifacts from this American Revolution battle.

Second stop on our East Coast journey was recommended by Claude, Soulé Steam Museum, also called the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum. Also, a brief tale of car trouble.

Exquisitely detailed dioramas are the main feature of the Louisiana Exhibit Museum although there are more typical museum artifacts too. The museum is housed in a circular, stately building. The building and dioramas were constructed beginning in the late 1930’s as part of the Roosevelt administration’s programs to get the unemployed to work.

Why “goodbye Nacogdoches”? And what’s a “Nacogdoches? Nacogdoches is the oldest town in Texas. And home to Stephen F. Austin State University from which our oldest Texas grandson just graduated. Which is why we bid a fond adieu to the city, the university, and the baseball field. But, we took this last opportunity to visit some sights.