Archive for » July, 2013 «

July 4th at Mount Vernon

Washington DC is a spectacular place to celebrate July 4th! The National Mall, with Washington DC’s monuments and the U. S. Capitol in the background, forms a beautiful and patriotic backdrop to America’s Independence Day celebrations.

This is an all-day event begins with a parade along Constitution Avenue and ends with an incredible display of fireworks over the Washington Monument. Almost every year Dave and I enjoy the fireworks in DC. This year, we decided to spend the 4th of July at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate.

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Kings Dominion Thrill Rides

IMG_4199We chose Monday to visit Kings Dominion theme park in Doswell Virginia near Richmond.

Kings Dominion rolled out  a brand new, re-imagined Planet Snoopy, a perfect place for the kids, but we went there for the roller coasters. It was a beautiful sunny day, a little hot, but not too crowded. We were looking forward to the Volcano, Intimidator 305 and Dominator rides among others.

There is a one-third replica of the original Eiffel Tower in Paris, France on the park grounds, which offers an incredible view of the park.

 

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The Duquesne Incline

IMG_3914The day after visiting Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater, we decided to take a ride on the Duquesne Incline and walk around downtown Pittsburgh. We started with the incline, which was easy to find and the free of charge parking lot next to it was almost empty. We had to climb several flights of stairs from the parking lot to the incline entrance, which starts right after the red bridge with the sign “Duquesne Incline” in the picture below.

The Duquesne Incline was the first Pittsburgh incline designed and built by the engineer Samuel Diescher, who had become the country’s foremost builder of inclines. Opened to the public on May 20, 1877, The Duquesne Incline delights residents and visitors with its original, elegant, wooden cable cars.

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Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater

After Kentuck Knob we visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece – Fallingwater, which was voted the most important building of the 20th century in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects. Fallingwater is the name of a very special house that stretches out over a 30’ waterfall.

Fallingwater was designed by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 for Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar Kaufmann Sr. (Today, it is part of the Macy’s chain). The House was used as a mountain retreat by the Kaufman family.

Nowadays, Fallingwater is entrusted to a Conservancy with its buildings, collections and site intact. The donation was received under a deed of trust that requires the Conservancy to preserve and maintain the buildings. It has been opened to the public since 1964.

Throughout his illustrious career Frank Lloyd Wright has created unique architectural designs all over the world. As an example, the enormously prominent structure that he designed is The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a modern art museum located in New York City.

We had to take pictures under the Fallingwater sign on our way to the Visitor Center.

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Kentuck Knob Usonian House

I have wanted to visit Fallingwater for quite some time. Kentuck Knob was a delightful addition to our itinerary. While booking our Fallingwater trip online, we noticed the tours to Kentuck Knob house, so we decided to see both houses in one day. We stopped at Kentuck Knob first, since it was on our way from the DC area.

Kentuck Knob is located about seven miles south of Fallingwater, a more famous Frank Lloyd Wright design. It is a smaller family home which is privately owned but opened to the public for tours. Around 1 p.m. we arrived to the Kentuck Knob visitor center and checked in for our tour.  While walking to the Visitor Center we passed the beautiful bird apartments – high-density avian housing.

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