De66ie's Passions!

Here we are again, taking the rig back to London, Ontario and taking a bit of a detour to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to see some of the retired Air Force One aircraft. The most significant of all was walking down the aisle of Air Force One that brought President Kennedy`s body back to Washington, D.C. after his assassination to lay in State at Capitol Hill. President Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One while President Kennedy was on board and actually helped carry his casket onto the plane.

President Kennedy`s staff would not allow his casket to be carried in the cargo hold of the aircraft and insisted he ride in cabin across from Mrs. Kennedy and they had to cut a wall in the cabin for the casket to be taken in. Please see the picture and the explanation I have posted which is a big part of history and Mrs. Kennedy sat right across from his casket the entire trip.

We could almost touch Mrs. Obama`s dress from Inaugural Ball that she donated to the American Museum of Natural History along with many of the First Ladies dresses, a thrill indeed. And the Hope Diamond, sure would like to have worn that home was very special to see once again.

We were in Washington, D.C. the night of the elections and it was definitely a happening place with all the bars and restaurants full as everyone watched the goings on. Security was everywhere, President Obama was actually in Chicago and flew home later that evening so a fascinating place to be as it is all the time. We often have seen his helicopter coming and going from the White House.

We were actually lucky enough to have sat in on two sessions at the Supreme Court of the United States and to see all seven Justices in person was surreal. Court room was full, security was crazy and the day before we actually attended Court, there were rallies going on for a case from California that Arnie schwarzenegger was involved with. There are photos of the news media and picket signs and lots of action across from Capitol Hill which was and is always beautiful and my favourite building in Washington.

We also travelled to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and the history in this city is very fascinating. I had my first philly cheese steak sandwich off one of those outdoor carts and was IT good…..onions everywhere and cheese and made in front of your nose so the smells made you even more hungry if you weren`t already. Interesting story about the Liberty Bell and we wondered why all the security just walking in. They went through everything and we learned from one of the guards that just a few years before, someone had taken in his OWN HAMMER because he wanted to hit the bell and make it ring. Can you believe what some people will actually try and do! I also saw the famous L O V E sign where there are weddings they said every single day, take a look and I know you will recognize that one.

One unplanned stop was the George Eastman House. I was not sure what I was in for here but Kodak has been a part of my life since photography became a passion of mine when I was 10. Being inside the house and the history of Kodak was and experience I will never forget. They have working galleries with new displays really often, the history of making film, the first cameras, beautiful walking gardens and the architecture was a photographers delight. I could have spent all day there and other than in the galleries you were encouraged to photograph away and I certainly did. The libraries, the photographs, the woodwork, the china vault were all so unique. Mr. Eastman took his own life as he felt like everything he had set out to do he had and his life was done. Please see the photograph of his last words and very sad but the legacy he left behind will live on in the eyes of others forever. The one thing that really surprised me is the fact we were aware he loved his music and a pianist came in to play for him really often. He never liked seeing his feet on the pedals so made a point of keeping plants behind the bench so he wouldn`t have to see it. Someone also told him the sound could be better if he extended the room by a couple of feet. HE CUT his house in half and the renovations cost more than the actually building of the original house. He wanted to make sure the house was still completely working, i.e. electricity, gas, etc. so there are actual pictures of the two pieces of the house a couple of feet apart as they extended it with all the cables and wires running from one half to the other. We asked to see the actual photos and were taken to the history research room where they found the photos in a filing cabinet and gave us the folder to look through. I was so surprised they just let people go through those valuable photographs but on the other hand it was so nice you have the freedom to do that.

News seemed to follow us the entire trip. The day we were in Dayton, Ohio, a tornado actually touched down and we were held in the I-Max theatre watching a film not knowing then it was a tornado shelter. During the film the door opened and a whole group of people came in which never happens when the film has started. Along with this group also came a DOG, yep a dog. One of the guides went to the front of the stage after the film had been stopped and told us about the tornado and to consider ourselves lucky. The 100 people on the floor underneath us had to stand, at least we had nice plushy seats.

Then one day before we got to Philadelphia they found two letter bombs on the plane, sure glad we didn`t fly in that day, sure tied things up and things I am sure will never quite be the same.One day before we got to Washinton, D.C. there was a run away escalator and as it was, we found out it was actually on the lower floor of the hotel we were staying in. L`enfant Plaza, freaky or what! Quite a few people hurt and it was still closed the entire time we were there. Lawsuits up the ying yang I am sure.

All in all we had a wonderful trip and we decided the driving was a little too much and I think we will be flying a little more and driving a little less.

Please enjoy and feel free to let me know what you have enjoyed.