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Loving - The Movie. A beautiful portrayal of a forgotten civil rights story

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Ruth Negga (2 nd from right) stars as Mildred and Joel Edgerton (right) stars as Richard in Jeff Nichols LOVING, a Focus Features release. Credit : Ben Rothstein / Focus Features   Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up in the rural unincorporated town of Central Point, Virginia. They met in high school, spent time together, and eventually, when Mildred became pregnant, decided to marry. But this was the 1950’s and Mildred was African American and Richard was white. Virginia had anti-miscegenation laws which made their marriage illegal. How did these two young people get beyond Jim Crow and fall in love? Well that had a lot to with Central Point VA. Central Point was and is still a very rural area. At a distance of about 90 miles south east from Washington DC it was community with a history of poor farmers, black and white, ignoring the rules of segregation, living together. According to a 2012 article in the Washington Post , Central Point and Caroline Count...
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U.S. 30. Driving from Philadelphia to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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The Benjamin Franklin Bridge   Route U.S. 30 is the third longest road in the United States. It spans the country from Atlantic City, NJ in the east to Astoria, OR in the west, a distance of 3112 miles (5008 Km). I recently posted a story of U.S. 30 in New Jersey , and for the next three weeks I will explore its journey through Pennsylvania. Philadelphia   Route U.S. 30 enters Pennsylvania by crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge across the Delaware River. The bridge opened in 1926, and at the time it was the world’s longest suspension bridge. It was the first bridge across the Delaware this far south. Once in Philadelphia the route joins I-676, bypassing Center City, before hopping on the I-95 north. Cherry Street Pier Route 30 exits the interstate at Girard Ave, near the Philadelphia Zoo, and my drive took me through the Overbrook neighborhood, along Girard Ave and then Lancaster Ave. The area is poor, working class. It has seen better days, but it soldiers on.  Philede...
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Location: Gettysburg, PA 17325, USA
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Untermyer Park and Gardens. Yonkers, New York

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Entrance to the Walled Garden   There is a hidden jewel in Yonkers, New York, known to few outside of locals. I am almost hesitant to write about it, because I would hate for it to become overcrowded. But it would be wrong to keep it hidden away. That jewel is the Untermyer Park and Gardens. Samuel Untermyer By Los Angeles Times via commons.wikimedia.org The park is on what is left of the estate of Samuel Untermyer (1858-1940), but it has a longer history. In 1865, John T. Waring, owner of the country’s largest hat factory, bought land in Yonkers, overlooking the Hudson River. The size of the estate, named Greystone, grew, and in 1879 Waring rented it to Samuel J. Tilden, who purchased it outright shortly afterward. Tilden lived at Greystone until his death in 1886. In 1899 Untermyer bought Greystone, now 133 acres, from Tilden’s estate. He was a lawyer who started in corporate law, but during the Progressive Era, he became focused on cases for the public good, arguing in favor of ...
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Location: Untermyer Gardens, 945 N Broadway, Yonkers, NY 10701, USA
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