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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...

Rye Playland, a Wonderful Alternative to the Mega-Park. Rye, NY

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    Long before the era of the mega-amusement park with its large crowds and high prices, there were smaller, local parks.If you lived in Brooklyn, Coney Island was where you would go. In Queens, it was Rockaway Playland. But if you grew up in the northern part of New York City, or in Westchester County, Rye Playland still is the place to find the thrills a bumper car or a roller coaster can provide.   Opened in 1928 by the Westchester County Parks Department, its buildings were designed in the Art Deco style of that time. The park covers 280 acres, including a beach and pool for swimming on hot summer days, an 80 acre lake for boating, a large parking lot, and of course an amusement park for children of all ages. The park’s distinct style should be recognizable to anyone who saw the roller coaster scene in Fatal Attraction, or cried as Tom Hanks looked for the Zoltan game, and a return back to childhood, in Big.   Playland is a relatively small amusement park, with ...

A Monastery and Castle in Lisbon, Portugal

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  Saint Jerome Monastery No visit to Lisbon would be complete without seeing two of the oldest buildings still standing in the city. While they have served very different purposes, they both have interesting histories.   Mosteiro dos Jerónimos Along the shore of the Tagus River, in the Belém neighborhood, is the former  Mosteiro dos Jerónimos  (Saint Jerome Monastery). The monastery sits on the site of a church dedicated to Santa Maria de Belém, where monks were available aid and minister to ships as they departed from or arrived to Lisbon. The monastery was built in the early 1500’s, along with a new church for Santa Maria, near the point of embarkation for Vaasco de Gama’s journey in 1498.   Praça do Imperio Praça do Imperio Monument to the Discoveries The monastery was built in a style called Manuelin e, known for complex sculptural themes. It was designed by Diogo de Boiteca (1460-1527), under order of King Manuel I. Its inner courtyard is lined on both the...