Travel – Page 13 – Marion's Blog

The Beginning of our Spring 2013 Road Trip – The American Southeast

Duke and I are on a road trip again. Friday we flew to New Orleans. Our plan is to drive to Washington, D.C. exploring along the way. We'll be back home in Reno in about a month.

We have already had two rental cars. Renting the car for the trip at New Orleans airport would have cost us about $1000 more than renting it in Baton Rouge. The tax alone would have been more than we are paying for the whole rental! So we did a one day rental Friday night when we arrived. Saturday we drove to Baton Rouge. We visited the old capital and the current capital along the Mississippi. The current capital is the tallest capital building in the country. The view from the top included the river, Baton Rouge and all the surrounding country.

We picked up our second rental car, the one we will drive to D.C., in Baton Rouge and drove back to New Orleans to drop off the first car. Then we headed south to Grand Isle. We drove through the swamps on causeways and saw lots of fishing boats. As I looked out the car window at water on every side I was struck by the fact that we were visibly at or below sea level.

Grand Isle is a narrow Island due south of New Orleans right on the Gulf. Their are lots of nice houses and it looked like a great relaxing vacation spot. Every building is on stilts including the church, the Post Office and the school. After looking around a bit we headed back north and spent the night in Morgan City.

For dinner Saturday night we ate at Susie's Seafood. What a great experience. it looked like a dive and the tables were covered with brown butcher paper. We soon saw a big bin of boiled seafood coming out of the kitchen. The bin was dumped in the middle of the table of the people who had ordered it and they dug in.We had a fried seafood platter with frog legs, shrimp, fish, crab balls and some other stuff. it was really good.

This morning we went to Avery Island to see the Tabasco factory. It was interesting and the gift shopping and sampling were fun. But the best part of Avery Island for me was exploring the more than 150 acres ofJungle Gardens that were created by the McIlhenny Family. We drove through the gardens and got out multiple times to explore.We saw several alligators. The weather was humid but it was overcast and in the 70s. An absolutely perfect day. Don't miss the alligator in the picture below.

The gardens include an artificial lake with platforms built above the water to allow snowy egrets to nest. It is called Bird City and is a heron sanctuary. The map for Jungle gardens says that 20,000 nests are built each spring. The sanctuary was created to help save the snowy egrets that were almost wiped out by plume hunters. The sight of all those beautiful herons in one place was stunning.

Here is a short video of the birds at Bird City.

From Avery Island we drove to Mandeville on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain where we are tonight.

If you would like me to share my trip photo stream with you drop me an email and I will add you to the list.

My Nephew’s Wedding – and Exploring the Cincinnati Area

Earlier this month my nephew, David got married in Ludlow, Kentucky which is just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. I love weddings and seeing all the family and friends. This wedding was no exception. It was such a happy time.

Katelyn's Dad is the pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church of Northern Kentucky. The church was built in 1896. It has been a Catholic Church and a Baptist church and now the congregation is restoring it. One of their first tasks was to remove the dropped ceiling to reveal the soaring roof and stained glass windows. The acoustics in the church blew me away. The hymns and other music added to what was already a beautiful and joyous wedding.

The other fun thing about an excuse to travel like a wedding is that we get to explore new places. Duke and I flew into Cincinnati Thursday before the wedding. We picked up Allison Thursday night. On Friday we drove to Frankfurt Kentucky to see the capital of Kentucky. We took the capitol tour. What a beautiful building. It may be the most beautiful interior of any state capitol I have visited.

We were on the tour with a group of grade school children. Did they ever know their state history. When the guide asked them who the first Governor of Kentucky was, they knew (Isaac Shelby). When asked who what the state motto is they all said in unison "United we stand, divided we falll".

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner, the wedding was Saturday afternoon. Saturday night we went to the Blue Whisp Jazz Club in downtown Cincinnati. We had a great dinner and heard the Dick Sisto Quartet playing the music of John Coltrane. The vibraphone was right in front of where we were sitting. Dick Sisto wielded four mallets over the vibraphone and we sat and listened and I was mesmerized.

Sunday we went to the Union terminal in Cincinnati. It was completed in 1933 to replace the 7 train stations of the 7 different railroad companies that served Cincinnati. The building is an enormous half dome. Apparently one of the biggest in the world.

It has been converted into a museum center with 6 different museums. We toured the history museum which was great. But for me the highlight was the free tour of the train station itself. The mosaics above the central concourse are big, bright and beautiful. When we first walked in all I could do was stand there with my mouth open and say wow! I loved them. We got to go up in the old control tower and look out over the railway yard.

Sunday night we had a fabulous dinner at an Italian restaurant called Via Vite also in downtown Cincinnati

Monday we all flew home. We took Allison to Dayton for a 6am flight and then we flew out of Cincinnati at 2pm. It poured rain the whole drive to Dayton and back. It doesn't rain like that in Reno!

Now we are back in Reno for the big push to the end of Tax season. If you or anyone you know needs their taxes done I'd be happy to do them for you. Here is a link to my office with profile on the H&R Block website.

Erb, Musselman Genealogy Trip Report – Allegany County, Maryland – May 2012

One of my many hobbies is genealogy. I love being a detective and in many ways genealogy is doing family history detective work. At one point I considered creating a separate Genealogy blog but decided instead to just tag my genealogy posts as such. This is a genealogy post. If you are not interested in genealogy and the Erb and Musselman families you should stop reading now.

On our road trip in the Spring of 2012 Duke and I did family history research in a few places including Allegany County, Maryland. I have been mulling over in my head how to summarize and save the details of the research we did on the trip. I decided to create a trip research report. First I did a Microsoft Word document. But I think I also want it on the blog. I can send a link to the others who I think will be interested and I will have the results in the future if I want to recall what I did and what I learned.

Background

My third Great Grandparents, Joseph Erb (b1789) and his wife Elizabeth Musselman Erb (b1798) lived in Allegany County with their family in the early 1800’s. One of their sons, my Great Great Grandfather also named Joseph Erb was born in 1822 probably in Allegany County.

The Musselman Farm

We arrive in Cumberland Maryland on Sunday, May 13. Based on several sources ¹²³I believed that the Musselman farm was located on land that is now the Arboretum of the Frostburg State University.

Duke and I drove out to the Arboretum and hiked around it. It is a beautiful location but we found no signs of the old Musselman farm. You can see my other pictures of the Frostburg State University Arboretum on Google Photos here. This set also contains other pictures referenced in this trip report.

[1] (Moore, 2004)

[2] (Frostburg State University)

[3] (Brusca, 2010)

Frostburg State University
Library

The library has both a local history section on the open shelves and a rare book room that can be accessed by appointment. I have the name and phone number of the person to contact for an appointment. Let me know if you need it. The library also has an interlibrary loan service. The brochure I received says for more information contact the ILL office ill@frostburg.edu 301-687-4886.

From the catalog the following books sounded interesting:

The Braddock Road by John Kennedy Lacock – published 1994 reprint of an edition thought to have been published in 1914. Includes maps and bibliographical references. The John Brusca Route 40 website⁴ quotes this book extensively. – the book is in the special collection room so I couldn’t review it.
Historical Biographical Sketch of Frostburg, Maryland and its Citizens old and new – published 1912 16p call number F 189.F7 M5 – The book contains pictures of the Musselman Farm and cornerstone.

Allegany County Maryland Rural Cemeteries – I reviewed it and found no Erb, Musselman, Arter or Strotzer
History of Cumberland Maryland by Will H. Lowdermilk – Baltimore Regional Publishing Company 1971 – photos are also in the Google album. In the forward the book includes background on Cumberland Maryland newspapers. On pages 277-278 there is a statement that the Erb family and several other listed families came to Allegany County between 1790 and 1800. On pages 296-297 there is a description of the Militia formed in 1814 and Joseph Erb is listed as a member.

The Genealogical Society of
Allegany County Library

The Genealogy Society of Allegany County Library is located in the library of the Allegany college of Maryland, 12401 Willowbrook Rd, Cumberland, MD. The library is in a room separate from the rest of the library. A librarian had to let me in to the locked room. After I had browsed the regular shelves for a while the president of the society and her husband arrived. The president of the society is Harriett Moore. She is the author of the
Musselman article in the society newsletter². She has Musselman ancestors. We discussed the cornerstone and the location of the ruins of the Musselman farm and she said she thought it might be some place else than the Arboretum.

Her husband gave me a copy of the Musselman article³ from the Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage Newsletter. The article is well sourced and documents the Musselman ancestry.

I also referenced the following books and other materials:

·Genealogical Resources in Allegany County – a seven page handout compiled by the Genealogical Society of Allegany County
The Marriage Diary of William Shaw 1792 – 1813. Several pages from this manuscript are also In the Google album. On page 8 the document lists
the marriages of
- ERB,
  Catherine to Jacob Woodring July 30 1805
- Erb,
  Polly to Jacob Speelman Feb 9 1808

It is possible that Polly and Catherine were sisters of third great grandfather Joseph Erb(b1789).

There was also a card catalog of surnames. A transcription of the Erb and Musselman cards follows this article.

If anyone reading this has more information about the Erbs and Musselmans or if you have any questions please let me know.

Works Cited

Brusca, F. (2010, 11 3). John Kennedy Lacock’s
“Braddock Road” (1909) Part 3. Retrieved 6 23, 2012, from Frank
Brusca’s Route40.net: http://www.route40.net/page.asp?n=10595

Frostburg State
University. (n.d.). Arboretum History. (W. P. hli@frostburg.edu,
Editor) Retrieved June 23, 2012, from Frostburg State University:
http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/biol/arboretum/history.htm

Moore, H. (2004). The
Musselman Family – An Early, But Brief, Sojourn in Allegany County. The Old
Pike Post , 21 (4), 1,2,4.

Phelan, E. D. (1989,
January). Descendants of Christian Musselman (d. 1734) of Lancaster Township,
Lancaster County, Penn. Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage , 146-23.

Transcription of card catalog Cards

The references Alle, Alle Adm., Alle Will, and G1 on the cards refer to the wills and probates of the Musselmans. Familysearch.org has all of them; This Family Search link is to the index for to all M wills and probates for Allegany County. The Musselmans are all listed there. Thanks to Loretta Bonaccorso at Genealogy Your Way for her help with this.

If anyone would like copies of the original cards I have them.

Index Card 1

Erb, Polly Alle

m. 2-5-1808

Jacob Speelman

Joseph Alle
Adm.

m. Elizabeth Musselman

dau of
Christian adm. 1828

Index Card 2

Erb, Margaret G1 * 12-48

m. Samuel Thayer

son/ Murray Keziah
Barrows

Index Card 3

Musselman,
Christian Alle
Adm.

6-14-1825 a –
Valentine Hoffman
Jacob Snyder Adm.

Accts Paid

Nancy

Susanna

Christian Jr.

Etc.

11-15-1826

#2 Adm. “ a –
335

8/15/1827

#3 Adm. “ a -353

Index Card 3 side 2

8/13/1828 A 378

Div
of Estate

Val
Hoffman & Jacob Snyder Adm.

Mrs
Susanna third

Christian Jr.

Jacob

Elizabeth (Joseph Erb)

Nancy (John Blocker)

Susanna (Henry Arthur)

Frances (George Hartzell) Hansel

8/10/1831 #7 adm “ B33

div. John
Heirs (Christian) AlleAdm

Christian 3-11-1834 B82

Jacob Mussellman Mrs. Susa

Elizabeth (Joseph Erb) John Blocker Adm.

Nancy (John Blocker) (Same as Christian

Susanna
(Henry Arthur) except
Christian

Frances
(George Hansell) Jr.
dec’d (heir)

Index Card 4

Musselman G1 * 1-3

Jacob

Teacher School House Run Shoemaker

When school not in session.

Index Card 5

5-10-1843 Alle
Adm. C66

Musselman
John
#1 John Blocker Admx.

Mrs.
Christianna wid third

Sarah

John

Elizabeth

Daniel

Andrew

Equal
shares

Index Card 6

Alle

Musselman
Nancy <Christian Susanna

m.
8-9-1814

John Plucker
(Blocker)

John <Christian
Susanna

m.
1-21-1815

Christina
Blocker < Andrew Barbara

Christian
< Christian Susanna

m. 5-17-1817

Nancy
Arthur

Fanny
< Christian Susanna

m.
9-6-1824

George
Hansel

Elizabeth
< Christian Susanna

m.
Joseph Erb

Susanna
< Christian Susanna

m.
Henry Arthur

Index Card 7

Musselman John Alle
Will

Hazzy
(his wife)

A 519 2-8-1840

Of Dark Co Ohio Appointed Daniel
Musselman

Of Somerset Co. Pa. to recover their 1/5

Int. in late grandfather’s (John
Musselman

Sr) estate in Alle Co.

And debts owed by Abraham’Miller’s
estate

(also their
grfather) in Somerset Co Pa.

Musselman Elizabeth

A 520 2-18-1842 ditto above

Money was owed her by John Blocker of Alle
Co.

(See Stephen Shipley)

Fall 2012 Raod Trip – Post 5 – The Olympic Peninsula

During the last week of our 2012 Fall Road Trip Duke and I spent four nights on the Olympic Peninsula. We stayed in the four different National Park Lodges in the Park. The weather was sunny and warm and we had a marvelous time.

After taking the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles we drove to Lake Crescent Lodge. Coincidentally the night that we were there was the 75th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt staying there. Our room in the lodge overlooked the lake.

In the morning we had coffee on the porch.

The next morning we hiked from Crescent Lake to Marymere Falls

Then we drove to Sol Duc Hot Springs. We hiked to Mink Lake and had a picnic then came back to Sol Duc where we were spending the night and soaked in the hot springs.

On day three on the Olympic Peninsula we drove to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center and took another short hike and had another picnic lunch.

As we were leaving the Hoh Rain Forest we saw the only elk we saw on the whole trip.

We spent our third night in the park at Kalaloch Lodge on the coast. We had a fantastic room in the lodge with 180 degree windows from which we enjoyed a magnificent sunset.

Sunday morning we went for a walk on the beach. Duke built a bit of a bridge across the creek that was entering the Pacific there and I crossed it with no problem going north. But on the way back I lost my balance and fell in!

After I changed into dry clothes we drove to Lake Qunault Lodge and took another short hike. Lake Qunault Lodge reminded me of the lodge in the movie Dirty Dancing. It was such a nice sunny warm day that we sat on the beach reading for awhile.

From Lake Qunault we left the Olympic National Park for the last time. We stopped at Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport and visited The Spar Shop where they have the largest tracer-lathe in North America. They make masts and spars and anything else that needs to be turned on a really big lathe. The lathe operators showed us around and told us they can turn logs up to 40 inches in diameter and 122 feet in length.

The Lady Washington Tall Ship had just returned from a cruise and was moored nearby.

We stopped in Olympia to tour the Washington State Capital.

Then we headed to Tacoma to spend the night with my sister and her family.

On October 9th we headed south to Bend Oregon. We had some wonderful views of Mount Rainier.

From Bend we drove home to Reno. It was a wonderful trip. If you would like to see all of our pictures from the trip they are available on Flickr here.

From Jasper, Alberta through British Columbia back to the U.S.

Duke and I returned from our Fall road trip a couple of weeks ago and I am just getting to updating the blog. This blog entry will be about our travels from Jasper Alberta in the Canadian Rockies to Vancouver and Victoria British Columbia, and then back to the U.S.

We left Jasper heading west and stopped to spend the night at the SunPeaks Resort near Kamloops, British Columbia. The SunPeaks Resort is a ski resort but since ski season hasn't started we got a great room for a great price on PriceLine.

The next day we drove to Squamish, British Columbia. Along the way we drove through Whistler where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games were held. We drove around a bit and stopped to check out the bobsled track. As we were walking around we kept hearing a whistling sound. We finally realized that it was the zip line going down the canyon behind us. It looked like a wild ride.

From Squamish we drove to Vancouver and spent two nights. We visited Chinatown in Vancouver and went to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. In the picture below you can see the man using a gong to call the fish before he feeds them. The next picture is of the garden too. It is the first full-size "scholars" garden built outside of China. We took a tour and learned all about the culture of the garden.

The other great thing we did in Vancouver was visit the Museum of Anthropology – University of British Columbia. The building was designed to display the collection of carvings and totem polls. It had a wonderful collection of everything from clothing to boats to art to masks of the native people who lived on the west coast of what is now Canada. I could go back and spend days exploring the collection.

On the way back from the museum we stopped at Granville Island and explored. We visited the public market and watched the sunset overlooking the water. Then we took the pedestrian ferry back to near our hotel and walked the rest of the way.

Tuesday, October 2 we took the ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island. We drove up the coast and spent the night in Courtenay. Wednesday we drove to Victoria stopping along the way to hike and explore. The giant Douglas firs were amazing.

In Victoria we went to see Butchart Gardens. While deciding what to do that day I was debating whether it really was worth the drive and the cost. But when we got there I was blown away. They have to be the most stunningly beautiful gardens I have ever seen.

After visiting the gardens we took the afternoon ferry across Juan de Fuca Strait to Port Angeles, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. It was a gorgeous day, there was no wind and the water was as flat as glass. We even saw some dolphins as we were crossing.

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