Deutschland, Deutschland, Über A-a-lles

After about twenty-four hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Leipzig. Well, at least Nadine and I did, plus two of our bags. Two other bags decided to go sightseeing, and we're pretty sure that they caught the next flight out of Philadelphia after ours.

We've had a good night's sleep, and I think that we may have successfully avoided the dreaded jet-lag. I'll be updating a bit more later today or tomorrow, and give all of you a detailed account of our last two weeks in Shepherdstown and the harrowing tales of our overseas travel.

Sorry for the sparse posts in the last couple of weeks, but now that the ball is really rolling, prepare for long and frequent posts!

-Adam

P.S. The words to the German national anthem no longer say "Germany, Germany, over everyone." I'm told that the updated version is something like "Germany, Germany, one Fatherland."

P.P.S. If you ever notice odd characters or funny letters, it's because German keyboards are laid out differently. Sometimes I forget that while I type...

A Pennsylvania Chautauqua

As promised, today we went to Pennsylvania to meet with our friends Steve and Caroline. Nadine and Caroline were in the same cohort at UW, and were fast friends early on. Steve and Caroline were gracious hosts for multiple backyard grill-outs and parties, since they were the only "real people" that we hung out with on a regular basis (translation: they had a house, not an apartment).

Steve and Caroline in Mt. Gretna today.

A few months ago they moved back to Philadelphia, heralding the break-up of our circle of friends. The parting was not so bitter, though, because we knew that we would have this extra time in Shepherdstown and could drive up to Pennsylvania and meet with them. So, this morning we got up and hit the road at around 9:15 AM, headed for Mt. Gretna, PA.

125 scenic miles of mountains, trees, streams, and sunlight.

We took a very scenic route, driving up through Maryland, over mountains and through state parks, then into Pennsylvania, where we carefully skirted Gettysburg on our way east. I say carefully, because even though we were not driving through the battlefield itself, I still complained of a heightened blood pressure, quickened heartbeat, shortness of breath, and nervous tapping once I started recognizing road names. For those of you that don't know, the first time I was on the battlefield there, about twelve years ago, my parents were barely able to slow the car down to a tolerable speed before I was literally leaping out of the moving vehicle. Therefore, I think I was quite well-behaved, given the circumstances.

While on the road, however, Nadine let it slip why she and Caroline had picked Mt. Gretna: there was a major Arts and Crafts festival going on. Now, normally, I hate arts and crafts festivals like some people hate clowns, so suffice it to say that I would have been happy to turn the car around and head back to Gettysburg.

My reaction to the news that we were going to an Arts and Crafts Festival.

But, we had friends to meet, and they would have been less than enthused about the Civil War battlefield nearby. I was a little surly, especially when traffic got crazy and women pushing strollers down the middle of the road were playing chicken with our Honda.

Yet although it was crowded, it was a good time. The trio of Nadine, Steve, and Caroline got some lunch (french fries, an orzo salad, and a quesadilla, respectively) at "The Goodie Shoppe," and we sat on hay bales and chowed down.

Nadine and Steve outside of the Goodie Shoppe, one of the largest food tents I've ever seen outside of the Midwest.

Then it was on to the booths. There were a lot of nice things and a lot of kitschy things, but after a while of wandering we finally came upon the artist Phill Singer's booth. I couldn't resist this painting:

and we wound up getting it and its lovely frame. It will live at Fred and Sarah's for the next year, then come home with us.

Just one (of many, many, many others) humorous piece of kitsch. Wyatt, for some reason it reminds me of you.

Mt. Gretna is a nice little community, mainly composed of vacation houses. It was founded in the 1890s, as a Chautauqua, or center of learning. The Methodists founded a number of these throughout the country, and they helped drive the Populist movement of that era. At one time, before the Chautauqua was even there and all that existed was a chestnut grove, President Benjamin Harrison came out and picnicked in the woods. Unfortunately, it is definitely NOT built to handle the thousands of festival-goers that were there today.

One of many signs adorning Mt. Gretna's streets.

The congestion that backed up country roads for miles.

After we got the painting, we continued on and stopped by a woman with a selection of musical instruments, most notably her washtub bass and her band-mate's Harpolin, or Harpolin-bowed psaletery. Essentially, it is a harp that sits across the lap, but then it also has a little violin-esque attachment that he plays with a bow using his other hand. It was very unique, and we were fortunate enough to have them play a few songs.

John Kovac and anonymous washtub bass woman.

One of the other performers we found was this guy:

who was putting on a show with a monkey. It was sort of a mix of magic, comedy, and monkey, but was very entertaining. At least to Steve and I. We kept looking at each other, nodding in affirmation that yes, it was good, because yes, it was a monkey.

Finally, we stopped at a small pizzeria and grabbed a couple of slices, a cheesesteak for me, and an ice cream for Nadine. It was okay food, but I think the biggest thing we were looking for was a spot in the shade and somewhere to sit.

A scant couple of hours later and we were home (well, we did take a little bit of time out for soft-serve at the best ice-cream parlor in the world, Nutter's Ice Cream of Sharpsburg, MD). It was a long day, but a lot of fun. And despite my initial skepticism, even the Arts and Crafts was fun, although part of that was undoubtedly the wonderful company that we had. Thanks for the great day, Steve and Caroline, and we hope to see you across the pond!

Nadine's P.S.

I just wanted to give a big shout-out to public transportation. What better way to start off our adventures than by taking a train?! Especially since train (and tram) travel will be our primary means of transportation in Europe. I also love this little book below. It contains historic and current maps of all metro system in the world and already served us well today when navigating the D.C. metro system. Yay for green traveling! - Nadine

Alexandria isn't just for Egyptians

Greetings from Wonderful West Virginia! My apologies for a couple of days of silence. We've been recuperating, meeting people that we haven't seen for some time, and just enjoying having a couple of days off.

The last few days have been fairly uneventful. In essence, Monday through Wednesday, we did little venturing beyond the door of Fred and Sarah's house. Borders (in Hagerstown, MD) and Martin's Foods (Martinsburg, WV) are the full extent of the explorations for those days, and that was mainly so that I could make my famous Moroccan Chicken Stew and my Chicken Alfredo. Other than that, I've hung out several times with our other friends, Jessie and Jason, who we've been friends with since college.

Until today!

A friend of ours from Madison, Maggie, has been living in Alexandria, VA with her fiancee. We figured it is not a long drive from Shepherdstown, so we got up bright and early this morning (6:00 AM) and caught the 7:40 AM MARC train from Brunswick, MD. By about 10:00 AM, we were in sunny and humid Washington D.C.

Union Station in Washington, D.C. - Pretty nice for a train station!

The Capitol Dome from Union Station.

First things first, we stopped at a greasy spoon near the train station called Bagels and Baguettes or some such thing. It was okay... Rather greasy, even Nadine's plain croissant. But, it gave us fuel for the next phase.

Since we were meeting Maggie at 12:30, and we still needed to take the Metro out from the Mall, we decided to hit a museum. We are, after all, a couple of certified historians! We had never been to the new Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. It is a nice museum, and I am glad that they spent so much time on their exhibits. It is very tastefully done, and seems like it would be kid-friendly, too. Highly recommendable!

Then it was off to Alexandria. We took the Metro to the King Street exit, then were picked up by Maggie. Maggie and Nadine took their preliminary examinations together, and have been friends ever since that trial by fire. Nothing bonds grad students quite like the pre-lims ordeal (or so I've been told).

When we were on the way to downtown Alexandria, I mentioned that I knew very little about the town, other than that Robert E. Lee lived there, and that the first blood of the Civil War was spilled there. Skip the following if the Civil War is not exactly your cup of tea.

(In May of 1861, James Jackson, the strongly pro-Confederate owner of the Marshall House, flew a large Confederate flag over his hotel. When Union troops under Col. Elmer Ellsworth crossed over from D.C., they immediately went to the roof and tore down the flag. On their return, however, James Jackson ambushed them with a loaded shotgun. Col. Ellsworth, a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, took the lethal blast to the chest at point-blank range. Ellsworth's troops promptly bayonetted Jackson, who died of his wounds.)

Death of Col. Elmer Ellsworth (from an eye-witness description), May 24, 1861.

Anyway, as we were walking to Maggie's recommended restaurant, La Madeleine, what should we see but the following:

Plaque on the side of the Marshall House.

Marshall House, ca. 1860s.

The Marshall House today.

I was overjoyed. I eventually went in and asked if there were any exhibits, but the building now houses the swank Hotel Monaco, and has long since renovated over any Civil War-related areas and donated any historical materials to the local historical society.

We then went to La Madeleine, which is apparently a local chain restaurant. Nadine had their Crepes Romanoff (whole-wheat crepes with a strawberry, cream, and brandy sauce); I had the Croque Monsieur (ham, swiss, and a creamy garlic sauce) half-sandwich, black-pepper potato chips, and a cup of potato-leek soup; and Maggie had a vegetable pasta dish. We then topped it all off with desserts (mini-tiramisu and a single espresso for me, mini-sacher torte for Maggie, and mini-fruit tart for Nadine). Great food! If you're ever in Alexandria, it is well worth the stop.

We then wandered a bit. I finally got to see the exhibit on the Marshall House at the Lyceum, which is like a little Alexandria Historical Society. It was kind of sad, as there was no one there, save for me, a guy from New England, and a woman behind the counter muttering to herself and collecting the "suggested" $2.00 admission fee. Nadine and Maggie waited outside. Sadly, muttering-lady may not have realized that she was muttering to herself: the guy from New England kept asking if the building was haunted, because he kept "hee-ahring whispuhs." The woman said that she didn't hear anything, and as soon as she was alone again, would go back to muttering, and it would start all over again.

Fun-fact about Alexandria: From 1801 until 1847, Alexandria officially broke away from Virginia and was part of the District of Columbia. Apparently, its needs were not being served by the District, so it came back to the fold in 1847.

After that, we searched in vain for ice-cream, then high-tailed it to the Metro station. Following a few hugs and multiple declarations that Maggie needs to visit us in Shepherdstown (which she does!), we were back on our way. It was just the right timing, too, since it started to rain and lightning at that point.

When we finally got back to Brunswick, the sun had routed the rain clouds, and it was sunny yet again. After watching an altercation between a couple of commuters, and nearly getting t-boned at a round-about (round steak-ed?), we were home.

The Brunswick, MD train station, and a smattering of commuters.

That's all for now. We've got a slow day tomorrow, but we will be heading to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on Saturday, so keep watching for more updates soon!

The Eagle Has Landed

Just a quick post for now, since we drove all day.

We've arrived in Shepherdstown, WV, and are lounging about on our friends' (Sarah and Fred's) couches. Nadine's got the Olympics on, I've got my computer humming away, and Sarah's got food cooking in the oven.

More later. Food and rest now.

Adam, Nadine, and Canned Heat

For those of you who don't know, Canned Heat did the song "On the Road Again."


Well, we hit the road today, sans John Morgan (our cat), but with a car full of stuff. Currently, I am in a Hampton Inn in Springfield, OH. Normally, we drive down through Chicago, pick up I-80, head off to I-76 near Pittsburgh, swing down to I-70, then Maryland Rt. 65 to good ol' Shepherdstown. On a good day, it should take about 13 hours or so. Whenever we've done the journey there or back, we've always done it in one day.

Today, however, we were up early and headed to the old apartment to finish cleaning. After a stressful morning and early afternoon of dusting, sweeping, and mopping, we were finally back to our friends' house (read: staging area for the move) to pack up and get underway.

Around 2:00 today, we jumped on the road. Instead of the normal route outlined above, we went straight down I-39, then took I-74 from Bloomington, IL to Indianapolis, IN. There, we
took up I-70 into Ohio.



I looked up the Hampton Inn in Springfield, and it got great marks. Looking forward to breakfast tomorrow, though so far it is a pretty nice hotel.

Other items of note: If you ever make it through Champaign County, IL, be on the lookout for "Burma-Shave" style advertisements for a local group called Guns Save Life. Not lives, mind you, but life. Their website http://www.gunssavelife.com/ should convey just how nutty they are. Unless you're into guns. A lot. At which point it's probably less nutty... I think my two favorite sign slogans were:





Dialed 9-1-1


And I'm on hold.


Sure wish I had


That gun I sold...





And:





My mom sleeps safe


She has no fear.


Thugs steer clear


or Bang! they'll hear.


Also, around Richmond, IN there is a real-estate guru with a TON of billboards. Not that uncommon, but he has some bad marketing people, esepcially considering his name: Tom Raper. Signs like "Tom Raper - All the right parts for the job," or "Tom Raper - Don't worry, he'll get it done." It should be innocuous, I know, but it just sounds ominous when a sign is declaring that he raper will get the job done.

That's all for tonight. It's late, and I need some rest before another long day of driving.

The End of an Era

Today was my last day at Borders. I've been there since September 19th, 2007, so it wasn't that long, but it was definitely long enough for me to meet some great people. It was sort of a melancholy day, since I was having to say goodbye to some people that were very big parts of my life over the last year or so. There was cake, so it wasn't all bad, but it was still sort of sad. When Nadine came and picked me up, she said that it was really tumultuous for her, too. Borders has been such a big part of our lives, long before I started working there.

In addition to today being my last day at Borders, I finished working for the Mansion Hill Inn/Trek yesterday. I also finished up at the Wisconsin State Historical Society last month, so it's about time to start thinking about packing up and hitting the road.

We bought a couple of new suitcases this evening. They're the first ones that I have ever bought. Not that I am retiring the old ones, mind you. I've got some old bags that have served me well on multiple continents. But, with the major move to Germany, we were thinking that getting some jumbo sized pieces might work out a bit better, considering the amount of stuff we want to get overseas. Not like the new 50 lbs. limit on bags will allow us to carry all that much, but it's the thought that counts.

Photographs of the cake at Borders (thanks, Dayna!) and the farewell note to come once I can get the images to actually transfer to my computer. Currently, the image doesn't quite make it into the e-mail account when I text it...