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To Montana, >To Kansas, >To DC, >To Jersey, >To Vermont, >To 50th Reunion, >To Maine, >To Great Lakes, >To Minnesota, >To Glacier Park, >To HomeTo Jersey
From Washington DC we headed for the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, just up the road from our host Bob in Virginia. On the way, we experienced a handsome part of West Virginia, a new state for Dianne's growing list. We headed through Harper's Ferry. This town packs a lot of atmosphere into a crook in the Potomac River.
After some searching, helped out by locating a renowned tavern just up the hill, we found the farm where Jim spent his Vietnam-era service as a captain in the Medical Service Corps. The farm was memorable for its non-farm features: a swimming pool, a tennis court, a bass pond, a horse barn and an historic location right on civil war battlegrounds.
In the 44 years since Army days, the farm has seen many renovations. The farmhouse is much improved with a front yard overlooking an enlarged pond. The horse barn has been fitted with first class stalls for the animals. Attached to the barn is a new house for a caretaker. We had a chance to speak with the caretaker and with the wife of current owner, who visits her son in Seattle a couple of times a year.
Revisiting an old home, or an old college, immerses one into a contrast between what was and what has changed. The "farm" that was never really a farm has been transformed by events (there was a major fire in the farmhouse after I had left), old owners and new owners. Yet, there are vestiges of the buildings and area that bring back memories. One can speculate on what Nero would think of Rome should he be granted a tour two thousand years later.
Jim's Army Barracks: Swimming Pool, Horses, Tennis Court, Bass Pond, Hiking, Civil War Memorials
After the visit to the farm, we found Maple Tree, a tent camp (no RVs!) near Gapland and Brownsville. Pretty noisy, but we slept well.
Jim found some sassafras to chew on.
Another lovely treat at Maple Tree Camp was seeing a Luna Moth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actias_luna
June 1: Headed for Federick, MD, and Fort Detrick where Jim did medical research during Vietnam War, 1968-1970. Our car had to go through full security (we just had to show our ID) to enter the Post. Jim took photos of places he remembered, especially USAMRIID, and the street named Ditto.
In the early days of operation with chemical and infectious agents, occasional workers succumbed. At first streets were named for the lost. When the number of streets proved insufficient, in a macabre way, one street, named Ditto, was created to memorialize further "accidents". No one died from laboratory accidents while I worked at Ft. Detrick. The operation was very safety minded. Now, photos are forbidden of the headquarters of my old unit, USAMRIID for United States Army Medical Research, Institute of Infectious Diseases. The photo of the sign from our trip will have to suffice.
However, Googling for USAMRIID produces a photo:
USAMRIID is perhaps the foremost infectious disease facility in the world. Google USAMRIID photos for lots of laboratory photos.
We left Maryland, passed through Delaware and continued on to New Jersey...driving east and north for a couple of hours to get to the seashore. We finally arrived at Island Beach State Park and Seaside Heights. Jim wanted to try swimming in the Atlantic, which he hadn't done for many years; according to a fisher, the water was 51 deg. Jim talked to the life guards about conditions. He went in & did some diving & swimming. Then another life guard walked by and called out to him to get out of the water, he could not swim today.
We left the beach and headed for Normandy Beach, where Jim searched for his old family beach house. He finally found it after much driving and walking around. He explored the property; it is not in great condition.
Windy Moorings, was the Stiles family home at the Jersey Shore. It is till standing, but not for long. The interior has been gutted. The hurricane did a job on it. The monster McMansion on the right of the photo is the house of the future. The two one-story bungalows on the left are on the endangered bungalow list.
As evening approached, we found a restaurant, Jack Baker's Wharfside, and enjoyed a delicious lobster dinner. Nearby was Atlantic Motel, where we stayed that night.
Dining by Barnegat Inlet in Point Pleasant. Commercial fishing boats provide the entertainment.
Spring Lake was always a town with homes suitable for huge families. They seem to fit well in Spring Lake.
June 2: We departed the Atlantic Motel to head for Spring Lake, a favorite shore community of Jim's Mother, in her youth and well into adulthood. The homes, especially those across from the shore, were built in (or designed after) elegant 19th Century mansions. We strolled along the boardwalk, then headed for breakfast at the Silver Lake Pancake Cafe.
We headed for Summit, Jim's hometown; stopped at Shoprite in Springfield, NJ, to get yogurt and got really annoyed at shopping carts all over the parking lot and apparently no one assigned to putting them back in line. Dianne tried to lodge a complaint, but no one would accept it.
New Jersey Parkway. Lots of signs. Lots of lanes.
Proceeded to Summit. Saw Stiles Road, originally Stiles Lane. Jim found his original (now remodeled) home, and other places Jim remembered and important to his family.
House my father built. I mowed all this lawn and more.
We connected with Bill "OB" O'Brien, wife Nancy and daughter Bridget. Nancy imports stylish, beautiful belts in her spare time. They invited us for dinner and overnight. Obie made pizza in his outdoor oven. The pizza was delicious, the dinner wonderful, and conversation delightful.
Christening of a new Tuscan oven.
Fruits of the hearth: magnificent pizza production.
The lineup in Summit.
Another family member.
June 3: We departed about noon for New York, and points north. On the way, Jim had to stop at the Shawangunks, the extensive rock climbing crag system in the East. From a couple of hundred climbs when Jim was active there in the 1970's, the total is now over 1,000. Here is a climber on Rhododendron, Jim's first climb at the "Gunks" in 1973. It has not been worn out yet. The rock is dense quartz gritstone that retains friction even when hit by a blast of rain from a thunderstorm (personal experience, Jim).
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