TRAVEL DAY 21

Today's goal: HOME! Yes, the last night in a hotel, the last day of driving endless hours and the last quick meal at McDonald's... And finally, the last site to check out: the Georgia Guidestones.

Georgia Guidestones

Somewhere, somehow I ran across information about a strange site in the middle of the State of Georgia where massive granite monoliths speak to humanity of world and personal peace. The theme: 

"LET THESE BE GUIDESTONES TO AN AGE OF REASON"

In June 1979, an unknown person or persons under the pseudonym R. C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the granite structure in Elberton County, Georgia.

Inscriptions

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the stones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. These languages are English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese and Russian. A shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient language scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit and Egyptian hieroglyphs. 

The ten points:

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion—faith—tradition—and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth—beauty—love—seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth—leave room for nature. Leave room for nature.

The size of the stones varies, depending on their location, from 19 feet to 4 feet, and their weight varies from 237,746 to 2,707 pounds.

Numerous theories and explanations have propped up to explain the origin and the meaning of this strange configuration of the mammoth stones. Suspicions include anti-religious and/or New World Order origins. While these things remain a deep mystery, it is the mystery itself that was appealing to me, and I don't need to know the depth of meanings and explanations. The structure is amazing in itself and to merely see it was enough for me. Well, almost.

I have to say that there are two tiny little details that haunt me, namely, who and why. Who is/are behind this bizarre collection of stones and suggestions for a better life for the world? Why? I guess one aspect of the "why"—at least why here—we know: the quality of the granite in this area is such that will stand the elements and passage of time. 

And there is more! In the stones can be seen slits and holes that apparently line up at certain times of day with the sun's rays which will then indicated the mid-day and thus the solstice and the equinox.

We left unfulfilled except for the pleasure of having seen this remarkable monument, and drove through a small town on the way eastward. Apparently a Halloween carnival of sorts was in the making. Unhappily I only caught one photo (nice message):

Then, (oops! forgot about this one...) State No. 16:

Here we drove by a fun water tower (?) in the town of Gaffney.

And finally, home state!

And home. Why go looking for beauty when it is right in your own backyard!

So good to be home after nearly five weeks and 7,602 miles! We had a super wonderful time, something we will cherish for the rest of our lives, seeing family and friends and some remarkable spots in this beautiful country we call America.

TRAVEL DAY 20

Ave Maria Grotto

We just took a visual tour around the (mostly religious) world, in about 45 minutes! Don't believe us? Here's picture-perfect proof!

 St. Peter's Square in Rome...

Bethlehem...

Great Wall of China...

The Colosseum in Rome ... the walls of Avila, Spain

 A pyramid ... a pagoda

 Ascension of Christ and Abraham's Tomb in Israel...

OK, so we really were in one remarkable place, Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL. Somehow I had run across this incredible work of art as I was looking for some fascinating things to see on our tour, and it became imperative that we visit this site.

Ave Maria Grotto, in Cullman, AL, is a landscaped, 4-acre park in an old quarry on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey, providing a garden setting for 125 miniature reproductions of some of the most famous religious structures of the world. It was added to the  Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 24, 1976, and to the National Register of Historic Places on January 19, 1984.

The stone and concrete models are the work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard's, who devoted some 50 years to the project, the last three decades (1932 to 1961) almost without interruption. They incorporate discarded building supplies, bricks, marbles, tiles, pipes, sea shells, plastic animals, costume jewelry, toilet bowl floats and cold cream jars.

Born in 1878 in Bavaria, Joseph was maimed in an accident that gave him a hunchback. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, settling in northern Alabama. Soon afterward he began studying at the newly founded Benedictine monastery of St. Bernard’s, where he took his vows in 1897. He ran the monastery’s power plant and was, even by a monk's standards, a withdrawn, quiet man. Until his death in 1961, Joseph rarely left Alabama.

The display is strung out along a forested trail that winds down past several building clusters built into a steep hillside. Roman Catholic cathedrals and monasteries predominate, along with scenes from ancient Jerusalem, whence the grotto's sobriquet, "Jerusalem in Miniature." Half of the hillside features buildings and scenes from the Holy Land. Also displayed are number of secular buildings and the occasional pagan temple, Spanish missions, German castles, South African shrines, Hansel and Gretel's Temple of the Fairies, and even the St. Bernard Abbey power station, where the monk worked shoveling coal.

Though executed in great detail, the scale of the edifices is often distorted, with towers and buttresses too large or small. Just the same, it all adds to the whimsy and majesty of the grotto.

This place really spoke to me, in tones perhaps too personal for others to perceive. Or understand. Something...

Well, out of the many, many fascinating interpretations of beautiful, sacred architecture (and others mundane), this one became my instant favorite:

And then the 15th state on our travels... the last one before our home state!

Trees taking over our road:

For you big-city-folks, maybe these scenes don't mean much, but we  felt happy that we do not live in Atlanta... Saturday morning rush to and from the city? Where is everyone going? We were betting on a football game until the traffic was two-directional.

So sorry we could not stop and help. Actually, even if had been able to stop, we could not have helped...

GO TO TRAVEL DAY 21

GEORGIA GUIDESTONES

SOUTH CAROLINA PEACH

HOME!

TRAVEL DAY 19

The Eve of the Penultimate Day

A long day of mainly driving. The goal was to clip some distance from our ultimate goal (home) and to get to the last couple of exciting sites that we had planned to see on this trip.

But there is always something worth mentioning along the way. Like this boat "passing" us on the road. Frosty's comment: "How slow are we driving when a boat passes us—on a road?"

State No. 13!

I like all those s's. (Here is one case where apostrophe-s can be used to indicate plural, for clarity's sake...)

Soon after entering Mississippi, we crossed the (muddy) "Mighty Mississippi River."

The Mississippi River is the chief river of the largest drainage system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States (though its drainage basin reaches into Canada), it rises in northern Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for 2,340 miles to the Mississippi River Delta at at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 31 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth longest and the tenth largest river in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

State No. 14:

There was a town in Alabama that made me sing:

"Bessemer, bessemer mucho..." (I know only a few people will get this, but there it is. OK, I'll clarify: there's this old song that goes "Besame, besame mucho." Just that.)

Something fun on the road...don't know what it is...

At the end of the day, we looked for a steak place. This is what was recommended. The recommender did not know me. Roadhouse. Hmm. Loud, spicy, bombastic. "Western." Not complaining, just saying.

GO TO TRAVEL DAY 20 

ALABAMA: AVE MARIA GROTTO

GEORGIA

TRAVEL DAY 18

Castles and Courthouses
Long, fulfilling day.
First planned stop: Pythian Castle. Not found! The address we had took us to a nature reserve and a locked-up gate:

Well, so all that remains is to describe the place and, with utmost regrets, to upload a photo from the Internet... Pretty incredible right? 

In Weatherford, Texas stands the majestic old 93 yr. old castle owned by the Texas Pythians (like the Masons). In the early 20th century, they built a home for widows and orphans of their members in Weatherford, Texas.  Considering themselves New World Knights, this home was built in the form of a castle. And this “home” definitely fits the term castle. There are numerous rooms and corridors. Lofty ceilings, hardwood floors and sturdy 19th- or early 20th-century construction are the castle's hallmarks. On the upper floor there is a large main hall with a beautiful carved crown molding and raised dais. The large windows and heavy curtains of this Great Hall speak of fairytales and attendant mysteries.

The Home has suffered over the years due to the economy, but about 50 children still remain on site. Children no longer need to be related to a Knights of Pythias member, but are accepted as the need arises. The Home is not State funded and is operated mostly via donations and volunteers. The Pythian organization supports and organizes fundraises for these children, and most renovations are usually through volunteers and the generosity of the community and others. 

The order has over two thousand lodges in the United States and around the world, with a 2003 total membership of over 50,000. Some lodges meet in structures referred to as Pythian Castles. 

“The Fraternal Order of the Knights of Pythias are pledged to the promotion of understanding among men of good will as the surest means of attaining Universal Peace. We believe that men and women, meeting in a spirit of goodwill, in an honest effort of understanding, can live together in a spirit of peace and harmony. We seek those who agree with this belief, and have a personal belief in a Supreme Being, to join our ranks in an effort to reach ‘Peace Through Understanding.’" 

Some well-known people who have lived in this castle include:

Warren G. Harding, U.S. President

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, U.S. Vice President

William McKinley, U.S. President,

Nelson A. Rockefeller, U.S. Vice President

Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President

Louis Armstrong, Jazz musician, actor

In the same town, we passed by one of the most impressive courthouses we have encountered on this trip.

The town square was laid out at the intersection of the two primary roads approaching town. Instead of the typical layout with streets passing by all four sides of the town square, Weatherford’s square is right in the middle of the roads as you approach from all four directions. When the courthouse was eventually built, is was visible from a great distance as you approached town. This layout makes for a dramatic presentation for the town’s gem, the Courthouse. It is a three-story structure with forth story attic. A central clock tower extends up another three stories. Each of the four corners of the building is crowned with a convex mansard roof. The central clock tower repeats the pattern of the convex mansard roofs and produces a uniformity of style.

The elevation of this courthouse and the dramatic central position it holds on the town square further contributes to its overall grandeur. Certainly, it can be seen from a great distance away, as you approach town from any direction.

Throwback: 43 Years!

A very special reunion for two Finnish girls who had known of each other in Finland and then turned up roommates at BYU! Tytti and I. The way we were... (high school graduation, a big deal in Finland)

And now...

(Loved Tytti's Marimekko wall hanging.)

What a wonderful visit—and revisit to the past. Two Liisas, two lives, two stories, but one in heart and warmth of memories.

Yes, we ended up as roommates at BYU. We were busy with our studies and otherwise not too much involved in each other's lives. Though I do remember one time when our lives got tangled: Liisa got all the praise and credit in the English Department for the A+++ paper I had written, "The Influence of Kalevala on Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha."

And eastwards, ahoy! Not much to be seen. Thought this giant pumping was fun, though:

And a whole lot of pumpkins everywhere! Yes, Halloween is almost here.

By the end of the day, we had entered our 12th state on this trip:

GO TO TRAVEL DAY 19

EVE OF PENULTIMATE DAY
MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA

ALABAMA: "BESAME MUCHO" (BESSEMER)