Frederick and His Family Visit

Betsy and her family visited us at the lake these past few days. Notable about this annual visit is the fact that it was Frederick's first time to see our cabin and lake. He is 10 months old already and has the "soldier crawl" down pat, so he really gets around. His playpen helped us keep track of his whereabouts.

Pete says that Fritz is his "bonus child."

We rented a pontoon boat one day, so Fritz got to have his first boat ride too. He didn't really like his life vest too much.

Henry and Clara were our lookouts. Pontoon boats are nice for being able to move around, have lunch, have shade and generally relax.

Betsy and Fritz had the relax part down pat.

We eventually found a spot where the bluegill were plentiful. Henry and Clara caught a fish on almost every cast, and the night crawler supply was severely threatened. Grandpa had trouble keeping up with the hook removal, rebating, line untangling, and technique advice. Each of them caught probably 15 or more. Loons and Bald Eagles graced us with close encounters all the while.

These three had more fun than this picture might suggest.

That night, we had dinner at a favorite local place. Fritz was completely charmed by the server. Or maybe it was him doing the charming?

They are all back home now, and it is too quiet here at the lake. We do have a Hummingbird convention going on, however. I may have to start buying sugar in extra large quantities just to be able to keep the feeders full.

Unwanted Hot Tub Visitors

After arriving back at the lake, I decided to refill the hot tub. However, I quickly discovered that some unwanted guests had decided to build a home at the intersection of the external tub wall and the frame that is a part of the lift for the cover. This hornet nest was about the size of a large cantaloupe, and the inhabitants were not having any part of my desire to refill the tub, lift the lid, or anything else involving my presence. So, much as I appreciate and try to respect nature, they had to go. Use of a little wasp and hornet spray quickly did them in, after which I was able to scrape the nest off–it was quite securely attached to all the surfaces it touched. However, several of the occupants, who were away at the time, kept returning and were very confused. They were not happy about the situation, but after a couple days, they seem to have moved on.

As these guys were primarily black and white, I believe they were bald-faced hornets, about which you can read more by clicking here. I also found a YouTube video that someone took of the inside of such a nest. One had been built on a window of her house so that she was safely able to make a video recording of the inside of it through the glass. Click here to see that if you like.

P.S. The hot tub is now back in action.

P.P.S. The nest, after I threw it into the woods, was something Tighe did not like. He barked and growled at it.

Penny's Birthday (Early)

We have returned to the lake, but before we did that, we celebrated Penny's second birthday early, since we were not going to be present on the actual day. She and her family came out for dinner, and we finished with some ice cream and fresh red raspberries from our garden. Penny was delighted when Nana put a candle in her ice cream and we all sang Happy Birthday. She liked the ice cream and berries too.

Meanwhile, Eleanor indicated that she was going to turn hers into "cream."

Good to the last drop!

Next, it was time for Penny to open her present.

Oh, no! Grandpa has trains on the brain! He found a Lionel Little Lines set for Penny with a remote control, an operating crane for loading one of the train cars, plenty of track, and an engine complete with chuffing sounds.

Penny caught on to the operation of the set pretty quickly and thought that some of her other toys could play a role too.

Home Again

Henry and I are home again. I think I can speak for him and I know for myself by saying we had a great time and had all sorts of adventures. It was a special privilege to be able to share this kind of time with my oldest grandson, and I thank his parents for "loaning" him to me for the week.

A few closing things! First of all, I was finally able to get a video downloaded of the TVRRM engine being turned on that turntable in Summerville, GA when we did the train ride last week. If you want to see that, either click here or return to the posting called "Olde Tymey Train Ride" (you may see that link at the right of this page) and scroll down to the end, where you will now find the video available.

Finally, here are a few shots of Henry that I thought you might enjoy. This first one shows him "inside" one of the Tennessee Aquarium tanks. I sent this one to his mom and suggested that he was contemplating lunch, although I don't know if he really likes crab or not.

We went to a couple of movies during the week, and although we didn't see Monsters University, I couldn't resist snapping this photograph of Henry. Sully is one of our favorite Pixar characters.

Here is Henry inside the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Indianapolis. We stayed there the last night before heading back home. I liked that it continued the theme of trains for our trip. This hotel, like the Choo Choo hotel we stayed at in Chattanooga, also has converted passenger sleeper cars available. We didn't stay in one of these, but it was fun to see them and the other train-related features of this hotel, which is inside the old Indianapolis train station. Indianapolis is really doing nice things with their downtown area. Henry and I would recommend it as a place to visit or stay, and this hotel was very nice.

And last but not least, here is Henry back at home having unboxed and set up his new Lionel electric train. He is also wearing his new Lionel T-shirt. (Thanks, mom, for sharing the picture!) I know that he is sharing the fun with his siblings. Now I just need to help him figure out how to store it in a convenient way.

Trying to get back to my normal routine now. I expect we will head for the lake before long.

Tennessee Aquarium

Today we visited the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. We had seen the buildings from the river during our dinner cruise a few nights ago. This was one of the finest aquariums I've ever visited. There are two buildings, one for ocean fish and another for fresh water, mostly river, fish. There were "petting" tanks for rays and special attractions for ecosystems surrounding bodies of water. We also took in an iMax 3D showing about great white sharks, which focused on sharks as threatened species and provided lots of good information about efforts to protect the great whites.

Henry liked this "blown up" concrete section near the entrance to one building.

There were several species of rays I'd never seen before.

Dory was there, which pleased Henry, of course.

There was a butterfly garden.

And Henry thought these signs at the exit from that area were funny.

Here he is inside an exhibit of piranhas.

We have one more day here consisting mostly of LCCA events, and then we head back for home on Saturday.

The Choo Choo Hotel

No tours were taken yesterday. Instead, we spent a leisurely morning at the hotel shopping, looking at the grounds, and swimming. Later in the day, we took in a movie (Despicable Me 2) and attended a couple convention seminars on new Lionel products and on scenery construction.

The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel is a national historic landmark. Railroads have always been a big part of this area, and the passenger lines that ran through here in the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s were important to the south. Of course, you may know the old song made famous by the Glen Miller band, for which you can easily find YouTube videos if you want.

The hotel consists of the beautiful old train station and several added hotel room buildings that have been added behind the station. However, they have also kept the old passenger platforms that extend out behind the station, and quite a number of passenger cars still sit on the rails along those platforms. Most of these have been converted into hotel rooms by splitting the interior space in two at the center and then adding a bedroom in each space. Henry and I are staying in one of these rooms.

Here is one of the old original Chattanooga passenger line engines.

You can see that we are at the farthest end of one of the platforms. Henry is standing at the entrance to our room in this car.

Some very pretty gardens and fountains have been added to the grounds as well.

Henry liked this actions sequence I did of his morning entrance to the pool. Actually, there are many more pictures in the sequence, and he said it is like looking at one of those flip books that shows a moving picture.

Another of the fun things we did this day was to tour the several electric train exhibits. There are three Lionel layouts. This one is in the lobby of the hotel, and it is drawing lots of attention and oohs and aahs from little persons. The exhibitors are quick to hand out Lionel catalogs to anyone who shows interest. OK--I'm excited by the layouts too!

The hotel also hosts the permanent layout of a regional Tennessee electric train club. This layout is HO gauge and is 157 feet long and about 30 feet wide at its widest point. It is just loaded with fun scenes, little details (like a moving cluster of teeny chickens pecking at food on a farm as the trains roll by). Lookout Mountain is featured, along with its inclined railway. One train has a camera mounted at its front, and a TV displays what it says as it traverses the layout. Very cool! We spent lots of time there.

After we left the end-of-day seminars, we saw the hotel's rooftop sign all lit up for the night. Part of it is animated (smoke and track). All of us club members who attended received a working model of this sign to use in our own layouts or as desktop items.

A Civil War Experience and a Dinner Cruise

Yesterday, we traveled with a group of our fellow conventioneers by bus for a tour of some of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Civil War battlefields and related sites. I've always been interested in learning more about the war and have read many books about it. When I worked in Washington years ago, I visited Gettysburg and many of the battlefields in northern Virginia. This was my first visit to a battlefield so deep into the south. Someday I'd like to add Shiloh and Vicksburg to the list.

For Henry, this was a new experience. He knows a little about what the war was, but although I suspect he learned lots yesterday, I'm pretty sure also that the heavy emphasis on explanation by our tour guide and park rangers made the time a little less fun than the more active things we have done. Nevertheless, there were frequent "wows" throughout the day.

I did not realize that the Chickamauga Battlefield was the second place added to our National Park system after Yellowstone. It is a huge park, comprising nearly 6,000 acres of ground, and it holds many more monuments than appear at Gettysburg, for those of you who may have seen that battlefield. I enjoyed learning about the battle, the significance of it related to Chattanooga as a key transportation hub, and the subsequent battle for Chattanooga itself. The loss of Chattanooga to the Union may have represented the clearest turning point toward the South's eventual defeat.

Henry was fascinated by the monuments and also the many artillery pieces on display.

Because the park is so large and is protected ground, it has become a serious wildlife refuge almost as a byproduct. We saw does with fawns, which Henry loved, and this gorgeous butterfly near the visitors center.

At one point, our tour guide, who is a local history teacher and serious Civil War buff, had our group attempt a forced march. For me it brought home the futility of the decades of reliance on this historical method of confrontation between lines of troops. I'm not sure what Henry thought of it, since he seemed more interesting in pitching pine cones into the woods "behind the lines."

At lunch time we were hosted at the Gordon-Lee mansion in the nearby city of Chickamauga. Henry liked the porch and the rocking chairs there.

Next, we were driven to the top of Lookout Mountain and Point Park, another National Park. Here we learned about the subsequent siege of Chattanooga and the eventual Union victory. During the battle and siege there, Lookout Mountain played significant roles for both sides.

The views from Lookout Mountain were amazing and may have represented the biggest "wows" for Henry during the day.

Someone kindly offered to take this picture of the two of us near a Confederate artillery piece.

The conclusion of the tour was a visit to the National Military Cemetery in Chattanooga, which was quite large and very beautiful in its way. The most interesting thing for the two of us was seeing this monument. (Henry took this very nice picture!) You probably know of the so-called "Great Train Chase" featured in the old Disney film starring Fess Parker. This monument is in honor of the Union soldiers and a Union civilian (Andrews, who was deemed a spy by the South) who lost their lives at the conclusion of the chase. Seven graves form an arc directly behind the monument. For us LCCA folks, this was an especially interesting thing to see–there have been several presentations on the chase as a part of the convention. Henry knows a little about the story and enjoyed seeing this too. Maybe I'll find the movie for him sometime.

Finally, at the end of the day, we enjoyed a dinner cruise on the Southern Belle riverboat. We were able to get up to one of the flying bridges off the pilot's cabin for some great views as we were underway. That is where I got this shot of my grandson and week-long buddy. He looks like he is having fun.

Olde Tymey Train Ride

Still not going to have time today to show pictures or talk about the hotel we are staying in. I'll get to that eventually. We spent all day today on an old train comprising a steam engine and a number of old passenger cars (one of which was once used in the movie Some Like It Hot). The commissary car was converted from an old army kitchen car. These were all fun to see, but the engine was, of course, the best part. We rode from our hotel, which was originally a train station, in Chattanooga to Summerville, Georgia through woods and various small communities and past the Chickamauga Civil War battlefield. Both of us were excited to board when the train arrived.

One of our fellow LCCA conventioneers agreed to take this picture of us as we rolled along.

One of the highlights was when they stopped the train to let off those of us wishing to take photographs.

Then they backed up the train a long ways and came running by all of us photographers with a full head of steam and moving at a good clip. This is evidently something often done at these conventions. Anyway, here are two of the many shots I captured.

In Summerville, we were treated to a very good chicken dinner and also got to watch the engine being turned around for the return trip on a turntable. For those willing to watch the nearly four minutes it took to do this, here is a video: