I started yesterday morning in Princeton, NJ (the university is there). One of its most famous citizens was Grover Cleveland, who eventually served as both governor of New York and (twice) President of the United States. Cleveland, his wife Frances (who he married in the White House; she was MUCH younger), and their daughter Ruth (the Baby Ruth was named for her) are all buried in the Princeton Cemetery. It is owned by a Presbyterian Church, and it is also the burial place of Aaron Burr.
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| Ooooo! Bright sun! |
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Room where the documents were
signed. Georgia sat WAY over
on the right (only corner of table visible) |
I then said goodbye to New Jersey and drove down into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While following the old Lincoln Highway in Trenton, NJ, I had to cross into Pennsylvania on a cool old steel bridge that was so incredibly narrow that two lanes of traffic would barely fit onto it. You make a hard left onto the bridge, then feel like you could easily touch the oncoming traffic (speed limit 15 mph) or the pedestrians to your right on the other side of a handrail. Quite an experience! In Philadelphia, I visited Independence Park, which includes the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. The guide showed me the table where the Georgia delegation sat during the adoption of the Declaration. I also saw Benjamin Franklin's grave and a Thomas Jefferson exhibit that included one of his drafts of the Declaration and the cool desk where he wrote it.
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Amish farmer using horses/mules to
pull farm equipment |
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| Wheatland |
In the hills west of Phlly is Lancaster County. This is where the Pennsylvania Dutch live. They are a collection of Amish and Mennonite people who live very simple, rural lives. I stopped at Dutch Haven bakery for some Shoo-Fly Pie (a guy with whom I worked in Savannah introduced me to this). Following my snack, I located Wheatland, the estate of President James Buchanan. Buchanan was Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams, then served as President just before the Civil War. He is not considered to have been a very successful Chief Executive, but he was faced with some pretty big problems. After finding a room for the night, I drove into Lancaster for supper. On the roads, I saw several Amish teenagers riding bicycles in that direction, and I also saw 5 or 6 of the black horse buggies for which they are known (It was Friday night, and most of these were being driven by high school or college-aged kids). When I turned onto some of the side roads, where I drove across a covered bridge, I also noticed that these roads smelled like the streets of downtown Savannah (with all the horse carriages). The wheels on the carriages also scratched the surface of the road in a unique way. Somebody was flying hot-air balloons over the countryside; I guess to take tourists up to look at the Amish country.
