Monday Memories

Minute Man National Historic Park

May 2018

Today we’re going to go to Lexington, Concord, and North Bridge.  For this story we went to the Minute Man National Historical Park.  Here we are in the parking lot with the ever-present Benny the Bison.  The Minute Man National Historical Park commemorates the opening battle in the American Revolution.  The park protects 970 acres in and around the towns of Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord.

This is the plaque regarding the visitor center at the beginning of the walkway to the center.

This is the walkway leading to the visitor center.  It is about a 4 to 5 minute walk one way.

This is the actual visitors center which is operated by the National Park Service.

Inside the visitors center there is a theater where a 25-minute multi-media show, Road to Revolution is shown.  This award-winning, multimedia theater program gives an excellent introduction to the historic events of April 19, 1775.  This is a picture of the inside of the theater.

Continuing our story.  After Paul Revere and William Dawes left Lexington, they continued their ride toward Concord to warn the Patriots gathered there.  They were joined before long by Samuel Prescott.  However, they did not get much further before they were stopped by a patrol of British Regulars.

Though the three men were detained by a patrol of British Regulars, Samuel Prescott was able to elude them and continued to Concord to warn the Patriots gathered there.  They, in turn, gathered on the surrounding hillside to watch and observe as the British Regulars entered Concord.  Once in Concord, the British Regulars begin their search for the reported military supplies hidden there.

Watching from the hillside and now seeing smoke rising over Concord, the Patriots believe that the British Regulars are in the process of burning Concord to the ground.  They begin their advance on the British Regulars and meet them at North Bridge. This is a painting of the North Bridge that is in the Visitors Center.  And this is the restored

North Bridge as it looks today.  This is where the Revolution really began on this unassuming bridge.

This statue, at the far end of the bridge above, marks where the Patriots stood and faced the British Regulars.

On this bridge the militia men confront the British Regulars, who fire and kill two colonials.  The militia commander orders his men to return fire.

This is considered an act of treason against the British government and would become known as the shot heard round the world.

The British Regulars regroup and begin their retreat back to the safety of Charlestown along Bay Road.  But the battle is far from over.  As they struggle back to Charlestown militia ambush them time and time again.  By the time the day was over and the British were back in Charlestown the British count 74 dead and 174 wounded soldiers.  Colonists have 49 men dead and 41 wounded.  The war for freedom has begun.

There is so much more that could be told.  Let me encourage you, make time yourself one day to come and visit the various historical sites in Boston and the surrounding area.

I, for one, was overwhelmed as I stood on the North Bridge and pictured in my mind the battle that raged there that day.  Would I have dared to stand in opposition to the British?  Would I have been willing to sacrifice perhaps even my life on the bridge that day?  I would like to think that I would have.  More though then the questions that came to my mind was the overwhelming sense of gratitude and respect that overtook me as I stood there and remembered the sacrifices made there that day for the freedoms that we all too often take for granted today.   Yes, these past days have humbled me and renewed within me in a new sense of patriotism.

 

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Memories

Wyandot Popcorn Museum, Marion, Ohio

July 2019

 Our reason for stopping here was to visit a very special museum we had discovered while reading another blog.  It was the Wyandot Popcorn Museum located in Marion’s Heritage Hall.  I know what you’re probably thinking, you went to visit a what?  You know the old saying Never judge a book by its cover the same goes for a museum Never judge a museum by its name.  This turned out to be an absolutely fascinating museum.  Come on, we’ll show you.

The entrance into the Museum itself.

Everything is coming up popcorn!

This is a general view of the Museum looking left and right.

Now for some of the special exhibits.  The first is what I call the Paul Newman Popcorn Wagon.

Look at the attention to detail, the pin-striping is simply breathtaking.

Touring the Museum I discovered that the name commonly associated with popcorn, popcorn machines and wagons, and popcorn trucks is Charles Cretor.

This is the 1899 Cretor’s #1 Popcorn and Peanut wagon.  This rare antique is the third oldest Cretor Wagon in existence.  It was the first professionally restored antique and set the bar for future restorations.  This is what it looked like before it was restored

This is what it looks like today.  The difference is like night and day.  The attention to detail, the paint, the lettering, the molding around the top, just beautiful.

The Cretor’s Number 2 wagon was a great favorite among business owners and street vendors.  It was inexpensive and reliable.  It was advertised as a sure fire money making machine.  The pitch was just set it up in front of your place of business and the smell of fresh popcorn will bring customers to your doors.  Cretor’s promoted it as the most successful and best money getter of any machine on the market at an equal price.  This got me to thinking, could this be a new way of raising money for gas for the RV?  Roll into an RV park, set up, bring out the wagon and being selling bags of peanuts and popcorn!

The next is a rather unusual Cretor wagon.

The wagons of the late 1800’s were nearly all small, hand pulled carts for use on street corners or at fairs, or public events. After 1900, larger horse drawn wagons began to appear. By 1900, Cretors introduced the Special – the first large horse drawn popcorn wagon. It was an immediate success. Three variations of this wagon were created and for the first time in 15 years, C. Cretors and Company showed a nice profit. The machines were, for the most part, still nearly custom made, holding to the Cretors tradition – meeting the specific needs of specific customers. This was also the time period that electricity was becoming the wave of the future. Charles Cretors created the first popcorn machine with an electric motor. Charles did what he knew best – to give his customers the best he had to offer and the best they could buy anywhere.

Then there was this.  The first driven popcorn wagon, the forerunner to the modern day concession trailer.  It is one of only seven remaining Cretor’s Popcorn trucks of the Model T style.

The above are just some – some – of the many wagons on display.  Each either painstakingly restored or in the process of.  It was absolutely fascinating to see the many variants of popcorn machines and carts and wagons.  There’s more, though, for instance I learned that popcorn is an actual planted corp.  I also learned that the majority of commercial popcorn is what is called the pearl type.

Ever wonder how popcorn became part of the movie theater experience?

An early popcorn theater machine – catch the last three sentences starting with assured trouble-free operation. . .

There was also an entire exhibit on the Wyandot family, from how they first got into the popcorn business, when their sons came into the business, global expansion, the devastating fire in Marion, the rebirth of the plant, and their continues success today.  Go to their web site, go to history, you will find it absolutely remarkable what a family can do when they put their mind to it.

Moving away from popcorn, there was an entire exhibit on Cracker Jack.

A display of all items once offered in a box of Cracker Jack.

That was where and how we spent our day today.  It was an absolutely fascinating place to visit and I’m so glad we went out of our way to do so.  If you are ever in this area take the time to do so yourself – you’ll absolutely enjoy it.

Thanks again for joining us on our journey, we’ll see you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

Monday Memories

Maine Sculpture Trail

June 2018

Today started out bright and beautiful with us in no rush to go anywhere – at least not yet.  We had no definite plans for the day when we woke up but that soon changed.  We knew we had mail waiting for us back at Pumpkin Patch and we were interested in finding more of the granite sculptures on the Main Sculpture Trail.  Along the way we were to also discover the Hancock Memorial Park and the Prospect Point Lighthouse.

So if you haven’t guessed already before long we were on our way.  The sky was again clear and the temperatures in the mid 70’s.  A perfect day.  The big question again would be what kind of traffic would we encounter on a Friday in a prime tourist area.  Guess what?  Again, no traffic coming or going.

So our first stop was back at Pumpkin Patch where we picked up some mail that came just a day after we left.  They were gracious enough to hold it for us until we were able to pick it up today.

On the way back, our mission was now to find some of the granite sculptures that make up the Maine Sculpture Trail.  The Trail consists of 39 stone sculptures that are made up of locally quarried granite and basalt.  The artists who made the sculptures come from 16 different nations including Taiwan and Sweden.  The full Trail covers some 200 miles along the coastal region of Downeast Maine.   Following are the sculptures that we have discovered to date.

This is called the Whispering Stones and is located in Hancock, Maine.

This is called The Gate and is located in Gouldsboro, Maine.

This is called the Cleat and is located in Winter Harbor, Maine.

This is called the Tribute to Life, and is located at The Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park.

So, by our count we only have another 30 more to locate and take a picture of!

Along the way, we quite by accident, discovered this memorial park along Route 1 in Hancock, Maine.  First up, is a monument that honors those who fought in the Civil War.

Then there was this flag pole that was dedicated to those who served in WW II and Korea.

Then this monument which was dedicated to those who served in the World Wars.

And finally this monument honoring those who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War.

Finally, we found another lighthouse of which, of course, there are many up in this area.  This is the Prospect Point Lighthouse.  The Lighthouse was built in 1850 and rebuilt in 1891. This white cylindrical lighthouse with a black lantern top matches the keeper’s house, a classic New England clapboard home with black trim.

The station was automated in 1931.  It remains an active aid to navigation and is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and licensed to the American Lighthouse Foundation.  Today, it is  a Navy recreational asset known as Gull Cottage and is available for lease by Active, National Guard, Reservists, and Retired military of all branches.

So that brings us to the end of our day.  Remember in the beginning I said that the temperatures were in the mid 70’s?  Actually over by Pumpkin Patch the temperatures were in the mid 80’s and the humidity was oppressive.  That quickly changed by the time we got back to Schoodic Woods and home sweet home.  The temperature had dropped to the mid 60’s and the fog was beginning to roll in.  You could actually stand on the road in front of our site and literally watch the fog, I guess really a cloud, come down the road!  That was a first for me.

Once again we had a great day, traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.   We had a day of discovery and a day of interesting sights.  Night is now here but no stars tonight since it is completely overcast.  Hey, did you have a great day?  Sure hope that you did.  If not, why not?  Your day is yours to make of it what you wish.  Now a closing thought for all of us:

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Happy Thanksgiving to all everywhere. Whoever you are and whoever you are celebrating the holiday with, I hope you have a fantastic day filled with good food, good companionship, and love.

This past year has been a bit of a wild ride for us. Yet, bottom line, we have so much to be thankful for this year. To begin with I’ve been given a new lease on life, Barb is doing well, we have a wonderful new home, we find something to laugh about almost every day, we have a new four legged friend who brightens up our days, and we are still very much in love with each other. Really, what more could one ask for?

We’re so grateful, also, that we’ve been able to spend time with family this past year and we’re looking forward to spending more time with them in the coming year. Our son Paul and his wife Brittany are coming down for Christmas and staying for several months. My sister Cindy and her husband Charlie will be down in January for a week.

We’re also part of a wonderful community of caring people. We’ve met many new people and made many new friends already. Last year we spent Thanksgiving on our own, however, this year we’ll be part of a community wide Thanksgiving feast.

Yes, we have many blessings to be grateful for this year. And we’re grateful for each and everyone of them. Yes, the words of the old hymn still ring true this year: count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.