On the Road Again...
Off to International Convention! Rather than fly, me and J.K. decided it would be cheaper to drive to Birmingham, Alabama and it would give us the opportunity to visit historical sites along the way. Also, I don't believe he's a big fan of flying. I was okay with the idea, and can't pass up an adventure like that! So I drove the 2 hours to C-Bus, and then he drove the rest of the way to Nashville, Tennessee.
Unfortunately, due to other matters in my life including but not limited to ASG's increased complications about taking out the Visa and picking up my Korean at the airport, our in between-travel time was cut short. So in reality, we only got to visit one historical site on the way down - 7th President, Andrew Jackson's House - The Hermitage.
That was alot of fun. I do love me historical sites. It had a small video right as you enter -- Oh! Let me rant for a minute that entry is 17$, 11$ for student, but Student does not mean college, just high school >>;;; Jason's AAA card got us 15$ rates which is better than full price I guuuess... But at the end of the day, my comment card was FILLed with how that system needs to change. So yes, the introductory video. It was narrated by :D Martin Sheen!!!
Me, Martin Sheen and Alex - from when he came to speak at Akron in 2008.
AhhH! Loved it. He, of course, played President Jed Bartlet on NBC's The West Wing, so a 20 minute documentarial video about Andrew Jackson was cool. Interestingly, there were only like 2 other voices used, Rachel's (Jackson's wife) and some politician describing Jackson. The voice portraying the politician describing Jackson was Rene Auberjonois - who played Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space 9 n.n so there's my Star Trek reference of the road trip! (One always pops up.)
(The back of the house, the front is not easily photographable.)
The museum was good, as a history major I liked it - but I think most of my friends would find it boring. Got to see what a antebellum house looked like and how and why it operated. Like having sky blue painted rooms reflected light better, tall ceilings kept it cooler in the Tennesee summers, etc. Jackson's legacy of course is that he fought the Second Bank of the United States and won, making sure a bank didn't have control over the federal government, and could not be owned by foreign interests. (His face is now, famously, on the 20$ bill.)
Quote of the Day:
"What kind of wall paper is this?" - Touring person
"It's a design that was popular in the day, "ugly"." - Tourguide in Period Clothing
Song of the Day: "Good Girls Go Bad" by Cobra Starship. Played on Jason's satalite radio, I have some how managed to not hear this too many times since getting back from Korea but it was on the "Top 20 National Hits" station. I like it. Haha, I like Cobra Starship's two other semi-hits, the snake one from Snakes on a Plane (which launched them to pseudo-national fame.) Then there's a song the Sailor Moon parody series on Youtube uses as Sailor Jupiter's trasformation song - "The Church of Hot Addiction" ("...my love is electric...")
Remarkable Observations:
The Hermitage is still an active farm, and there are roosters and donkeys. I actually saw a donkey in the distance, from right next to the Presidents tomb.
One of Jackson's historical downfalls is that he did have slaves, and didn't really do anything to stop slavery; from his point of view it was acceptable. But he did lay the groundwork for the civil rights movement in a way: the supporters of Jackson were the first example of a people that could have thrown the government into civil war based on differing opinions with the political elite. Rather than do so, they formed a new political party (Jacksonian Democrats) and fought the wrongs from inside the system, a method many other factions have used successfully in our great nations history.
Unfortunately, due to other matters in my life including but not limited to ASG's increased complications about taking out the Visa and picking up my Korean at the airport, our in between-travel time was cut short. So in reality, we only got to visit one historical site on the way down - 7th President, Andrew Jackson's House - The Hermitage.
That was alot of fun. I do love me historical sites. It had a small video right as you enter -- Oh! Let me rant for a minute that entry is 17$, 11$ for student, but Student does not mean college, just high school >>;;; Jason's AAA card got us 15$ rates which is better than full price I guuuess... But at the end of the day, my comment card was FILLed with how that system needs to change. So yes, the introductory video. It was narrated by :D Martin Sheen!!!
Me, Martin Sheen and Alex - from when he came to speak at Akron in 2008.
(The back of the house, the front is not easily photographable.)Quote of the Day:
"What kind of wall paper is this?" - Touring person
"It's a design that was popular in the day, "ugly"." - Tourguide in Period Clothing
Song of the Day: "Good Girls Go Bad" by Cobra Starship. Played on Jason's satalite radio, I have some how managed to not hear this too many times since getting back from Korea but it was on the "Top 20 National Hits" station. I like it. Haha, I like Cobra Starship's two other semi-hits, the snake one from Snakes on a Plane (which launched them to pseudo-national fame.) Then there's a song the Sailor Moon parody series on Youtube uses as Sailor Jupiter's trasformation song - "The Church of Hot Addiction" ("...my love is electric...")
Remarkable Observations:
The Hermitage is still an active farm, and there are roosters and donkeys. I actually saw a donkey in the distance, from right next to the Presidents tomb.
One of Jackson's historical downfalls is that he did have slaves, and didn't really do anything to stop slavery; from his point of view it was acceptable. But he did lay the groundwork for the civil rights movement in a way: the supporters of Jackson were the first example of a people that could have thrown the government into civil war based on differing opinions with the political elite. Rather than do so, they formed a new political party (Jacksonian Democrats) and fought the wrongs from inside the system, a method many other factions have used successfully in our great nations history.
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