Our favorite photos July - October!
Over the last four months, we've been in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, and Florida, with a brief side trip to California. Here are some of our favorite shots!
Read MoreThe Porches of Mount Gretna, PA
The small town of Mount Gretna, PA is known for many things — but perhaps most appreciated for its great front porches.
Read MoreOur Favorite Photos of May & June!
We spent the last few months in and around Virginia, DC, Pennsylvania and New York. We drove by so many things...there we so many pictures untaken! But here's a few we did get that are worth sharing!
Read MorePhiladelphia — Freedom, Food and the Arts!
Why is Independence Hall so special? Who gave the Liberty Bell its name? How many museums can you pack in a one-mile stretch of road? You'll find answers to all these questions and more in this post about our day in Philadelphia!
Read MoreVirginia's Northern Neck — Water Everywhere
Fishing, oysters, farms, and "antique shops" are all over the Northen Neck, plus there are a growing number of vineyards. Towns are all really small and for the most part, people are extremely friendly. Oh, and George Washington, James Madison, and James Monroe were all born here!
Read MoreOur favorite photos of April!
We rounded out our time in Nashville with a road trip to northern Alabama to learn about the music history of Muscle Shoals, and visit one of Frank Llyod Wright's usonian homes. Then we headed to DC to join 200,000 of our friends in the People's Climate March. We are looking forward to spending a few months in the Northern Neck of VA before heading to the Catskills in July.
Here's some of what we saw over the past month. Enjoy!
Tea Ceremony. Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival. (Nashville does not have a lot of cherry trees — but the US headquarters of Nissan is nearby.)
People's Climate March, DC
Somewhere in southern Tennessee.
Rufus on Natchez Trace. This 440+ mile trail was used by American Indians as a trade route for centuries and later used by European traders.
Florence, AL
Northern Alabama – they are for sale!
People's Climate March, DC
Athena! A big surprise inside the Parthenon, Nashville, TN
Florence, Alabama. Rosenbaum House. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938.
Sculpture Garden. Washington DC
People's Climate March, DC _ People Power!
The many surprises of Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Percy Sledge — Aretha Franklin — Rolling Stones — Bob Dylan — Paul Simon — Bob Seger — Staples Singers — Linda Ronstadt — Cher — Willie Nelson — Lynard Skynard....are just a few of the artists who composed and recorded hit songs in the studios of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
It's a really small town, in a largely agricultural area. We won't try to tell you why and how this all happened there — there's a great documentary for that. (Stream it on Netflix!) If you want to experience a bit of the place, we think this song, by Aretha Franklin best captures the sound the studio, producers, and musicians brought to the music.
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio today
We toured the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, which was formed in 1969 by four studio musicians who split from the producer and owner of Fame studios, where early hits by the likes of Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin, and Etta James were composed and recorded.
We got there early and were the only two on the tour — so we kind of got the run of the place. Get a peek below!
The blue address logo on the front of the building is courtesy of Cher's graphic designer. He put it on her album cover and the studio ended up copying it and putting it on their building.
The Lounge. Much cleaner today than it was back in the day, so we were told.
A million dollar grant from Beats Electronics (Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine) allowed the nonprofit that now runs the tours to refurbish the studio with period furniture. In the recent past, the building had been an appliance store.
The Recording Console.
The equipment in the studio is from the period, but not original to the place. (It is apparently much fancier than what they had at the time.) They have recently started recording in the studio again.
The bathroom where Keith Richards composed, "Wild Horses".
The piano parts for Kodachrome, by Paul Simon, were composed on this piano. The piano had been given to a backup singer when the studio closed. She kept it in working condition for decades and donated it back to the nonprofit that now runs the studio.
Over the River to Florence
The Tennessee River
When the artists came to town to record, they stayed in nearby Florence, Al, just across the Tennessee River from Muscle Shoals and Sheffield where the studios were located.
Florence is home to the University of Northern Alabama and also a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. So, of course we checked that out.
The Rosenbaum house is one of his usonian homes, which were designed to be affordable for middle-class Americans. However, he charged the family $15,000 to design a 1,500 sq. ft home in 1938 — which was not cheap. Mrs. Rosenbaum lived in the house until the mid-1990's, when she moved to a nursing home. At that time, the City bought and restored the house.
Rosenbaum House. Front. The overhang to the right is the carpark.
Rosenbaum House. Back.
Rosenbaum House, Japanese Garden.
Back home to Nashville
The Natchez Trace, a 444 mile trail that runs from Mississippi to Nashville, is now a parkway managed by the National Park Service. We could pick it up nearby, so, we took the slow road back home to Nashville, following the trade route used for centuries by many American Indian nations.
Overlook
Original Trail (this was detour..the road home was not THIS slow!)
Our Favorite Pictures - Feb & March
Our favorite photos from the past few months!
Read MoreNashville!
We were struck by how similar Nashville is to Seattle in some ways— lots of construction and cranes, skyrocketing rents, technology start-ups, vegan/gluten-free bakeries(!) Unlike Seattle, which has 1001 places to buy fleece, Nashville has 1001 places to buy cowboy boots...and although music is a big deal in Seattle, it is positively unavoidable in Nashville.
Here's a run-down of some of what we've seen & done so far.
Read MoreA brief tour of civil rights history in Montgomery, Alabama
We took a day trip to Montgomery, AL to visit some of the key sites of the civil rights movement. We were hoping for inspiration and guidance for uncertain times. We got it!
Read MoreOur Favorite Pictures from January
January was a busy month! We became official residents of Florida, took part in two peace actions for what we believe in, went camping and took a day trip to Montgomery, Alabama. Here's some of what we saw....
Read More2016: Our Year in Pictures!
Thanks for coming along for the ride on our year of adventures....here's some of what we saw. We look forward to sharing more with you in 2017!
Read MoreThoma's Jefferson's Virginia
Thomas Jefferson was not a practical man. Practical people likely don't author the Declaration of Independence, become the Third President of the United States or found a University while in their 80's. On the other hand, practical people likely don't spend 40 years building their house, die $107,000 in debt (in the 19th century!) or leave a complicated legacy of slave ownership and suspected sexual assault. He's a tricky guy.
Read MoreOur favorite photos of October
We know we didn't put much on our blog in September — sorry! We tried to make up for it in October. Here are some of our favorite shots from our explorations around Asheville this month. Next stop — Charlottesville, VA!
Read MoreThe Biltmore Estate — Now, that's fancy!
In the 19th century Cornelius Vanderbilt took a $100 loan (not $1M!) and turned it into a fortune after investing heavily in railroads. This fortune would allow his grandson, George, to build the largest home in America, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.
Read MoreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park — America's Most Visited Park
Founded in 1940, for "the permanent enjoyment of the people", the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America's most visited park. (Who knew?)
Read MoreOur favorite photos of September.
Wait...what happened to September?! Compared to the last 8 months, it seems we've been a bit lazy! But, we have been having fun exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Forest.
Read MoreNear and Far: Big Bend and Davis Mountain Parks
If you want a little bit of everything Big Bend National Park is the place for you. You just have to get there. It is REMOTE! We ended up spending a lot more time in the Davis Mountains, in the state park and national historic site, which both provided lots of opportunities to enjoy both hiking & history.
Read MoreOur Favorite Photos of August
We end nearly 8 months in the high desert with our stay in Marfa, TX. It's the smallest town (pop. 2,000) and smallest house (600 sq ft) we've stayed in yet. Car trouble and monsoons (think flash floods!) kept us inside more than we hoped, but we still got to see some cool stuff.
Read MoreMarfa: Small town, big contradictions.
We'll readily admit, when we pulled into Marfa, TX our first thought was: "Oh...what have we done."
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