Greetings!

Our correspondence has not been timely since leaving Tallahassee in May so this letter is to get our friends and family caught up on the events of the past two months. Read on if you like or delete now.

Our first stop was Hanna Park in Jacksonville where we visited with Nancy, another happily retired Latin teacher. We went to Fort Caroline and the Maritime Museum and spent a day at the zoo with Nancy, where we fed some cute little green lorikeets a soy and sugar concoction. The birds happily perched on our heads and arms. Check out the picture attachment.

Our next stop was Savannah and Tybee Island. The several AAA suggested walking tours took us past Juliette Low’s house and birthplace, St. John’s Church, the Market, and the beautiful Factors Walk along River Road. We saw SpiderMan at the Savannah Mall, too. We are having Sunday afternoon movie withdrawal.

The next stop, Charleston, was more than we had expected. The townhouses, parks, museums, food, and the ability to walk all around made us realize why Linda and Bob D.  have a second home there! If you haven’t been there, go!

We next parked in Florence, SC, as a stopping place to go to Myrtle Beach and Columbia. One of our travel objectives is to visit state capitals. The state houses and governor’s mansions are certainly varied. We did take a day trip to Darlington, SC, Raceway and Stock Car Hall of Fame.

Raleigh, NC, and Richmond, VA, were our next capitals. The Canal Walk and surrounding area in Richmond produced a walk across a very high bridge (not one of Regina’s strong points) to Belle Island, Tredegar Iron Works and Civil War Museum, the Art Deco “Old City Hall,’ the 17th floor observation deck, and of course, Capitol Square with statues and the governor’s home. BTW, there are more Civil War battlefields in the area than imaginable.

We’ve spent two weeks in the D.C. area. Our day trips to Baltimore and D.C. wore us out; thank heavens for Metro and MARC. So much to see, so little time. We did find our neighbor, Bob Hurrle, in his resting place at the Arlington Cemetery Sarcophagus. Our favorite stop, though, was Annapolis, another great walking city. In addition to the Capitol Circle and row houses, we spent the 4^th of July on the campus of the Naval Academy. Visitors Center, Museum, Chapel (closed, but still beautiful from the outside), dorms, an interesting exercise of the plebs, and a performance of the Naval Band of Farragut Field just before the fireworks. We had decided that spending the 4^th taking the Metro and then on the Mall with half million revelers just wasn’t our preference. The fifty thousand at the Annapolis parade, Naval Choir, and fireworks over the Chesapeake Bay with hundreds of sailboats was a bunch better. Attachment shows most recent mug shot. Note that Paul has decided not shaving is better than shaving.

Our next stop is Harrisburg, PA, then to Charleston, WV, on the way to dropping Regina at the NJCL Convention at UK in Lexington. More later.

As ever,

Paul and Regina