The John Shinnick 5 Year, 50 State (and D.C.) Pledge!
Recreated Feb. 20, 2021
Delaware
Way at the north end of Delaware is Winterthur (pronounced win ter tour) one of many DuPont estates. The fourth generation owner was Henry who grew the mansion from 12 to 175 rooms. He was into lots of things, among them preserving early American furniture (to about the Civil War era) and gardening. This place is dedicated to both.
The stop was recommended by a friend from that area and it's definitely a "must see". I spent the better part of a day there, much of it outside in the various gardens. One of them, a children's inspired "Enchanted Woods" is my Delaware photo. (6-4-11)
District of Columbia
Okay, it's not a state. However, there's a ton to see here. Face it, the Viet Nam War pretty much defined my generation. A guy from my neighborhood, David Ewing, died over there. His name is enshrined on the Viet Nam Memorial. Bless you, David. (10-15-06)
Florida
I almost overlooked the Kennedy Space Center, just east of Orlando. Now THAT would have been a mistake. Okay, a HUGE mistake. The place is great, and this (for me) was the best of the best. Back in the '60's we lost a crew of 3. Though not in the original location, this is the equipment from the control room of the subsequent flight as it was set up. The overhead viewscreens show footage with a narration of that flight. IT WAS SO WELL DONE and was the single best experience of The Longest Drive Tour.
Earlier in the morning I stopped at St. Petersburg, also well worth the time. Should have been 2 days. (5-28-09)
Georgia
Pogo was a cartoon character who lived in the very real Okefenokee Swamp. That's where I met up with this critter, probably about 6 feet of alligator. There wasn't a fence or pit or anything separating us. I'd say this place was really cool except it was in the 90's with humidity of about six million. Alligators weren't half the problem that the yellow flies were. Deep Woods Off helped, though, and I survived. It was a great look at a landscape I'd never seen. (5-27-09)
Hawaii
From the beach at the Royal Lahaini Hotel on the west coast of Maui. I spent far too much time trying to see and do lots of stuff on The Big Island then on Maui before realizing that the most important thing to see is the beach and the most important thing to do is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I have no idea who this father/son are, but it's my favorite photo of the trip. Did I like our 50th state? Well, as our beloved governor has been heard to say, "I'll be back". My wallet might disagree. (3-7-09)
Idaho
The background that looks like volcanic ash is volcanic ash at Craters of the Moon National park. My buddy is one Herman Zapp. His wife Candelaria took the pic. They're from Argentina, though Herman was born in San Francisco. Their vacation is more ambitious than mine:they've driven from Argentina to Alaska 3 times. Their next trip will be Asia in that same insane car! Fun folks. As cool as Craters was, I'll remember the Zapps most fondly. They wrote a book about their adventures - I bought one. Should be a fun read! (6-2-08)
[Note: The book was, indeed, most excellent!]
Illinois
I guess it's part of having an adventure - sometimes things just don't work out as planned. My web searches on "Shinnick" always come up with Shinnick's Pub in Chicago. When I passed through, I was somewhat delayed and I arrived at the destination at 9:00 p.m. on a Tuesday night. Sad to say, they were closing. Business must be bad. Further, I had my flash set to forced off position and couldn't figure out how to turn it back on! DANG!! So this is all I got. The gin and tonic I had imagined will have to wait. (9-17-08)