Three Birds, One Stone (Graduation + NPS)

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Ben

I’m attending graduation today in Midtown Manhattan, so I decided to visit the last two NYC unvisited NPS sites. I took the bus to Midtown, just a couple blocks from Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site:

The visitor center wasn’t open, so after a couple minutes I made my way to the subway:

At the southern tip of Manhattan is the ferry to Governors Island National Monument:

View from the ferry towards the nearby Governor’s Island:

Landing:

View of NYC from the island:

Ellis Island in the distance:

Lady Liberty in the distance:

Back to Manhattan:

Congratulations to my graduating students!

Sandbridge Passover 2023

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Ben

Historically, we’ve either spent Passover at home or in the RV. This year, we rented a beach house in Sandbridge, Virginia, along with a few hundred other Jewish families.

Drone view of the town:

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge is south of town:

Much roller skating was done over the two weeks we were here:

I also did some running on the beach, south to the pier:

Flying too:

Here’s a video of some of the flying:

We drove into Virginia Beach and visited a Japanese “sister city” park:

Parents:

So long, Sandbridge. We had a great time, and we’re planning to come back next year:

The kids drove back with Trish. I drove back by way of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge:

I drove on to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park:

The visitor center was very well done. Harriet Tubman was an amazing woman!

I continued to Philadelphia, where I did a drive-by on two closed NPS sites, Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial and Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site:

Summer 2022, Day 52: First Flight in Illinois, Lincoln Home NHS

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Ben

Dawn at FlyPPG in Fowler, Illinois:

Flight 143, first in Illinois:

The motor went lost power for a few seconds mid-flight. I thought I was going to land out, but power came back, so I came back and landed.

Admiring the crops:

I packed up and continued east to Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois:

The Lincolns purchased this home in 1844, two years after their marriage and sixteen years before Lincoln was elected president. It is the only home the Lincolns ever owned:

Touring the house:

I had arranged to fly with a group of pilots at Wilbur Wright’s birth home in Indiana, but winds were too strong, so I continued East to overnight at the Cracker Barrel of Sunbury, Ohio. See the trip map for today’s drive.