Skookum Traveler: December 2014

Stony Man, Shenandoah (VA)

On a sunny Sunday (October 26) we were due to take a hike among the fall colors at Shenandoah and headed for Stony Man by way of the Passamaquoddy Trail. It turned out to be one of the prettier hikes I’ve done in the mid-Atlantic region. Easy walking on good trail with much exposed rock and exceptional views.

Note rock climber rapelling right center.

View to Skyline Drive.

It's so purdy!

Walk Around Georgetown (DC)

On October 25, I happened to be hoofing it around Georgetown and snapped a few pics.

Georgetown University.

Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory.

Potomac River from Key Bridge.

Oak Hill Cemetery.

Inside the Old Stone House.

Kennedy Center.

C&O Canal.

William O. Douglas.

Dumbarton Oaks Park.

History buried in the dirt and the leaves.

Raven Rocks (VA)

On October 18, we saddled up the Toyota and rode out beyond Purcellville for a hike up to Raven Rocks. Nice, moderate trek with a fabulous rocky perch at the top. Rock climbers were taking their turns rappelling off the cliff to enjoy the scenery closer up. Hundreds of stink bugs crawled around on the rocks, but generally kept to themselves and didn’t invade our sandwiches in significant numbers, as best I could tell.

Portsmouth (RI)

Where my eighth-great operated a ferry in the 1600s.

The next morning (see the preceding posts below), I still wanted to see Portsmouth and Tiverton, so we motored out of town and stopped at a nice rural bakery for the obligatory sugar and caffeine fix. We walked out on the bridge near where one of the early Wilcoxes apparently ran a ferry in the mid-1600s, and explored nearby areas around Tiverton where half the Wilcox clan rooted itself long ago. On the way back to Portsmouth, we stopped at the Anne Hutchinson Memorial at Founders Brook Park. My immigrant ancestor, Edward, was a likely follower of the rebellious Puritan Ms. Hutchinson.

At 3:00 pm on Monday, we were still in Rhode Island and I needed to be at work the next morning. The ten-hour marathon drive home took us through eight states: RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA plus DC. A tough way to finish a trip, but we had a fabulous time in RI so I can’t really complain.

It would have looked a lot like this in the 1630s.

Looking across from Tiverton toward the Wilcox farm.

Old bridge to nowhere.

Shopping for lunch.

Brayton Point, largest coal power plant in New England.

Bike path to Portsmouth.

Another war memorial, another Wilcox.

Tiverton Four Corners.

Roughly where the original Wilcox farm was.

Newport's Cliff Walk (RI)

While prepping for our Rhode Island trip at home (see preceding posts), I’d discovered that my eighth-great grampa Stephen (of Westerly) had married Hannah Hazard in the late 1650s. Hannah’s father was Thomas Hazard, who was among the nine men who founded Newport in 1639. I was thus tickled to learn that I am a direct descendant of one of the founders of Newport. Who’d a thunk?

That evening, we took a stroll along the Cliff Walk past many of the enormous mansions Newport is famous for, including Rosecliff (parts of the Great Gatsby were filmed there), the Marble House (built for the Vanderbuilts) and the grandest of the grand, The Breakers (also the Vanderbuilts). Too dark for many pics and too late to get inside, so we'll have to check them out next time.

Newport (RI)

We spent Sunday (October 12) exploring and enjoying the old seaport of Newport, including walks along the waterfront and through the downtown neighborhoods, and browsing the shops, cafes and local history museum. A highlight was the 90-minute historical cruise on a restored lobster boat, the M/V Gansett, which we can now highly recommend. Again, I was imagining my ancestors plying these same waters 300-plus years ago.