Abe Berkowitz Boardroom in Birmingham Office of Baker-Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz.
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Lynn and I recently completed a cross country drive from Savannah to Los Angeles and then we returned by way of Oklahoma.
The purpose of the trip was many fold. When we were told by our grand daughter in law that she was receiving her PHD from UCLA, that triggered our decision to drive coast to coast.
Second, as many of you know, I have been a Board Member of The State Museum of Art (GMOA) housed on the University Campus in Athens for many, many years and our love of art is evident. I have hosted at least 4 visits to Athens and other museum sites since moving to The Landings and Chair the Acquisition and Deaccession Committee of our museum. I asked our Director, Bill Eiland, to send me a list of museums he thought would be important for us to visit and which would help me better serve the museum because we have an Art Acquisition Foundation which we established many years ago and continue its funding for the purpose of purchasing art for future generations of Georgians. Bill sent me a list of some 14 museums he thought were must sees. Also, he previously suggested we extend our Foundation to include the purchase of drawings, which we have done.
The third reason for making our trip by car is that I served on the Board of St John's College for some eight years and during my tenure we established two named Scholarship Funds for graduate and undergraduate students and wanted to discuss with the Santa Fe Campus' current president, Mike Peters, future funding matters.
The fourth reason we were willing to undertake an extensive trip is because we truly enjoy driving in a car due to the flexibility it gives. We now have the time, the additional out of pocket cost need not exceed much more than what it does to stay home and this is a great country and our 'bucket list' desire is to explore every state. We have some 15 or more yet to see.
Our past drives have provided us with a greater love of our country, a greater appreciation of its grandeur and we have met some wonderful characters and enjoyed some unusual and unexpected discoveries.
Finally, I have come to resent the way airlines have become bloodthirsty in terms of their policies of charging for everything except the life jacket under your seat. I understand why costs creep up over time but I believe the air line industry has chosen to model themselves after American Auto makers of yore. They thought they could make anything, sell it and damn the customer. Throughout my career I have believed in service first and the rest would take care of itself.
We had dinner with one of my father's former partners in Birmingham this past Sunday. Chervis Isom, wrote a book recently entitled "Newspaper Boy." He will come some time in the Fall and will talk about his auto-biographical exploration of his life. The reason I mention this is that I inquired what motivated Senator Baker to want to acquire my father's firm and Chervis said Baker-Donelson were a client oriented firm and were equally impressed with the way my father's firm put their client's interests first as well as being an established firm doing quality work.
(This is an e mail I received from a former partner of my father who is now with another fine firm in Birmingham. I invited him to dinner, as well but, he had a prior commitment.
"Dick, I spent all of yesterday (and part of the evening) in a deposition in the Abe Berkowitz Board Room at the Birmingham office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz. It is a very impressive room, just off the main reception area. I believe it is the largest conference room in the firm's Birmingham office."
"The attached photograph displays memorabilia regarding your father that is displayed in the room - see above"
We left mid afternoon May 20 with our goal of arriving in Mobile late that evening. This was one of our longer drives because on average we drove around 175 miles per day.
Before reaching Mobile we detoured twice. Once to drive through Auburn's beautiful and expanding campus. Later that afternoon we drove through Tuskegee University. We have visited both campuses in the past and they are larger than our last visit. Obviously Auburn has more resources and is expanding at a faster pace and all the new construction is in brick and makes the campus truly elegant.
We arrived late that night and our reason for starting in Mobile is that we have a dear friend who lives there and whose husband was my college class mate and president of my college fraternity. Mayer Mitchell .died prematurely of cancer but before he departed he became one of the the most politically influential Southerners in our country. He was President of AIPAC, served on many local boards and was one of Mobile's most charitable citizens. The University of Alabama, in Mobile, is a benefactor of his families' generosity and Arlene, his wife, continues his legacy of being an exceptional citizen.
The next morning we were met by Arlene's son-in-law who became our chauffeur and we could not have had a better one because he was also the Concierge of the Hotel where we were staying. He gave us a tour of the city. taking to the to various institutions "Bubba" supported - The Mayer Mitchell Cancer Center, The Arlene Mitchell Children's Hopsital, The University of Alabama at Mobile (Bubba's Brother Abe donated the business school building), Spring Hill College, their local Synagogue and many other civic institutions.
Arlene met us for lunch, Then we enjoyed a private tour of the Contemporary Museum by the museum director Bob Seine, who joined us for dinner that evening. Their current exhibition focused on works by black artists and was assembled by an Atlantan, from whom we had purchased some of our own African artifacts many years earlier. William Arnett shifted his focus from African artifacts to works by local black, mostly untrained and undiscovered artists and due to his efforts many of them have been recognized by the top museums in our country as overlooked leaders . The Modern Museum of Art (MOMA) has begun collecting works by these artists and The Brenda and Larry Thompson collection at GMOA includes many of these artists as does GMOA's own collection.
That evening we had a delightful, informative and relaxed dinner at one of Arlene's special restaurants - NOLA.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and proceeded to Folsom, La. but before we did we visited the Mobile's beautiful museum situated overlooking a lovely city park lake.. The collection is modest but quite representative of the artists displayed and I suspect, one day, some of Arlene's exquisite collection will grace their walls.
Why Folsom, La.? which is some 20 miles north of New Orleans which was our second city destination.
Again, another story. In the early 1960's, after I had become a partner in Courts & Co., the then largest Southeastern based NYSE Member Firm, one of my partners, Richard Harris, who was in charge of the firm's trading department , was an avid art collector with a primary focus on Western Art. Dick told me The Sears' Vincent Price Art Collection was coming to town and were offering an Andrew Wyeth water color. We agreed we would buy it jointly and switch back and forth having it in our respective homes. Well the price was above what we (mostly me) could afford so I purchased a water color by Rolland Golden of his wife, Stella. After my acquisition I contacted Rolland and we have been friends ever since. In fact, the summer before Katrina, we visited with Stella and Rolland and purchased a lithograph from his own personal and retained collection.
Rolland has become one of the south's finest water colorist, was recently honored as Visual Arts Honoree by the State of Louisiana at the Louisiana Legends 25th Annual Gala in May of this year, featuring his Katrina Series. Earlier, Rolland's works were featured in a show in Russia sponsored by our State Department . His works hang in many fine southern museums and while I was there I was able to arrange for a dear gallery friend in Chevy Chase, Md. to consider taking Rolland on as one of his featured artists. My friend represents March Avery, daughter of Milton Avery, one of America's finest artists. We own works by Milton, Sally (his wife) and March.
Rolland recently wrote an autobiography entitled: "Rolland Golden - Life. Love and Art In The French Quarter." It is a beautiful story of his life, love of his family and continuing love affair with Stella, who has stood by him throughout his long but not always easy days as a serious artist. Stella remains his agent and one of his daughter's, Lucille, also helps sponsor and market her dad's work.
Dinner at Morton's in Madisonville, with the three Golden's that evening was delightful because we were able to observe the interaction among the three and the Cajun food was tasty.. Place was packed.
Rolland is not in the best of health, he has some memory loss issues, but his hand is steady, he continues to paint every day and is working on a second autobiography bringing the reader up to date. He retains a delightful sense of the Cajun world surrounding him, because it is in his DNA.
As for my first acquisition by Rolland entitled "Fisherwoman," it depicts a harsh fisher lady sitting on a dock with a wooden boat as background. She is in jeans and her red hair is cut short. Her features are less than soft. If you turn to page 151 in Rolland's book there is a picture of Stella, the knockout who caught the eye of the then Navy sailor, and she has aged beautifully. Stella remains the cement that Rolland depends upon and my wish is that GMOA will one day have a retrospective of this unique artist. I am working with Bill on trying to arrange such. (Go to Rolland Golden Artist.Com if you want a wonderful experience.)
We spent two nights and three days in New Orleans, stayed at our favorite hotel - The Windsor Court - walked our favorite French Quarter Streets, ate at some new restaurants ( as long as they served crawfish, I was amenable - Lynn lost a few quarters in The Harrah Casino slots and we purchased an African mask in an antique store. Weather was great.
From New Orleans we headed to Texas - Orange, Texas. Why Orange Texas? Because Bill Eiland told us it was a must visit and he was right. Orange, Texas is a small town on the Texas-La. border.
The Stark Museum is a gem and its focus is on The Taos Artists. The Stark Foundation was established by H.J. Lutcher Stark and his wife and funds the beautiful and active Stark
theater, their home, which we toured, and the magnificent Stark Gardens in the heart of town.
The museum is modern and has some of the finest works by virtually all the TAOS artists - Sharp, Phillips, Berninghaus, Blumenschein, Farny,Couse,Dunton,Hennings etc. If you love Western Art , as we do,then The Stark is a little gem!
Our next destination was Galveston and, on the route, we stopped for lunch in Winnie, Texas and had lunch at Al-T's and the etoufee and bread pudding were great. More unneeded calories.
Galveston is a town undergoing significant rehabilitation. The largest structure in the town is a Federal Building. Activity along the wharf and port, where some excellent restaurants are located, has slowed because oil drilling is down. Leon's is the best barbecue restaurant and is a must visit..
From Galveston we motored in the direction of San Antonio and the flooding and rain continued in the Dallas and Houston area . We wanted to have lunch in Victoria but the restaurant we chose on the river was closing by order of the city. The entire parking lot was under water when we arrived. We did drive around the historical district and Victoria is a little jewel of beautiful old homes, well manicured lawns and gardens and the downtown area is also undergoing an extensive renaissance. We lunched at Fossati, one of the oldest delis in all of Texas then walked around town a bit and stopped by the Nave Museum. This museum was begun by a local artist, is free to the public and houses not only his work but they had a special show of auto art.
San Antonio is one of America's unique cities. Running through the heart of downtown is a beautiful canal surrounded by restaurants, boats traversing the canal and plenty of walking path areas. San Antonio was hopping and once again the weather was great. We explored the City by taking one of the many off and on bus tours which begin at The Alamo. During the tour we got off for lunch at Auggies and then toured the nearby Antonio Museum. Auggie is another fantastic Texas barbecue restaurant. You line up, place your order, watch them construct what you ordered and then find your own table.
At a table next to ours were three working men in their construction attire and one ordered a sandwich which had to be at least a foot in height. I was so busy watching him, my own more downsized fare got a little cold.
The city museum is another surprise. Again not extensive but very interesting and the descriptions were very informative. Before we left San Antonio we went to the McNay Museum (The first modern museum of art in Texas) and the Briscoe. The McNay is magnificent and incorporates the founder of the museum's home. The collection is outstanding and varied and the facility has massive new wings displaying large contemporary paintings by some of America's most recognized artists and sculptors. While there we observed a constant flow of future brides having their pictures taken in the surrounding gardens.
We cabbed to the McNay and then to the Briscoe, which is housed in the old Carnegie Library, and a beautiful building in its own right. The art displayed was varied and all Western, a copy of a stage coach, many Native American artifacts, plenty of old west artifacts. This too is a must visit for anyone who loves Western Art. As we left, the rain came down in torrents so we cabbed back to our hotel.
I thought San Antonio, which I had visited for business reasons shortly after it hosted the World's Fair, was unique and it is but when we got to Oklahoma City we were surprised to find another man made canal coursing through "Brick Town."
Austin was a short drive from San Antonio and we stayed with Matt Ford, his wife and their two beautiful daughters. Matt lived in our Atlanta neighborhood and was our son's best man as was Daniel when Matt married. In fact, Daniel was due to visit with Stella but a business closing prevented him from joining us. Matt and Jenny had previously worked for Dell Computer, but Matt was now doing consulting on his own and Jenny has a responsible position as the person in charge of keeping Wall Street Analysts apprised of the happenings at a large publicly held company. Their two daughters are absolute dolls and the way Matt and Jenny speak to them serves as a model for how to relate to kids, make them feel loved, informed and significant members of their family unit. The family pooch is a breed I never knew existed and is as sweet and loving as are the entire Ford family. It is always great to see old friends doing well and making their own way through life.
We visited the University of Texas Campus.(my second daughter, Amy attended U.T and met her husband, Steve, there. They now live in Louisville where Steve is Chairman of The Republic Banks.)
The University Museum, The Blanton Museum, is huge and has some fine art. The collection of contemporary art was particularly good. Much of the University's collection was assembled, owned and eventually given by James Michener, the great author who attended the University as an undergraduate. It is an unbelievable and diverse collection and reflects Michener's obvious discerning taste and love of contemporary art. (Michener;s own museum housing his remaining art collection is in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.)
The large foyer of the Blanton was given by a dear friend of my father who owned a private insurance company and Chaired the powerful Texas Board of Regents. Barney Rappaport, was one of eighteen members of The Sonneborn Institute of which my father was a member. The Sonneborn Institute was started by Rudy Sonneborn, a New York Industrialist, and its espoused purpose was to arm and prepare The State of Israel prior to its birthing by The U,N. President Truman knew what was going on and sent an FBI Agent to Birmingham to pay a visit to my father and to urge he be discreet about purchasing war surplus arms from southern scrap dealers. The story is told in : The Pledge by Leonard Slater and might one day become a documentary film made by Steven Spielberg's sister.
I once visited Barney to discuss the possibility of whether he might wish to merge his company but he was not interested. Also, wherever we went in Texas, I noticed one of the son's of my former client was listed a significant donor. Mark Rachofsky has a magnificent contemporary collection of his own which is housed in his Richard Neutra designed Dallas home.
After leaving Austin, the bustling capital city of Texas which is, full of young people, new construction etc. our next destination was, what turned out to be one of my favorite Texas cities - Fort Worth. Oil wealth and oil generosity has turned this city into a beautiful place to live. They have a great water park in the heart of down town, another lovely park along the edge of town on a river and three absolutely world class museums - The Amon Carter, The Kimbell and the Modern Art Museum of Ft Worth. The first focuses on Western Art and has a wonderful collection of all the most noted Western Artists whereas the Kimbell is world class and takes you through art from the early paintings of Christ all the way up to today's modernistic painting, ie from Rembrandt. through Cezanne and el Greco to Stella etc.. The museum is housed in two distinct structures which complement each other one by Louie Kahn the other by Piano. The Modern Museum is also a striking building , is somewhat more limited in their display but when you exit the elevator on the second floor you are confronted by a fabulous self-portrait by Andy Warhol There is a magnificent pool on the ground level of one wing and as you enter it is a perfect setting for the art displayed.
The city's fourth art museum, The Sid Richardson, was closed but it too possesses a fine collection of Western Art.
The first three museums I mentioned above are all within walking distance of each other and are located in the cultural section which is an area of beautiful old homes and contemporary condominiums interspersed among lovely shops, restaurants, movie theaters etc.
Downtown Ft Worth is full of interesting buildings that span various periods and many have been rehabbed and turned into an outdoor eating area. We happened to be there during graduation ceremonies of a local high school so parking was not easy but because of our handicap sticker it made it easier and we were able to park near the Philip Johnson water park which cascades down hundreds of feet of man made concrete and stone structures
From Fort Worth we headed towards Cleburne and Fredericksburg by way of Waco and Baylor University.
We love, during our travels, to visit college and university campuses and Baylor proved a small but lovely campus. Once again many of our colleges and universities are undergoing significant new building expansion(s) and this too was the case at Baylor - a new business school.
We were able to make Fredericksburg and tour The Admiral Nimitz Pacific War Museum. Whenever we have visitors I make sure, time permitting, they visit The 8th Air Force Museum. I remember telling Kim Strassel she might like visiting the museum and to my surprise she not only said yes but also stayed almost two hours. Several of my military friend told me about The Nimitz Museum and one, Tom Dolson, asked me to pass along his personal regards to a former Commandant of The Marine Corps who maintains an office at the museum. Alas, he was out f town so I left a note with one of the administrative staff and they said they would give it to him.
It is hard to describe the museum because it is extensive and encompasses the history of the entire Pacific War. The films, the display of equipment, the entire presentation is just superb and for me brought back the names of the Islands, battles, the major participants etc. I was 8 years old when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and I remained glued to the radio for an entire 4 years while our troops went from Island to Island. recapturing and rescuing not only civilians but our own imprisoned prisoners. Chester Nimitz was one of the great heroes of that War and we toured the home where he was born and lived for a while. Nimitz was one of many but he was special and this museum is a brilliant testimony to him and those who fought, died, came home and helped us retain our freedom.
As for Frederickburg, it is a town settled by German immigrants, clean, as one would expect, full of shops, wine tasting stores, beer halls and restaurants. We dined that evening in a small restaurant , ate outside in the courtyard and had a non-Texas meal. Speaking of wineries, I was amazed at the number of wineries in Texas. We asked a restaurateur what he thought of Texas wines and said the whites were ok but the reds needed improving.
Next was Kerrville and The Western Art Museum which previously had been the Cowboy of America Museum. This was a particularly important visit for me because my former partner, Dick Harris (discussed previously), eventually left the firm and purchased the Jameson Gallery in Santa Fe. Dick also owned a ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and every year the Cowboys of America had their official barbecue there. The Jameson Gallery was one of Santa Fe's best at the time Dick purchased it and he continued to maintain its stature. I visited him shortly after he moved to the area and he urge I purchase a painting by William Moyer but even with Dick's discount I could not afford it, or thought I could not. Big mistake, because not only was it a magnificent painting but I could not touch its cost today. William Moyer was one of the best Cowboy of America artists. He has passed but his son and son's wife continue to paint and are well recognized.
Shortly after the formation of the Cowboys of America they decided it would be beneficial to open a museum displaying their art. Subsequently this museum began to branch out and introduced works by many local (Texas) artists and thus, changed its name to reflect same. The museum is wonderful. Four rooms of fabulous paintings of some of the past greats , current greats. Once again, not only is art on display but a variety of other artifacts depicting life in the 'Old" West.
I purchased a suite of three lithographs, one by Gordon Snidow, Gary Niblett and John Hampton, with whom I am not familiar. My problem now is where do I hang them. My "man's cave" is full of art hung salon type literally running to the ceiling.
My dear friend, Charlie Bourland, told me a member of his family was the first to assemble what came to be known as the first cattle drive. The HBO special "Lonesome Dove," based on the book by Larry McMurty, depicted this historical event.
I inquired of the museum director if he had any art depicting same and he showed me several displays of items used by those engaged in a cattle drive etc. But I could not remember the specific name of Charlie's relative. When I returned home I told Bourland, I could not remember his relative's name so he relieved me of any future exploits, turned to Lynn and said he knew I would blow it. Sorry Charlie!
Kerrville is a small town of two or three very very long and parallel streets. While we were there a show of some kind was taking place in one of the town squares. The town itself is obviously prosperous and many new contemporary buildings line the streets along with large shopping type malls.
Las Crusces is where Mexico State University is located and we toured the campus but their museum was closed. The town surprised us because it is larger than we thought and is undergoing extensive re-development including the main highway which cuts through the town. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Motel, had dinner at a nearby steak restaurant but drove around first to get our bearings. While doing so we discovered the quaint town of La Mesilla. It is not more than 6 or seven blocks and some outlying streets but is a small rendition of the classiest part of Santa Fe. We made a note to return the next morning on our way to Arizona and we did. We also located the Las Crusces Contemporary Museum and made a note to return when it opened the next morning.
We returned to the Contemporary Museum first and toured a show of local artists and then headed towards La Mesilla. We arrived before their unique shops were open and good that it was so because they were interesting. The town is absolutely quaint, full of outdoor restaurants and cantinas, a lovely park area and surrounding the small shopping area are new condos, motels and other stype structures that obviously are home to a growing number of retirees. La Mesilla is a must experience.
Lynn had heard about Marfa, Texas and had purchased some tickets to tour Donald Judd's Foundation and museum. We booked a hotel in Alpine, some 25 miles before Marfa.
Donald Judd was an artist mainly known for his belief that museums constrained artists who needed more room to display their works. He left New York, moved to Murfa and purchased a closed military base that had both housed German prisoners of war from Gen. Rommel's forces and was also a desert training base for our own military and air force.
Judd established the Chinati Foundation and invited some 8 artists friends to come and display their work in the 16 or so remaining buildings which housed German prisoners and our own military. In the first two, Judd displays his own aluminum sculptured pieces and in the remaining buildings artists friends display their works ranging from neon lighting to cartoon like art and everything in between. Though I like Judd's work the rest of the art and object displayed left me cold.
We then toured Judd's home, studios and workshops all surrounded by walls in a compound,like area.
Judd was an avid reader and brilliant as evidenced by the, well over, 1300 or so books, pamphlets and journals displayed in crude shelves he built to house his storehouse of eclectic reading material.
One day Marfa will expand and become a major artist commune. It has already begun but being a Sunday many of the galleries were closed. Marfa has the highest altitude golf course in Texas and our guide told us home prices were beginning to rise as the "wine and cheese, kool aid drinking crowd from New York" were beginning to discover Marfa. It will be interesting to watch the Politically Correct crowd shove native Marfan's out of their town as everything gets pricier as happened in Santa Fe, leading to their election of a committed Communist as Mayor. Since the young lady was as incompetent as Obama, she was subsequently defeated. That said, a direct rail system was built from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and provides 1 1/2 hour transportation for those seeking work in Santa Fe but no loner able to afford living there. Former native Santa Fe-ans owe their dispossession to the wine and cheese crowd flooding in California.
In Alpine we found a fine restaurant housed in an old historic hotel which had been refurbished ( a similar such hotel is in Marfa as well.)
There is a large university in Alpine which houses a museum devoted, in part, to the art of a local artist who also taught there. A mural of his graced the wall of the restaurant I mentioned. Alas, it was closed on Monday and we had to move along.
Now the first reason for doing this coast coast drive began in earnest as our final destination, Los Angeles, demanded we be there for the family gathering and Elizabeth's PHD ceremony.
Ah, but we still had several days and more former Landings friends to visit.
Our next stop was Dragoon, Arizona to tour Amerind Museum and Gallery. The word Amerind is a combination of American and Indian and was founded by William Fulton in 1937. Fulton was Chairman of a Connecticut company and was an avid amateur archaeologist. He established the Amerind Foundation and it is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American Cultures and their histories.
The Museum houses an unbelievable collection of native American artifacts including pots, bead work, clothing , metal objects like knives, spears etc. The two story building is beautiful and has some of the finest displays of any museum I have visited. I listened and viewed a wonderful film on the life and history of Geronimo and the Navajo Indians. Marlon Brando was right,. America truly screwed the Indians. Even when the government sought to help them they bureaucratically blundered because the decisions were made by those who could not stand in the moccasins of those they were trying to help. The Department of Indian Affairs should be shut and the money saved put in an education fund. Native American casinos and connecting hotels abound throughout the West. Whether they make money I do not know. They could provide a tribal income source coming from personal Native American losses . I just do not know.
Next to the museum is a wonderful Gallery displaying some of the magnificent paintings Fulton collected, ie. Remingtons', Russells' , O'Keefe etc. and a reconstruction of his corporate office.
While there, we purchased a ceramic bowl by a native, Lidia Lucero, of Mata Ortiz, Mexico, a community of beautiful contemporary potters.
Amerind is sited on a piece of land surrounded by a few homes of Native Americans and is a must stop for anyone interested in Native American artifacts and history. Before reaching Amerind there is a unique guest ranch. We drove in thinking their restaurant would be open and as we did there were signs along the way indicating famous people who had been guests - John Wayne, Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck etc, We were told their restaurant is only open to non ranch guests on Saturday.
One of the Amerind staff members gave us the name of and directions to a wonderful restaurant in Benson - Mia Casa. The restaurant is not easy to find even though it is on the town's main street because it is set way back. It is owned by a couple, the wife cooks, the husband serves. They feature authentic home made Mexican food and the carrot cake is outstanding. Her husband, I concluded , had been in the Marine Corps so we struck up a conversation and he told us about their oldest son who, after graduating from The Univ. of Arizona, had been preparing for two years to apply to become a Navy Seal..
He admitted living in a tiny town had drawbacks but they believed it was great for raising kids because you were in touch with their friends, knew what was happening in their lives etc,
One thing we found interesting was when we drove from New Mexico into Arizona we were stopped by Border Security, they looked in our car cursorily and asked were we citizens. We said yes and they waived us along. I think we were being profiled.
We arrived in Tuscon in time for dinner with Susan and Bob Helpert, who we knew from our Atlanta Days and renewed our relationship when we moved to The Landings where they had moved a year before.. They hosted us when we arrived with a lovely party which included some of their friends who subsequently became ours. In fact my piano teacher was on their guest list.
The next day we toured the Tuscon Museum which began as part of the home of a local resident and then a separate building was built which now houses a significant part of their collection. However,
their spectacular Western collection remains in the original home and attached buildings and what a wonderful collection it is. Limited but high quality and all the great Western art names. We ate in the adjoining museum restaurant and were joined by Tom and Nancy Gates, also former Landings friends and tennis players. Anyone touring the museum would be wise to also eat there because it adjoins the museum and offers free parking.
The Helperts have a lovely home magnificent mountains facing the front, a wonderful walled garden area adjoining their living and dining room which face the community golf course. They have done a superb job of landscaping and just about everything grows if you provide some water. The Gates live in a different area . Both couples moved to Tuscon to be closer to family and to have another experience.
From Tuscon ,we drove to Palm Desert and again were house guests of former Landings' friends and tennis players - Mike and Dorothee Bryman. They have a beautiful home purchased from a doctor who made significant upgrades. They also have a lap pool and seem very happy with their move. We went to dinner in a great restaurant part of the nearby magnificent , very upscale, shopping area. Mike is very accomplished when it comes to making furniture. He has a complete work shop in his garage and has added a few pieces to to many he made for their home at The Landings.
The drive to Los Angles was somewhat harrowing, partly because of the traffic, partly because of the confused signage and partly because I truly hate large cities.
This is the first part of our trip and I will make a few overall observations. Lynn is still working through pictures so they will be sent as part of the final part of my postings.
We did an extensive tour of Mississippi, along their Gulf Coast, looped virtually all of mid to southern Louisiana, and returned home buy way of Alabama and Florida's Gulf the summer before Katrina. Thus, we were interested in the area's rebuild but were sadly disappointed. Much of the developed area is now barren and where some of the magnificent and old homes were once located they have been replaced by ugly fast food structures and other garish stores. It is sad to see.
From all indications it appears the area may never return to the gracious beauty evidenced by old homes, beautiful magnolias etc.
The drive through the southern part of Texas is mostly rolling, the legal speed limit was a surprise. - 85 in many areas and 75 in most. Even 65 prevails on most Texas roads. Road construction and repairs seemed continuous. When we arrived in Galveston winds were strong and the Gulf waves were high. Our hotel was across the street from the beach and Galveston has a very long stretch along the Gulf ending in a large amusement development and then beyond an entire new area with massive condominiums and a large number of individual homes under construction.
Though you think of Texas as flat we drove mostly in rolling Hill Country. Cattle,wineries and various crops, mainly corn, predominate.
We passed through areas where President Johnson's ability to fund parks, golf courses, schools etc.
were quite evident.
As we moved further west Texas' topography changed from rolling to less green and more cacti etc.
As we touched the lower edge of New Mexico the topography is stark, the mountains are high and colorful. The roads are not as good as in Texas but hey are adequate. Speed limits hover between 75-60. When we were in Dragoon we actually saw a Roadrunner run in front of out car.
If you do not go to a fancy restaurant and stay away from fast food establishments,(we only went to three during the entire trip) the cost of gas, food and motels should not exceed $250 if you go 200 miles a day.
Obviously when we drove through California it was lush but we saw places where the water shortage had severe impact. We were told entire areas had browned and this would impact future availability of avocados and other types of vegetables and fruits etc.
I was surprised to see fruit trees, grape vineyards and nut groves in Texas . I suppose that is why Orange Texas is so named.
We truly lucked up weather wise but did encounter evidence of more rapid flowing rivers as we approached Waco and the area near Dallas.
America is one of God's kindest creations. We are blessed i so many ways and it is little wonder that Americans are a different breed.
I would urge anyone who has not seen our country to fine a way to do so within budget and physical constraints.
The Second Part of this recap will cover our time in California and return by way of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama.
Dick
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