12/30/07 Today, Sharon and I took a leisurely drive through White Plains and Scarsdale NY, and Greenwich and Westport CT. The best time to see everyone's mansions is wintertime with the trees bare. We weren't surprised to see lots of horses, but we were surprised to see a donkey, a goat, and two sheep in the yards of some of the mansions in Greenwich.

12/28/06 Today I visited the Ridgefield area with Ginny. We stopped at Putnam Park (named after Gen. Israel Putnam) where part of the Continental army camped for one winter. We stopped to see Keeler Tavern where patriots often met to plan the Revolution and, where, British attacked (still a cannon ball imbedded in the wall). We also stopped at Weir Farm National Historic Site which was once an art colony where many famous impressionist painters visited and worked. The landscape was great--even on a gray December day. No wonder they painted so much of the scenery there. I plan to visit again in late spring.

12/27/06 Today I drove to New Haven, ate at the awesome Atticus Book Store/Cafe and visited the Yale Art Gallery. I love the Jonathan Trumbull room with his painting of George Washington, Revolutionary War event paintings, and tomb where he is buried downstairs under the gallery. Ginny preferred the impressionist paintings--especially Childe Hassan. My favorite works of art are two marble sculptures--one of two sleeping babies, the other of a woman rising up out of the water--can't remember the names of either, though.

Today, I drove to Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey to see a reenactment of Washington's Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware River. On the way, I stopped at Washington's headquarters in Morristown, NJ and the "Castle on the Hudson" in Tarrytown, NY which was built by a son of Civil War General Carroll.

Last Tuesday I went to Evergreen cemetery in New Haven and placed a wreath on the grave of Pvt. George Warner who served during the Civil War, losing both arms after being hit with "friendly" cannon shot. After the war he married, had a son, and lived to be 91 years old. Also in the cemetery are veterans of the 57th Connecticut Colored Regiment.

Last Saturday, the 9th of December, I took Jesse to the Peabody Museum in New Haven. We also drove up and around East Rock Park where the Peace Memorial is being reinstalled. We also stopped in at the New Haven Historical Society which was running an exhibit with painted portraits of area colonial military leaders.

Tuesday, December12, 2006 Went to Newport, RI and toured three mansions which are decorated for the holidays (The Breakers, The Elms, Marble House).