Denver

We have been in Denver for over a week and are really enjoying our time and are getting to know the city.  Our temporary abode is a studio apartment on the 18^th floor of Brooks Tower, one of the first high rises in downtown Denver.  It provides all of the amenities that we could hope for:  we are one block from the 16^th Street Pedestrian Mall and one block in the other direction from Denver’s really wonderful Cultural Center. 

This is an example of the nice plantings and
gardens you find in Denver's public spaces

At the west end of 16^th Street, there is lovely river side park and walking trail.  With the wonderful weather and summer’s long days, Larry walks from the apartment down to the river and back almost every morning. Sue is still dealing with the effects of her arthroscopic knee surgery, so she is still avoiding long walks for the meanwhile, but fortunately, there is a great outdoor, heated pool, on the 3^rd floor—many days we both take a dip and/or do some water aerobics.  A couple of times, Charlie and his parents have been able to join us.

Bryn, Grant & Charlie during Charlie's first swim.

Being able to spend time with Charlie, Bryn & Grant is the best part of our time here.  We see them almost everyday.  In just the little time that we have been here, Charlie has grown and developed so much.  A couple of weeks ago, he struggled to raise himself up with his arms and had no concept that he could use his arms and legs in coordination.  All that has changed—he now regularly raises himself up and “scooches” across the floor—he has not quite mastered crawling—you might describe it as gathering your feet and hands under you and lunging into a face plant, but he seems to get anywhere he wants and doesn’t seem to hurt himself. Right now we can put him on the floor and he will entertain himself and not get into too much trouble.  That will surely change once he fully masters the crawling.

Charlie has gotten so big!

One of the goals of this year is to decide where we might want to settle, and Denver certainly is a strong contender.  Besides the obvious, it has much to commend itself.  For us, the climate is very compelling.  The summers are warm and sunny—this year many here are complaining that it is hot, but for those of us used to the steamy East Coast, it ‘s not so bad.  It has four very distinct seasons, including a dramatic and sometimes snowy winter.  There are lots of cultural resources and activities—just this week we were able to score tickets to the musical, The Book of Mormon. 

Featuring a number of actors from the original Broadway production, it was incredibly irreverent and funny (and risqué). We laughed ourselves silly and thoroughly enjoyed it. In the coming weeks we hope to visit some of the city’s many museums, and see some of the nearby national and state parks. The city takes great pride in its appearance, and throughout downtown there are plantings on almost every street and the parks are often beautifully landscaped.

Bryn and Grant, neither of whom had any experience with gardening, have created a lovely garden at their home which is located in the Highlands area of the city—only  a 10 minute drive or 20 minute bus ride from our apartment. Highlands was one of Denver’s first suburbs.  Their small (950 square feet) house was built in 1911, with most of the other houses in the area dating from the teens and twenties.  When they bought it two years ago, it had not been updated since the 1950’s so they have had to put a lot of time and sweat into renovating it, including a new kitchen, bathroom, back porch and deck. It is perfect for their needs right now.  We are looking forward to helping with the landscaping and trying our hands at gardening in a new climate.

Grant & Bryn's garden (with their house in the background.

One final personal note, both of us now have new phone numbers:

Sue: 303-551-4498

Larry: 303-550-4542

Landscapes Part II

It was an unexpectedly different journey across Texas.  Northeast Texas is not what most people think of Texas.  Dallas is 100 miles to the west and Houston 200 miles to the south.  This region is still primarily an agricultural society—lots of cotton and other crops and cattle grazing (now in parched, brown fields), with an occasional oil or gas pump, lazily going up and down. 

The GPS took us on the back roads and through a lot of dying towns and deserted small farms.  The towns all have their corporation signs, listing their population—700 here, 2000 there.  But the common theme really seems to be a dead or deserted downtown. In the countryside, there are a lot of abandoned houses and homesteads; it seems either agri-business or the draw of city life has drained the life from the area.

What was different is that on the state, county and farm roads, we saw very few franchise giants—seems like we went 200 miles without seeing a McDonald’s, and coming from the East coast where you see them at nearly every interstate exit or city street corner, it was somewhat surprising.

We stopped in Tyler, Texas to visit my high school buddy, Jay Field, and his wife, Laura.  They live in a lovely, Spanish style home on a large manmade lake outside of the city.  They have been there 15 years and in that time, they have rebuilt and remodeled much of the house, most of it done to perfection by Jay.  

Jay & Laura's Boathouse sits high & dry these days.

Laura is a retired art teacher, and Jay’s current project is building her a studio.  Their delight is their grandchildren—twins (boy & girl) who are almost three. Having recently joined the ranks of grandparenthood—we can understand and empathize with that special feeling. It was great to reminisce—and we promised to be better about staying in touch.

Jay, Laura, Larry & Sue

We left there and drove north about 100 miles to Pickton, where my Aunt Gladys lives by herself in a mobile home.  She was delighted to see us and made us a good chicken dinner.  We had a wonderful evening visit, a comfortable bed, and she sent us off on our journey with lots of hugs and hopes that we would visit again.  Aunt Gladys reminds us so much of Larry’s dad, who died six years ago—she looks very much like him and when we close our eyes and listen to her, we can hear Dad talking.  They share a wonderfully dry sense of humor, sparkling blue eyes and a chuckle that starts deep in the chest.  

Driving west from Pickton, again the GPS took us on the back roads, away from Dallas, although more than 50 miles outside of the city, you could see where the city is expanding into the countryside.  Near Denton there seemed to be thousands and thousands of large new homes, plopped down in the middle of former pastures and fields.

At lunch we stopped at Bono’s Chophouse—great find.  We shared a jalapena marinated steak—delicious—deep in the heart of the Texas panhandle. What could be more appropriate?

We arrived in Amarillo late on Wednesday evening, and our time there was interesting.  We found out that Palo Duro State Park was just a few miles south of town. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the U.S.  After stopping for breakfast at McDonald’s (never to be forgotten…as you will hear) we made the drive to the Park in about half an hour, paid our entrance fee and found the very nice Visitors Center.  The exhibits there were very informative—the road through the canyon and the Visitors Center were built by the CCC in the 1930s.  The history of the canyon’s geology and anthropology--populated by Native Americans who were driven out by the U.S. military—fascinated us so much so that we bought a video about the Indians and early settlers of the region.

As we were preparing to take the driving tour of the park, Sue realized that she had left her purse at McDonald’s.  She was in state of total panic as we drove back to the restaurant.  Believe it or not, the purse was still where she had left it.   Travel tip: put your important “plastic” in a separate small purse with a long strap that you can keep on your person; and leave all the rest of your junk in the bag.  If you forget the bag, it holds nothing but easily replaceable stuff.

After calming down, we went back to the park and enjoyed our drive through the amazing scenery very much.  Thank you, CCC !

Palo Duro--truly spectacular!

Leaving the Park at 4:00 we drove toward northeast New Mexico and then into Colorado.  Again, flat, dry landscape for as far as the eye could see.  Cattle grazing in some of the fields; where irrigation is available, you see circles of corn or other crops.  Lots of abandoned homesteads and farms.  Although you wouldn’t think that a state line would make much difference, the scenery really changes drastically after you cross over into New Mexico.  We really enjoyed the drive to Raton from the New Mexico state line—there is even an extinct volcano which might be fun to explore some time. We arrived in Trinidad, CO around 7:00 Mountain Time—about four hours after we left Amarillo! We are excited about getting to Denver soon!

Landscapes, Part I

Landscapes

Driving across the country, or at least driving from NC to CO, you experience some dramatic climate and landscape changes.  Much of eastern NC is flat with pine forests predominating, but there are lots of bogs and swamps as well as small and large farms. Northern GA has more rolling hills, still lots of pines, and the soil, of course, as everyone knows is “red Georgia clay.”

As we traveled through AL and MS, the hills got a little higher and it seemed like there were more oaks and other deciduous trees.  Cattle and horse farms became more common, replacing some of the large cotton and corn fields we had gotten used to—although those certainly didn’t disappear. A lot of our travel from NC to MS was on interstate highways—you make good time, but there is a certain sameness from state to state and exit to exit.  Then just past Jackson, we turned off the interstate onto the Natchez Trace, which we have mentioned before.

That was a delightful interlude.  Almost immediately, your horizon shrinks and you are driving through a shady, green, tree lined two-lane highway, and you can only go 50 or 55 instead of 75 or 80 mph. After 20 or thirty miles, we realized that we almost always were going downhill—it was seldom a steep pitch, but it was certainly noticeably downhill.  Fifteen or twenty miles outside of Natchez, the woods were interspersed with swamps, and we saw more and more live oaks and cypresses and other Spanish moss draped trees appeared.

If you follow the Trace to its terminus, you drive right into the city of Natchez, which is perched on a bluff, high above the Mississippi River. One reason the Union Army wanted to occupy the city was the commanding view it provides for miles up and down the river. More recently, the city has taken advantage of the bluff and created a wonderful walkway along the crest of the bluff—this is both useful and scenic.  The walkway in on top of a wall that helps prevent landslides that have occurred periodically throughout the city’s history.

Lovely Victorian homes along the Natchez Bluff walk.

The Mississippi River is a beautiful and awe inspiring view from the bluffs—but even we could see that it is much lower than it has been in the past, and there are hundreds of barges and boats tied up along the river’s edge, waiting for the time when the river level will rise again.

Vies of the Mississippi from the Natchez bluffs;
barges are tied up waiting for the river flow to  come back up

Looking downriver from the bluffs of Natchez, you can see the twin bridges that we used to drive into Louisiana. Louisiana has its own flavor—both in food and environment so that you seem to “feel” the state; there were sights that reminded us of New Orleans, especially the food and restaurants, but there was also much that reminded us of the area in Mississippi we had just left.  Small, farming towns predominate, separated by fields of cotton, corn, and sorghum with lots of horses and cattle too.  In almost every town, we also signs of the large number of Latinos who have come to live and work here.

Sunset over the bridges that link Mississippi & Louisiana

Natchez Trace

Leaving Montgomery, we thought we could make it to Jackson on Saturday, but we were pretty tired by the time we got to Meridian. We stopped there and armed with a coupon, we found an inexpensive, but very nice and clean room at the Quality Inn. Travel tip: always stop at the welcome center and look for the hotel coupon books—they really can save you money!

Venturing into downtown Meridian, we stumble upon the Weidmann Restaurant, a local eatery since the 19^th century.  We split a delicious catfish meal and black bottom pie, local specialties.  The proprietor stopped by our table, and we had a nice conversation about his life in New Orleans before Katrina, and how he and his family now enjoy life in Meridian. Many evacuees have returned to New Orleans, but others have made new lives elsewhere and will never go back.

Next morning after one of the best omelets we’ve ever eaten (included with the room and made on the spot by a woman who gets a call from a Japanese business man each time he comes to the U.S. to be sure she is working) and a refreshing morning swim, we headed for Natchez, MI. We called ahead to a B&B,  The Wensel House, and the owner, Mimi Miller, suggested we drive part of the Natchez Trace Parkway (kind of a lowland Blue Ridge Parkway— also constructed by the CCC). 

It follows the path taken by native Americans and later Mississippi river boatmen who floated supplies down river and rode back north on the trail to “Kaintuck.”  After a little over an hour and a half on I-20, we were happy to exit onto the Trace--our near 100 mile trip was really pleasant, passing mostly through wooded glens and pastures.  We stopped at Emerald Mound, the second largest Indian Mound in the US, and a small historical exhibition about the original Trace, which was first laid out during the first decade of the 19th century and connected Nashville (and eventually Washington, DC) to Natchez.

The Wensel House was perfect for us--a restored 1888 Victorian with just three bedrooms. Nicely appointed with period furniture, it is not too stuffy or over decorated.  Our hostes was welcoming and full of good information (she and her husband are art historians and historic home restorers).  She sent us to the river front and the Magnolia Grill, and told us we had to get the fried green tomatoes with crawfish remoulade--perhaps one of the best dishes we have ever eaten.  

We stayed two nights in Natchez, spending a full day touring antebellum homes.  Natchez saw little fighting in the Civil War, and when Vicksburg fell in 1863, Natchez’s cotton merchant elite decided it was much better to preserve what they could and the city surrendered without any resistance.  Thus more than forty pre-Civil War homes were spared. We toured Longwood (pictured in our first blog and, to this day, only the ground floor having been completed—very interesting to go upstairs and see the internal structure of what was to have been a 35,000 square foot mansion), Melrose, Stanton and Rosalie. They were all impressive although Melrose and Longwood were our favorites. Melrose is now a part of the Natchez National Historic Park, and the National Parks Rangers provide an outstanding tour.

Touring these wonderful homes, I am glad that they have remained intact over the years for us to see and enjoy, but we were somewhat troubled by the emphasis on the rich people who built and lived in these homes, and the failure to truly acknowledge the horror of slavery. Whenever we tour an antebellum home or plantation, we always see it through the prism of what we learned at Somerset Place, a restored plantation in Eastern NC, which conducts tours from the perspective of the enslaved people.  The life of enslaved people was truly awful-- something that none of us living today can possibly imagine.

We truly enjoyed our time in Natchez and would highly recommend it as a get-away destination, particularly in the spring when they feature “Garden Pilgrimage” when many homes are open and hosts dress in Civil War period costumes to welcome guests. It must be amazing since the few homes we saw were spectacular.