Travel day: North Carolina to Washington, D.C.

We’re on the road again, heading for the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

Wilmington, NC

We’re having a nice visit with friends. While they were working, we explored the town, which is full of old buildings and history plaques. There’s a waterfront on the Cape Fear River. And we had a long swim at the YMCA community centre. LotStreetWiz did a 2,000-yard workout in the warm pool and I practised the breast stroke and front crawl in the cool pool.

Travel day: Geogia to North Carolina

Yesterday we got up in Savannah, Georgia, and went to bed in Wilmington, North Carolina. We drove up the scenic highways near the coast.

At one point we made a detour into a wildlife area in a swamp. We saw great white heron or great egret, great blue heron, and possibly a glossy ibis. Where there weren’t too many black vultures, we saw crows. The crows seem to avoid the larger scavengers.

We’re staying with friends on the outskirts of Wilmington. One of my best friends from twenty years ago, a restless soul, has alighted here for the moment. To my dismay, she’s avoiding surgery by treating melanoma with naturopathic and homeopathic remedies.

Savannah, GA

In Savannah, we found the slaves’ monument to the most reverbrating fact of American history, with a quote from Maya Angelou recognizing the suffering and solidarity of slaves, former slaves, and their descendents.

She says,

“We were stolen, sold and bought together from the African continent. We got on the slave ships together. We lay back to belly in the holds of the slave ships in each other’s excrement and urine together. Sometimes died together and our lifeless bodies thrown overboard together. Today we are standing up together with faith and even some joy.”

Travel day: Florida to Georgia

Today we drove from Coral Springs, Florida, to Savannah, Georgia. We took the scenic route part of the way: up some of the coastal islands from Daytona Beach.

On the way up the coast, we saw a couple of sandhill cranes. LotStreetWiz spotted and a roosting osprey by the side of the road.

We reached St. Augustine, Florida (founded 1635) about the time it got dark. There’s the remnants of an old and grim fort there.

We switched back to the main highway. It was dark enough between cities that I could see a lot of stars; but we didn’t stop for a long look.

Swimming and dinosaurs

I took LotStreetWiz to his swimming course again. This morning it starts at 8:00 and finishes at 14:30.

I’ll be off to see the dinos as soon as my camera battery recharges. The Miami marathon is on today so I’ll be avoiding the running route if possible.

Contra dance tonight!

The previous dance was the very successful 25th anniversary dance. It was fun but very crowded, as you can see below. There were five lines of dancers instead of the usual two or three.

We should be getting back to normal with tonight’s dance.

January 26th

Caller: Mike Jones

Mike is a member of Toronto Country Dancers. He has been calling contra dances since 1998 in southern Ontario and northern New York. He has a clear voice and good command of language. He enjoys calling a variety of dance figures and looks for good flow in the dances that he calls.

Band: The Puffins: Jamie Snider, Shelley Coopersmith, & Rose Bolton

The Puffins were formed in 2000 to perform Newfoundland fiddle music and songs, and to take advantage of their knack at spontaneously creating beautiful three part fiddle harmonies.

Their reportoire now crosses Canada; from Ukrainian dance music to Métis, Ontario Don Messer style and Québec dance

See Toronto Country Dancers for location and times.

Toronto Country Dancers 25th anniversary dance

Judy Greenhill introduces the rest of the “instigators” of Toronto Country Dancers.

The dance floor was full! We had five lines instead of our usual three.  

Look for more pictures at TCD 25th anniversary.

Day off

Today LotStreetWiz went to his swimming course. I was going to go and see the Chinese dinosaur exhibit but got side-tracked by a phone mail message about a job prospect. I’ve been tailoring my resume for the contract.

Miami and environs

Today we started off towards the everglades but it was too late to go and see them and come home in daylight. So we did some sightseeing on the coastal island off Miami instead. Miami has a lot of palm trees. It is fairly bustling, with construction everywhere, attended by small, tanned men. Thia ia a typical bit of street.

The architecture is certainly different here: largely pastel and rather showy. This is a Burger King:

Just before sunset, we went walking on the beach. The sand is coarse, white bits of coral.