The Canadian Olympic

Decided to go boatwatching tonight. I saw that there were three ships coming down the Detroit River in a short period of time. I was hoping the weather would look the same as it did in Troy as the sky was much grayer up there. Oh well. It was windy at least....more on that part later.
My first ship was the Canadian Olympic. She was heading downbound on the Detroit River.

The Canadian Olympic was constructed by the Port Weller Dry Docks of St. Catherines Ontario for the Upper Lakes Group in 1976. She was named in honor of the Olympic games held in Montreal.

She is powered by two 5,000 horsepower diesel engines and is capable of a speed of 13 knots.

She is 730 feet long and can carry up to 35,000 tons of cargo.

During the 1999/2000 winter layup, she was renovated at a cost of 2 million dollars.

She carried many of the typical cargoes of the Great Lakes freighters.

In 2011, the Upper Lakes company was sold to Algoma and she will be renamed the Algoma Olympic.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike

This shot was taken by my mother, as I was driving. I wanted a shot of the turnpike. There are a couple places where you go through a tunnel.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike began in 1937 and was completed in 1956. When the first section was completed in 1940, it was the first modern limited access highway. The first section was completed using parts of the Southern Pennsylvania railraod and 6 of the 7 tunnels used were built for that railroad (except for this one). It was known as the "Tunnel Highway".

I would have to say that it is a pretty nice stretch of highway and considering the mountains you are going through, the grading is not that bad.

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

This is the welcome center just as you enter Pennsylvania on I-70. I wanted to get a highway map of Pennsylvania plus I needed to walk around a little bit.
A nice friendly sign.

I think this is a cherry blossom.

Near the rest area was a farm with some cows.

Another cow.

The Battle of Monocacy

We stopped at a scenic overlook as we were leaving Maryland. I didn't realize that we would be near another battlefield.
This was the battle of Monocacy which occurred in 1864. This battle was a result of Confederate efforts to peel Union Forces from the main unit of the Confederate forces. The Confederate forces were able to win here but the Union forces delayed them that they couldn't actually take Washington D.C. This would represent the last Confederate foray into the North.

Along the Washington Parkway

And so it was time to leave the Nation's Capital. The GPS took me by way of the Washington Parkway which was pretty nice in and of itself.
We stopped at one of the scenic overlooks. Unfortunately, couldn't get a good shot of the city but I could get a shot of the Potomac. I can see why they call Washington a swamp.

I tried to get a picture of this cardinal but he wasn't being cooperative.

The Lincoln Memorial

The last place I visited in Washington D.C. was the Lincoln Memorial. This is another building where you just have to stand in awe. It is also another building where you wish the modern embodiment of politicians could live up to their predecessors.
The idea for a memorial to Lincoln began pretty much after he was assassinated in 1865. In 1867, Congress heeded these demands and formed a commission. Someone was chosed to create the monument but the idea died.

In 1910, a bill was passed for the creation of a new commission. In the end, the current design was selected and in 1922, the memorial was completed.

This very statue has been the scene of many movies, TV shows and video games. In an episode of the Simpsons, Lisa sets in motion the steps that would lead to the removal of a Congressman. In Fallout 3, one of the missions is to return Lincoln's head.

As I said, you can't help but to be overwhelmed.

One of the pedastals in front of the memorial.

Another view from the front.

It looks cool against a blue sky.

The Vietnam Memorial

To me, this is probably one of the most moving memorials I have ever seen. I have seen many war memorials but they are usually just scenes of a battle or a guy on horseback or something like that. They aren't usually something that addresses the sacrifice of war. Sometimes, you may see a memorial that lists the names of people from a particular town or county that served in a certain war but it just doesn't have the same impact. This memorial lists the names of everyone that died in the war. Granted they are just names but it is hard to separate the fact that behind the name is a person.
When this memorial was created, I was at an age where I started to pay more attention to the news and I remember some of the controversy surrounding the creation of the memorial. Many of the veterans and politicians rejected the design because to them it looked like a big ditch or something.

The sculptor was Maya Lin, whose parents came here from China. She won the contest at the age of 21 while she was still a student at Yale. When it was later revealed that she was of Asian decent, that caused even more problems. The wall was supposed to represent a gash and she figured that it was a way for the healing over the war to begin.

Over time, the Wall began to be more accepted and is now one of the more visited spots in Washington. I first visited it with my dad in 1983 and I was really too young to appreciate it. I remember being more moved the last time I visited it. Seeing stuff like this makes it even more moving because not only do you think of the life lost but the people left behind.

Stuff like this is even more moving. Admittedly, the person who wrote this is now my age or older, I can't help but thinking of a little kid that lost his dad.

The stones for the memorial came from Bangalore and they were chosen for their reflective capability. It is pretty neat to look at the wall and almost see yourself in it. You can almost imagine a ghost.

As a compromise, this statue was created by Frederick Hart as an attempt to do a more traditional statue for the Vietnam War. These three men depict the typical combat soldier from Vietnam. You can also see hints of three different ancestries - white, hispanic and African American. They seem to be staring towards the wall and as such are a part of the wall.

These men represent both the US Army and Marines as they have equipment that is typical to both.

The wierd thing about the statue is that it captures the "1000 yard stare" pretty well. As such, I think this statue represents a departure from the normal war statue.

Another flower left behind at the wall. A few years ago, there was an exhibit at the Smithsonian of the various articles that have been left behind.

Just a part of the 58,175 names on the wall.

Another item left behind.

Unfortunately, pictures don't really do this justice.