ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
A road trip from Philadelphia to Virginia necessarily implies a side-trip stop for lunch in historic Annapolis, Maryland. My daughter, Kirsten, joined my wife, Yoo, and I for this leg of our journey.
We weren't the only people who had the idea of an Annapolis lunch! The old colonial sea port, and site of America's first fleet (and current Naval Academy) was packed with tourists, like ourselves.
Annapolis is a very pretty colonial town, well restored. About half the buildings were occupied by estate agents, and the other half equally divided by curios and ice cream shops.
Because America's architectural history is so short, tourists drive a long way to see these kinds of structures. In London you see this as ubiquitous.
I am not sure if the flags are displayed all year, or just for the 4th of July holidays. Very pretty.
We walked around town in search of a lunch of perfect lump crab cake . . . .
. . . and found it here. Highly recommended lump crab cake. McGarvey's Oyster Bar. Yum yum. We left Annapolis for Virginia with smiles on our faces.
VIRGINIA HIGHWAYS
We trusted the GPS to get us through/around Washington, D.c. to my favorite highway: Virginia Highway 29N. We noticed these cool works of art out front of a winery and stopped.
Virginia, like other States, are beginning to build a name for it's vineyard. It turns out that grapes grow in places other than France and the Napa Valley of California.
The Northern Virginia countryside is already one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and the presence of vineyards has no damaged that.
Looks like a good crop this year . . . I guess.
We continued south on Highway 29 and pulled over at one of the roadside fruit stands which are plentiful this time of year. Strangely, the woman running the fruit stall looked very much like my recently departed mother.
When you live in the tropics, as I do, you get a hankering for temperate climate fruits.
We bought cherries and nectarines for ourself, and a watermelon and these cantaloupes for gifts.
I am a sucker for old machinery and had to get some shots of the old Massey Furgeson tractor parked out back of the fruit stand.
"Lovely capture," as photographers say. But enough of this dilly-dallying . . . . time to get on to the real reason of this journey . . . a return to the Follye of Mr. Jefferson's Old Age . . .
THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
I earned my Ph.D. degree from the University of Virginia and have many warm and special memories of my time there.
Like all UVA grads, we are all conversant in the history and traditions of our beloved alma mater.
The University of Virginia does not have a "campus," it has The Grounds.
The University of Virginia does not have a "quad," it has The Lawn. Unfortunately The Lawn was under repair and restoration, seemingly like the rest of my beloved University.
The Uniersity of Virginia does not have a "student union," it has The Rotunda, which most of the White House is modeled after. Again, The Rotunda was under major restoration.
A magnificent building. I attended many a stimulating and edifying lecture in the Main Hall of The Rotunda.
Through these doors have walked great men and women. And me.
Just strolling around The Grounds brought back such wonderful memories.
Not everything was under renovation; some of the Pavilions that line The Lawn were in beautiful condition, ready to be photographed.
Thomas Jefferson, the founder of UVA and the architect of American Democracy and Religious Freedom, was also an architect of great talent and vision.
Being a student here, among this great architecture, was very inspirational.
My wife and daughter were somewhat patient of me as I wandered the columned aisles, teary-eyed in a swoon of academic nostalgia.
Another interesting architectural feature of UVA are the Colonnades, the original student rooms, separated from The Lawn by a series of serpentine-walled gardens.
The UVA Colonnades.
The Colonnades hold individual student rooms, who win the right to stay in them in a lottery. A good friend of mine, the philosopher Marshall Parks, stayed here for a year. We had great discussions of in this room about anti-foundationalism, neo-pragmatism, and the philosophy of Richard Rorty, his dissertation committee chair, and my mentor.
Edgar Allen Poe was a student at The University of Virginia and lived in a Colonnades room, here carefully restored exactly as Poe had lived in it.
The Jefferson Debating Society Hall on the end of the Colonnades.
The University is very careful to keep the architecture unified. Even new buildings must conform to the Jeffersonian Colonial Style.
Jefferson included many enclosed gardens for contemplation and reflection. I did a fair amount of reading in these gardens, weather permitting.
Some of the gardens are behind Pavilions and are used for receptions and such. I put on a reception for Dr. Igor Girshunsky, a Soviet university president, in this garden.
Beyond the old Jeffersonian Grounds, are newer (1920s) academic buildings. This is the Alderman Library. I spent many years in this building doing research among the ancient Hindi texts and documents . . . searching for the stories of elusive pratieka (pakeka) Buddha.
The newer sections of The Grounds are also very beautiful.
Inside those double doors was a student lounge with a grand piano. Most afternoons there was a talented student playing marvelous music. I stopped there often for thoughtful reflection.
This is a new Curry School building that wasn't there when I was a student here.
The University of Virginia is often called a "Public Ivy League" university. It is currently the #1 ranked public university, and many rankings include UVA among the top 10 universities in the USA. We left The Grounds of my beloved Uniersity of Virginia for old downtown Charlottesville and a light lunch. Time to get to Richmond.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
We arrived at the home of my step-son, Piet, in the middle of a record-setting heat wave. Needless to say, we didn't get out and see any of Richmond, Virginia. We had fun hanging out and talking while Piet cooked and we all ate too much good food. The previous week, they were out of power for three days due to freak storms that brought 100mph+ winds.
Piet's kids were housebound, like us, due to the extreme heat (over 115f heat index!); not the best way for a child to spend a summer day.
We spent a wonderful two days with Piet, his wife, Marguerite, and their two boys, Finn and Elias, before driving to Dullas Airport for our flight to Denver, Colorado.