Wok N Roll with us...Bob and Teri Along with Atlas and Kalani

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Atlanta, Georgia, Day 1 10/6/15

We are working our way south for the Winter and are spending a couple of days in the Atlanta, GA area. This morning it was a bit overcast so we decided it would be a great day to head off to the aquarium, especially because we had heard it was ranked #1 for aquariums in the US, and It did not disappoint. The Georgia Aquarium is an incredible aquarium and the only other aquarium we have visited thus far that comes close is the aquarium at Atlantis in the Bahamas.

The Georgia aquarium is the only aquarium in the US housing whale sharks, the largest known fish on the planet. Their home here is a 6.3 million gallon tank, and the acrylic walls that encompass their home are 24 inches thick. Getting the whale sharks here is an impressive story in itself. The whale sharks came from the fishing quota in Taiwan, so they would have been eaten had the aquarium not bought them. We believe that Taiwan is no longer fishing whale sharks, but sadly some Asian countries still are. Their import to the US via air, truck and boat had never been tried before. Unlike transporting whales which are mammals, the whale sharks are fish and must continuously have oxygenated water along their journey. We so enjoyed watching these creatures, especially after seeing them water topside, snorkeling near La Paz Mexico. Cabo and La Paz

Little is known about the whale sharks regarding reproduction. They have never been witnessed mating or birthing and it is thought that both of these things happen in very deep areas of the ocean (20,000 feet was mentioned). What is believed, however, is that the whale shark may mate once, hold the sperm in her system and fertilize the her eggs over some period of time. A female washed up that was, amazingly, carrying 304 pups in her uterus, and the pups within her were all at different stages of development. She had from 16 inch embryos in egg cases to 2 foot in length near term pups swimming freely in her womb (and everything in-between).

Another favorite at the aquarium for us was seeing both the Beluga Whales and the Albino Alligator. Such beautiful creatures. And there was so much more to enjoy. We felt that this aquarium concentrated on quality rather than quantity and their tanks are incredibly clear too. Also we were impressed by the numerous knowledgeable docents scattered about that they had to answer questions.

The dolphin show for Teri is always with mixed emotions. She so loves watching the personal interactions with the dolphins including their incredible intelligence, yet always questions what we are subjecting these amazingly intelligent creatures to. The show was well done and the dolphins were all on cue. But between knowing what the Japanese do to support this industry, and the incredible intelligence off these creatures, it is with incredible mixed emotion to watch a dolphin show. There is plenty of information out there regarding these concerns, including the movie 'The Cove' for those interested.

We sat and we watched all the wonders around us at this aquarium and before we knew it, we had spent an entire day here. For those traveling to Atlanta, our vote is that this aquarium is a Must See.

On returning home (we camped at Stone Mountain), we walked up to where we could see the largest bas-relief carving in the world. Bas-relief carving? For more on what this is read: Bas-Relief Carving The Stone Mountain carving is of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. Notice, in our pictures, on the right, there are workers that we can only assume were cleaning the carving.

Last, our campsite at Stone Mountain is quite beautiful. It is both lakefront and very peaceful and probably more enjoyable now that the summer crowds are gone.

Georgia Aquarium

Stone Mountain Carving
Stone Mountain, Georgia

Our Campsite at Stone Mountain, Georgia

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Asheville, North Carolina 9/30/2015 - 10/5/2015

We went to Asheville, North Carolina to become familiar with the town in terms of it being a possible landing spot for us in the future. While we were here for 5 days, unfortunately three of those days were while hurricane Joaquin was raging along the Eastern United States and Ashevile felt her pain. Our first day here the weather held fairly well and we took the opportunity to visit the Biltmore House. The remaining 4 days it rained 3 of those days with some areas experiencing flood warnings. In the rain we visited the various neighborhoods. There are some really beautiful houses in this area. Our investigation, however, found that many of the really special properties we saw on the internet are a bit remote and are reached by traveling up unpaved narrow roads that the two of us agreed we would not want to deal with on a daily basis. On our last day we saw mostly clear skies and we finally got to see the downtown area that has many cool artistic shops and restaurants.

We were glad that we took our first day out to visit the Biltmore House, with 'house' being a huge understatement. The scale, scenery and lifestyle is difficult to get ones arms around. They do not allow any interior pictures. We highly recommend that you take a moment to tour the few pictures that they post on their website. Much of the narrative posted below is written, following the order of the posted pictures from their website, posted at this link. Photo Tour

The Biltmore House was built by George Vaderbilt between 1889 and 1895. With its 4 acres of floor space and 252 rooms it is said to be the largest house in the United States. The house includes 33 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens, a 70,000 gallon indoor pool, a billiard room, gymnasium with equipment, an indoor bowling alley, and 19th Century marvels such as elevators, fire alarms, forced air heating, intercoms and a central running clock system.

The building of the house is an interesting study in itself. During the six year construction the front of the home had its own mini town with various factories producing materials needed in construction. The on site kiln produced up to 32,000 brick per day. There was even a private railroad built to bring materials from the village depot 3 miles away. This railroad was later used to transport the bags of their guests, assuring that guest bags were in the guest rooms when they arrived.

Our partial tour of the house took about three hours to complete. There are additional house areas that we did not tour but there is just so much to take in and 3 hours with the rest of the day was good for us. We choose to purchase the audio tour and we were glad that we did. There is so much we would have missed had we not made this choice. This discussion of our audio tour will follow in the order of the linked pictures link above. Note, we visited so many more rooms than in this photo link, but hopefully this will give you a taste of the wonderful day we had. Our tour had us begin in the marbled entrance hall. As we walked through this entrance we were marveled by the large octagonal sunken interior winter garden. In the center of the Garden is the large bronze sculpture 'Boy Steeling Geese' by Karl Bitter.

The Banquet Hall is the largest room in the house. It measures 42' X 72' and has an impressive 70' high vaulted barrel ceiling. The banquet table could serve 62 guests. At one end of the hall is a 1916 Skinner pipe organ. Organ  Our audio tour told us about how one of the servants dropped a tray of plates once and was expecting the worst. George Vanderbilt is said to have kindly walked over and helped the servant with the plates and was kind and compassionate.

The breakfast room was used for more intimate family meals. The breakfast room with its hand-tooled Spanish leather covered walls is also colored with a couple of original Renoir paintings.

The loggia is located just outside of the tapestry gallery. Standing on the loggia, we could see how its placement was designed for both the enjoyment of the wonderful view and also for the cool breeze that occurs there. The second picture we took below in this blog is taken standing on the loggia..... aka pictures were allowed outside but not inside. We had to agree the view was great.

George loved books and he had a collection of 23,000. Approximately half of this collection he kept in the library. The 18th century ceiling painting in the library, 'Chariot of Aurora' by Pellegrini was obtained from a Venetian Palace. Like so many treasures throughout the house it was acquired by George on one of his many international travels. Many rooms in the house had hidden doors and the library did as well. The hidden door in the library went to various guest rooms to enable some of his guests to get to the library directly. The library is filled with many notable rare books, and many of these are first editions.

The 90 foot long tapestry room was often used for afternoon tea. The room displays 3 tapestries from a set of 7 depicting the seven human virtues. The tapestries were woven in Brussels in approximately 1530. Each of these tapestries, woven with wool, silk and gold, would take five years to plan and another five years to weave.

The Grand Staircase with its 102 steps is a cantilevered marvel with each of its solid limestone steps being counter balanced by the weight of the wall bearing down. The staircase is said to have been inspired by the staircase at the Chateau de Blois in Lorene Valley. Besides the picture in the photo tour link, the exterior of that same staircase can be seen in the first picture of the house exterior below. The massive chandelier that hangs in the center of this staircase is 1700 lbs and is supported by a single bolt that runs through the steel girders under the dome roof. It is said that bolt has been replaced just once.

George's bedroom, located on the second floor, is filled with heavily carved and turned walnut furniture pieces designed with a Baroque inspiration by his architect William Morris Hunt. This room was decorated with 22K gold leaf wall coverings. His private connected bathroom has a tub carved from a single piece of marble. George's bedroom was connected to his Wife's bedroom via the very private Oak sitting room. Our audio tour explained that during this time, while wealthy couples might have separate bedrooms to facilitate their servants helping them change into their various daily required outfits for the day, these couples still tended to sleep together.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's bedroom is oval in shape and decorated in Louis XV style. George had it designed and decorated prior to his wife's arrival after their honeymoon. The room has silk covered walls, Savonnerie carpets, cut velvet drapes and bedspread. The clock on the mantel is thought to be a Phillip Barat's masterpiece that won him entry into the French Clock-maker's Guild in 1764.

The Oak Sitting room was used exclusively by George and his wife Edith and was their perfect hideaway. It is said that they often would take their morning breakfast in this room. Twin fireplaces mark each end of the room, the walls are warm wood caved and the ceiling is an ornate plaster.

The third floor has many guest rooms, all with a name that normally described the room's furnishings. The Earlom room is one of these guest rooms.

The third floor living hall was dedicated to the Vanderbilt's guests and was more casual than similar areas on the second floor. Guests would read, visit and play games in this room.

The more lavish guest rooms were located on the second floor. The Claude room is one of these as was named after one of George's favorite artists, Claude Lorraine.

The Damask room is so named for the damask silk curtains that surround its windows. It too is located on the second floor.

The Louis XV room was a special room. It was a birthing room of sorts. Edith bore her only child Cornelia in this room. The room's liberal doses of gold and silk make this room literally shine on a sunny morning. Later Cornelia (George and Edith's daughter) would birth her two sons in this room as well.

The story behind the Halloween room was not known for years. Finally it was discovered that in 1925 a New Year's party was held by John and Cornelia Cecil (married name). At the party the guests were all invited to paint the walls. Just recently it was discovered that the scene is not a Halloween scene with bats and black cats, but rather scenes from Russian tale La Chauve-Souris, meaning the bat.

The 70,000 gallon indoor pool had no filtration system. The pool would be filled for a swim, steamed water would be added for temperature control, there were resting ropes hung throughout the pool for swimmers and underwater lights when few home had electricity.  There were numerous changing rooms off of the pool area as well, of course separated for men and women and a shower areas too. After a swim, due to no filtration, the pool would be drained. There are numerous accounts of the room being haunted, but for us, all seemed normal.

The gymnasium was impressive for the time. There were climbing ropes, bar bells, rowing machines and showers.

The kitchen was impressive as so were the meals prepared there. They had walk in refrigerators (unheard of for the day) and huge storage rooms for meal provisions. Serving a special meal to guests was so very important especially since much would be written up about this meal in society articles later.

The servants throughout the estate ran off of a central clock. One clock, controlled the changing of numerous clocks throughout the property.

The servants quarters picture shows that the servants, mainly of British decent, were treated well concerning both their living quarters and their meals too. As one might expect, however, they worked many hours and had little sleep or rest time.

Leaving the house, we had a great lunch on the property and then headed off to other areas on this large estate. We toured the gardens, Bass Lake and the winery where we participated in their wine tasting. The winery has been operating for over 30 years and replaced the dairy farm that originally was part of the property. We learned a lot about how they filter out the residue in wine and also how they create champagne and bottle that champagne.

The garden areas we toured were impressive, Bass Pond and a small waterfall were delightful as well. The day was so much more full than we expected when we started out.

As mentioned earlier, we spent the next 3 days in the pouring rain visiting the various surrounding areas. While it was raining, we could still see the beautiful fall colors and we learned a lot concerning the various cute towns that surround Asheville, NC and also enjoyed some of their great food.

Our last day, totally unexpected, we were treated with good weather. We explored the downtown area where there are numerous great restaurants and artistic shops to explore. Oh and we failed to mention... we had.great neighbors here near our campsite that we exchange advice and stories with which is always a lot of fun.

We head off in the morning towards Stone Mountain, GA.

Biltmore House

View from Loggia
Biltmore House

Bass Lake
Biltmore House

Garden
Biltmore House

Thursday, September 24, 2015

September 16, 2015 Chagrin Falls, OH - A Special Tribute to Lee Werner

Leila (Lee) Wilson Werner, Bob's mother at the age of 89, passed peacefully on September 16, 2015 after several years of living with Alzheimer disease.

Lee was born on March 12,1926 in Newton, Massachusetts to Edgar G. and Catherine Beard Wilson. She attended James Madison University and graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English.

She married Robert Rehm Werner (Bob) upon his graduation from West Point in 1950. Together they raised four children. Bob was a career officer in the Army Corps of Engineers and they lived in numerous states and foreign countries. They shared adventures living in Japan, Germany, France, California, Texas, Florida, Virginia, South Dakota and Ohio.

Lee was the foundation of the family. Her husband Bob, being an Army colonel, was in and out, here and there, always busy with Army stuff while Lee it seemed never had a day off. She worked hard, was a strong woman, and was full of energy and perseverance.

Raising 4 children, alone at times while her husband was on hardship tours or was working long hours, could not have been easy. Yet, Lee ventured out alone with her four children tent camping while Bob was away, she cooked daily (in a very organized fashion), sewed all the girls’ clothes, drove her children to every activity imaginable and even did 150 mile round trips to the commissary with a Styrofoam ice chest, kids in tow in a vehicle with no air conditioning in the high temperatures of the Florida summers. She soldiered on and never gave a glimpse to her kids into the tremendous challenges that some days surly brought.

While her husband was on hardship tour, living under the ice caps of Greenland, she facilitated the exchange of audio tapes (reel to reel) with their Dad every week or two – one side was for everyone and the other side was just for her.

When the family moved to Virginia, she had, for the first time, a house to own and she went about making a home out of it with her usual vigor. In fulfilling her Army Officer wife’s duties, she held cocktail parties and entertained friends in her home, and cheerfully attended the numerous balls and promotion parties.

Once Bob and Lee became empty nesters, she very much enjoyed working at Algan. She was an avid tennis player and theatergoer, and volunteered many hours in the community. She enjoyed taking walks, loved nature, and also loved watching her beloved Cavs and Indians play. But, she was most happy at the yearly family reunions, especially when the grandchildren came along.

Those around her learned a lot, not only from the things she said but simply from the way she lived her life. She had an unfailing strength and grace and good humor too. And those qualities continued to shine through even as Alzheimer disease took its toll.

Lee will be taken to West Point Cemetery, where she will be laid to rest with her beloved husband, Bob Werner.

She will be greatly missed by her children, Jacqueline Werner-Gavrin and her husband Marc; Robert Werner, Jr. and his wife Teri; Mary Smith and her husband Chris; and Judith Werner and her husband, Dan Borden; and her grandchildren, Anneka and her husband Dan Klein; Elizabeth and Ariel Werner-Gavrin; Suzanne Werner, and Paul, Garrett and Ryan Nugent; and Aaron and Kevin Smith.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 9/14/15: Day Two-The Eisenhower House and Farm

From the Gettysburg Battlefield field visitor's Center we got on a shuttle bus to visit the Eisenhower home and farm. This is the only home that President Eisenhower and Mrs. Eisenhower ever owned. After leaving the White House, Eisenhower requested to then be refereed to as General Eisenhower.

The front lane leading up to their home is lined with Spruce trees. The Republican National Committee donated a tree from every state. The furthest tree from the house was from Texas (his birthplace) and was planted there to represent the General's long road back from surviving his heart attack. Our tour began outside the house in view of the 189 acre farm where the General raised his award winning Angus cattle. While in the White house, the General used the house as a weekend retreat and also a place to bring World Leaders. He would always begin with showing his guests around the farm, especially sharing his cattle. The General was proud of his farm and he also felt that it put his guests at ease. At the farm the General had time to spend with his wife Mamie, play golf, and also to paint. He is said to have painted 300 paintings here and several of his paintings are displayed in his home. And, on his farm he created both a putting green and sand trap.

It is said besides the peaceful location, they picked this home because the General enjoyed cooking and really liked the kitchen. After purchasing the house, when they began to do some renovations, they discovered that much of the house they thought was brick was actually brick facade and underneath was a rotting cabin built in the 1700's. The renovation effort was $250,000 (estimated at $2.2 million in today's dollars). The purchase price of the farm and home in 1950 had been $40,000. The plans and construction efforts were dictated by Mamie. At one point the General told a contractor "For God's sake, just give her what she wants and send me the bill."

Mamie liked nice things while the General was more into rustic furnishings. Mamie hired a decorator for the living room and formal dining room. With the exception of 4 items in the living room, this room is filled with gifts they received mainly from various world leaders. The fireplace in the living room, however, was a favorite for the General. This fireplace was in storage and was part of the White house (1854-1873) most notable for the General while Lincoln was president. Their living room was mostly a showpiece for guests and they spent little time in there except when entertaining. This was also true of their dining room. We were told that the couple often ate in the den on TV trays while watching TV. Their kitchen, though small in today's standards, was stated to be the kitchen of the future by Better Homes and Gardens. While we did tour the entire house, to us it just did not have the feel of having eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms. In the entry was a guest book, and Mamie was sure to have her guests, including family, sign it when they visited.

Most notable, the Eisenhower farm was very peaceful and it is easy to understand why they loved their farm so much. This tour was a wonderful way to end our time in the historic town of Gettysburg.

The Main House-Eisenhower Farm

Eisenhower Farm

The Farmhouse-Eisenhower Farm

Fireplace from the White house when Lincoln was President
Eisenhower Farm

Living room-Eisenhower Farm

The table was personally etched by Syngman Rhee,
the First Lady of South Korea
and the rug is from the Shah of Iran
Living room-Eisenhower Farm

Den(back porch with view of the mountains)
Eisenhower Farm

Formal Dining Room-Eisenhower Farm

Mamie's favorite painting done by the General
Eisenhower Farm

The Master Bedroom-Eisenhower Farm

The Dignitary Guestroom -Eisenhower Farm

The Kitchen-Eisenhower Farm

The General's Man Cave-Eisenhower Farm

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 9/13/15

We went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to visit the Pennsylvania capital building, and what a capital building they have. While there we also visited the National Civil War museum that was quite impressive.

The seat of the Pennsylvania government was originally in Philadelphia, then Lancaster and was finally located in Harrisburg in 1812, The current capitol building is the third one, dedicated in 1906. In our travels we have been to several capitol buildings, and to date this one, we felt, was the most impressive capitol we have visited yet. Everywhere we looked was filled with art and each piece had incredible meaning. Our guide shared so much, our head was spinning by the time we left. There is more out there on the web for those interested. But we have provided a few picture that we hope you enjoy. What a surprise and what a beautiful place to visit.

The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg we felt was done quite well, especially how they were able to reach out to people of all ages. As one works their way through the museum, there are various video shows throughout the museum with somewhere around 10 characters that tell their story from their perspective as the war progresses. Also, there were various places to listen to how the strategy of the different battles influenced the war. All of this was in addition to a large selection of artifacts.

In this museum we were introduced to many new things. Bite the bullet...this came from soldiers biting on a bullet during a surgery. Artillery mounted on railroad cars was first introduced during the civil war. The Gatling Gun was introduced during the Civil war that could shoot an amazing 600 rounds/minute.

Once the civil war ended it appears that no one really anticipated how to get on with life once the slaves were free. There were so many discussions including sending them to develop their own country in Liberia or even their own state. Even Lincoln advocated that the blacks that fought for the Union should be able to vote, but none others. Truly we could see that our country still had a very long hard path to travel. As is so often the case, there are so many details in history that are seldom thought about or missed.

Last the museum had a special exhibit on Robert Smalls. While we had not heard of him prior to us visiting this museum, he seemed like an incredible man. He was both an escaped slave and a civil-war hero and he went on to serve as a congressman during the reconstruction. He is probably best known for seizing control of the steamship Planter and turning her over with her cargo and weapons to the Union. After the war Smalls rose rapidly in politics, serving in the South Carolina house of representatives from 1868-1870 and in the senate from 1870-1874. In 1877, under a clearly politically motivated action, he was left convicted of having accepted a $5,000 bribe and sentenced to 3 years in prison. He was eventually pardoned by the governor and continued to work towards human rights.. His story is interesting and more can be read about Smalls at: Smalls

We so enjoyed our day in Harrisburg and if you visit we highly recommend visiting both the capitol and the National Civil War Museum.

Pennsylvania Capital Building

Chamber of the House of Representatives
Pennsylvania Capital Building

Senate
Pennsylvania Capital Building

Pennsylvania Capital Building
Just about all of the globes in the capitol are cut to
to create this unique crisscross pattern when lit..

The Supreme Court
Pennsylvania Capital Building

Behind the Supreme Court Justices
Unusual in today's world
Pennsylvania Capital Building

The Supreme Court
Pennsylvania Capital Building

The various floor tiles, covering the history of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Capital Building

Pennsylvania Capital Building

This was adopted as the confederate flag on 3/4/1861
National Civil War Museum Harrisburg, Penn.

Zouave coat and Fez 1860
The Zouaves were interesting all by themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouave
National Civil War Museum Harrisburg, Penn.