In Joy with Linnea from Ohio to DC - 5th travelogue from Chrisandra's Best of Both Worlds Roadtrip

Aloha all,

this is the first time I am writing a travel blog rather than an travelogue as an e-mail. Not that there is a big difference, it’s still the same Germans from Maui rambling on about their hopeless attempt to see everything in-between Germany and Maui. I hope this new format works for everybody. For the next two updates, I will e-mail invitations to the blog posts, then you can decide for yourself whether you want to follow me to be notified of future posts or not. I’d love to hear from everybody how that works for you.

We have never stayed in one place on any of our road trips for as long as we have in Cincinnati. But with the Ultimate World Championships going on, there was still not enough time to see everything this fun city has to offer. Before we took off, we visited the Freedom Center. This is a very impressive, large new museum about the Underground Railroad. It has exhibitions about the history of slavery and about slavery toady. You can find out about your own biases and you can ‘become’ Rosa Parks in a virtual experience. We had warned Linnea before that Sandra and I can spend hours and hours in museums. Linnea is a very interested and patient traveller, but when she could not find us after she spent more time in the museum than the average visitor, she thought we had left her behind. She simply didn’t consider that after so much time, we could possibly still be in the very first exhibition. The last ‘highlight’ in Cincinnati was the observation deck at Carew Tower. Since you can see all of the city from there, we can now claim that we saw everything and we were ready to move on and take Linnea on the road with us.

I knew from last year’s road trip that traveling with Linnea is fun; and of course it’s even better to travel with Linnea AND Sandra. Having Linnea along means more disc golf and, like last year, we found beautiful disc golf courses almost every day. Our favorite was the Deer Creek State Park in Ohio. Whoever designed that disc golf course has a sense of humor. Let’s just say I have never seen a dog with legs that crooked as this course and when there finally was a straight hole, they’ve put the basket 11 feet up in the tree. But we loved the course and we found more discs than we lost. I am too humble to report the overall score, but let’s just say I am over last year’s defeat now…

Our favorite disc golf course

Since we love visiting state capitols, we went to Columbus, OH first. Yet again, we had a tour guide with the opposite attitude of a state employee’s common reputation. Great information on the history and current state of the state as well as amusing little behind the scenes stories. So of course this was again my favorite of all state capitols, at least for the hour while we were on the tour. And it still is the place with the best view of any state capitol: Right next to it is a tall office building where they let you up on the top floor if you are lucky enough to know that it’s semi-public. From up there we planed a short stroll along the riverfront and through the city back to Joy. The weather was glorious and we came across a fun kid’s performance at the Columbus Commons open air stage, so the city made a very fun and lively impression on us.

Ohio's State Capitol in Columbus from the office building next door

The next day was the first time I knew that it wasn’t all bad that Linnea had her passport stolen and we had to go to the Swedish embassy in DC instead of Chicago. That’s because the new route put the “Palace of Gold” on our way. For those of you who actually read all of my travelogues, you might remember how the first stop in Iowa, the “Grotto of the Redemption” disproved right away that ‘there s’nothing to see but cornfields’. West Virginia did the same thing. Just a few miles into West Virginia we arrived at the Palace of Gold. If you have not been there and if you don’t belong to the Hare Krishna, then you might not have heard of this place. Neither had we. But I am puzzled how a place like this can exist in this country without the masses finding out about it. Maybe it’s better that way, it being so isolated and hardly any tourists being there made this place so much more special.

It sure does not look like what I expected West Virginia to look. I’m not sure what I expected West Virginia to look, but not that colorful, not that Indian and not this different. The Palace of Gold is in the Hare Krishna community of New Vrindaban. During the heydays of the Hare Krishna movement in the late 60’s and early 70’s, one community of Hare Krishnas turned this remote rural land into a mecca; the Palace of Gold was intended to become the residence for their founder. He came to visit during the construction, but never moved there.

The Lotus Pond at the Palace of Gold

The community struggled with corrupt and immoral leadership in the 90’s from which they still seem to be recovering. But two things seem to be unchanged throughout the decades: The Palace of Gold is spectacular and unique and the people there are very friendly and still believe in the Hare Krishna teachings, without coming across as preachy. We took a tour, wandered around the community and even got a free and delicious vegan lunch. It felt very weird, welcoming and wonderful; without any danger of any of us being converted. 

The Hare Krishna Temple of Gold

The evening in Uniontown, PA was another pleasant surprise. This sleepy town provided us with the best dinner and the only live theater during our time with Linnea. Most of the other dinners we had were at Cracker Barrel, since we like it, Linnea likes it and they let RVers overnight for free. But the restaurant right in front of the State Theater was amazing or “bursting with flavors, textures and colors” as our friend Barb would say. Equally impressive for a small, former coal town of only about 10,000 people was the theater building itself and their local community theater production of “The Musicman”. Maui might be particularly blessed with a talented theater community and a beautiful historical theater, but luckily we are not the only ones. 

Another added bonus of going to the theater was the recommendation of the “local Judy” to visit the Kentuck Knob House, built by Frank Lloyd Wright. I don’t blame you if you, like us, have never heard of it. But you might have heard of his other house in the area called Fallingwaters. We followed the advice to visit Kentuck Knob mostly because the tours at Fallingwaters were sold out, but what a treat it was! We had another fun & informative tour guide; by the end of the tour I was equally glad we came to see this house as I was glad that we never had Frank Lloyd Wright build a house for us. We had toured Frank Llyod’s Wright’s own home in Oak Park outside of Chicago many years ago. They had left out on the tour back then that Frank Lloyd Wright, besides being a brilliant architect, was also a jerk. The stories of how he argued with the owners of Kentuck Knob about how much space or how much light they really needed are amusing, unless you are the one trying to get a house built that you actually want to live in. The tour at Kentuck Knob was very personal and we got to talk to a very nice couple for over an hour afterwards; and I am not just saying that because they bought us ice cream afterwards.

Kentuck Knob

Even though the tours at Fallingwaters were sold out, we still wanted to see it at least from the outside. So we got to take the picture of the classic view of the house over the waterfall and we got to peek into the house like uninvited dinner guests. But eventually, we hang around long enough that surprisingly, we were able to join a tour after all. They usher 1,000 visitors a day through the rooms of Fallingwaters, so it’s a very different experience from the relaxed atmosphere at Kentuck Knob. But it’s all very well organized and we had to admit that we liked the house even better, even though we did not get any free ice cream here.

Fallingwater

Just before we are having too much fun, we decided to visit the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville. That’s the site where the 4th plane crashed on 9/11 that was most likely intended to destroy the capitol in Washington DC. I was not aware of that, but September 11 was the first day that congress was back in session. The memorial is run by the National Park Service, so it really does a great job honoring those who tried to save themselves and others by fighting the terrorists in that plane. They failed to save themselves, but they saved many lives on the ground and the symbol of American democracy. Listening to the ranger talk and listening to the actual voice messages passengers on that plane left for loved ones was deeply moving. Seeing that one of the 40 victims was from Germany and two were from Hawaii and seeing pictures of them in familiar surroundings made the experience even more sobering. 

Somehow it’s less sobering if a tragedy happened longer ago. So when we visited Harper’s Ferry the next day, it felt more like an intriguing history lesson. Harpers Ferry is the kind of place I really like to visit because it is something I had heard so often, but had no clue what it really is or why it’s so famous. There are many interesting aspects to this place and again the NPS does a great job telling the different stories. The most intriguing one is the one of John Brown, a white Northern Abolitionist who attacked the US armory here in 1859 in an attempt to start a slave uprising and end slavery. At first I was a little confused how he thought he could free all slaves and end slavery with his band of only about 20 men. The exhibitions and the rangers I talked to actually leave the question open whether he was a madman, a martyr or just an overly optimistic freedom fighter. We know that the raid obviously did not have the intended consequences, but since it started a debate that led to the civil war that led to the end of slavery, one can argue that he lost the battle (and his life), but achieved what he set out to do, since slavery ended just 4 (albeit bloody) years later. Sandra and I were glad to fill another gap in our American history. Linnea liked the town and the history, too, but might have enjoyed the cute and historical candy shop she found even more.

The first stop in Washington DC was the Swedish embassy, since that was the initial reason to come here instead of Chicago. Linnea got her temporary passport and just like her uncle would, she also made new friends at the embassy. From Sweden, we went right to Mexico. In DC, that’s only 30 minutes apart. The Mexican restaurant Sandra found on Yelp was definitely more Mexican than the only restaurant in Mexico (in Tijuana) we have ever been to. It did not look like restaurants in America look like and the first two people we (tried to) talk to did not speak any English at all. We failed so miserably even at the drink order that they had to call over a grandson or so to help with translations. But it seems like it’s the kind of restaurant where it does not matter what you order, it’s going to be good…and plenty. In fact, we will have the leftovers right after I finish this.

We had one full day to explore the National Mall with Linnea and just in case if that is not fun enough, Tommy came down from Philadelphia to join us for the day. We met at the capitol and were very impressed by the new visitor center. What used to be a container with a long line is now an underground temple of a visitor center. Hardly any wait, a quick security check and we sat in a theater with an introductory movie. Whoever made that movie deserves an Oscar. It’s a 20 minute movie about the founding of the country and the role of congress to shape the nation. All under the motto of “E pluribus Unum”, which is Latin for “How should a country be run when a farmer, a business man, an artist and over 300 million other people can’t agree on anything”. The movie actually made Congress look like a well functioning institution that works together to solve the problems of the country. That’s no small feat (both, solving the problems and making congress look good!).

Sandra and I with two other familiar faces from Hawaii in the Capitol in DC

In order to see the senate chamber, we had to go to an office of one of our Hawaii representatives. At first that seemed like an inconvenience, but it turned out to be the highlight of the day. First we got to see the office of Sen. Mazie Hirono. We did not get to meet her, but her assistant was so nice and friendly, in typical Hawaii fashion with kisses and all. Then we got a personal escort back to the capitol using the underground tunnel system and riding in a cute little tram that made me feel like I was right back at Disney World. And to top it all off, we ran into Bernie Sanders and I got to shake his hand. I am not as big of a Bernie fan as Tommy, but compared to the alternative we got, it seems like he would have been a great choice. 

The senate was actually in session when we got there and they were voting on an appropriation bill while we were there. But they really need to work on their choreography. We got to see about 90 senators, including Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein and Elisabeth Warren with my new buddy Bernie… but with all that star power and with the amazing backdrop of the historic Senate Hall, I have to admit, it was still a bit boring. But the American history nerd in me is glad we got to see it anyway.

The underground tram between the senate office building and the capitol

Afterwards we got to stroll along the National Mall with Tommy and Linnea, past all the museums and memorials. I liked that at the World War II memorial, they actually encouraged you to cool your feet in the fountain, since that’s what the soldiers did in the fountains of Europe after the war.

World War II Memorial

We also went to see the White House from as close as you get if you don’t plan several months in advance. We want extra credit for not showing any disrespect, despite not being a big fan of the current resident. Then we walked Tommy to Union Station and found a fun pizza place before heading back to our campground in Greenbelt. Linnea left us the next day after a last and very exciting round of disc golf and a way too exciting race to the airport.

At the White House

Linnea is also very good at seeing the positive in everything. She noted how getting her passport stolen was actually a good thing since we would not have gone to Washington DC otherwise. It’s hard to argue with that, other than that we could have come to DC even without having her passport stolen. But even though we always enjoyed coming to DC before, I just now realized that it’s probably my favorite city in the country. But we’ll keep looking anyway, just in case…

Aloha,

Chris, Sandra & Linnea