Shaker Scholars...

Because of the slow internet at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough Ma (hard to understand as it sits right next to Cisco); I didn’t get to do any blog posting this week while at seminar.  Hubby and I have arrived home this evening and over the next few days, I’ll post a few photos and comments.  For now, here’s many of the attendees in front of the Harvard Shaker Meeting House, now a private home.  Thank you to the owner for a closer look at a spectacular historical building!

When hubby and I were recently in Savannah, we went on a Foodie Tour – more about that another day, and one of the places we stopped was Perk - coffee roasters!  We ate some fine food samples on this tour; but this was a highlight for me.  I don’t even drink coffee!  But, I did taste the sample that was offered – and what was completely fascinating to me was the tour of the one room roasting production and the explanation by the owner of how it’s done.  (And, by the way, for a non-coffee drinker, the sample was fabulous!  If I had this stuff around the corner, I might actually have to have a cup every day!).  The tour itself rushed the guy a bit, but the 20 minutes was so worth it!  Explore the website,maybe even order some to try – you won’t regret it — and if you are in Savannah, stop by!

Forsyth Park beauty

Do and her Dad

Lady in waiting

Don't know if she's a lady - but for a little lady who loves horses...

Another horse for the little lady...

Almost 400 years old...the tree that is.

Victorian Lady Tours

A few photos as we pack up and ready ourselves for our return to New England work and weather tomorrow – what a great stay we had in Savannah!  Southern hospitality is very real!

Once finished at the SCAD, it began to pour cats and dogs.  Off we trudged a few blocks to find that the next museum we were going to visit was closed!  And, then a trudge through the pouring rain to find out that the next museum where we were told the other day a new exhibit would open this week in truth the exhibit was to open next week!

Okay, off to find some food and try to dry off — here’s where you eat when you are soaking wet and have no wish to run any further for a meal (pretty good sandwiches but NO hot tea or coffee for sale – WHAT?!)   Name of Restaurant:  Larry’s Subs  (New York Deli Style says the window out front with bathrooms named Kong and Fay)

Then back to a museum where a flyer had said there would be a workshop on Augmented Reality — guess what?  No surprise — it wasn’t at that location and needed a car to get to — so we weren’t going to be doing that either.   So, the heck with the whole thing — finally the rain slows down and we are able to walk several blocks home without getting too much wetter.   (Deal of the day found in a shop still open a few blocks from our apartment:  a $155. sweater on sale for $38)

Today proved that our last minute packing was not good — we brought along a small umbrella that was hiding a broken spoke; and we didn’t even pack our very good packable raincoats.

This is Forsyth Park Fountain in the pouring rain (a few blocks from our place.)

Annie’s Mac and Cheese for dinner.  At least these are the days that vacation apartment renting is for: no empty hotel room to go back to; but a sweet house with kitchen and the ability to make a nice hot cup of tea!  This picture was taken yesterday before the rain hit!

As we walk back and forth each day to our bed and breakfast,  actually depending on the cloud cover which so far (and we’re told is most times) is always there; we get peeks of the Chugach Mountains.  This morning they were particularly majestic and bright in the bit of sun we were treated to today!

Native art is everywhere.  This is hubby standing next to a Totem placed in front of a Court House.  When I have time another day I’ll write more about a special lecture we went to by David Boxley, a Native totem maker.  We hope to see more of his work on Wednesday at a celebration of a totem being raised in the local Native cultural museum.

And, this is for our Avi-do – our lover of all things dog.  We haven’t seen any sled dogs yet; except for a puppy and I’ll post that  photo another day.  But we knew that our Avi-do would like to make every single one of these stuffed huskies her friends!

Anchorage is so different from the rest of America — much of which we have traveled over the years.  It is rich in history, rich in art, rich in culture, rich in peoples with opinions, and rich in respect.  The lower 48 could learn a lot from these folks.

Another destination that has been on my personal list since I was a child; and one hubby and I have shared! As usual, I’m nervous about the flying part — never ever my favorite part of the event. But, with enough decongestant and airport food; I’ll forget!

We hope to have wifi every few days to post pictures — so join us if you can!

The packing has been an interesting part of this trip. There’s not a piece of clothing in this luggage that isn’t intended to layer and peel as weather requires! I do believe at least 7 lbs of each piece are the boots alone. From t-shirts to fleece coats; we probably have too much! But hidden in this luggage is also a duffel — it will make it easier to lug the hiking boots and rain gear while we’re there, and just might end up being checked on the way home with all of our souvenirs!

We start in Anchorage on our own for about 5 days — check out where we’re staying: Mahogany Manor. Then, we’ll be joining a group of other folks led by a professor emeritus in geology for 2 weeks.

Here’s to Alaska here’s to the people
Here’s to the wild and heres to the free
Here’s to my life in a chosen country
Here’s to Alaska and me

P.S. If you know Rich and I, you’ll know whose song these lyrics are from!

We are attending the 2010 Shaker Seminar being hosted this year at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA. It is the village’s 50th year as a museum, and extra attention is being paid to this important moment in their history.

The lectures are on the whole very interesting; and as usual the people who attend are fascinating, generous, and incredibly knowledgeable about all things Shaker.

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First we went over to Williamstown MA to see the Clark Art Museum’s special exhibit on O’Keefe and Dove, then the Williams College Art Museum nearby to enjoy Prendergast in Italy.

We stayed overnight with fellow teachers whose accommodations we found through Educator’s Bed and Breakfast.  Next morning, after a delicious breakfast in their home, we joined the bus trip organized by the Clark Art Museum to the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls.

The four feet of water has to do with while we were enjoying the two museums, over four inches of rain fell in yet another exciting day that New England has experienced this summer!   This picture is of the New Lebanon Race Track that we went by on the way to Saratoga, NY (on a day where the sun came out – rare in this New England summer!).

Then two days later, we enjoyed Hill-Stead’s in Farmington CT collection.   They were having a special tour of their basement and afterwards we stayed to take in some of the beautiful art there.  This picture is of a label in the basement’s wine cellar.  None of the wine exists but it was fun to see what would have been served!   (After Hill-Stead we stopped in Bloomfield CT to visit a couple of friends — who made us a delicious lobster dinner!)

We love art if you haven’t guessed it yet!   Looking at and experiencing beautiful things is one of my favorite things to do with my time — I need to do it because although I am creative, I don’t have the skills to produce these types of treasures!   Here’s one of my favorites from our four days:

Sunday morning brought two final presentations for this year’s seminar:  Rob Emlen presented “Picturing a Shaker Village:  How the public imagined the Shaker Landscape in 1835″ and Steve Paterwic “Canterbury Takes the Lead” — both fascinating and interesting.  These workshops were held in the upstairs dining room of The Shaker Table, where we also stayed for quite a good lunch (to tell you the truth I thought the brunch food was far superior to what they had served us for two dinners on Friday and Saturday).

Hubby and I stayed another couple of hours to look about the village more and go on the Dwelling tour which we had not managed to squeeze in as yet.  We really had to hold a tongue a few times when the tour guide- truely doing her volunteer best — got a few things twisted.  On the whole though, she knew her basic stuff.  The biggest thing we wished was that she knew a few dates.  I think because the Shakers have a long history at Canterbury, it’s important to name dates or you will, as tourist and visitor, assume they “always” did it that way.   It was a short tour and only wish we could have enjoyed it for a longer time.

We then took small roads home as we did not want to get on the local highway with everyone going home on Sunday night — only once the GPS suggested a road and it led to a closed bridge!  So we had to reverse direction; but then we got to see a pretty little one lane covered bridge, so worth the detour.

Home late and tired, with mud in the basement from a serious rain storm (yet another) while we were gone.