Werth Family OnlineAlong with a couple shots of Jacob, here is the highlight reel from our vacation:
Here are some great panoramas from our trip. More to come…
Friday was the day for our tour of the West Point United States Military Academy. Our tour was scheduled for 11 so we took off at 10 for the 25 minute drive. After ending up on a detour route, the detour forgot to tell us where to go. We found our way back to our initial road and were cruising down a small scenic road only to hit a roadblock where a rock slide had occurred. At this point, it was 10:42 and we were still a ways off without knowing how to get there. (Keep in mind, our GPS isn’t being used due to the cigarette lighters not working.) After a quick call to the tour agency, we had our directions and were heavily speeding up, over, and down a mountain. We got there just in time and were off to the tour.
After going through Thayer gate we drove around the campus stopping at the parade fields, trophy point, cemetery, and the cadet chapel. The main campus was on a high bluff, filled with Gothic military buildings, and occupied 3,000 acres. Behind the campus was an additional 10,000 acres of mountainous terrain used for training. It was a very enjoyable tour and we found a small pizzeria for a late lunch. We hopped back in the car, and after some amazing roads through the mountains, the Hudson river, and Connecticut forest, we arrived in New Haven. We met Chris and Karen for a Thai dinner and some drinks. Tomorrow we are off to Gouveia Vineyard north of New Haven.
p.s. We are taking some amazing pictures, but forgot to bring the card reader. We will post the pictures after we return.
After having a good nights rest in Hamburg, PA Elise and I drove north toward Pottsville to tour Yuengling brewery. On the way we took a couple scenic off-shoots – one up a gravel road on a mountain and another on a winding tar road next to water dams. Arriving in Pottsville, we found a nice bluff city with crazy roads (skinny, one-ways, and ridiculous hills). We saw a cool castle-looking building and upon almost entering discovered it was a prison. We were kind of confused since it had a historic landmark placard describing the hanging of the mollies. But after realizing it was a prison, we took off and went to the brewery.
Yuengling Brewery is in its 182nd year and has been family owned the entire time. Under the current ownership of Dick Yuengling, it has grown substantially and someday will be owned and operated by his four daughters. The tour was great as we saw the various stages from the kettles to the bottling/canning and the old storage caves carved into the mountain. The beer was good and we both really enjoyed the Yuengling Porter. After another beautiful drive, we stopped for dinner at Barley Creek Brewery and Grill. From there we drove on to our hotel in Newburgh, NY.
Elise and I decided to take a trip to the east coast to visit a friend and see the countryside. After leaving Jacob in the welcoming arms of his grandparents, we departed MSP and flew to Newark, seeing Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty during the landing. Arriving without a hitch, we rented a car and drove west to Pennsylvania. We stopped in White House Station, NJ for a fantastic dinner at Reddington’s Diner where a number of folks were speaking Italian. From there we traveled on to Nazareth, PA for an impromptu trip to the Martin Guitar factory. There were no more tours for the day, but we took a peek at the shop, toured the museum, and tested out a few guitars. We were able to see the history of the guitars as well as the guitars of Johnny Cash, Paul Simon, and others. We drove onward and stopped for the night in Hamburg to prepare for our brewery tour tomorrow. Best wishes from PA!