Staunton, Virginia

It was bright and sunny this morning  (although about -6C) when we set off to drive the three hours to the town of Staunton in south west Virginia.  This view of the town from Sears Hill above the station shows the style of buildings - lots of red brick and many painted houses.  Below is the former American Hotel by the station.

One of our first stops was the railway station - once very busy there are now just a few passenger trains each week - although we were intrigued to find out that it is a stop on a 26 hour journey from New York to Chicago!

The station was fairly quiet today..

At least until a very long freight train rattled through...

After lunch we explored a little and visited a glass blowing workshop..

We watched a couple jointly blowing a glass ornament..

Then a walk through the town..

We visited the Trinity Episcopal Church which has stained glass windows spanning 100 years, including 12 by Louis Comfort Tiffany.  Unfortunately we were unable to see them inside as the church was closed (these photos borrowed from the web...)

We also visited the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson and the adjacent museum telling the story of his life and time as President of the United States during the First World War.

Staunton is certainly an interesting town.  This evening we went to the American Shakespeare Theatre to see Hamlet - more about that tomorrow.

Peeping Tom

On Tuesday morning at the hotel in Atlantic City I opened the window a short way and was soon greeted with the sight of a little face peeping in.

Since he has no fear of me whatsoever I think he was a frequent visitor to the window ledge (on the 9th floor) and had presumably been fed there..

There was a younger one who also tried his luck!

(Yes, our view was of a building site on the beach!)

Fascinating to watch the holes being dug then filling up with water as the tide came in.

Baltimore Museum of Art

We visited this large and diverse museum on Sunday morning.  It has a temporary exhibition of modern suspended installations..

As well as fabulous traditional works by the most famous painters and sculptors from all over the world. 

 This wonderful painting by Botticelli has surely featured on many Christmas cards.

There are several Rodin sculptures in the galleries.  The juxtaposition of ‘The Kiss’ with the large oil painting of the rather disapproving lady made us smile..

This bronze sculpture by Magritte was a talking point for many visitors.

One room was devoted to the stained glass and mosaic work of Louis Comfort Tiffany, below is a detail of a very large window.

In a courtyard gallery an extraordinary collection of huge mosaic floors from Antioch (present day Syria)

The museum has major collections of Asian ceramics, this Chinese set of dishes caught my eye.

This room was set up to represent the sitting room of the Cone sisters, two major benefactors of the museum who gave a priceless collection of modern art which fills an entire gallery.

Finally this beautiful bronze statue  of Guam Yin, goddess of compassion and peace, who had clearly been revered in her original setting judging by her well polished and worn knee and foot.

Sunny Day!

After a couple of cold, dull and overcast days (yesterday it snowed most of the day), it was great to see the sun come up in such a lovely blaze of colour this morning!

My plan for this morning was to visit the Boardwalk Hall - a huge Art Deco building on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, built in the 1920’s to accommodate crowds of up to 40,000 under its curved roof.

It is an extraordinary building - now modernized inside and with a reduced capacity of around 15,000 it retains some original features - most importantly it is home to the world’s largest pipe organ.  I toured the hall and visited the organ chambers with a member of the Organ Restoration Committee - more about that another day.

In front of the hall on the Boardwalk there are reminders that it still hosts the Miss America pageant each September..

I walked over the dunes onto the beach..

It definitely looked more inviting in the sunshine and even though the temperature was still -5C, it was easier to imagine it in summer.

My last port of call before leaving Atlantic City to meet David was the historic Absecon Lighthouse.  Built in 1854 it is the third largest masonry built lighthouse in the US. Unfortunately it wasn’t open to visitors today.   It marks - from quite a few hundred yards back from the coast - the Absecon Inlet at the north end of the city.

Museum of Visionary Art, Baltimore

From the outside it was clear that this was not a conventional art museum..

Inside were some amazing creations..

Icarus with mirrored wings ‘flying’ in the stairwell.

Some extraordinary bead sculptures with amazing detail..