Capitol of Tennessee

Tuesday was a fun-filled day of showing off our hometown to Diana and Tony.  They have been here before and seen some of the major attractions in town, so we concentrated on the capitol building, Bicentennial Mall State Park, and the downtown and Vanderbilt areas.

We got started about mid-morning and after making our way downtown we parked the car at Bicentennial Mall and walked up the hill to the state capitol.  Before going inside, we walked around the grounds stopping at the tomb of President James K. Polk and the statues of Presidents Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson.  Since the capitol is located on top of a hill, we had superb views of the immediate vicinity, which, of course, is primarily state office buildings.  Among the state office buildings is the main branch of Nashville Public Library, the War Memorial Building, and the State Library and Archives.

Andrew Johnson

Unfortunately, by the time we finally went inside, we had missed the last tour before lunch. We didn’t want to wait around until 1 PM for the next guided tour, so we grabbed a brochure and guided ourselves.  The State Legislature is not in session at this time so we were able to step into the House and Senate chambers.  A wrought iron spiral staircase was the prominent feature of the Capitol Library.

Old Supreme Court

House Chamber

Senate Chamber

The building is done in the Greek Revival style and was completed in 1859.  During the Civil War, the Union forces occupied Nashville and transformed the capitol into "Fortress Andrew Johnson."  During the mid-1950s the building underwent some repairs.  Because of deterioration, some of the original columns were replaced.  Pieces of the old columns are displayed on the grounds.

This capitol is one of only a few capitols which doesn’t have a dome.  Instead, its crowning glory is a central tower.

Inside under the center tower

After our tour of the capitol, we ate our picnic lunch at Bicentennial Mall State Park.  This park was established and dedicated in 1996 in honor of the 200th Anniversary of Tennessee becoming a state.  The 19-acre park is down the hill and across the street from the capitol.  The park is unique in that it is really a history and geography lesson on the state.

Decade markers

The wall opposite the decade markers tells the history during that decade.

We finished our tour of the town by driving over to the Vanderbilt University area.  Our first stop was at Starbucks.  With coffee in hand we drove up and down and all around with Gene as our private and very informative tour guide.

We got home in time to rest a little before sharing our evening meal together and then ending our day watching our favorite TV programs--NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.

Tony and Diana had originally planned to leave today, but we weren’t done talking yet.  They’ve extended their stay until tomorrow.  Wonder if we’ll be ready to let them go by then?

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Helena, Montana

Finally, a day without rain.  We were all very excited to see the sun peeking through a couple holes in the clouds this morning.  Peanut may have been the most excited and he’s found the sun’s rays at every window as that great ball of fire has made it’s trek across the sky.

Gene and I left Peanut to his sunbathing and we went downtown.  We had two stops in mind--the Cathedral and the capitol building.  The route we chose took us to the Cathedral of St. Helena first.

The cathedral is named in honor of Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor.  This Gothic building constructed in the early 1900s was magnificent as many cathedrals are.  The high vaulted ceiling allowed for two levels of large stained glass windows.  There are thirty-seven windows in the sanctuary which tell the Biblical story from Adam to the early Church of the New Testament.  They are extraordinary.

We were even lucky enough to accidentally stumble into the sanctuary while the organist was practicing.  It made for a remarkable visit.

Our second stop was the capitol building.  Helena got started in the 1860s as a mining camp.  Even when the gold ran out the community continued to prosper and became the territorial capital in 1875.  Montana became a state in 1889.  Helena was selected capital, an architect hired, plans drawn and approved, and construction started and completed by 1902.

We picked up the self-guided tour guide and proceeded to visit the capitol.  Although it’s in the neoclassical design of so many state houses, this one is much smaller and more intimate than the huge sprawling structures we’ve visited lately.

The legislature was not in session (I think I read somewhere that they only meet every other year).  That’s usually a good thing when visiting a capitol because there’s not so many people around and the House and Senate chambers are empty for viewing.  However, as luck would have it, a very large group of high school students are playing government this week.  They get to elect their officers, so there were campaign signs in every window and propped up on all the statues.  They were voting on and passing bills in the Senate chamber and talking on cell phones in the corridors.  We didn’t stay long.

I think I like this small town.  With a population of about 65,000, it’s large enough to have the things you need--hospital, large supermarkets, a variety of restaurants, some entertainment venues, but small enough not to have the huge traffic problems of larger cities.  The surrounding mountains offer a nice view from almost anywhere in town and, I’m sure, are just covered up in hiking trails.  Of course, in winter you wouldn’t be able to get out your door.

I got the laundry done this afternoon.  The refrigerator is nearly clean out to comply with the no meat, dairy, or plant items to enter Canada.  I think we’re ready to go.  Tomorrow we plan to drive to a rest area somewhere between Great Falls and the border for the night.  That will put us at the border crossing Thursday morning.  Gene has read on the forums that they are searching everyone, but we have also read that others have only had to answer a few questions and were then sent on their way.  We’ll see when the time comes.  Hope it doesn’t take too long.

That’ll do it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  We woke up to a light snow on the ground with temperatures just below freezing.  I was not fast enough to get a picture of the snow plow at the rest area.  We could see evidence of their work, however.  All the bridges and overpasses had been sanded.

We hung around the Welcome Center until temperatures were in the mid 30s.  We were not the only ones there overnight.  We had two other neighbors in RVs and apparently someone pulling a utility trailer slept in their car.  Hope they weren’t too cold.  We were warm and comfy under our down comforter.  The furnace was set of 55 and it ran off and on all night.

The Wyoming Welcome Center at I-25 mile marker 7 allows overnight parking according to Day’s End.  The lot is posted with a 4 hour limit, but, if you ask, they always say “yes”.  However, we got there after the attendant had already left for the day.  We were a little unsure of what to do since it was clearly posted with a time limit.  We got out Day’s End Directory and reread their comments and decided to stay.  Just about dark, an employee drove around the lot, even spoke with one of the RVers.  When he left without telling us we had to leave, we felt assured it would be fine to stay.  Thank you, Wyoming.

This morning we moved over to Sierra Trading Post.  They also allow overnight parking and as long as you don’t block the trucks, you’re fine.  The sign out front and on the door says they’re open on Sunday from 10 til 4, but apparently not today.  Not sure whether it’s because it’s Easter or if it’s because it’s still winter here.  They’ll be open in the morning.  Surely, we can wait to do our shopping until then.

This is a very large complex with the huge retail store and the mail order distribution center separated by a large truck and RV parking lot.

With a lousy weather forecast for tomorrow, we decided to alter our plan a little.  The state capitol is only open during the week and we had originally planned to park at a campground and hang around until Monday to do our sightseeing.  Weather for Monday doesn’t look good, so we decided to walk around downtown this afternoon and head out in the morning.

I must say, it was a very pleasurable experience downtown without people or traffic.  We had all kinds of parking along the street; even would have been room for our motor home.  We could drive very slowly and look at everything without someone being right on our bumper. The down side, of course, was that everything was closed.

After walking around the capitol complex, we drove up and down several blocks in the historic district.  We parked again down by the old trail depot and walked around a couple blocks down there.  The depot is now the Visitor Center and also houses a couple of restaurants.

We filled up the motor home this morning at Flying J.  Had to pay 3.62 for gas.  Their diesel prices were 4.03 (cash) and 4.09 (credit).  It’s high, but we waited until today because it is cheaper in Wyoming than in Colorado.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Colorado's Capitol at Denver

We thought we’d do something different today.  Another state capitol was within day trip distance, so we headed north to Denver.  Besides a great opportunity to get out of the house, we also saw it as an opportunity to save a couple days later on.  We had planned to stop in Denver, but with this delay in Colorado Springs, we may not have the time later on.  So, in order to bypass Denver and still take in the capitol, we went today.

What a marvelous building.  It’s design is, like so many other state capitols, similar to our nation’s capitol.  The inside is very ornate, though perhaps not as much so as Oklahoma City.  There is a lot of brass, stained glass, and Colorado rose onyx marble.  The dome is covered with gold leaf on the outside, so there’s no stained glass.  However, the builders made up for it by putting stained glass in nearly every window on the second and third floors.

We signed up for the tour, of course, but were a little disappointed.  Tours start every hour on the hour and we were there for the 11 o’clock tour.  As is the case in most capitols, the tours are led by volunteers.  Some guides are better than others.  Initially, we were excited about our guide.  He was an elderly gentleman with eleven years experience as a capitol guide.  We were all set for a very knowledgeable presentation.

First off, we got a late start.  The guide had run late returning from his previous tour and needed a break.  Then, it turned out that we were to be accompanied by a group of Nepalese, one of whom was somewhat of a dignitary.  The guide felt compelled to wait for this group of men who were late for this tour.  They finally arrived and we got started.

As it turned out, the guide was very knowledgeable, but he was also very slow--of walk and of speech.  The Nepalese got distracted and eventually left the group, but the guide didn’t realize they were completely gone.  He thought they had been delayed or taken a wrong turn between the second and third floors.  We waited forever for them to show up, which, of course, they never did.

Our late start and delays resulted in being off “tract” in relationship to the other tours being conducted at the same time.  There were no less than 9 elementary school groups touring the capitol today.  With all those school children and the legislature being in session, the capitol was one busy place today.

In addition to the regular capitol tour, there is also a dome tour.  One of my readers highly recommended this tour and it was my intention to do it.  However, I thought it best, in my delicate condition, to pass on that one today.  As it turned out, the dome was closed.  They didn’t offer an explanation, but we had seen scaffolding on the outside and perhaps there is come construction, repairs, or cleaning going on.

We have now visited 23 of the state capitols.  If we ever do get to leave here, we’ll bypass Denver.  We’ll be back, I’m sure.  It’s on the way to a whole lot of great hiking.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Oklahoma State Capitol

We managed to get so far out away from civilization yesterday that we didn’t have a cell signal.  No cell signal, no MiFi, no post.  Now, I’m really behind.  I’ll start the catch up process with our visit to the state capitol.

We went on Monday after visiting the Oklahoma City Memorial.  It was a cold, windy day so we didn’t walk around the capitol grounds.  It was a huge, grassy campus away from the downtown area.  It was even called “Capitol Park”.

The building is neo-classical style which we see so often in capitol buildings.  Construction was completed in 1917.  Well, almost completed.  They ran out of money before getting to the dome.  They didn’t get around to adding that until 2002.

They offer guided tours every hour during the day except noon.  Since we arrived about 11:30 we didn’t want to wait around until 1 PM for the next tour.  We went on our own with the help of a self-guided tour book.

We began on the 5th floor and worked our way down stopping in at both the Senate and House chambers, admiring the art work throughout the building, viewing the new dome, and resting a spell in the Supreme Court.

We completed our tour in about 90 minutes then headed home.  I had enough time to get the laundry done before we were to meet at Mike and Peggy’s.  Peggy prepared a delicious dinner for us ad we enjoyed our last night in Oklahoma City with our friends.

This trip has gotten us in its grip and we were anxious to get moving again.  We packed up and pulled out of Oklahoma City Tuesday morning.  Our first stop, of course, was at a gas station.  Monday, we noticed 7-Eleven had gas for 3.39.  It was just a couple blocks from our campground so we went there.  Over night the price had increased to 3.53.  We were there, so we got gas anyway.  As it turned out, Flying J, which had been 3.43 the day before was now 3.55 (diesel cash price was 3.93).  We still saved 12 cents per gallon at 7-Eleven.

We stopped at Washita Battlefield and then camped at Black Kettle Recreation Area on Tuesday.  That story tomorrow.

I was caught off guard with no cell signal.  This may happen more often.  If there’s no post, you’ll know there’s no signal.  Never fear; I will return.

Gene wants to add a final paragraph to today’s post, so here he is.....

First, let me say Mike Evringham is one fine fellow.  Mike checked out my house battery and eliminated some things from what drew it down of our last boondock.  It is in good shape too and was apparently undamaged by the event.

Second, Mike worked on plumbing.  My water heater was weeping a bunch of water.  He found the thermostat was not flush (no pun intended) against the side of the tank, and therefore the thermostat could not sense the heat and kept asking for more.  He reinstalled the thermostat and all seems well. I even learned how to do that.

And more.  In our looking about we found the converter.  Ok, Mike told me where to look.  And it is a 55 amp, not a 10 amp like I had thought.  My coach alternator is 125 amp.  I ought to be able to recharge a house battery!

So I am quite thankful Mike took the time to look into my problems and teach me a couple things.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Arkansas State Capitol

Our weather this morning was chilly and cloudy with a forecast of rain beginning this evening and lasting through Saturday.  With that information we decided to visit the Capitol building and Old State House since they would require some walking and save the Clinton Library for tomorrow.

In order to avoid the parking problem downtown, we chose to ride the trolley.  We purchased an all day pass for $2 from the RV park office and drove over to the trolley stop where there was free parking, none of which exists downtown.  The trolley didn’t go all the way to the capitol complex.  We got off at the farthest stop west and walked the rest of the way, perhaps a mile.

The Arkansas State Capitol building is very similar to our national capitol building.  The neoclassical style building was construction between 1899 and 1915 and cost the taxpayers of this state a little over two million dollars.  The outside is Arkansas limestone and the stairs and columns inside are Arkansas marble.

The building is several blocks from the downtown business district.  On our tour we learned it is located on the site of a prison.  Because this was about the only hill around, it became the site of the of the new capitol.  The prisoners did much of the construction work, saving a few dollars in labor costs.

We opted for the guided tour instead of showing ourselves around.  It was informative, but the tour guide seemed like she was in a bit of a rush to get to lunch.  Probably the most exciting thing about the tour was getting to meet Secretary of State Martin.  He happened to come out of his office as we were admiring the bronze doors.  The guide introduced him to the group and he shook Gene’s hand.  I was off trying to get a great shot of the 10’ tall bronze doors made by Tiffany and practically missed the whole encounter.

After the tour we made our way to the basement via the “secret stairway” pointed out by our guide and had lunch in the Capitol Cafe.  I had the special--Arkansas catfish--and Gene had chicken and rice.  My catfish came with fries, cole slaw, and hush puppies.  The catfish was very good, not the best I’ve had, but very good. The fries, slaw, and hush puppies were just so so.  But for $7 I’m not complaining.  Gene is the one who really got the bargain. He baked chicken and rice came with two sides; all for just $5.

That was a pretty big lunch so it was a good thing we had to walk back downtown.  We burnt a few calories both with the walking and with trying to stay warm in the cold wind.

The next thing on the agenda for today was the Old State House.  This building served as the capitol from 1836 until the beginning of the 1900s when the new building was finished.  After the government moved out, the building was used by the University of Arkansas for its Medical Sciences program. It has been fully restored to its original magnificence and today, it is a museum with exhibits on the history of Arkansas, it’s governors, and the building itself.  Its real claim to fame came in 1992 when Bill Clinton used it for election night celebrations.  One of the exhibits includes photos of that evening and the dress Hillary wore (along with several gowns she wore as First Lady of Arkansas) were on display.  Of course, he was back again in 1996.

Now, back to the topic of the Riverside RV Park.  There are three rows for parking here.  The row along the river bank is more expensive, which you would expect.  They have full hook-ups and the view.  The middle row is all pull-thrus with full-hook-ups.  This row is less expensive than the river bank row, but not as cheap as the row we’re on against the concrete wall with only water and electric.  The rates are not necessarily “cheap”, but with the half price Passport America it gets right on down there, especially back here against the wall.  The surrounding community is not up-scale, but not awful either and the park is gated for your safety at night.  We also saw a police cruiser cruising around the park about dinner time.

This seems to be a very popular park; it was almost full last night.  Apparently, state legislators use this park and another city park, Burns Park Campground, as their home away from home when the legislature is in session.  There is one motor home here with a legislator license plate.  We would definitely stay here again if ever in the area.

That’s it for today. Thanks for tagging along.

Arkansas State Capitol

Our weather this morning was chilly and cloudy with a forecast of rain beginning this evening and lasting through Saturday.  With that information we decided to visit the Capitol building and Old State House since they would require some walking and save the Clinton Library for tomorrow.

In order to avoid the parking problem downtown, we chose to ride the trolley.  We purchased an all day pass for $2 from the RV park office and drove over to the trolley stop where there was free parking, none of which exists downtown.  The trolley didn’t go all the way to the capitol complex.  We got off at the farthest stop west and walked the rest of the way, perhaps a mile.

The Arkansas State Capitol building is very similar to our national capitol building.  The neoclassical style building was construction between 1899 and 1915 and cost the taxpayers of this state a little over two million dollars.  The outside is Arkansas limestone and the stairs and columns inside are Arkansas marble.

The building is several blocks from the downtown business district.  On our tour we learned it is located on the site of a prison.  Because this was about the only hill around, it became the site of the of the new capitol.  The prisoners did much of the construction work, saving a few dollars in labor costs.

We opted for the guided tour instead of showing ourselves around.  It was informative, but the tour guide seemed like she was in a bit of a rush to get to lunch.  Probably the most exciting thing about the tour was getting to meet Secretary of State Martin.  He happened to come out of his office as we were admiring the bronze doors.  The guide introduced him to the group and he shook Gene’s hand.  I was off trying to get a great shot of the 10’ tall bronze doors made by Tiffany and practically missed the whole encounter.

After the tour we made our way to the basement via the “secret stairway” pointed out by our guide and had lunch in the Capitol Cafe.  I had the special--Arkansas catfish--and Gene had chicken and rice.  My catfish came with fries, cole slaw, and hush puppies.  The catfish was very good, not the best I’ve had, but very good. The fries, slaw, and hush puppies were just so so.  But for $7 I’m not complaining.  Gene is the one who really got the bargain. He baked chicken and rice came with two sides; all for just $5.

That was a pretty big lunch so it was a good thing we had to walk back downtown.  We burnt a few calories both with the walking and with trying to stay warm in the cold wind.

The next thing on the agenda for today was the Old State House.  This building served as the capitol from 1836 until the beginning of the 1900s when the new building was finished.  After the government moved out, the building was used by the University of Arkansas for its Medical Sciences program. It has been fully restored to its original magnificence and today, it is a museum with exhibits on the history of Arkansas, it’s governors, and the building itself.  Its real claim to fame came in 1992 when Bill Clinton used it for election night celebrations.  One of the exhibits includes photos of that evening and the dress Hillary wore (along with several gowns she wore as First Lady of Arkansas) were on display.  Of course, he was back again in 1996.

Now, back to the topic of the Riverside RV Park.  There are three rows for parking here.  The row along the river bank is more expensive, which you would expect.  They have full hook-ups and the view.  The middle row is all pull-thrus with full-hook-ups.  This row is less expensive than the river bank row, but not as cheap as the row we’re on against the concrete wall with only water and electric.  The rates are not necessarily “cheap”, but with the half price Passport America it gets right on down there, especially back here against the wall.  The surrounding community is not up-scale, but not awful either and the park is gated for your safety at night.  We also saw a police cruiser cruising around the park about dinner time.

This seems to be a very popular park; it was almost full last night.  Apparently, state legislators use this park and another city park, Burns Park Campground, as their home away from home when the legislature is in session.  There is one motor home here with a legislator license plate.  We would definitely stay here again if ever in the area.

That’s it for today. Thanks for tagging along.

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Hartford, Capitol of Connecticut

A nice, long hike did not turn out to be in the plan for today after all.  We decided sometime last evening to drive over to Hartford to tour the capitol building.  It’s been on our “to do” list since we got here.  I’m not sure why we decided to ditch the hike and go touring instead.  Maybe we just needed to do something different today.  Maybe we just wanted to take advantage of the easy maneuverability of a small car while we had the opportunity.

Our primary goal was the capitol, but within a mile were the homes of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain.  There are also three different Volksmarches in the city, all beginning at the Holiday Inn across the street from the capitol.  Since the Volksmarches include maps, we made that our first stop.

Genius of Connecticut.  She used to be on the dome.

We parked in a public lot a half block from the Holiday Inn.  If we had known, there was a small visitor lot at the capitol which would have been free.  Instead, we paid ten dollars to park.  Oh, well.

After we picked up the map, we headed out to the Stowe Center and Mark Twain Museum.  Along the mile or so walk, we passed the Cathedral of St. Joseph.  It was a massive structure.  We also passed The Hartford Insurance Company.  That was also a massive complex.

We reached the Stowe Center first.  We did not take the tour of the house, but perused the small exhibit, watched the short film, and wandered around the gift shop and grounds. Next door to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house is the home of her grandniece, Katharine Seymour Day.

Katharine Seymour Day Home

Behind these two fine homes at the Stowe Center is the mansion of Samuel Clemens, much better known as Mark Twain.  Again, we didn’t take the tour, but visited the museum and wandered about the grounds.

We backtracked to where we had started and headed over to the Capitol.  The huge building was built in 1876 and is the only Victorian Gothic style state house in America.  We picked up the self-guided tour brochure and wandered around the two floors which were open to the public.  We just happened to be near the representatives’ chamber when a small school group was there on tour and we got to go inside the chamber with them.  Otherwise, we would have missed this as both chambers are usually locked.  The Capitol is quite impressive from the outside, but seemed rather small inside.  Perhaps it was because of the large amount of space taken by the central staircases.  That left rather small areas all around.  It was very ornate on the inside, typical of the Victorian style.

Mark Twain quilt

Located very near the capitol on Trinity Street is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch built in honor of Connecticut’s Civil War veterans.   Built in 1885, it was the first triumphal arch in America.

We enjoyed our touring, but it was really too hot and humid to be very pleasant walking along asphalt and concrete next to traffic.  The air conditioned buildings were a welcome relief from the heat.  I’m glad we opted not to do one of the 6-mile volksmarches.  Just as we got in the car, it started to rain.  We are blessed, indeed.

Our nice long hike is back on the agenda for tomorrow.

That’s all for today.

Tallahassee, Florida

As you know, Tallahassee is the capital of Florida. As you’ve probably figured out if you have been reading this journal for very long, one of the things on our “to do” list is to visit all the state capitals.

Tallahassee became the capital in 1824 when legislative delegates from Saint Augustine and Pensacola wanted a location about halfway between these two regions.  The original capitol building, a simple log structure, was replaced in 1845 by the Greek Revival structure we toured today.  Now, this building is referred to as the “old capitol” and a new high-rise building constructed in the 1970s currently houses the Florida state government.  We would have also toured the new capitol, but there was an event in honor of MLK Day which prevented us from getting to the front door.  We may try to get back there tomorrow.

The New Capitol

Near the old capitol is Union Bank, the oldest bank building in the state.  The historical plaque out front indicated the bank failed because of “unsound business practices”.  Where have I heard that before?  The building has been many things over the years.  Currently, it is the Black Archives.  There were several displays and quite a lot of Martin Luther King memorabilia.

The Old Capitol

We plan to return to the downtown area tomorrow to visit the Florida History Museum and a local Mission.

Now, about our campground.  This is a fairly large campground and appears to be laid out in a rough semi-circle.  The interior roads were paved many years ago, but have deteriorated badly.  There are a large number of RVs parked here, but most seem to be long term residents.  Most of the rigs are relatively new, however, not old and run down.

The Big Oak Campground is aptly named for the huge live oaks that adorn the property.    It is a Good Sam park, but with the discount, we still think it is a little pricey even with the cable and WiFi.  Even though it is a couple miles from the interstate, because it is located on a major thoroughfare, there is constant street noise. I may notice it more since we just left the secluded area of Rainbow Planation.   This is perfectly adequate for a short stay and conveniently located to what we want to see in Tallahassee.

That’s it for today.  Enjoy the warmer weather.