Living In Williamsburg, Virginia: The End Of Presidents Park, Williamsburg, Virginia

Living In Williamsburg, Virginia: The End Of Presidents Park, Williamsburg, Virginia

I was scheduled to speak and have a book signing of my book, "Thank You America" at their location and just before the date, they informed me of thier closure. I, too was dismayed.

My web page is : www.Haroldkirsh.com

The book is the story of America. It is a pictorial, anecdotal story of the founding and progress of this great country from its inception through Obama. It is based on the factors that helped mold the character of each of the presidents while being children. ie; influence of parents, teachers, clergy. events, locale etc. It was researched by a motor trip of over 14,000 miles and 110 sites while visiting the birth and burial sites and every presidential museum.

The "story" is presented as though watching a stage presentation of each of the 44 presidents, where the setting is the condition of the country at that time in history and then you visualize and hear excerpts of his inaugural address before reviewing his biography.

After completing this for 44 presidents, I felt that it could be used to evaluate any presidential candidate--before voting.

Additionally, it may prove to be a means for a child to learn how to prepare him ( or herself) for leadership abilities.

I would be pleased for anyone to contact me for discussion and/or purchase of an autographed copy.

Hi everybody...forgot to mention that we had a great visit with Gabriela and Benj mwhile in Maine...and in fact had a special breakfast served to us by by Benj in the restaurant he is working in for the summer, prior to attending the University of British Columbia this fall...Good luck, Benj! and now I turn this final blog over to my beautiful and wonderful wife..

Hello to you all of you with Love...
I can't believe we are almost home..harold had a dream and i am so happy to hve been able to be part of it..all the excitement of each day was a joy...the weary times are forgottenand my appreciation of this country knows no bounds...every president left a heartfelt mark..especially woodrow wilson...he would not sign a bill that would not allow anyone who could not speak english to entere this countery..that means neither of our grandparents could have come to america..AND ELIZABETH AND LOUIS and PAULINE AND BENJAMIN would not have had ua and we woulfd not hav e had you..so thank you again woodrow wilson..thank you sylvia and ruth for being there for me...so long for now..maybe we will take that train across canada..could b e. love you all be well a d happy..mother daras grandma

Final Resume

...We are in Palm Coast, Florida ...about 4 hours from returning home tomorrow and retrieving Tiger and Hershey!...It has been a fabulous trip...but like a dream now that is over..Can you believe that Daras told me she was a little sad about it being completed...she felt as tho she wanted to continue some more!....

The saga began when Ellen and Tony visited us in early May...and immediately after arrival suggested we start then and there by visiting the Truman Little White House in Key West...and in minutes we left in their car and had a swell 2 day visit...and it gave Daras and me the impetus to start!

We therefore left on our journey on May 11th...with a 2 day visit to Plains, Georgia with the pleasure of spending Mother's Day in the Maranatha Baptist church..sitting thru the service and then having Jimmy Carter presenting an hour and a half Sunday School Lesson as he paced directly in front of us...as we sat in the front row center and spoke without notes for an hour and a half..I was permitted to take photos and then we had our picture taken with he and Rosalyn outside of the church..
We then visited his museum in Atlanta...and then visited several more Presidential sites in South and North Carolina, Williamsburg, Virginia...had dinner with our charming Grandaughter, Tori in Charlottesville, where she is a student at University of Virginia...many more sites visited in Virginia and environs...then, an evening with our friend Peggy Bouffard in Williamsburg...and more Presidential sites visited...and then to DC where our daughter Ellen and Husband Tony graciously offered thier house for us to use as a base....Dinner with Grandson Alex was great...and he suggested and taught me how to Blog...!..while there we also had dinner in Georgetown with our lovely Grandaughter, Liz preparing our meal in a very upscale Restaurant in which she is employed as part of her Summer training as a very Special Chef! During this stay we saw all the Presidential sites possible...and it was the beginning of my blog..
Since I am thanking all those who aqssisted in one way or another, I would like to first thaqnk my beautiful wife, Daras who not only agreed to accompany me in this endeavor, but did it graciously and was so very helpful in many ways, including bolstering my efforts and giving me so much encouragement...My daughter Janet who met us in Annapolis on a Sunday morning for a belated Birthday brunch....My daughter and Son-in Law Deena and Michael who offered their home in NJ for a resting site..and my Sister, Shanlee who provided a similar roost, while in Pennsylvania...and my daughter-in-law and son, Pam and Jim who provided us lodging and a very exciting Birthday Party/Dinner for Jim on June14, his Birthday! Another re-union took place when we had dinner and a local sight-seeing tour of Little Rock, Arkansas with Richard Shreiber, the son of Shula who was Daras' roomate in her college days. AND not to forget all our friends and family who were kind enough to communicate with us regularly by E-Mail and telephone which served to provide and keep the warmth and kinship alive during the many weeks away at such distances...Thanks to all of you!

The trip was made possible by the Honda Corporation whose vehicle was so dependable, especially the GPS who directed us without fail to every nook and cranny we requested.
Another thanks to the Casio company whose very compact digital camera made photo taking so easy....and to all those wonderful National Museum Archivists and National Park Guides and volunteer Docents who offered so much information...

Some Statistical Facts:

The trip took about 9 weeks


We drove over 10,000 miles by road
and 3000 miles by Air

We stopped for one night in each of over 50 Hotels/motels
without one reservation

We visited about 90 or more Presidential sites!

We used about $1500 of Gasoline!


I recognized that there were 3 phases of this project:

1. Research all sites and ploan the itinerary
2. Visit all the sites
3. Write the "Thank You America" Book....to be done!

Daras is asleep...and I am aware that she wants to write the final note on this blog...so in the AM it will be done!

Had another very productive day! After leaving for Greeneville, Tennessee this morning we passed over the final time zone in about an hour and finally we are back on Eastern Daylight Saving Time....it was like meeting an old friend again!...then after noon we reached the Home territory of President Andrew Johnson...the first thing we visited was his grave site in the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery..It became recognized as a National Cemetery in 1906..
His family plot with his own tomb being very prominent was directly o0n a very steep summit on Signal Hill which is now knownas Monument Hill...His wife and children and other members of his and his wife's family are buried there as well...It was said that he selected the site himself and it was confirmed after his death by a very loyal ex-slave who continued to work for him and the family for pay! Altho he was a slave owner he had freed his personal slaves far before the Emancipation Proclamation...His father died when he was 3..he and his brother was sent to a different town to learn tailoring by becoming an apprentice...He ran away after breaking a window..and a reward of $10 was offered by the tailor for his capture..but he moved miles away...opened a tailor shop...self taught to read and write and the rest of the history will be explored in my book! We saw the tailor shop...his boyhood home and the home he retired to post-presidency...It is a very interesting story which has great consequence in American History...Hang on for the ride!...I can't wait to get started!.....We then drove again..over and thru the Cumberland Mountains...and the adjacent to Ashville and over and thru the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and at the foothills of the Blue Ridge...It was a twisty, winding road which revealed exciting vistas for our pleasure...We stopped in Spartanburg, South Carolina for the nite..leaving about 2 days for our return to Hershey and Tiger!....

I wiil finally finish this blog tomorrow..with some personal o0bservations and maybe so0me interesting statistics...stay tuned...

One more to go! Visited thye "Hermitage" of Andrew Jackson in Nashville today...He was quite a man...and sure left his mark on the Presidency...He was a helion as a kid...served in 4 wars!...Fought in Revolutionary war at age 13...was a drinker and a womanizer and a gambler...evidently gave up "the good life" to become an attorney! Invited into Politics and the rest is History that you will read in my book...Married a divorcee (who wasn't divorced"...fought a duel after she was slandered...Killed the opponent etc! Story of Andrew and Rachel emenated.. The house sits on 1100 acres...great big mansion...very impressive....Mother and wife played an important part in his life....and he worked extremely hard post-presidency to get Polk elected....another interesting story!Saw his and Rachels grave at the home...

Was told by one person at Museum that Polk and his wife were buried at the Capitol building in downtown Nashville...dashed back there...and walked up thousands of stone stepsw intyo the Capitol..and then hundreds more steps down in the back to the East Lawn...Found Polk and his wife's tomb...very impressive and also saw big statue of Andrew Jackson on horseback there as well as statue of Andrew Johnson!....Tennessee claims all 3 Presidents as their own..but all 3 were born in North Carolina...another story to relate later!

Left in a hurry to drive 70 miles southwest to Columbia, Tennessee where the home of Polk is located...really appreciated the beautiful countryside and farmlands an d great highways of Tennessee. The house was very nice...about 10,000 square feet...beautiful maqnsion...allowed to walk all thru it ...got all the "dirt" about him...and his Presidency was confirmed by everything we saw and heard there to agree to my pre-conceived evaluation...He was REALLY a GREAT PRESIDENT...not apparently appreciated yet today....He worked himself to death...would not seek a 2nd term,,,since he was exhausted...and died within 3 months after leaving the White House...His widow wore nothing but black clothes for the 42 years she lived follwing his death....Much more to tell later...very, very interesting....

Many books were pujrchased in all places and as I drive...Daras is reading them constantly and enjoying...wait until she tells you...and me, all about it!

Time for bed...we drove to about an 1-1/2 hour west of Knoxville to a nice hotel..good dinner and bed.....Tomorrow we go thru Knoxville directly to Greeneville and the Home of Andrew Johnson...That will be the FINAL stop...and then back to Hershey and Tiger!

Will tell you all about it tomorrow!

Heading East!...left Little Rock after a very good nite's sleep...almost missed the Free Continental Breakfast...but we made it!...drove on a very good straight Highway..I-40 all the way from Little Rock to Nashville...extremely fast travel thru very pretty farmland for the most part on a hot, but beautiful sunny day....Most of the farms were planted with soy beans..with a few in corn..pretty rolling hills and we had the thrill of crossing the upper part of the Mississippi as we drove thru Memphis, Tennessee...Arkansas to our delight was beautifully green...lovely foliage and in all a pretty state....one of the stops for diversion was a drive offf the highway down a little country road for about 15 miles to a boating and camp site along the Tennessee River where they produce natural water pearls by introducing into the Mussels located there with small seeds of shell...we saw a short documentary displaying the activity and of course, Daras was able to pick up a little ring as a remembrance...We reached the Hermitage after closing time...found a nice motel..had a "southern" type dinner and now to bed. The ride today convinced us farther as to how nice is our country! Tomorrow morning we visit Jackson's "Hermitage" home and investigate his life with Rachel...can't wait to hear the story!
Tune in tomorrow to find out about it!

visited Clinton's Home from birth to age 5....He evidently remembers this place and has been quoted as saying that he feels that it had the most direct effect on his personna...interesting?...
His mother and her mother were Nurses...when he was quite young his mother left to go out of town to nget her degree as Nurse Anesthitist...and he was cared for by his Great Grandfather and particularly his grandparents...and a grand uncle...His Grandfather had a grocery store and Bill said that his grandfather especially was the one who taught him the most...They lived in a rented modest home which they subsequently were able to purchase...HIs mother taught him to add and subtract and recognize numbers from Playing Cards she hung randomly on tghe kitchen curtains!...He was a good student...joined everything he could and eaqrly on decided to become a politician!..the house was interesting and I had great opportunity to get lots of good pictures...The town is little...sort of poor and had a very large black population...an interesting fact was that Vince Foster was in his Kindergarten class..later becoming a close adviser and ultimately it was theorized that he committed suicide by shooting himself!...as we were in the house the train just close by went thru and the train whistle nearly blew our ears out!
We left and took an easy drive on a nice highway for about 60 miles ( a hop-skip-and jump for us!) to Little Rock and directly to his Archive sponsored Museum...It is in what was a former Industrial area...and alongside the Arkansas River...and next to a large old brick private railroad station that belonged to a now defunct company...It is now a School sponsored by the Clinton Foundation...and an other interesting fact is that there is an adjacent 3 sectioned draw bridge type bridge next to the Museum that was built an d operated exclusively by the company...there are plans to rehabilitate it to use it asd a foot bridge for tourists who desire to cross the river aqnd visit other Little Rock Museums in the area...
The Museum is quite unusual in appearance,,,supposedly to represent "a bridge to the 21st Century"...It is covered by glass panes with the upper panes covered by perforated aluminum panels that are somewhat translucent because of the perforations...It is large..raised on straight columns appearing as sort of stilts..and long and rectangular in appearance..It is surrounded by rectangular lawns in rigid rectangular areas with walkways separating them..and with geometrically placed young trees about them...In my opinion, it is not particularly attractive, and rather industrial in appearance...
Inside it was somewhat the same..the exhibits were placed in stright lines with the basic architectural supports being intentionally visible...and some of the photographic images were diifcult to visualize because of the harsh glaring daylight entering thru the walls...there however was a very interesting view of the River and Downtown area thru the perforated aluminum panels....All the exhibits identified with the very positive actions of Clinton as President..and portrayed him in every successful manner...There was also a section displaying Hillary's activities as well as his Vice-President, Al Gore...Probably since most of the activities portrayed being non-historical in timing to us, and with such a contemporary bare presentation of the building, we were not able to gain that warm, and reverential sensation of history in this instance . Of course there was a very good short documentary presented in the small theater.
There is a trolley like bus that was included in the tour that takes you from the front of the Museum into the down town section to allow you to visit the gigft shop/book store location...we took the opportunity and purchased books etc..and then returned to the Museum and our van.

I neglected to mention that just prior to reaching the Museum I stopped a short distance away and made a reservation in a hotel ..and upon entering, I exchanged "Hello's" with Wolf Blitzer and his wife!

After leaving the Museum we met with Richard Shreiber, Shula's sonwho has lived in Little Rock for 35 years! we had dinner together...and then he graciously took us for a tour of the city, including the Governor's Mansion and his own personal very lovely home....His wife and 2 sons unfortunately had previous engagements and we were not able to meet them...It was a very pleasant and warm re-union...and greetings were extended both ways to all our kin!...Then, it was time to return to the hotel and BED!...Tomorrow we are off to Nashville and the Hermitage!