Kathleen Smith's Blog, page 5

Cars, Cars, Cars, and More Cars!

Cars, cars, cars, and more cars! So at the beginning of September which was about four weeks ago now, my husband and I went to see our son in North Carolina. While we were there we went to a car museum. I had every intention of writing about it when we got back home. However my husband got sick, no not Covid, but he did end up in the hospital for a week, which made this blog get pushed to the side. Thankfully he is home now and doing better. This means I finally get to write about this car museum we went to.

Let me say, I may not look like I like cars, but I do. In fact, I happen to love cars, so when my husband asked me if I wanted to go to the Morrison Motor Car Museum I said yes. My son loves cars too so it was a no-brainer for him. If you like cars you will like this place too. If you love cars you will like this place too. It’s a win-win situation.

I wouldn’t say this car museum was small, but I don’t know if it’s big either. What I do know is they managed to fit a lot of cars in this museum. They have old cars from the 1920s and work their way up to present-day cars. They also have muscle cars and motorcycles. These cars are seriously cool to look at. If I could I would gladly sit in one of their old-time 1920s cars. They were probably my favorite cars in this museum. I love the look and feel of this museum. I also think it’s cool how they have pictures up on their walls of different country music singers as well as race car drivers. I think this museum is a nice place to check out these cars no matter what your age.

This car museum also has a gift shop where I bought a teddy bear that’s wearing a Dupont car racing outfit. This bear is cute and looks nothing like any of my other bears so I knew it was a must-have. And according to their website Morrison Motor Car Museum, which by the way this museum is located in Concord, North Carolina. They also have a banquet facility where they do birthday parties, anniversaries, company events, and more. So if you live in or near Concord, North Carolina I would recommend this museum to you. If you are visiting North Carolina I would also recommend this museum to you, even if you have to drive for a bit.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

San Fele: A Small Town in the Mountains of Italy

I imagine most people in this world have never heard of San Fele a small town in the mountains of Italy. Up until 6-8 years ago I never heard of that town either. My family research led me to this small town. Why? Because I found out that is where my great-grandma Graziano was born and raised. I had always thought my dad’s dad’s family came from Naples. I wasn’t too far off with this info. It turns out my family is from San Fele and another small town called Castelgrande both of which are maybe 2 hours from Naples, Italy up in the mountains.

I got to visit San Fele for the first time a couple of years ago with my family. Getting to see where my great-grandmother was from was beyond cool! I couldn’t believe my eyes when we finally got to San Fele. I was in awe of this small town in the mountains of Italy near Naples. I should back up for a minute and let you know that we rented a car in February to drive up the mountain to get to San Fele. We were told we needed chains for the tires because it was winter if it snowed we would need them. We never had need of such a thing being from Upstate NY, but we took them. Well to our surprise about an hour into our drive it started to flurry and the flurry turned into a snowstorm. Let’s just say getting to San Fele after that was an adventure and trying to walk up and down the streets and steps on ice wasn’t easy at all.

This time my husband and I went in the beginning of August when it was about 95 degrees out. When we finally got to San Fele we parked in some parking lot near the path to the local scenic waterfalls. We walked up and down as many streets and stairs as we could. I wanted so badly to see if we could go into a Church that we saw last time. We found the back of the Church and quickly realized the church was being worked on and we did not have the time to find the front of the church to see if we could go in it. I was hoping to find out if that was the same church my great-grandma was baptized in as a baby.

I feel like there is more to this small town in the mountains of Italy. I feel like there is history for me to learn about besides my family history. I know there is a waterfall that we have yet to see. There are more streets and stairs for us to climb. I wonder if there might be a museum or something. I do know that some of my family (Graziano and Cristiano) birth certificates are there because that is where I was given my great-grandmothers birth certificate. But I feel like there is so much more to San Fele than meets the eye. I want to explore this small town more. If only that was easier said than done. I do know that when my husband and I were walking back to our car to leave San Fele I saw a lady who looked so much like my great aunt that all I could do was stare. I almost went up to her and asked her if she was a Graziano. Right now I kinda wish I had at least then I would have a yes or no answer.

I hope I can go back to San Fele again someday. Who knows maybe the third time is the charm and I will be able to explore this small town some more. Maybe I will be able to find a museum or some piece of history. Maybe I can find out if I still have family in that small town in the mountains of Italy. Maybe I can find the church my great-grandma was baptized in as a baby. Maybe, maybe not. There is only one way to find out and I hope and pray I get that third chance. In the meantime, IF you are reading this and you are a Graziano or Cristiano from San Fele OR Castelgrande would you please comment on this blog post. I would greatly appreciate it.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Pompeii: The Ancient Ruin City that has me in Awe

Last week I had the privilege, yes I said privilege to visit Pompeii for the second time. The first time was about 4 years ago with my husband and our daughter. That time we had a guide take us around Pompeii and explain the history of this city. I found it all fascinating and wanted to see more, but we only had so much time that day with that tour guide. So when my husband and I had the opportunity to go back to Pompeii just the two of us for our anniversary last week I said, YES. We probably spent at least 2 hours on the day of our anniversary and we still didn’t see everything in that city.

I didn’t realize the vastness of the city of Pompeii until this second trip. The number of streets they had is too many to count. I mean there is one after another, after another, after another. There are homes where you can still see the murals and there is one house where you can still see the “beware of dog” sign, how cool is that! You can still see the vessels of where the restaurants, or maybe we should call it their version of take-out would have been. Getting to see firsthand what is left of Pompeii is completely fascinating or at least to me it is.

When you walk along what would have been their sidewalks and you get to where you can cross the street, you get to walk over these huge stones that the people back then walked over to get from one block to another. And along those same roads, you can still see the indentations from the chariots and carts they used to use back then. I mean how cool is that, that you can literally still see those indentations all these years, all these centuries later. It’s crazy that we can see them with our eyes and yet they are there. It puts me in awe. Pompeii puts me in awe.

As I walked along these streets in Pompeii with my husband and crossed over the stones I started to wonder. I wondered what it was like for the people of Pompeii to live there. I wondered what their clothes would have looked like. I wondered what their homes and stores would have looked like. I wondered if they had any idea that Vesuvius was a volcano. I wondered what was going through their minds when Vesuvius was getting ready to erupt and destroy their city and more importantly take their lives. I wondered if they had more time would they have run as far as they could or would they have tried to figure out a way to stop it from happening. I wondered if they had any idea that years into the future people would be curious and fascinated enough to want to visit their ruined city to see what it was like.

And then I started to wonder what Pompeii would look like today if Vesuvius hadn’t erupted and hadn’t destroyed that city. Would it look like Naples today? Would it be a thriving city today? Would there still be people who could tell stories about their ancestors surviving Vesuvius? There are so many things Pompeii has me curious about, none of which really have any answers to. I feel bad for the people who lost their lives to that volcano especially the children. When I see all that has been discovered in Pompeii between the people and the pottery my heart sinks for them. I think it’s one of those things you wish had never happened. On the other hand, I also think it’s maybe a lesson learned for other people on how to handle volcanoes. I could be wrong. All I really do know is Pompeii has always been a fascination to me and it will continue to do so. The city, its stone-paved roads, the indentations from the chariots, its lost people and so much more.

If you ever have the chance to visit Pompeii I would highly suggest you do so. This city is beyond fascinating and it really makes you think about its people and the past.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

A Yankee in Savannah, Georgia

For years now this Yankee has been wanting to visit Savannah, Georgia and for the first time finally, my husband and I went in May. When we first got there I wasn’t impressed in fact when we arrived I said to my husband “we didn’t travel all this way for this did we”? He assured me in about another 3 blocks we would get to Historic Savannah, Georgia. So I waited and all of sudden these pretty parks started to show up along with streets filled with stores and then we got to the river.

The parks for this Yankee were probably my favorite part of historic Savannah Georgia. The parks are on every other block I believe and are nice and quiet. There are benches to sit on. There is often a statute in the center of the park. And the surrounding buildings are pretty to look at and they have their own historic value to them. We stayed at a nice hotel called the Planters Inn that was right next to one of the parks. And apparently, the house of the Wesley brothers used to sit or stand there.

My husband and I did enjoy walking all around Historic Savannah and learned some history. We got to see where George Washington had donated cannons from the war to display in the city down near where the cotton market used to be.

We enjoyed going into different stores and ended up buying some cookies at Byrd’s cookies after getting to sample some of them and finding out we/I really liked the dark chocolate cookies. The trolly tours are a nice way to get around Historic Savannah, Georgia, and learning about the area, at least for this Yankee it was. They let you get off and on at each location which is a nice way to get around there.

The downfall for this Yankee, when it comes to Historic Savannah Georgia, is I didn’t care for the food at any of the places we ate. I guess we didn’t pick the right restaurants. And the law there allows people to walk around with cups of alcoholic beverages which isn’t fun to watch people get drunk and start acting stupid especially ladies at night. Would this Yankee go back to Historic Savannah Georgia? Sadly not any time soon. It just wasn’t the right fit for me and my personality. But, hey at least I gave it a try!

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Who Would Have Thought, Not Me!

I love going for long drives with my husband up north towards the Adirondacks. I love looking at the mountains as we drive. I love when we stop at different places just to take in the beautiful mountain scenery with the different lakes in front of the mountains. I love it when he takes me to different areas of the Adirondacks for us to explore. Each time he takes me to one of these places, as I take in the beauty, I take a good look at it all and all I can think to myself is “who would have thought I would love the mountains and lakes this much, Not Me! When I was a little girl growing up in Brooklyn the mountains of Upstate New York were the farthest things from my mind. I mean I loved going to the Catskills on family vacations, but somehow they don’t seem to compare to the Adirondacks. Again who would have thought, not me! By the way, you can read about my growing up years in my book Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate on kindle or paperback or you can listen to it on audio.

Anyway, before I get seriously side-tracked let’s get back to the beauty of the mountains and the lakes. So last Saturday my husband and I took one of our long drives up to the Adirondacks. We had tickets to the Wild Walk at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY. It is a place where you can walk on a path “above the trees!” It was pretty cool. The biggest attraction they had was a human-sized bird nest that you can walk into and see the mountains. When my husband and I were done walking up and down the different rope bridges, we walked along the other trails this place had. One of the stops on the trails is where I had the chance to take in the beauty of the Adirondack mountains and the water there. I took in the beauty and once again said to my husband “who would have thought, NOT ME!

In all seriousness, when I was little I really thought Brooklyn was the absolute best place to live. All the stores were somewhat close by and whatever stores weren’t my mom and I would take a bus or train to or if it was my dad’s days off from work we would drive. It never occurred to me there was more to life and a place to live than Brooklyn. Then I met my husband and he opened up a brand new door to the beautiful mountains of Upstate NY. I have a lot to thank him for. Showing me the beauty of the mountains and the gorgeous fall colors of Upstate New York and so much more. So yeah when I say “who would have thought, not me!” I really mean it. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, NOT ME!

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Tahawus: The Little Lost Town in Upstate New York

The other day my husband and I were bear searching as we drove to a former iron mine town in the Adirondacks of Upstate NY called Tahawus. Now, in all honesty, I’ve never heard of this ghost town until my husband told me about it, hence the title of this weeks’ blog, “The Little Lost Town.” Sadly we didn’t spot any bears on the way up there. We did find some ruins of this iron mine town though and that was pretty cool in and of itself.

There are several ruins there that you can tell were homes by looking at the length of the ruins and it’s clear to see where the fireplaces would have been in one of them. There are signs provided showing you what the homes looked like and explaining who lived in them or built them. I told my husband when we were looking at them, they are not castle ruins or Church ruins, but they are ruins so I’ll take what I can get at the moment. Anyway, this lost iron town starts near where the Hudson River starts and you can still see quite a bit of the material that was used way back when. There are the remains of the water wheels and other industrial equipment that would have been used. There is also the large stone building which is an “Iron Ore Blast Furnace” that is very intact. There is a walking path that you can take along the river. Along this path, you will see the ruins and you will end up at the blast furnace. It does make for a nice outdoor walk.

This mining town was built in 1827 and about 70 years later it became a “hunting and hiking club” that Theodore Roosevelt used to go to. I am told this is where Vice President Roosevelt was camping with his family when he heard the news of President McKinley’s death. From what I understand the hunting and hiking club was there for a number of years, but obviously isn’t there anymore. If you live in Upstate NY and are interested in visiting this little lost iron town it is located at the “Upper Works Trailhead” in the Adirondack Park. There isn’t that much to see, but it is a nice drive and a nice little hike along the river with a little bit of history added in.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

A Shipwreck

Have you ever watched a movie where people have found a shipwreck on a beach and they get super excited? Or maybe you’ve seen movies with pirates who find a shipwreck and hope there’s lots of gold and other treasures. I’ve always thought it would be cool to see a shipwreck like that. I know that’s unrealistic, but I’ve always thought it would be cool anyway. 

Well a couple of weeks ago when I was on vacation in Waves, North Carolina with my family we decided to rent a Jeep for a day, so we could drive it on the beach. While we were getting the paperwork done the lady told us about a shipwreck we could drive to on a nearby beach. When I heard the word shipwreck all I could think was “how cool is that” “I get to see an actual shipwreck “! 

The next day my husband and I took our youngest daughter and grandson for a drive in that Jeep to that other beach. We slowly made our way to the shipwreck. In all honesty, I think it would have been way cooler if this shipwreck had been somewhere in the Mediterranian, but hey beggers can’t be choosers. And I guess a shipwreck anywhere is better than none, except for the people who were shipwrecked. Anyway, when we got to it we got out of the Jeep and started looking around it. There was a sign letting people know trespassers would be punished.

This ship wasn’t a pirates ship and there was no gold to be found. It was a simple fisherman’s ship that somehow managed to make its way from the water to the beach. There was however a tiny adventure in it for me and my family. It gave us a chance to see a shipwreck and walk around it while we talked about it and wondered how it managed that and in North Carolina of all places. I have no idea how the owners are going to get their ship out of that sand and back into the water, but on the bright side they gave us a tiny adventure and me a blog, so I won’t complain.

If you would like to read more about this shipwreck go here.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Gettysburg: The Biggest Battlefield in America

Years and years ago way back when I was somewhere between the ages of 10-15 my parents, sister, 2 great aunts, and I went on a vacation. We planned to go to Gettysburg, look at the museum, and drive around the battlefield. After that, we were heading towards Virginia. I was excited about the battlefield because I love history, but more importantly President Abraham Lincoln is my absolute favorite president and I wanted to see where he stood and where he did the Gettysburg address.

After my husband and I got married we talked about going back to Gettysburg for a family vacation. Well, it took us 26 years, but we finally took that vacation. Two weeks ago on our way to North Carolina we took a day to spend time in Gettysburg. My husband, our daughter, and I drove around the battlefield. We took a good look at all the different statues and the canons. It wasn’t until this second trip to Gettysburg and seeing from high above this battlefield’s vastness that I realized what a huge battle it really was. Yes, all I could see was field after field. But then I started thinking back to July of 1863 and I started to imagine all of the soldiers from both the North and the South. Then I started to imagine the battle that was going on during the Civil War. The war that had a nation divided over slavery and President Abraham Lincoln who wanted to end slavery.

It was a battlefield that killed so many boys and men. Gettysburg was pretty much the battle to end all battles between the north and the south. I guess you could say it was the beginning of the end. Those fields are still filled with pieces of the past. Pieces from whatever those soldiers may have been carrying or even sadder possibly the soldiers themselves. In a way, I suppose you could say the fields of Gettysburg are a resting place for the men who died to end slavery. The battlefield is a great reminder, or should I say it should be a great reminder to ALL Americans of what those soldiers did for us, for slavery. And at the end of that battle, President Abraham Lincoln gave what would become his famous speech The Gettysburg Address.

If you live in America I would highly suggest you take a trip to Gettysburg and visit this great battlefield and maybe remember those soldiers both in the north and south who gave their lives to end slavery. It did take another 2 years for President Lincoln to get the 13th amendment passed and end slavery, but at least he did get it done and I’m glad he did. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why he’s my favorite President.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

The Gourmet Aisle at T.J. Maxx

If you listened to my podcast T,J. Maxx: You Never Know What Goodies You’ll Find There on Kathleen’s Korner then you will know how much my husband and I love finding different candies and such from Europe in their gourmet aisle. If you haven’t heard that podcast then if you would like you can listen to it after you read this blog. Why do both? Why not?

As I said in my podcast we love to go to T.J. Maxx. We love going there so much that we actually went just the other day and bought some shampoo, conditioner, a pair of pajamas, and the reason for this particular blog, we bought some drink mix flavors along with a new coffee syrup flavor. Before I go any further I will let you know that T.J. Maxx does also sell kitchen needs, shoes, pocketbooks, socks, skincare products, and many other things.

We personally love buying espresso for our Nespresso machine when we can find it there. We absolutely LOVE buying truffle type filled candies from Italy that come in different flavors. My favorite is dark chocolate espresso filled with the cappuccino filled coming in at a close second. We love buying different flavors of coffee syrups. We love buying different flavors for drink mixes like Pina Coladas and we love buying different types of food and candies. We love buying their chocolate coconut macaroons because they are peanut-free and I can eat them. We love it when we find hard lemon candies from Italy. My husband also likes the orange ones. On our first trip to Italy, we came across these and since we can’t go back any time soon we like to buy them at T.J. Maxx whenever we see them there.

I would also like to point out that Marshalls is owned by the same people and you can generally find the same stuff at Marshalls as well. I guess for us it depends on which store we happen to be closest to when we are out and about. And the prices are pretty good! At least to us they are.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story 

Now What?

Wow, I haven’t written a blog post in over a month! I can’t believe it! Well, actually I can believe it, but it saddens me to know this. I love writing blogs about different places I’ve been and new adventures I’ve gone on with my family. I love blogging about different foods I’ve tried and beautiful sceneries I’ve had the pleasure to see. I miss going to Ireland, England, Italy, and other places in Europe and blogging about the new places in those countries that I got to explore. I’m even at the point where I wish I could visit places in the U.S. that I haven’t been to so I can share my experience in those places as well.

Sadly I’m stuck at home. There is no place I can visit even in the states without feeling like I’m committing a crime or go to a different state so long as when I get back home I stay in my house for two weeks. I was really hoping that with this new administration the travel ban would have been lifted, but instead, South Africa of all places has been added to the list of places I can’t go and visit. I find this all very frustrating. I get the fact that if a person is sick they should stay home whether it be the coronavirus or the flu or something else. At the same time, I think the travel ban shouldn’t be anymore. I think people should be allowed to travel to different countries or even from state to state for that matter so long as they are healthy, I’m mean this is just plain common sense. If you are sick stay home, but if you are healthy you should be able to travel and not have to worry about quarantining for two weeks. Just as a side note this is ONLY my opinion.

To be fair though this isn’t just the American government. I think all the governments all over this world need to lift the travel ban. I honestly don’t know about anyone else. Well, that’s not true I do know people who agree with me and believe people who aren’t sick should be allowed to travel whether it be with in the United State to see this country or to travel overseas and get to explore what Europe has to offer. For me personally, I am getting desperate enough that I would like to explore America and see all the different sights I have yet to see like Mount Rushmore, The Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, and so many other places. And for a side note I’m tired of wearing a facemask everywhere I go when they aren’t doing anything. It’s been almost a year now since American’s have been told they have to wear a facemask wherever they go and people are still getting the coronavirus, so these masks aren’t doing anything.

Again for clarity please know that the above is SIMPLY MY OPINION and the only thing I have to blog about until I am able to travel and experience new places again.

Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story