Travels in the 2nd half

The Talking Tree   If you are a regular reader of my posts, you know that I love exploring small museums. Last summer, on a visit to Washington DC, I had the chance to spend some time at two of the city’s less well known offerings, but ones that are definitely worth your time. Planet Word I am a lover of language. The history of words and phrases. The connection between the ways that different languages evolved, and the ways that they resolve issues of communication fascinate me. So, finding a museum dedicated to these ideas piqued my interest. Planet Word occupies a building that was constructed in 1869 and opened as The Franklin School, one of the early modern public schools built in Washington. The museum focuses on English, its on-going development and current usages. In Where Do Words Come From a giant word wall interacts with visitors, exploring the ways that English has incorporated words from other languages around the world. The Spoken Word offers the opportunity to mee...

    Almost every city or town has a historical museum of some kind. New York City just has to be different. It has not, not two, not three, but SIX such museums. Each o the five boroughs has an official historical society, and then there is the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY).  Entrance to the Central Park Conservatory Garden The museum was founded in 1923 as a somewhat more populist historical resource than the NY Historical Society was at the time. The MCNY was originally housed in Gracie Mansion, the city owned home of New York’s mayors. Its mission was and is to provide a look at both the historic and current lives of residents of the city. In 1926 New York started planning a permanent home, and donated land along the east side of Central Park, between 103rd and 104th street. In 1932 MCNY opened in its Georgian styled building, and over the past 100 years its collection has grown to over 750,000 objects. The MCNY has several ongoing exhibitions that explore asp...

  The Arch - UGA   Athens, Georgia , is home to the state’s oldest and largest public university, the University of Georgia. The town was founded as a trading settlement in the 18th century, and in 1785, the charter for the college was granted. The presence of UGA has influenced and maintained a thriving downtown area ever since.  Ugga at Truist   Ugga at Hotel Indigo   On a recent visit I took myself on the Historic Downtown self-guided walking tour, one of many that are offered on the Visit Athens website. My tour started at the Historic Athens Welcome Center . The Center is located in the Church-Waddel-Brumble House, which was built in 1820. From 1820-1829, the building served as the home for the president of UGA. It was then home to several families until the mid 1960’s. In 1967 the house was saved from demolition by several local business men, and it was moved to its current location and turned into a museum and welcome center. The Church-Waddel-Bumbry Hou...