#290 Getting To Semester At Sea

Our goal was simple.

Starting Saturday morning, we'd travel from Charlottesville to Manhattan and board the MV Explorer Sunday before it sailed for Halifax. Our helpers were Elizabeth, Amtrak, and Jenn. Elizabeth put us at Cville station promptly at an early hour. Thanks Elizabeth! Then Amtrak delivered us to NYC on time, no kidding. Then Jenn showed us her new home, her campus, and a fine dinner in Little Italy. Thanks Jenn!

Saturday night, our last night spent on land for weeks, we slept in Jenn's "penthouse" apartment just a few blocks from the MV Explorer.

Yours in getting Semester At Sea off to a great start,
Kelly

#289 Oh, the Places We'll Go!

When last we sailed with Semester at Sea, Kelly finished our journal with this final entry dated December 13, 2006:

"We're on the last leg of our trip around the world crossing the Indiana border on I-74 toward Indianapolis. Thinking back now, the trip dissolves into uncountable little segments. We didn't go around the world. We went to Chicago, then Los Angeles, then San Diego. And each little trip generated its own memories – people, sights, and such. It's like life. You live a whole bunch of days with countless choices along the way and at the end, you look back and realize, that was my life. We saw too many people who don't have the luxury of choices to alter the direction of their lives, so we're returning with a new focus. We know that what's important is what you do along the way – the journey, the days, the choices. As we think back now, we're really thinking ahead, eager for the chance to make good choices every day."

As we prepare now for our second semester at sea, we're thinking about the effects of that first voyage. And we're wishing for more of the same.

Yours in still trying to make good choices,
Mary

#288 Pope-Leighey House

"There are certain things a man wants during life, and, of life. Material things and things of the spirit. The writer has one fervent wish that includes both. It is for a house created by you."
- Loren Pope to Frank Lloyd Wright, August 1939

That letter is how Loren Pope, a Virginia newspaperman of modest means, convinced Frank Lloyd Wright to build for him an affordable custom home.

The resulting Usonian home, the Pope-Leighey House, is artful, modest, approachable, and open for tours. It’s one of Wright’s best. It’s in Virginia.

Yours in wishing my pen could be as productive as that of Mr. Pope,
Kelly

#287 Then She Found Me

How far would you go to see a Colin Firth movie?

10 miles? 50 miles? 100 miles?

Don't forget gas costs $4 per gallon.

And don't forget you've got a lot of important stuff on your to-do list.

We threw reality out the car window this weekend and drove the 111 miles to see Then She Found Me. It was worth the trip.

Yours in recommending Then She Found Me if it is playing at a theater 'near' you,
Mary

#286 Indy Super Bowl 2012

Congratulations to Indy on winning the 2012 Super Bowl bid!

In honor of the occasion, I'm sharing a family football photo taken in front of our Christmas cabin in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains. We had no Lucas Oil Stadium, so we had to resort to playing on the driveway.

Yours in celebrating any way we can,
Mary

#285 Thirty thousand and two

Thirty thousand people congregated in Charlottesville this weekend for the UVa graduation. Sam and Shannon came to Charlottesville this weekend too and our focus was on competitions rather than commencements. ...who holds reference librarian contests? ...where's the Tribond championship? ...is Sam or Kelly better at keeping a kite airborne when the wind dies? ...how many people can fit in a cell phone booth?

After touring Monticello, lunching outside on the downtown mall, and walking the UVa grounds, we declare Sam and Shannon the winners of our inaugural "best graduation weekend visitors" competition.

Yours in enjoying an award-filled weekend,
Kelly

#284 GPS - paper and electronic

In 2008, we wear GPS satellite receivers on our wrist to tell us where we are.

In 1927, we wore tiny paper map scrolls on our wrist to tell us where we were.

Yours in appreciating the power of maps, both paper and electronic,
Kelly