New Orleans and the Mississippi River

I had a hard time getting my head around the fact that the Mississippi flows through New Orleans from west to east rather than north to south. The river dominates the city. It actually winds through the city in a “u” shape. The right side of the “u” actually flows south to north. They don’t use the cardinal directions: north south east west. Instead they say up river downriver toward the river and away from the river. They also talk about before aKatrina and after Katrina. I took a riverboat down riverfive mikes to where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815. I took some pictures along the way including the dukes that are supposed to keep the river under control.

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Smithsonian

There is so much to see in the museums on both sides of the National Mall I cannot possibly mention everything. I will list that which stands out. Mueum of Natural History: a huge stuffed elephant that dominates the rotunda, dozens of dinosaur skeletons, the Hope diamond, gemstones galore, and Egyptian mummies. Museum of American History: the section on civil rights from 1863 to 1963, the stories of Medal of Honor winners, the section on America at War, the section on Thomas Edison. Air and Space Museum: the Wright brother's plane, all the Apollo space stuff about how we went to the moon, the section on telescopes, the section on aircraft carriers, the section on taking photographs from the air. This last sectio n covered everything from the first pictures taken from the air in baloons and from cameras strapped to the bellies of birds to pictures taken from modern satellites. Of all the museums...

President's Graves

On this trip with David we are going to visit the graves of five Presidents. One of the greatest, George Washington at Mount Vernon. One of the worst, James Buchanan at Lancaster, PA. Three in the middle. Woodrow Wilson at the National Cathedral in Washington. John Kennedy and Howard Taft at Arlington Cemetary in Virginia. The two most impressive Presidential graves I have been to are Lincoln's in Springfield, IL, and Grant's in New York City. I have been to 17 of the 39 Presidential graves. Most of them are very humble. many are located in regular cemetaries. Their grave stones are less remarkable than many others in the same cemetary. I found this to be true of Buchanan's in Lancaster and Tyler's in Richmond. Many are buried at their Presidential libraries, such as Hoover and Truman. Some are buried at their homes, such as Washington, Jefferson, and FDR. I think Lin...

Gettysburg II

The fact that Lee was missing two of his best generals probably cost him the battle. Stonewall Jackson was killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville two months before. He was accidentally shot by some of his own men while he was out scouting the front lines at night. He would have taken Culp's hill at the north end of the battlefield on the first night. That would have made a big difference. JEB Stuart, Lee's most able cavalry commander was off on a wild goose chase and did not arrive until two thirds of the battle was over. Then he failed to get to the Union rear on the third day as Pickett attacked the Union center. He was thwarted by none other than George Custer, who at 26, was the youngest general for the North. Lee took full responsibility for the loss, but his commanders let him down. We stayed at the same mom and pop motel that I usually stay at. It is at the south end of town near the cemetary where L...

Pastor Skar

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