Tag Archives: Information

Museum of the American Revolution-Philadelphia, Pa…

Posted on May 20, 2018 by mvobsession | Comments Off

I wish there had been places like this when I was in school, history then was names and dates, this is hands on and brings history alive. I know more about the American Revolution now than I ever did.

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The best place to start is watching the short film ‘Revolution’ and then proceeding to the main galleries. Beginning in the lower right of the map we have…

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Becoming Revolutionaries (1760-1775)

The Darkest Hour (1776-1778)

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A Revolutionary War (1778-1783)

A New Nation (1783-present)

Last but not least, but certainly the most impressive – Washington’s War Tent

**From museum brochure – Created for use as a mobile field headquarters during the Revolutionary War, the tent likely was made in Reading, Pennsylvania in early 1778, while Washington was encamped at Valley Forge. It was used by George Washington from 1778 – 1783, and witnessed many dramatic moments during the War of Independence, including the 1781 Siege of Yorktown, the last major battle of the war. The tent was last displayed several decades ago at Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Since we had limited time in Philadelphia we weren’t able to see much else. I did however want to see the Liberty Bell and although that museum was closed it was visible from outside.

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Tagged America, ancestors, architecture, buildings, fourth of july, history, Information, monuments, Native Americans, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa, Photographs, Revolutionary War, sculptures, The Liberty Bell

Ups and Downs Of The Vineyard…

Posted on January 30, 2018 by mvobsession | Comments Off

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The eastern half of Martha’s Vineyard is called Down-Island and the western half is called Up-Island. Why you ask? To confuse you, that’s why. Not really, at least not on purpose. There is a very logical reason and here it is according to the MV website.

” Up-Island is the western area, which comprises the three rural towns of Aquinnah, Chilmark and West Tisbury. Down-Island is the eastern portion, home to the larger historic villages of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven (also known as Tisbury). The two terms come from the rich seagoing tradition of Martha’s Vineyard, which once sent its whaling ships circuling the globe heading “up” in nautical terms takes you “west” because it’s further from zero degrees of longitude in Greenwich, England, home of the Prime Meridian.”

Well then, according to the Guide to Martha’s Vineyard we have this explanation. “When a ship sails in an easterly direction, it is decreasing or running “down” the degrees of longitude toward zero at Greenwich, England. A westbound vessel, on the other hand, is running “up” its longitude. Thus the Down-Island town are those on the eastern and northeastern end of the Island. The Up-Island communities are at the western end. A ship moving through Vineyard Sound sails “up” to New York and “down” east to Maine.” Ah ha.

OK, I’m still confused but I do know how to get from Down-Island to Up-Island and not get lost… it’s an Island, how lost could one get anyway.

Got all that… me neither

But that’s not the only confusion about the Vineyard … she had an identity crisis at one time involving Massachusetts and New York.

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Martha! Martin! New York! Massachusetts! How many aliases and states have claimed this 100 sq mile island? The Wampanoags named it Noepe and that stuck until Bartholomew Gosnold came along in 1602.

No one seems to know who the Martin was whose name was once attached to the Vineyard… so let’s move ahead to Martha whose identity is still shrouded in myth. Was she one of Gosnold’s daughters, or his mother, or the name of an English royal. Whoever she was her name stuck and in my opinion has a nicer ring to it then Martin’s Vineyard.

According to the book “The History of Martha’s Vineyard” by Arthur R. Railton, in 1664 Charles II gave NY, NJ and the islands to the east to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1670 Thomas Mayhew, Jr and his grandson Matthew of Massachusetts traveled to NY to ask Gov Lovelace which colony his Island was under… New York or Massachusetts. Gov Lovelace made Thomas Mayhew “Governor for Life” of Martha’s Vineyard and gave him the authority to collect rents from all who lived within its bounds. Voila, Martha’s Vineyard Massachusetts. History lesson over.

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Tagged history, Information, maps, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, New York, Photographs

The Vineyard Gazette Parody Issue…

Posted on April 23, 2017 by mvobsession | Comments Off

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Long ago and far away in the year of 1984 a staff of very clever, creative and whimsical people put out a parody issue of the Vineyard Gazette ingeniously titled ~ “Not The Vineyard Gazette”. I, collector of all things Vineyard actually have a copy of this on e-ti me parody edition.

3191230935_5c9f57b791_m One of the articles on the front page is about the discovery of a baby Vineyard named Arthur’s Vineyard after the helicopter pilot who accidentally found it. There were several theories of how the baby Vineyard came to be, one of which was that it was the baby of MV and Nantucket and that a recent rain storm had been the baby shower. So funny.

Another article is, “Oak Bluffs Changes Name to Oaks Bluffs.” Apparently the name change was due in part to the fact that too much time was being taken correcting people who were getting Oak Bluffs name wrong and it was decided to just not fight it anymore. Of course that would never ever ever happen.

3192078522_6ecb29dfc5_m Amusing article on Edgartown hiring fashion police. Apparently a glitch in getting the fashion police out on the streets is the inability to agree on a color scheme for their uniforms. Tawny brown and mocha versus cranberry and puce. I would think they’d have trouble recruiting anyone if they had to wear those combinations of colors.

3191231429_a540b4269c_m Take your pick of a Vineyard themed movie.

3191231071_1d22cd4706_m Vine was an actual drink on the Vineyard. It was grape flavored water and it was delicious. I wonder whatever happened to it… I wonder why I didn’t keep a bottle of it, or the label at least. Here’s to the memory of Vine.

Clever real estate ads…or are they un-real estate !

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Sadly the one and only edition of ‘Not The Vineyard Gazette’.

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Tagged humor, Information, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, New England, newspapers, Photographs, Vineyard Gazette

Walking Over The River …

Posted on November 17, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Recently on my daughter Deb’s birthday we went for a walk over the Hudson River on the beautiful Walkway Over The Hudson,

(the above photo is from Google, all others are mine)

The walkway is in Poughkeepsie, New York… it was a former railroad bridge built in 1889, the bridge deck stands 212 feet above the river’s surface and is 1.28 miles long, making it the longest, elevated pedestrian bridge in the world. The day we were there was sunny, cloudy, breezy, windy and as you can see still lots of beautiful foliage. Here we go…

Deb & Chappy Deb & best friend Dawn

view up river …

down river towards NYC which is approximately 85 miles away…

looking straight down …

half way point…

and another stunning view of the Mid-Hudson Bridge..b

barge coming up river…

After we had lunch and rested for a bit we started back across the bridge..

I want to give honorable mention to 14 year old granddog Chappy who never once slowed down and enjoyed every moment of the bridge walk.
One last look…

This was so much fun and if it were closer than almost 2 hours from where I live I’d walk it more often.

Here are links to Walkway Over the Hudson:

http://www.scenichudson.org/parks/walkway

http://nysparks.com/parks/178/details.aspx

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Tagged autumn, boats, bridges, dogs, Information, New York, Photographs, rivers, sky, walking/hiking, water

Down/Up And An Identity Confusion …

Posted on February 1, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Got all that ! Me neither.

OK, I’m still confused but I do know how to get from Down-Island to Up-Island and not get lost… it’s an Island, how lost could one get anyway.

But that’s not the only confusion about the Vineyard … she had an identity crisis at one time involving Massachusetts and New York.

Martha! Martin! New York! Massachusetts! How many aliases and states have claimed this 100 sq mile island? The Wampanoags named it Noepe and that stuck until Bartholomew Gosnold came along in 1602.

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Tagged history, Information, maps, Martha's Vineyard, Photographs

Flying Horses Memories …

Posted on August 13, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

The Flying Horses, the oldest carousel in the United States, are housed in this building at the intersection of Circuit and Lake Aves in Oak Bluffs. They came to the Island in 1884 from Coney Island.

The Flying Horses are not a carousel, or a merry-go-round, they don’t go up and down just round and round. They are flying horses, like Pegasus, and fly to wherever you can imagine . They don’t actually have wings, but as you make the first circuit you feel like you’re about to fly out the open windows.

Look closely at the horse’s eyes, inside each one is a tiny hand carved animal.

(My picture didn’t capture the animal in the eye so I cheated just a little)

I flew on these beautiful horses every day when I was a little girl. The ticket taker was a young man who would never take my tickets ! We tried everything to get him to take them… we brought him candy and cookies and tried slipping the tickets in with them… nothing work. At the end of the summer I said I wanted to buy him a gift, so off my mom and I went to purchase what I thought was a novel idea .. a tie. I was 5 years old, what did I know about buying gifts for men… he, by the way was about 13 but in my eyes he was a grown up. We put the tie in the box with all of summer’s uncollected tickets. As he came around to NOT collect my ticket I handed him the box. He smiled. Ah ha, success… or so I thought. As we were leaving the Flying Horses he came over and thanked us for the tie and as we turned to leave he handed us the tickets. I won’t say who he is, just that he turned out to be an official in Oak Bluffs in later years… and someone I’ve never forgotten.

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Tagged architecture, Flying Horses, Information, Martha's Vineyard, Memories, Oak Bluffs, Photographs, summer

A Review Of “The Vineyard We Knew” …

Posted on June 15, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

If you’re looking for a summer read about the adventures of a summer kid growing up on the Vineyard in Oak Bluffs in the 50′s and 60′s…. this book is for you.

Even if you’re not on the Vineyard and just want to read a really, really charming, and interesting book, this book is for you.

I just finished reading this book “The Vineyard We Knew: by Kevin Parham . I enjoyed it immensely because like Kevin, I too was a summer kid on the Vineyard in Oak Bluffs during the 50′s and early 60′s. Our paths never crossed, and even though I’m quite a bit older than Kevin, we did do some of the same things and go to the same places. Flying Horses, Darling’s popcorn, Oak Bluffs beach (now known as the Inkwell) but I only knew it as … the beach … lol. If you enjoy stepping back into time little bit and reading about Martha’s Vineyard the way it used to be then treat yourself to Kevin’s book.
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** (photographs used by permission of Kevin Parham)

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Here’s a little of Kevin’s introduction which pretty much says the way I feel about the Vineyard too :

“The Island of Martha’s Vineyard is a magical place filled with enchantment and wonder. For more than half a century I have been under its whimsical spell – one that continues to lure me back year after year.

Just as a migrating bird is compelled to return to a specific geographic region each spring, I gravitate back to the Vineyard. I do this not only to reconnect to a time gone by, but also to reenergize my soul so I am inspired to reach the full potential of my life’s purpose.

Those who visit Martha’s Vineyard for the first time often develop an irresistible urge to come back, an urge most people don’t readily recognize, perhaps because it resides at the subconscious – or even deeper molecular – level. Just as is true when one is addicted to a powerful drug, once you are hooked you reach a point at which you can no longer do without it.

I have long since crossed that line of demarcation in my relationship with Martha’s Vineyard. “

** (excerpt used with permission of Kevin Parham).

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Tagged Books, Information, Martha's Vineyard, Oak Bluffs, Photographs

It’s About Time …

Posted on March 7, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

…and what time would that be? Time to change the clocks again from Standard time to Daylight Savings time, and therein lies my teeny gripe!

According to the dictionary the definitions of standard are: normal, accepted, definitive, and official to name a few. I bring this up because this Sunday, March 9th is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time… or in my own definition…fake time Hang in here with me as I try to explain.

I’m one of those rare people who like it when it gets dark early. I like long evenings when you can be cozy and comfy… not that you can’t do that when it’s light out but it seems somehow more cozy when it’s dark. I know there are some others out there that agree with me but somehow when we mention this preference we get looks of disbelief. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy an evening stroll, I’m not totally a hermit… I have been known to actually be outside after supper and enjoyed it.

But… and here is where I usually lose people with my explanation of ‘real’ time versus ‘fake’ time.

OK… in my head it goes this way… when you were born determines what YOUR real time is.

I was born in February so my ‘real’ time is Standard Time.

My daughter Patty was born in June so her ‘real’ time is Daylight Savings Time.

Daughter Deb was born in November, her ‘real’ time, Standard Time.

WAIT, not so fast, they changed the time change from the end of Oct to early November and so her ‘real’ time should, or could be, Daylight Savings Time – but it isn’t BECAUSE she was born before the change so she’ll always be time-wise, a Standard Time person. Talk about messing up body clocks.

Totally confused! Me too but I needed to get this whole silly thing off my brain. So, don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead this coming Sunday at 2 a.m. — and why is it 2 a.m. why not midnight ! Anyone know? I’ve got a headache now and I’m sure you do too. By the way, is there anyone reading this who agrees with me?

As for me, I’m always…

I know there are very good reasons for the time changes, I’m just indulging my sense of silliness with this timely post

By the way, I Googled ‘what do you call someone who likes the dark‘ and of course got ‘vampire’…but lo and behold there is a word for those of us who do like early darkness better, it’s..

nyctophilia nyc·to·phil·i·a (nĭk’tə-fĭl’ē-ə)
n.
A preference for the night or darkness.