Solar Eclipse
Solar Eclipse : The solar eclipse is the main reason I came out west for vacation. I have seen a partial solar eclipse before, but never a total solar eclipse. It was like Continue Reading →
Snorkeling in Alaska
Snorkeling in Alaska : While planning for my vacation in Alaska, I learned that there is a company, appropriately named Snorkel Alaska, that leads snorkeling tours near Ketchikan. If there is a way for Continue Reading →
Carrie Blast Furnaces
Carrie Blast Furnaces : I’m in Pittsburgh for the long weekend. Today I took a tour with Rivers of Steel of the Carrie Blast Furnaces. The area is part of the former U.S. Steel Continue Reading →
Nuttallburg
Nuttallburg : I started exploring New River Gorge National Park today. It is second on my list of things to see in West Virginia after the capitol. The park is really spread Continue Reading →
Bridge Walk
Bridge Walk : I spent today doing more exploring of New River Gorge National Park, but I started the day by walking across a bridge. The walk across the bridge was under the Continue Reading →

West Virginia State Capitol

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I continue in my quest to see all the state capitols. Today, I checked off West Virginia. The current, sixth, and final state capitol is gorgeous but not overly ornate. As just stated, it is the sixth capitol, and the short history of why West Virginia has had that many is one of the reasons why guided tours of capitols are so worth it. The original capitol was in Wheeling from 1858-1870. The Legislature decided to move it to Charleston. According to my guide, Wheeling then stated they would build a wonderful new building and pay for it if they moved the capital back to Wheeling, which they did in 1875. [This sounds like cities competing for sports franchises.] People evidently complained about how far away Wheeling was from the rest of state, and most wanted one more centrally located. Then there was a state wide vote, and Charleston won, and the capital moved back there in 1885. [At this point, you have to wonder if there was niche market for move the capital by steamer business.] Now, I get to the best part of this story, which is about the fourth capitol (and second Charleston capitol). The state had confiscated a whole lot of ammunition, gunpowder, and other material from protestors and/or strikers in coalfields. At least one version of the story I found says the ammunition belonged to police. The capitol was rather large, and evidently they had a bunch of storage space, so with what was thought a good idea at the time, they stored it in the capitol. It caught fire somehow, and the building burned for three days. The fifth capitol was then built really quickly after that, and then they built the current building.

The building is like most capitols with lots of marble and other natural stone. The central dome is really pretty. I like the contrasting colors. The dome and each of the chambers have crystal chandeliers on which the state did not skimp. The senate chamber is red, but the house chamber is more pinkish red. The senate has a small dome with skylight, but the house has larger square skylight. It may have just been the time of day I was there, but the house chamber had more light from the skylight. The exterior of the central dome has lots of real gold, according to my guide, and I think the gold is contrasted nicely with the blue paint.

Capitol exterior

Capitol dome exterior

Capitol central dome

Capitol dome area

Upstairs hallway

Senate Chamber

Senate Chamber dome

House Chamber

House Chamber

Kanawha State Forest

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After visiting the Coal House, I went to Kanawha State Forest to do a little hiking. The park is pretty, but it had just rained, so hiking was a little difficult in that the trails were rather muddy. It has some nice trails, but unfortunately the map on the website is really not that helpful. One of the trails I wanted to see, the Spotted Salamander Trail, I only found because I asked some people hiking if they knew how to get to it. Still, it was a nice park to visit, and I got some exercise done. My guess is that the park is absolutely gorgeous when the wildflowers are in bloom.

Davis Creek trail

Spotted Salamander trail

Spotted Salamander trail

Spotted Salamander trail

Davis Creek trail

Williamson Coal House

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While in Charleston, I found the book “The Essential Way Out in West Virginia” by Jeanne Mozier for sale, and I immediately bought it because this is my kind of book. One of the crazy items in the book, is Coal House, which according to the book is the oldest and largest building made out of coal in West Virginia. It was constructed entirely of coal, and its walls are two feet thick. Incredibly in 2010, the building caught fire, and the interior was gutted, but the coal block exterior was untouched. Supposedly, the exterior is not a fire hazard, which seems to be proven by the fact that it didn’t burn during the fire. However, it is coal, so I am still trying to understand that.

Quite obviously, I had to see this coal house. I drove about three hours roundtrip out of my way to see it, which may be not normal, but it was completely worth it. One detail that I could see in person is that bricks are very shiny. They must be coated with something, probably for weather resistance.

Coal House and sign

Coal House

Coal House plaque

Coal House bricks

Spruce Knob

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I’m taking a leisurely road trip through West Virginia. The main destination is Charleston as this trip will add the West Virginia State Capitol to my list of state capitols, as I am trying to see them all. Along the way though, I am just enjoying the drive and finding detours and stops to make along the way. The first detour in West Virginia was Spruce Knob, which is the peak of Spruce Mountain and the highest point in West Virginia. It is a lovely drive to get there, as long as you don’t mind curving mountain roads including the final part which is forestry road and not actually wide enough for two vehicles. At the top of the mountain, there is a short trail that you can take to give you several wonderful vantage points of the surrounding area. There is also an observation tower of which I don’t understand the point because it provides views of the surrounding trees and that is about it. However, the views from the trail are worth the detour from the road.

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Independence Day Table Runners

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Once again, I made table runners for a holiday. The main reason I made them for the 4th of July is simply, as is often the case, I found wonderful fabric with which I wanted to do something.

The narrow table runner is like the Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter table runners I made and is for the buffet. I just used strips of various red, white, and blue fabrics. I used a straight stitch alternating with a star stitch that came preprogrammed on my sewing machine for the quilting. The stars did not exactly space correctly. I am going to buy a dual-feed foot for my machine that can do a wide stitch, as I think that may be (part of) the problem.

The larger, wider table runner is an original design and is for the dining room table. It is obviously inspired by the U.S.A. flag. The proportions are similar but not exactly the same as the flag, as I altered the proportions a bit to make it easier to use 2.5 inch strips. I used a straight stitch to quilt the stripe portion of the flag. I originally wanted to buy an embroidery quilting pattern that I could use for the star field, but I could not find one that was just plain stars, and I don’t know how to design an embroidery pattern, so I ultimately just free-motion quilted stars on the blue field. I kind of like the way it turned out, but I also kind of wish it were a little more uniform. I made a duplicate flag table runner that hasn’t been quilted yet, and I am going to wait to quilt it until I can decide how to make it a little bit more uniform. [I made a duplicate as well as some extra of the more narrow table runner because I have excess fabric. My plan is to eventually try to sell them once I figure out how to do that.]

USA flag table runner

USA flag table runner closeup

Independence Day table runner

Independence Day table runner

Independence Day table runner closeup

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

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I went on a tour of Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary today, which sits along the Patuxent River on the east side. I have lived in the DC area for over a decade, and I am still discovering neat places to visit of which I just was not even aware exist. There are lovely forest and wetlands trails to see. Besides educational outreach, they also do scientific research on the wildlife and even archeology. It is a rather busy park really. On our tour, we also were able to go on a pontoon boat ride along the Patuxent River. There were so many red-winged blackbirds and ospreys along with lots of other birds that were difficult to see.

Jug Bay (in the morning while it was raining)

Spatterdock

Spatterdock flower

Jug Bay

Red-winged blackbird among the wetlands plants including cat-tails, wild ride, and spatterdock

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary trail

 

Calvert Cliffs State Park

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I visited Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs State Park today, which I have been wanting to do for a while. The park is known for its beach where you can fossil hunt for shell and shark teeth fossils among others. The hike to the beach is not quite two miles. What I didn’t realize until I got here, mainly because the state’s website gives only the barest of information and is very unhelpful, is how lovely the trails are. The trail that is the most direct path to the beach first passes through a lovely wooded area. It then goes alongside a wetland area, which currently is filled with blooming water lilies. The wetland area is gorgeous and worthy of a visit to the park all by itself.

The beach is small and not someplace I would go swimming, but it seems everyone goes to this particular beach to hunt for fossils, not to swim. I found the geology of the beach to be quite interesting. There were rocks and other objects along the beach of which I couldn’t understand the origin. I picked up a few shells and at least one fossil. However, I also picked up a couple of items that I still can’t determine what they are, even if they are natural or human-made objects. I took photos of the objects I collected. If anyone can help me understand what the objects are in the last photo (also featured in second to last photo), I would appreciate you leaving a comment.

Calvert Cliffs SP trail

Calvert Cliffs SP lily pond

Water lilies

Water lilies

Calvert Cliffs SP beach

Fossils, shells, and other objects from Calvert Cliffs SP

Objects of unknown origin from Calvert Cliffs SP

Mathemalchemy

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I finally got to National Academy of Sciences to see Mathemalchemy before it closes. The exhibit shows the beauty of the art in math, or perhaps of the math in art. I love examining the math in nature and the beauty of it. This art exhibits gave me some ideas for things that are already percolating in my head that I want to make. Possibly because I am really into sewing and quilting at the moment, the Cryptography Quilt was my favorite part. Its construction is impressive.

Mathemalchemy

Yarn and metal shapes

Nautilus

Landscape

Sea life

Seashore

Cryptography Quilt

Curio Shop

Pittsburgh Rivers Boat Trip

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I took the Rivers of Steel Uniquely Pittsburgh Sightseeing Tour today. I have to admit to being slightly disappointed that I could not see more of the leftovers from the steel industry on the boat ride, but it was a nice boat ride. It started near where the Monongahela River and the Allegheny River join to form the Ohio River. It went down the Ohio River just a little then it turned went up the Monongahela River for a bit before turning around and going up the Allegheny River for a little. It was a beautiful day, and it appears everyone who had a boat was on it, and everyone who didn’t was out on their bike or just walking.

Barge going down the Ohio River

Monongahela Incline

Looking down the Monongahela River

In the middle of three rivers

Duquesne Incline with a coal barge on the river and train going under the incline

On the Allegheny River

Looking up the Allegheny River