A trip to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania is always memorable. (Good thing, too, because it has been several weeks since we visited and I am just now getting around to writing about it.) For the uninitiated, Longwood was the home and pet project of one of those fabulously wealthy Duponts, in this case Pierre S., who had a vision to make a very grand garden for family, friends, and eventually, the masses.
Pierre had a special interest in water features, and today one of the biggest draws to Longwood Gardens is the elaborate fountains, programmed to “dance” to music. They are particularly spectacular after dark, and during the holidays.
But, since I am working on a program for the 2022 (hopefully, in person and on the National Mall) Smithsonian Folklife Festival which is all about Earth Optimism, I kept a particular eye out for stories of sustainability and interesting examples of reuse, recycling, encouraging pollinators, growing one’s own food, and all that good stuff. Longwood did not disappoint in that department.
Here, in photos (and one video) is a tour of some of the highlights of examples I noticed during our visit. Good for you, Longwood, although I am sure running a huge garden full of tourists has many unsustainable aspects as well. And, then, there is “better living through chemistry.” But, we won’t get into that right now.
Recirculating water in the waterfall. Well, I guess that’s sustainable right? The meadow part of the Garden, which is pretty extensive, has some good pollinator information, as well as bee houses and other fun features. I liked their use of recycled wood as a display support.Speaking of recycling, this sign was in one of the several tree houses at Longwood. It seems sort of funny that the wood came from an old toothpaste factory. Getting it all the way from Canada takes”marks off” their sustainability score I fear. (Is there a scale for sustainability? I am sure there is, or should be.)This prodigious basil, as well as the other veggies, fruits and herbs in the “idea garden” area (which is supposed to give you ideas about how to grow things in your own garden, but really only succeeded in making me think about how much less bountiful my own garden is) has a higher purpose of supplying a local food cupboard.Three Sister’s Garden, yay! For more info on those, you should watch our virtual Story Circle from summer of 2020. Last but not least, the “award winning green wall” (so described by one of the greenhouse info volunteers). If more buildings had one of these, the world would be a much more sustainable place. (In between each wall is the door to a bathroom, by the way.)
On a recent trip to West Virginia, my friend Arlene and I spent a whole day sampling the small town pleasures of Point Pleasant. Situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, the town has many (well, several at least) historic and folkloric sites to explore.
Upon arriving, we checked into the Lowe Hotel. We had noted that the hotel is rated #1 of 1 hotel(s) in the town by tourism sites, which did not at first inspire confidence. But we were delighted to find a well preserved/restored property with lots of charming decor, and a chatty and helpful proprietor.
Next, we checked out the murals depicting historic events and people, which are painted on the wall that runs between the town and the river. They started out peaceful enough, with Native Americans going about their (historic) everyday lives, but in just a few mural panels morphed into the bloody Battle of Point Pleasant fought in 1774 between the Shawnee and Mingo tribes led by Shawnee Chief Hokoleskwa (or Cornstalk as he was called in English) and the Virginia militia (West Virginia did not exist at this point). Some guy named Lord Dunmore had a role in this mess too.
Unfortunately, the murals have minimal text interpretation, so some of the historical doings are left up to one’s imagination. As you traverse down the row of murals, you also encounter several historical personages fashioned out of tin. Daniel Boone (who lived near Point Pleasant in the late 1700s) gets this treatment, as does a feisty woman dubbed “Mad Anne Bailey” who gets her own set of murals depicting her interesting life.
At the end of the mural trail you enter Tu-Endie-Wei State Park. (The name means “point between two waters” in Wyandotte, apparently.) This is where Daniel Boone and American Ginseng tie in – though not commemorated on any murals or historic markers as yet. The confluence of the Ohio and Kanawhajust might be the place that a quantity of ginseng Boone was transporting to market got dumped into the Ohio in 1788. Though every version of the story has this ill-fated ginseng being dumped in a different location…
All of that walking around town made us pretty hungry, so we headed for one of the only two real sit-down restaurants in town within walking distance we located which were not pizza purveyors. This happened to be a very respectable Japanese restaurant, Ichiban II. (The other restaurant, located on Main Street, is Mexican, Rio Bravo 2 – we went there for dinner.)
We were saving a visit to the most famous Point Pleasant “native” for the afternoon. Mothman is one of several cryptids (mythological creepy humanoid beings) haunting the West Virginia landscape, and his most famous siting took place just outside Point Pleasant. The World’s Only Mothman Museum is located right across from the Lowe Hotel (and was visible from our room even), and the twelve foot tall tin Mothman Statue is a photo magnet for the masses.
After thoroughly overdosing on Mothman information at the museum, we strolled leisurely down Main Street and read the markers about the historic homes lining the street. We also paused to reflect upon the Silver Bridge Disaster of 1967 (marked by another mural and several historic plaques) which took the lives of 43 people. We ducked into the local art gallery and an expansive antique/doo-dad mall on Main Street as well.
By the time we settled in for the night at the Lowe, we had done pretty much all of Point Pleasant that you could do easily by foot. We downloaded the 2002 movie, Mothman Prophesies, starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney, for our evening entertainment/research. Having done our homework, we recognized the huge “poetic license” they had taken with the film – including how different the river town they actually filmed the movie in (Kittanning, PA) was from our Point Pleasant.
At the beginning of the mural trail, a depiction of the Three Sisters (corn, beans and squash). Very literal indeed. Daniel Boone as The Tin Man in Buckskins. Mad Ann(e) Bailey, who was apparently not “crazy” but just had a temper. She’s buried in Point Pleasant.View of Mothman Museum and statue from our hotel room. The infamous Mothman Statue. Another depiction of Mothman. My daughter said he looked “very cheerful” when I shared this photo with her.Though the Mothman Prophesies was not actually filmed in Point Pleasant, the museum ended up with several props from the movie. Such as this blanket which “came into contact” with fame. The makers of the Mothman Prophesies also managed to weave the Silver Bridge Collapse into the movie plot. While visiting this spot, we encountered a local who told us his Dad was almost headed across the bridge that fateful day, with Christmas presents in tow, but due to a change of plans, he was saved from a possible watery demise. There used to be a River Museum in town too but a fire put it out of commission. They are building a new one, so we may need to visit town again!Lobby of the Lowe Hotel, showing balcony, faux marble columns and other features. One of the common rooms of the hotel, this one dubbed “the peacock room” because of the collection of peacock art collected by the proprietor’s mother. This was the site of our watching of Mothman Prophesies because the wifi was coming in better than in our room. Very atmospheric and fitting especially when we turned off most of the lamps.
