Bike and Barge: Day 4.

7/29. Antwerp to Willemstad, Netherlands: 52km.

The Sailing Home started sailing before breakfast this morning. It would take us about 3 hours to work our way through the giant harbor, past ships and barges, to find a pull off place beside the river, along side a bike path. We departed the boat at 11:30 and started riding into a steady headwind, which would continue to dog us most of the day.

We had a good day of riding, passing through small villages and forested areas. Barry had fun on his e-bike, pushing Tracy up and over a few actual hills. Susan discovered that her brake pads were pretty much gone, after the ride in yesterday's rain. We crossed into the Netherlands and ended our day in the pretty little sailing town of Willemstad.

For supper, Markus had prepared my favorite meal of the trip: mussels, potato pancakes, salmon, herring, and prosciutto.

We toured the fortifications, surrounding the town, after supper with Piet.

Piet, probably telling us to turn around!

A local addressing our group about the history of his town.

Chilling in town.

Pretty Willemstad.

The Willemstad windmill.

Our neighbors in Willemstad, Netherlands.

We spent a night in the picturesque, old, fortified town of Willemstad, surrounded by sailing boats, old forts, and sheep.

Bike and Barge: Day 3.

7/28 St. Amands to Antwerp, Belgium. 41km.

We started out in a cold, wet rain this morning. Our route took us along side the mighty Scheldt River and through a nature reserve. We were wet most of the morning, but happy, and I wouldn't consider it much of a bicycle tour if I didn't get wet at least once during the trip. 

The really cool thing about today was how we rode into the amazing and beautiful port city of Antwerp. To cross from the new city into the old, we all put our bicycles into a huge elevator and rode it down 31 meters underground to the St. Anna bicycle and pedestrian tunnel. Then we mounted our bikes and rode the 572 meters through the white tile tunnel and crossed under the Scheldt and, once again, took an elevator to the top. Pretty cool stuff!

As I said before, Antwerp is amazing and beautiful. The rain had let up before we arrived and we walked around the city center, looking at all the 16th century guild houses surrounding the giant sculpture of  Brabo and the giant's hand that dominated the center square. We spent a good hour or more in the Cathedral of Our Lady, studying the fine artwork by Rubens and other famous Antwerp artists. 

Piet led us back to the boat, through the red light district, where The Sailing Home was moored in the harbor. Markus fed us a delicious supper of lasagna and artichokes and finished it with a desert of tiramisu.

After supper, we headed back to the city center for more sight seeing.

We rode in cold rain in the morning.

Wet, but happy.

The woman at the Scheldt in Rupelmonde, Belgium. 

A nice little residence.

Antwerp street scene.

A painting by Rubens in the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium.

Hanging in Antwerp.

Guild houses in Antwerp, Belgium.

Brabo Fountain in Antwerp

Beautiful Antwerp.

Bike and Barge: Day 2

7/27 Ghent to Dendermonde, Belgium. Sail to St. Amands. 52km.

 After breakfast, we got on our bikes and rode through the ancient cobblestone streets to the city center of   Ghent. Ghent is the capital of East Flanders and in the Middle Ages was one of the most important cities in Europe. We spent over an hour walking around the city, marveling at all the remarkably preserved and intact medieval architecture.

Our route largely followed the Schelde river. We took 2 ferry rides in the morning, crossing the river first one way and then back to avoid trail construction. Barry and Nick were busy showing off on their e-bikes and generally having fun. We stopped at a castle near Laarne, where we had lunch and then stopped at the village of Donk for ice cream. 

Our final stop was in the Flemish city of Dendermonde. We toured the famous Dendermonde city hall and learned of the devastation of over half of the city's housing and archives by bombing and burning during the 1st World War.

After joining back up with the barge, we sailed to the little town of St. Amands for the night.

Markus served us a supper of puff pastry with goat cheese, salmon, and pecan pie.

After eating, Piet took us to the lovely art gallery of the sculptor Joris Maes. We enjoyed our tour and Joris's rambling dialogue about all of the meaning and origins of the design of the beautiful and interesting building that housed his studio, and of the 13 year battle, he had with city officials over its construction. Susan ended up purchasing a beautiful necklace of lapis lazuli and mountain crystal while we were there.

St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent.

I would like to know this story.

Canal scene in Ghent.

Gravensteen Castle (Castle of the Count) built in 1180 by Philip of Alsace.

Medieval buildings in Ghent.

In front of Laarne Castle.

Annette and Tracy on a ferry.

Dendermonde.

Joris Maes, artist, sculptor, and creator of an eccentrically beautiful studio in the tiny village of St. Amands.

Bike and Barge: Day 1

7/26 Bruges to Aalterbrug and sailing to Ghent. 23km.

Our first glimpse of the Sailing Home came in Bruges, Belgium, where we joined her for our trip.
After being welcomed aboard, we were assigned cabins and introduced to the boat and the crew:
Captain, Willy-Belgian
Chef, Markus-German
Guide, Piet-Dutch
Sailor, Rita-Dutch
Assistant, Riannne-Dutch

Our fellow cycle tourers consisted of twenty three fellow Americans and one Dutch aunt. There were three family groups (including ours) among this number.

We tried out our bikes on a little jaunt along the canal path and got to know our guide, Piet.

The bikes were 8 speed, triple ring, hybrid type bikes, with 700 wheels. They were equipped with a bell, lights, trip computer, and a waterproof pannier. We were all provided with a water bottle.  The bicycles were purchased new this season and appeared to be in good shape.

After rejoining the boat, we hung out on the sun deck and visited with our fellow passengers, as the boat made her way to Ghent for the night.

Dinner: Cream of mustard soup, Belgian stew, served with couscous, green beans, salad,  and bread. Dessert was a sorbet. Delicious!

The Sailing Home built in 2001 as a passenger ship. It has 13 cabins and can accommodate 26 passengers. It is 45 m long and 6.5 m wide. 

Our spacious cabin aboard the Sailing Home was furnished with a/c and a private bathroom. Very comfy beds, too. I slept like a baby every night.

We tried out our bikes on the first day by riding 23km to the village of Aalterbrug.

This is Piet, our Dutch guide. We all really enjoyed our time with him.

 

 

Gregory Bald Hike 2014

I had planned the family camping trip this summer to coincide with the annual "azalea swarm" on Gregory Bald, so that Black Betty could accompany me on the hike. She had never been and was worried somewhat about the 11 mile hike, but I kept reassuring her that it was well worth it.

Cades Cove.

Of course, the lead up to the hike was a beautiful jaunt to the back side of Cade's Cove to the trail head. The Cove was just waking up, in its magical way, sun greeting earth, and the animals were out in force. We saw many deer and turkey on our way out and also spotted a bear finding breakfast in the weeds on Forge Creek road.

Trail head.

Black Betty crossing Forge Creek.

Rosebay Rhododendron

The trail ambles pretty gently for the first 2 miles, through stands of rosebay rhododendrons, giant old-growth hemlocks, and mighty tulip poplars. It stays right alongside of pretty Forge Creek,  crossing back and forth a few times on foot logs. After the easy 2 mile introduction to the trail, we arrived at back country campsite 12, where the climb really begins. From here, the trail makes a 2400' elevation gain (in 3 miles) up Gregory Ridge to reach Rich Gap. It works out to about 800 feet per mile, a pretty steady climb. We took our time, rested frequently, and joked with the hikers that we met along the way.
At Rich Gap, we joined the Gregory Bald Trail for a quick and easy 6/10 of a mile jaunt to the top.

So really, all this fuss is about a beautiful 10 acre, open, grassy bald sitting on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It is covered in a world famous stand of wild native azaleas, which were in prime bloom while we were there on June 19th. The fragrant display was in various shades of bright reds, oranges, creams, yellows, whites, and pinks. It is pure nature in all of its beauty, and no, you can't drive a car up there. You have to put the effort in to see it and reap the reward.
Black Betty was impressed, to say the least.

The obligatory "selfie"

View from the top, looking down into Cade's Cove.

Old and In The Way // Catfish John

I decided to make another fan video. This is Vassar Clements, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, John Kahn, and Peter Rowan recorded in 1973. According to the album notes, Jerry sings lead on this, and on the choruses Peter sings tenor above him and Vassar adds a high baritone part above that, in a style often associated with the Stanley Brothers. All in all, it's five stellar musicians working together perfectly, laying down some sweet bluegrass. I hope you enjoy it!

Jerry Garcia Band

Jerry Garcia Band at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. 

August 5, 1990.

Jerry Garcia, vocals and guitar
John Kahn, bass
David Kemper, drums
Melvin Seals, organ
Gloria Jones and Jaclyn Labranch, vocals