An American Dream (Sort of) in New Hampshire

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On my way from Portland to Manchester, I took a small side trip to not only Portsmouth, NH but also Keene, NH because people told me it was a picturesque, historic New England town. 

The Keene Public Library caught my eye, a historic home (to the left) with a wing added (right).  

The reference librarian steered me to Alan Rumrill, Executive Director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County (above).  She said he had more stories than anybody in Keene.

Alan Rumrill told me the story of General James Wilson, a resident of Keene who became a general in the New Hampshire militia in the 1830s and 1840s.  When he was called upon to lead men in the Civil War, he declined, saying he was too old.

Wilson was involved in New Hampshire state politics in the 1840s.  He had many friends in state government, but he was lured to California by the gold rush.  His wife had died, but that didn't stop him from leaving his children and taking a government position in California.  His two daughters were in their early teens, and his son even younger.  

He corresponded with his daughters, who complained of being stuck in the house.  They had to go to school, of course, but “they were not able to have the opportunity to get out and socialize and have financial support to do those things other people were doing in the community,” Mr. Rumrill said.  “They also had the care of the younger brother.  Wilson didn’t send a lot of money back to his children.”

The general eventually came back to Keene, picked up where he left off, and was elected to the state legislature.  He died a local hero, a satisfying American dream come true, for him.

His papers were bequeathed to the Historical Society, where they lay dormant for years.  It was only when his correspondence with his children came to light, while two authors researched a book based on the correspondence entitled, “Sisters of Fortune,” that local opinion changed. 

“He’s now considered prominent politically, socially, and militarily in the area but is also seen as an inattentive father who was more concerned with doing things that were of interest to him than in caring for his children,” Mr. Rumrill said.

The office of the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene, New Hampshire, in a stately mansion that was part of someone's American dream.

Occupy Keene, hard at it mid-day on a weekday, working toward keeping the American dream a possibility for everyone, not just the 1%.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

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From Portland, Maine I drove to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and then to Manchester.  I drove because the bus schedule was impossible -- a circuitous route that would have taken 15 hours to make a two-hour drive.

Portsmouth is a quintessential New England coastal town with lots of red brick commercial buildings.  The buildings along the waterfront evoked images of clerks with ink-stained fingers counting barrels of incoming freight and making marks in their ledgers.  Now, in these same buildings, waiters watch for customers in the tony bars and restaurants.

The pier along the waterfront was a tad inaccessible -- I had to lift a latch and commit trespass to get onto a restaurant's summer deck and take this picture.  Inaccessibility of waterfronts is nearly an unforgivable sin in my town-planning book.  But Portsmouth almost made up for it with interesting boutiques and great coffee shops throughout town.

Tugboats in Portsmouth, NH harbor.

Gap - and not the Delaware Water Gap

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I apologize for the gap in time between the last post and this one.  I had problems with my computer for two weeks.  Then I could not find my New England pictures in my reconstituted computer.  Totally panicky problems.

But the tech issues are resolved and this morning I found some of the photos!  So I can complete my bus trip around America with you.

For the last nine days of my trip, from Philadelphia on, I spent every night in a new bed.  It was a whirlwind.

From Philly I took the bus to New York City, stayed one night with my daughter, then took the bus to Boston, stayed one night with my brother, then took the bus to Portland, Maine for one night.  On the way to Portland, the bus stopped briefly in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and I knew I wanted to go back and explore.

In Portland I took the ferry to Peaks Island and back (above), then stopped by Occupy Portland and attended my first general assembly.  I was so impressed at how the meeting's "leader," chosen by group conscience, was careful to acknowledge everyone who wanted to speak, even the people that, if I were the leader, I would want to discourage because they tended to repeat themselves.

Remarks became heated and hands went up rapidly, and the leader kept up with it all.  She was the tiniest young woman in a knit hat with earflaps and tassels.  It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving in Maine, and the weather at 7 p.m. was milder than usual for Portland, but still chilly.

Occupiers planned to stay the winter in Lincoln Park.  Imagine winter in Maine in a tent!

Portland officials were not banning occupiers from the park, but they were putting some restrictions -- some that occupiers chaffed at -- around the occupation.  Officials told them they had to get rid of the blue tarps that they put around their tents for insulation.  The blue tarps are flammable -- I didn't know that.  They had to get Tyvek tarps instead.  They also had to move their tents and space them at least 10 feet apart, to create fire lanes in between.

It was fascinating to watch the orderly exchange of ideas and comments in an Occupy general assembly.  It is a true democracy -- everyone gets heard, everyone who wants to votes.  Kudos to the occupiers for taking a self-sacrificing stand against the ridiculous level of greed exercised at the top levels of business and government in our country today.  The greed will kill the American Dream for everyone else.  Do you agree?

Birthplace of American Freedoms - Philadelphia

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Philly is a great town, full of history, and very proud of it.  I walked all over it in a radius from the hostel and covered most of the historic district.  I enjoyed the brick sidewalks, some cobblestone streets, Ben Franklin's original post office - the first in America (which the U.S. Postal Service plans to close).  I saw Colonial-style buildings, and a beautiful modern building that houses the Liberty Bell, which can be seen from the street through a glass wall by any person at any time.

This is the room in Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation (a system with fatal weaknesses) and the Constitution (which still guides our nation) were signed.  The room has thirteen seats.  Center back is the "rising sun" chair where George Washington sat and presided over events.

Independence Hall was covered with scaffolding as the National Park Service works to conserve it.

Reflecting on the Liberty Bell.

The famous crack, symbolic of the flaws many people (i.e., Native American and African American minorities) have experienced in the playing out of their American dreams.

Statue of an eighteenth-century man in a three-cornered hat, being mimicked by a guy in a North Face jacket.

Richmond Was at the Center of the Civil War

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Richmond was the site of many battles in this war that defined the nation.  It was the capitol of the Confederacy, home of the iron works that produced the most cannon and ammunition in the South, and gateway to Southern territory.  There are two terrific museums on the Civil War located right next to each other at the Tredegar Iron Works, and I recommend both of them.

A cannon outside the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar Ironworks in Richmond.

This one is inside the museum, where a class was taking notes on the exhibit.

A scupture expressing the agony of brothers who fought on opposite sides of the conflict.

A mourning dress for wives of soldiers killed.

A wonderful National Park Service ranger.

More views of what's left of the Tredegar Iron Works, which supplied the Confederacy with most of its cannons (above and below).

Let's Do the Charleston

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Charleston is a pretty city, though I liked Savannah better because its historic district is concentrated within one square mile, including 24 historic squares with statues, fountains, live oaks and Spanish moss.  But Charleston ain't bad.

This is one of the cannons that probably fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, starting the American Civil War.

Jermel President and his son, Jermel, Jr., at his aunt's holistic soulfood cafe, Alluette's.  My fried fish and collards were superb!  When I asked him about racism in Charleston, Jermel said, "There is no black or white, there's one situation.  And if you don’t understand that, you get caught up in that.  If it rains tomatoes, we’ll make Bloody Mary's.  Whatever goes on you just have to be effective and deal with it."  He played pro basketball and now coaches and runs a non-profit, DAE Foundation.org, which  works with student athletes, helping with the transition from high school to college. 

 

A T-shirt in a Charleston shop window that shows the Native American perspective on the Euro-American invasion from the East.

My quest to bond better with dogs on this trip was rewarded by Saatchi, who loved to hang out in the Charleston hostel.  Saatchi is part Havana Silk Dog and part Shih-Tzu.  She was independent-spirited, like a cat, which endeared her to me.

Now there's a bond!  That's Saatchi with her master, Nicole, who ran the hostel.

Multi-million-dollar homes on the waterfront of Charleston.

The front door to the Aiken-Rhett house, formerly the luxurious residence of slave-owning whites.  Behind the door is a marble staircase with wrought iron bannisters and mahogany trim.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures indoors.

This is the staircase for slaves to enter the house with food, clean laundry, and whatever else the Aiken family wanted.

Charleston Plays Water Music

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Charleston does fountains right, do you agree?  It has the whole Atlantic nearby, and it plays with water better than Chicago played with Lake Michigan.  Seattle failed in the fountain category miserably despite proximity to the Pacific.  Only St. Louis, on the Mississippi, rates as well as Charleston in the fountain category. 

Air temperature was in the 80s in Charleston the second week in November.

The top three fountains were in the middle of downtown.

This is in Waterfront Park.

Also in Waterfront Park.  Rate Charleston on fountains (the next pic is of one of the two waterfront fountains in Seattle, so you can compare).

Seattle's waterfront fountain.  This is an important issue, folks!  If Seattle can't be creative with the Pacific Ocean, what sort of future does it have as a city known for entrepreneurial spirit?  Let's hear from you...