FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL AND FALLINGWATER

Even though we were anxious to head south to home and some warmer weather, we made a stop in western Pennsylvania to visit two places "on our list".
The Flight 93 Memorial is very stark in appearance and the visit was emotionally draining.  The walkway follows the flight  path and the large boulder that you can only see from a distance is where the nose of the plane actually crashed.  That area is fenced off and only accessible to family members of the crash victims.  The Visitor Center has artifacts as well as newspaper clippings and phones on which you can listen to the last conversations of those who called loved ones from the plane - tissues are readily available.
We then drove about an hour to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Mill Run.  He designed and built this weekend home for the Kaufmans who owned a Pittsburgh department store (now part of Macy's).  The house was built in 1939 into the side of a mountain and over a waterfall which is a focal point of the design. His houses were always over budget and this one was no exception,  costing four times the original proposal.  His architecture always incorporated nature and the house furnishings were part of the design. Fallingwater was no exception to his rule. He was very adamant about everything being the way he designed it. In this house there was one exception. Mr. Kaufman wanted a larger desktop and Wright said no. Mr Kaufman then pointed out the desktop was not big enough for him to write Wrights check on. The desktop was made bigger.
Both visits were well worth the detour and we are now home for the winter enjoying the warmer weather and getting back into our routine as well as into our Florida wardrobe of shorts, capris and sandals.  With this posting we will bid you farewell for now.

FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL

Shanksville, PA

MEMORIAL LAYOUT

THE ABOVE TWO PICTURES DEPICT THE FLIGHT PATH  OF FLIGHT 93.

FALLINGWATER

THE MAIN ENTRANCE

HOME SWEET HOME

CORNING, NY & NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO= THE END

Our last two stops were in Bath, NY  on New York's finger lakes, with a stop at the Corning Museum of Glass en route and another trip across the border into Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada.  

The Corning museum was very interesting with displays of glassware dating back to ancient Egypt as well as modern uses for glass such as in fiber optics.

While in Bath, we visited the Glenn Curtiss museum and learned that Mr. Curtiss not only was an early developer of racing motorcycles and the father of Naval Aviation and Commercial Avaition. even though the Wright brothers made the first flight.  Glenn Curtis passed away in his prime at the age of 52 of a blood clot after an appendectomy. We also visited a winery for a tour and tasting. Great Western/Pleasant Valley winery is noted for labels such as Taylor and Widmer (traditional Finger Lakes names). On our own we visited Dr. Konstatin Frank winery which produces quality wines.

Our last stop was in Niagara Falls in Ontario.  There is so much more activity on the Canadian side of the Falls.  We visited the Welland Canal which connects Lakes Ontario and Erie.  The area is noted for its excellent wines and we visited a winery in the region as well.  Our last activity was the farewell dinner at the Skylon Tower which revolved while we ate dinner for some spectacular views of  the Falls.  We said our good-byes on Tuesday morning when all went their separate ways.  

Glass art by Dale Chihuly

being GOOFY - our flatware is magnetic

CHARLOTTE says Mark fire 1 & 2

HOT GLASS BLOWER AT WORK

STILL LIFE IN GLASS

THE CURTISS MUSEUM

THE FIRST RV by GLENN CURTISS

IN BOARD OUTBOARD 1931

DOUG SAMPLING THE GOODS
to bad it's empty

 A LOT OF WINE IN THOSE VATS

OLD BOTTLING TOOLS

THE TASTING GROUP

AH! EATING AGAIN

AND AGAIN

MOUNT CARMEL SPIRITUAL CENTER

WELLAND CANAL

WELLAND CANAL

BUTTERFLY GARDEN

Dedicated to my friend Nick

BUTTERFLY GARDEN AT NIAGARA 

NIAGARA FALLS

NIAGARA FALLS

BILL AND GAIL AT THE FALLS

SITE OF OUR FAREWELL DINNER

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