Visiting the US (maybe)

[Tanker]

Sweet.  In that case, we definitely need to make a point of bringing you along to a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Service Center this summer.

[bboyle]

Soddy,

I'd say the don't miss places have to be New York, DC, San Francisco, the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest. If I were doing it from your patch I'd check out the places that Bourdain filmed episodes of No Reservations. He's got a knack for finding cool spots and plus you'll know where to get good local eats. If you go through DC let me know and I'll buy you a beer.

Typical east-coaster.  You totally ignore 2000 miles of flyover country.    I'll plug New Orleans and the Great Lakes once again.

You got me on the Great Lakes but Nawlins is not flyover country.

And now that you mention it, it's yet another gem not to be missed. I still dream about a plate of boudin I ate there at some little diner.

[bboyle]

Does Wright-Patterson still have a good visitors program or is that long gone?

I wonder if NASA, and Cape Kennedy translate well for non-Americans.  

I'm not really sure what value an extended visit to DC would be for him either.

One thing to maybe try is before visiting, (if you do), the Lincoln memorial would be to visit the place he died.   The seedy little boarding house is still there frozen in time.   The blood and so forth have been long taken care of but the place itself is there trapped in amber as it were.  Tiny, shabby, and the scene of a long and agonizing death.  The contrast between that quite humble place and the grandeur of the Lincoln memorial is quite amazing and illustrative of the the sort of mythos that lingers the country.   I'm not sure I have the ability to capture it and translate it into writing, but the dichotomy of these two places taken together in a single dose captures some essential thing, something important about the country I think that matters.   ... or used to for some and still does for others.  

On Lincoln...very well put. They neighborhood has swung upwards radically in the last 10 years but the rooming house where Lincoln died hasn't changed a bit. If you come down here Soddy, go to the Lincoln Memorial at night. It's a veritable temple to Lincoln and the statue catches his vibe perfectly.

[bboyle]

A visit to Fort George on the Canadian side and/or Queenston Heights would be recommended.  I'd mention a tour of the beautiful wineries of the region, but he'd end up all drunk and sloppy and like, "I love you guys, man!".  Or I would.

Mostly just you.  I think the only emotion Soddball is capable of expressing is sarcastic disdain. 

After today, and my first ever case of losing my rag (Indian call centre), you can add demented uncontrolled rage to that long list of emotions.

Oh yeah? You'll fit in quite well here then.

[dfgardner]

Does Wright-Patterson still have a good visitors program or is that long gone?

I wonder if NASA, and Cape Kennedy translate well for non-Americans.  

I'm not really sure what value an extended visit to DC would be for him either.

One thing to maybe try is before visiting, (if you do), the Lincoln memorial would be to visit the place he died.   The seedy little boarding house is still there frozen in time.   The blood and so forth have been long taken care of but the place itself is there trapped in amber as it were.  Tiny, shabby, and the scene of a long and agonizing death.  The contrast between that quite humble place and the grandeur of the Lincoln memorial is quite amazing and illustrative of the the sort of mythos that lingers the country.   I'm not sure I have the ability to capture it and translate it into writing, but the dichotomy of these two places taken together in a single dose captures some essential thing, something important about the country I think that matters.   ... or used to for some and still does for others.  

On Lincoln...very well put. They neighborhood has swung upwards radically in the last 10 years but the rooming house where Lincoln died hasn't changed a bit. If you come down here Soddy, go to the Lincoln Memorial at night. It's a veritable temple to Lincoln and the statue catches his vibe perfectly.

Indeed.

Arlington Guard change is pretty good too, if you like that sort of stuff.

I also liked Mt, Vernon:  gives a real good flavor for what a US plantation was like.

Then drive to Sharpsburg to see Antietam:  best preserved US Civil War Battlefield.

All in a day's drive from DC.

[Hakko]

Drive the Shenandoah Parkway (or whatever it's called) and go to Charlottesville. See Monticello. Eat great pizza.

[bboyle]

df, changing of the guard is great....I saw it last fall in the pouring rain when I was showing family around town. Awe inspiring. Ditto on Antietam. Everyone interested in the Civil War simply has to stand in the Sunken Lane once in their life.

[Egbert]

Drive the Shenandoah Parkway (or whatever it's called) and go to Charlottesville. See Monticello. Eat great pizza.

Well, if you goto charlottesville then you have to go to Jefferson's home. Which is, of course, mere minutes from a great winery in the Italian style, Barboursville, located on portions of the original property that Jefferson attempted wine grapes.

In which case you are once again, with the great fortune to be within a stones throw of my place and I'll drink wine with ya.

[dfgardner]

I agree.

I had read Antietam: Landscape Turned Red and the description of the ebb and flow back across the wheatfield by the Dunker Church was also very moving (and bloody:  very very hard to imagine).

And I should add, seeing the Lincoln Memorial, Mt Vernon, Antietam and Arlington pretty much gives good synopsis of near 200 years of US History.

Then I like the other comment about going to a back roads diner and just sitting at the counter eating a hamburger etc and listening.

Americana in a few short steps.

[Egbert]

df, changing of the guard is great....I saw it last fall in the pouring rain when I was showing family around town. Awe inspiring. Ditto on Antietam. Everyone interested in the Civil War simply has to stand in the Sunken Lane once in their life.

My wife had me take her there on my honeymoon. Seriously. Memorial Day weekend.

There's a nice B&B right there on the battlefield.

[bboyle]

What I love about the Sunken Lane is that you can still see how, by a subtle quirk of the terrain, the standing Union lines firing into the lane were actually better protected than the Confederates who where attempting to fire out. It's very cool to see something you've read about illustrated on the ground itself.

[Egbert]

Yeah, the Irish were behind the crest at a slight elevation to the sunken road.
the Confederates, however, did have artilliery on the rise behind them. They could fire solid shot over the heads of the defenders in the road but no canister. Confederate reinforcements had to cross exposed higher ground in order to reach the road, all within pistol shot of the Irish Brigade.

Pretty tough spot to be in for both as the last ground the Irish needed to advance over, to get to the road, was the most exposed.

The beehives getting busted open by artillery was amusing, however.

[dfgardner]

What I love about the Sunken Lane is that you can still see how, by a subtle quirk of the terrain, the standing Union lines firing into the lane were actually better protected than the Confederates who where attempting to fire out. It's very cool to see something you've read about illustrated on the ground itself.

Absolutely agree.

And you think to yourself:  what the $)*( were they thinking?

[Egbert]

What I love about the Sunken Lane is that you can still see how, by a subtle quirk of the terrain, the standing Union lines firing into the lane were actually better protected than the Confederates who where attempting to fire out. It's very cool to see something you've read about illustrated on the ground itself.

Absolutely agree.

And you think to yourself:  what the $)*( were they thinking?

There was nowhere to go back to.

[bboyle]

Exactly....no smokeless gunpowder so the guys behind them couldn't see who was who...they only knew they were getting pounded. The soldiers in the land ended up getting fired on from back and front.