Just a quick post this week from Missouri. It’s rare for us to have a week when we can snuggle all the grandkids in a 7-day span, but this week it happened! We also visited the historic Blennerhasset Island in the middle of the Ohio River.
Harman Blennerhasset was an Irish noble who immigrated to the Ohio with his wife at the end of the 18th century. They built a mansion on an island where they hosted lots of big wigs from the colonial era, which was pretty impressive for living on the frontier. The whole thing got really dramatic when they welcomed Aaron Burr after the whole “vice president killed Hamilton in a duel” thing. Burr convinced Blennerhasset to participate in his plan to create a separate nation in Texas with him as King. Burr was arrested for treason, along with Blennerhasset and others. They were never convicted of the conspiracy, but the debacle ruined Blennerhasset and he and his family never returned to their fabulous mansion, which burned to the ground in 1811. The state of West Virginia rebuilt it and you can ride a sternwheeler out to the island for a tour. It was worth the visit.
We also got to do some outings with Huck and Piper this week. We took them to the mall to ride the little train and to have lunch. We also went to the children’s museum in Parkersburg, which is always a good time. Baby Hugh is getting chunky and starting to smile and coo and just generally turn on the charm.
We are now settled in at Alex’s place and will be here for a few more days, playing hard with Teddy and Peter, and impatiently awaiting the arrival of grandkid #6. Any day now! We are trying to help them to have some extra rest in anticipation of their new addition.
Next week we will be on the road and moving slowly westward, so catch you then! Have a great week.
The Good, the Bad, und der Hässlich
Guten Tag und Hallo! Sorry for the abrupt end to the post from last week…we were just so busy that I ran out of time (and energy) to write it all up. But I will catch you up on all our doings now.
Mainly Main and the Rambling Rhein
We spent this week further exploring our new corner of Germany. We spent a day in Frankfurt, explored more of Mainz, and took a cruise on the Rhein. We are also back to being without, so we have returned to buses, trains, trams, and lots of walking.
Back to Deutschland
Our time in Italy came to an end and we took a few days to see some new places and move to our new homebase. We visited the lakes of Italy, the Black Forest, and took a trip up Germany’s Romantic Road. We have landed in the city of Mainz, just west of Frankfurt and on the mighty Rhine River. We will be here for six more weeks.