Charleston at its Finest

This weekend, Marty and I found ourselves in Charleston, WV,  as part of the wedding festivities of a very special young man and his bride.  The wedding was scheduled for 1:30 in the Cathedral in Charleston, but we tend to be early risers, and with several hours to kill prior to the ceremony, we decided to head into this fair city and do what we do best:  some serious gallivanting.

First stop:  The state capital.  

You have to admit,  that is certainly some spectacular scenery!

Marty wanted his photo taken next to Stonewall Jackson  (just look for the yellow tie)

Walking around the grounds, we spotted a statue of President Lincoln  in the very front of the building

 and just to the side is a Civil War monument honoring the casualties of West Virginia.

On one side is Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Another side pays tribute to the 32,000 soldiers from West Virginia who served in the Civil War. 

Continuing our walk around the perimeter of the Capital Building, I was surprised to find that the building was open today, and we were actually warmly welcomed inside,and were told that we were free to tour the building at our leisure.   How's that for southern hospitality?

We spotted some interesting displays, this one featuring some personal items from the early 50's, including a pinewood derby car and some musical instrument patterns. 

This display included a doll of Julia Pierpoint who is credited with the origination of Decoration aay, later known as Memorial Day, as well as a  glass etching of President Lincoln. 

The dome itself is under renovation, but when we got to the spot where it stands, presently blocked off from visitors, we were greeted by a guard in the building who was eager to take us upstairs to see the Chambers, and then offered to take us out on the roof to get a closer look at the dome!  Now I ask, when does something like that happen?  Of course, we didn't hesitate taking him up on his offer!

So, here you see the dome from the roof.  The guard also offered to take us up to the very top for a look around, but I was dressed for the wedding, and the last thing I wanted to do was to hike up a bunch of steps in the heat!  And, for the record....it was quite hot!

But it certainly was nice of him to offer, don't you think?

Here you see the view out over the river from the roof below the dome.  That's the same statue of President Lincoln that stands in the front of the building. 

Once back downstairs, I spotted this tribute to John F. Kennedy upon one of the walls.

The building was filled with all kinds of interesting paraphanalia, as you can see for yourself.

The man in the yellow tie was with me.  His newfound friend was not.

At this point, we decided to head over to the museum that stands adjacent to the Capital building.  Walking through the doors we found ourselves in a lobby with many quilts on display, each unique and very different.

Then we headed down the escalator to check out the living history display.

 Now, I've been through a LOT of museums, and I have been quite impressed with many, but the set up of this particular museum is just fascinating!

One begins in prehistoric time, entering a cave that is filled with future coal deposits, and walking along one precedes through time, clearly marked on the floor.

This is an original log cabin from Logan County built by the Vance family in the 1870's.  It was donated to the museum and carefully reconstructed from its original state for viewing.

Turning the corner and continuing our walk, we were greeted by this Civil War soldier along the side, who began telling us his story

and this tent scene really captured the conditions of the time.

Moving along, we found ourselves in the time of railroad building

and coal mining

Then we walked through displays of World War I, then onto World War II

What better way to teach about history than by immersing one right into sets of that time period?

Honestly, it was all quite fun, but we were on a limited time schedule, so we actually made our way through in record time, and headed grudgingly back out into the heat.

On the way to our car, we passed this beautiful war memorial that commemorates soldiers from World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Korea

The middle of this memorial consists of marble walls, that have the inscription of the names of the soldiers who died in battle for each particular war.  

I found it startling to note that the World War II casualties actually totaled more than all three other wars combined.  

One doesn't often see this kind of detail in war memorials, and I was quite taken by the beauty of this magnificent monument.

I was certainly glad that Marty and I had made the decision to explore the town prior the ceremony.  There weren't many people out and about, and we certainly managed to cover a LOT of ground in short time.

The wedding was a few blocks away at the Co-Cathedral in Charleston.  Here are some highlights:  

The church was beautiful

the flower girls devine

the bridesmaids were lovely

and the bride was exuberant

The ceremony was solemn

and the couple was presented:  hand in hand:   Mr. and Mrs.

And, you can tell by our faces that we were thrilled to have shared in this blessed event!

Quite the adventure for one day....don't you think?

So, tomorrow we head home......but who knows if some excitement awaits?

That's the wonder of gallivanting.

I'll be sure to keep you posted! 

World War II Weekend

Most of you who know me well, know that I am actively involved in World War II research, particularly with those who are yet Missing in Action.  So, when I had the opportunity to attend the World War II Weekend event that is held here locally, how could I pass on that?

A fellow researcher drove up from Raleigh, so we headed out yesterday, together, to take in the festivities.

Believe it or not, I had trouble trying to figure out just where we were supposed to park!  I had expected to be sitting in a line of traffic, and my intention was to just follow everyone else.  But when we arrived shortly before noon, there was no traffic!

I was driving around, trying to see some sort of sign that verified parking, when we spotted a man dressed in a German uniform, sporting a rifle, and sitting on a bail of hay.  I rolled down the window and asked if he knew where we could park.  He was apparently the "Re-enactor" Lot Guard, and asked if we were reenactors.  We politely said that we were not, but he surmised that my friend looked the part enough, so he told us we were more than welcome to park there.   

Hey!  Why not?  So, I pulled into the lot, which obviously had plenty of spaces, and we began the walk down to the entrance.   

Once through the gate, we found ourselves among the World War II Era planes, and we soon came across this man who was in uniform, who was the center of attention among a group of visitors from China.  Everyone wanted a  photo with him!

My friend requested one, so I snapped this photo.

And you can see him below posing with one of the attentive group.

Jana  had stopped to chat with the man, and I decided to just wander around a bit and take in the sights.  I wondered what had happened to Jana, and when I turned around, I could see her mingling with the group.

It turns out that they thought that SHE was the celebrity of the moment, and each was scrambling to get their photo with her!

Honestly....not through the gate for 5 minutes, and she was the center of attention!

How fun is that?

We made our way to the Berlin Bomber where we were able to actually board the plane and take a peek inside.  Jana actually knows the pilot (which I soon found to be a trend), but he wasn't on sight at the time, so we just went through so that I could see the displays on the interior.

It's set up as a living history museum and has numerous dioramas that show the history of the plane.   It is affectionately remembered for the Candy Drop that took place in 1948 after the Soviets had blockaded West Berlin.  

Looking at the controls of the flight panel, I found it amazing that this aircraft could still be flown to events!  

Here's a peek out of the window.

It was pretty hot and stuffy in there, so we wasted no time descending the stairs, although I must admit, it was brutally hot and humid outside the plane as well.  I owe the sun to the fact that I was toting an umbrella in my purse.  The weather forecast had predicted rain.  We didn't see a drop!

We wondered around the European village that was set up

spotted some officers hanging around in this house

and one was nice enough to pose with Jana.  Speaking with these guys was delightful!

We wondered around the area of Bataan

The heat made me realizes just how brutal the environment had to have been for these soldiers.

I stopped to speak with an officer here, and he warned me that we were going to be attacked by the Japanese soon, and that I might want to consider moving along.  

When I looked around, I realized that red tape surrounded the area, and sometime during my scoping out the place, it had been blocked off in preparation for the attack. 

I decided to high tail it out of there, but passed this guy on my way out.

I think he was in for a big surprise.

We headed over to the airfield in anticipation of the parachute drop.

Whiskey 7 was the plane scheduled to make the drop

I watched it take off

circle around

and when it got to the right altitude, begin the drop

 a dozen parachutes emerged

and only three of them actually landed on the set target!

This is the first time I have seen something like this and I have to say that it was really an awesome experience!

We walked around and checked out more planes

This one is called the black widow....could you guess that?

Obviously, this is Doc

And here you see Jana posing with a flyer in full gear.  Now, he HAD to be hot, but you wouldn't know by the smile on his face.

There were a couple venues set up for entertainment, and I asked these young ladies for a photo prior to their appearance.

This group, America's Sweethearts, was extremely entertaining

And Theresa Eamen belted out her musical talent while a couple of performers danced

I managed to meet up with a young man whom I met recently who also is involved in the World War II MIA project.  He is a re-enactor with the 5th Marine Division.

By this time, with all of the walking in extreme heat, Jana and I decided to head back home for a quick bite to eat, and we changed and headed back for the Hangar Dance.

Luckily,  my husband was more than willing to drive us over and pick us up after the event so that we didn't have to worry about the parking!

The band was awesome!  The singers a delight, and the dancing was in full gear!

All in all, it was quite an eventful day!  

And really, it could not have been more fun having the "famous" Jana in my company throughout!