The History of Fall

WHEN: October (2004-2010)
WHERE: Illinois, Virginia, South Carolina

Two weekends ago, Stace and I headed to downtown Charleston to enjoy a beautiful, southern fall afternoon.  Though we didn't have to leave town for our "fall outing", I have considered it our annual "Fall Trip" of the 2010 season.  We have spent the past seven Octobers in historic cities and shopped, went sight-seeing, enjoyed local food/treats, and taken many pictures in each place.  That's where I came up with the lame title for this post.  In one aspect, it highlights that we have purposely spent each fall in historic places and in another, this is an outline of our past falls together.  While I do enjoy blogging, it usually ends up a very time-consuming process and many parts get overlooked and are not very well thought out.  Titles often fall in to that category.

We spent the first three seasons (2004-2006) in Galena, Illinois, the next three seasons (2007-2009) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and this year in the latest city, Charleston, South Carolina.  Close, quaint, and very much historic.  This year was a little different as, 1) we didn't have far to drive, 2) our stay was rather brief, and 3) the leaves hadn't begun to change.  Even today, the leaves have only just begun to show evidence that fall is here, as faint shades of yellow are slowly taking over some of the trees.  We may have to take our annual trip to the mountains next year, to hopefully make it feel more like fall.

This, is the history of our fall ("getaways")...

2004

Galena, Illinois

October 3, 2004

On the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa

President Ulysses S. Grant's home in Galena, Illinois during his presidency (1869-1877).  We also took a tour of the inside and of the grounds.

The first of three times Stace & I have stopped at the Scenic Observation Tower, about 10 miles east of Galena.  This was the only time we were able to make it to the top of this 75ft. tower.  It sits atop a hill overlooking beautiful farmland, valleys, and scattered woodlands.  My family and I came here more than once when I was a child and also stopped on our way to drop my sister off at the airport in Chicago in 2002 when she was moving to Hawai'i.  I etched "8-31-02" (the day we stopped at the tower) into the railing on the top level of the tower.  Fitting for me, right?  I managed to find it this day (among the other tens of thousands of engravings on the tower), over two years later, rubbed away and barely visible.  I also proposed to Stace at this tower 2 years later.

2005

Galena, Illinois

October 16, 2005

We enjoyed our fall trip so much in 2004 that we returned the next year.  Another colorful, clear fall day in October.

On the porch of the oldest home in Galena, IL (1826).

 We also returned to Ulysses S. Grant's home but did not take a tour of it this time.

The bluffs of downtown Galena.

Where do you want to go next year, Stace?

2006

Galena, Illinois

October 15, 2006

How about back to Galena and the observation tower??

That's just what we did.  For the third October in a row, we headed to Galena; but not before making a stop at the tower two months earlier on our way to Michigan.  On August 13, 2006, I proposed to Stacie at 6:15 in the morning at the observation tower.  That story is for another time :)

August 13, 2006

October 15, 2006

2007

Fredericksburg, Virginia

October 12-14, 2007

In October 2007 we were now living on the East Coast and Galena was out of the question for our fall getaway.  We headed north to Virginia to stay the weekend with my sister in Fredericksburg.  There is no lack of history there, including a famous battlefield from the Civil War that we've visited a couple times.

 Most importantly, we got to meet our future brother-in-law, Jay.  This was only the first of eleven trips Stace & I have taken to Fredericksburg to see them in the past 3 years.

We go way back ;)

2008

Fredericksburg, Virginia/Washington DC

October 10-13, 2008

The National Mall and the US Capitol

At the White House's front lawn

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Constitution Garden Ponds, with the Washington Memorial in the background

Remembering Abe

 Could we put him on the ballot for 2012?

At the Lincoln Memorial
My cousin, Katie (next to Stacie) and Jay's sister, Mae live and work in DC


The Jefferson Memorial

The White House (as seen from the steps of the Jefferson Memorial)

We also managed to go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia (with free tickets from Jay's brother, Rob).  We are obviously making serious decisions here (like where the nearest food stand is for Jay :)

2009

Fredericksburg, Virginia

October 23-25, 2009

We were among the only (true) Hawkeyes (or Big Ten, for that matter) fans in the Buffalo Wild Wings in Frederickburg this night.  We all jumped up out of our seats when we beat Michigan St. at the last second to better our record to 8-0!

Our third fall getaway with Jay & Leta.  We enjoyed every trip and were very thankful for having them (relatively) close by when the rest of our families are so far away.
 

 We headed to the Fredericksburg Battlefield with our tripod to take some pictures in the beautiful fall foliage before leaving town.

We used a few of the pictures for our Christmas card last year.

2010

Charleston, South Carolina

October 16, 2010

 At the farmer's market in Marion Square

A passing carriage tour

Walking (shopping) down historic King St. (we didn't buy one thing all day though, including the farmer's market).  I was very proud of Stace :)

It was far too warm out to be wearing long sleeves, flannel and scarfs but we dressed up in anticipation of taking our annual "fall shots".  For some odd reason I did not bring my sidekick, the tripod, so we weren't able to get many (good) pictures.  I set this one up on a bench, with my bulky camera precariously sitting on its side, amongst people walking back and forth in front of it.  It worked!

This little gem is the best part of every trip.  She's what has made each trip worthwhile and I look forward to many other "fall getaways" with her in the future.