When Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa Behaved Badly

The thing about the oral history in my family is that I never know where fact ends and all tales begin. Most of us have always been adept at crafting good stories, with a few embroideries thrown in for emphasis (often without realizing we're doing it). However, you can see oral history as a problem, or if you're like me, you can see it as a psychedelic splash in the already colorful painting that I call family.

Oral history is about all we have when it comes to our family's past. Descended from farmers, ranchers, soldiers, gangster's molls, sheriffs, and moonshiners, the clan survived hardships like the Great Depression by picking up roots, packing light, and going wherever the work took us, whether Iowa, Nebraska, California, Maryland, etc. Coats of arms, family documents, and ancestral tomes have never exactly been a part of the family vault. Nor has a family vault. Now, a varnished wooden Nebraska Cornhuskers clock, a pair of dusty black cowboy boots belonging to my great-grandfather... those are our kinds of heirlooms.

Anyhoo, oral history says we are descended from Robert Frazer, one of the members of the Corps of Discovery a.k.a the Lewis & Clark Expedition. My dad knows way more about this than I do, but I think he was only supposed to accompany the expedition until it was time for the keel boats to turn back. However, Grampa Bob soon won a permanent place with the Corps. Also, he drew a map of the expedition's trek, which can be viewed online through the Library of Congress's website. Our oral history had erroneously told me that both his map and a journal were lost - so seeing it in the LOC's online collections was exciting, once I'd recovered from my heart attack.

Robert Frazer (d. 1837). “A Map of the discoveries of Capt. Lewis & Clark from the Rocky Mountain and the River Lewis to the Cap of Disappointment Or the Columbia River At the North Pacific Ocean By observation of Robert Frazer” 1807. Manuscript map. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, G4126.S12 1807 .F5, 2004626119

What? No it's not Middle Earth, it's America! Yeah, well, historians think it was a bit fanciful too. 

Anyway, our oral history was right in that Frazer's journal really was lost, which he had even intended to publish. As the Library of Congress summarizes in its online exhibit "Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America,"

Private Robert Frazer was the first member of the Lewis and Clark party to announce publication of an expedition journal. His account never reached print, and the original journal was lost. This manuscript map is the only remnant of that initial publishing attempt. Since Frazer had little or no knowledge of surveying or natural sciences, the map is a strange piece of cartography. He traces the expedition's route, but continues to depict older views of the Rocky Mountains and western rivers. Sometimes ignored, the Frazer map was one of the first to reveal the course of the journey and some of its geographic findings.

What did this lost journal contain? There have always been rumors among my family members that the journal was not lost, but in fact silenced for some unknown reason. 

And it seems Frazer didn't always have the best relationship with the Corps' leaders.

Here is an interesting article from "We Proceeded On," a publication by the Lewis & Clark Heritage Trail Foundation that I found while browsing History Quest: "Frazer's Mutiny" by Arlen J. Large. Wait, Frazer's what? If you scroll down to page 24 of the PDF, you'll see that on January 10, 1806, Clark wrote in his diary that "Frasure behaved very badly, and mutonous" during a trip to view a stranded whale on the Columbia River near Fort Clatsop. However, rather than receiving punishment, Grampa Bob was simply sent back to find a knife he had lost during the trip, and then told to return to the party. (Hmmm... he had a tendency to lose things and to create fanciful drawings - I'm thinking we really are related). If history ever shows that he "behaved very badly" due to an emotional breakdown at the sight of the whale dying on the beach, then I'll know for an absolute fact we're related. 

Large's article goes on to quote Lewis & Clark historian Gary Moulton, editor of the University of Nebraska Press's printing of their thirteen-volume set of The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, as saying:

Evidently Clark, perhaps after consultation with Lewis, decided that Frazer's behavior during the difficult and trying trip to and from the whale site was not serious enough to warrant disciplinary action.

A far different response, as Large points out, from the leaders' reaction to John Newman, who was court martialed, sentenced to seventy-five lashes (ouch), and booted from the expedition for "repeated expressions of a highly criminal and mutinous nature."

Apparently, at the end of the day, the hot-headed Robert Frazer was still a valuable member of the Corps. We may never know what his lost journal contained, but the writer in me enjoys imagining some of the possibilities. And, since most of my theories involve Doctor Who showing up to aid in their adventures, I am sure any respected historical journal would jump at publishing them.

Snapshots from Christmas Town 2013

Visting Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Christmas Town for the first time marked a great way to celebrate the holiday season. The European-themed amusement park transforms into a yuletide world of sparkling lights, festive music, live performances, and dramatic decorations - all of which resulted in the following travelogue of photos and memories.

Christmas Town's shows including Gloria, with powerful vocal performances, and Miracles, a dance-themed musical. 

High-powered voices soar in Gloria!

Ballet and modern dance in Miracles

But the real stars of the park were the decorations, with each country sporting a distinctly different style. 

Ireland

Killarney boasted golden tinsel swags and green tinsel shamrocks, all interlaced with colored lights. Green and gold are not only Christmas colors but also colors in the Irish flag - clever. I made two stops at Annie's Pub for Christmas Town hot chocolate with whipped cream, delicious and warming.

Reminds me of Galway Bay Irish Pub in Annapolis,
with all the wood paneling and warm ambiance.

The leprechauns have been at work....

France

France's white, cerulean, and blush pink decor evoked the glitzy lives of bygone bourgeoisie and whimsical reflections of Parisian style. I even got a photo with some bizarre looking jesters. And they say American clowns are scary.

This gorgeous, gigantic Christmas tree sends forth thunderous carols from within... and in English, oddly. Fortunately, the rest of the music throughout France is in French, even a lovely rendition Jingle Bells - I mean Vive le Vent. The tree must be a welcoming committee for foreign tourists.

King, Queen, and Court Jesters do their best to frighten tourists in France.

Wine Tasting

The wine tasting at La Belle Maison left me feeling pretty educated. Turns out all of those fancy wine rituals aren't just for snobs, they actually have a purpose! Mind blown. For instance:

Tip a glass of red wine away from you a little and wiggling your fingers behind it. Whether or not you can see them shows how deep the color is. Color, like taste, makes each wine unique. 

When you swirl the wine around in your mouth, breathing in through your nose helps you taste even more flavors.

Check out Snooth and Vivino for advice on wine pairings, ratings, etc.

I especially had some things to learn about the temperatures that make wines happiest when served. "Americans," said the sommelier Nora, "serve white wine too cold and red wine too warm. You're supposed to serve red wine at room temperature, but room temperature means a cellar... in a medieval castle... in the dead of winter." So, all I need is a medieval castle and I'm all set.

I am now a fan of rosé, something I have never liked in the past. True French rosé "is neither cheap nor sweet," and is instead considered a delicacy in France. The wine tasting featured Rosé d'Anjou, which had a very elegant taste which, the sommelier explained, paired well with smoked turkey.

Beautiful statue in front of La Belle Maison. This statue disappeared
some time ago from France's town square, so I was happy to see it
had shown up again!

Rose d'Angou in my souvenir Christmas Town wine glass

Sadly, I had never done a wine tasting before, and I thought I would be rude unless I drank everything that was given to me. Ooopsie. Is it just me or is it hot in here?

Of course, no wine tasting is complete without a visit next door to... penguins? These penguins are real celebrities, residing in their own Ice Palace near La Belle Maison. I just wish I could have been on the flight to Williamsburg with them - pretty darn cute if you watch the video:

Germany

Dinner at Das Festhaus included a gluten-free pizza (baked in an oven-safe wrapper that prevented cross-contamination with gluten, unfortunately a must for anyone with life-threatening celiac disease like me - Busch Gardens is awesome). The always-festive Das Festhaus was even more bedecked than usual, with stunning chandeliers that reminded me of the Austrian chandelier in the Opera House in the Kennedy Center.

Later, we browsed shops boasting German-made wares ranging from beer steins and nutcrackers to carved hunting horns and cuckoo clocks. Since they were made in Germany rather than China, I could not afford them, but could afford to gawk!

French Canada

Passing through France again we meandered in French Canada, where the Yankee Candle Carver was hard at work as usual and Caribou Pottery was decked out for a woodsy Christmas. Most of the fauna were indoors, with the exception of a beautiful Cooper's Hawk whose keeper was rushing him inside before the afternoon chill set in.

Hand-dyed and handmade mushroom candles

A gentle, mellow Cooper's Hawk - gorgeous

I was dying to paint something at Caribou Pottery, but it takes a couple hours and the day was going by fast. We decided that next time we will have to take two days for Christmas Town.

Italy

Voyaging from French Canada into Italy unveils a vintage Christmas theme, replete with oversized mutli colored lights, giant clowing Santa heads (eeek!) and retro holiday-themed bill boards. Dean Martin replaces ancient Roma, and apparently his tradmark drinks abounded as well, as evident in the behavior of a gentleman who rushed up to me and enthused about how AWESOME!!! my outfit was. Attired in a curly brown scarf, my favorite winter hat (a huge furry ushanka), and a camel-colored winter coat, I thought I looked more like a terrifying squirrel, but to each his own.

Italy was one of my favorite sections in Christmas Town, being a vintage girl myself. My mother felt herself yanked back into her childhood memories of 1950s and 60s Christmases, but the panic in her eyes soon changed to enjoyment... I hope.

By now solidly nighttime, we boarded the train skirting around the perimeter of the park. I got yelled at by the conductor for leaning out of the train to get this shot. Whenever I see potential for a good photo all common sense goes out the window. Whoops.

By foot, the lights were spectacular as well, since you became immersed in the visual festivities on all sides. Such as:


...the smashed-up car at Verbolten, which joined in the holiday festivities...

...the clock tower in Banbury Cross...

...and Escape from Pompeii, now the Polar Pathway...

...and the O Tanenbaum light show in Oktoberfest...

The Nomad Soul's Guide to Christmas Gifts

Christmas gift ideas for wanderers, adventurers, vagabonds, and dreamers....

Some of these hail from my own personal gallimaufries (a word everyone should use at least once), and while a few are feminine, many will please both ladies and gents.

Compass Glass Magnets from Paper Source

Scrimshaw Whale Box, National Geographic

Global Collection: Africa by 7Gypsies
Great for scrapbooking or framing.

"Not all who wander are lost." Necklace by UnderGlass, Etsy.

Paperblanks Handtooled Lined Journal, Paper Source

Marlyn Schiff Vintage Button Earrings from Lilac Bijoux

Longitude by Dava Sobel

A polkadot teepee of cotton canvas for the tiny nomad in your life

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"The Wild Geese," handmade at Wild Goose Studio in Knocknabohilly, Ireland

ICE! at the Gaylord National

My first visit to the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord National sure didn't disappoint. Like the Gaylord in Kissimmee in Florida, the Washington D.C. version at the National Harbor sports a gigantic glass-enclosed atrium, just minus the alligators grinning at meals tourists from the transplanted bayou.

Instead, this Gaylord went for more of a classic stroll-in-the-park theme with cafes, restaurants, and shops peeking from amidst the dense trees and glowing street lights. However, the real star of the Gaylord was the view from the mammoth windows overlooking the magnificent Potomac River.

Suspended Christmas Tree in the 18-story glass atrium of the Gaylord National.
The massive windows overlook the glittering lights of the National Harbor.

A veritable city of rooms surround the bedecked atrium.

Hidden in gigantic tents outside the hotel, ICE! is a clever mixture of traditional, clear-as-crystal ice sculptures and vividly colored sculptures of bright cerulean, lemon yellow (at least I hope it's lemon), and geranium red evoking scenes from "The Night Before Christmas," followed by a finale of "Christmas in New York." 

Entrance to ICE! The letters appeared to be fiberglass, but everything else
was pure ice, from the bright yellow background to the brick walls
and whimsical swirls.

An icy arch seems to be made from enormous candy and sugar-spun bricks

Delicate crystalline dove adds a sweet contrast to the vivid and mod surroundings.

The temperature remained at about nine degrees, so my friend and I had bundled up in enough layers to give Randy from A Christmas Story a run for his money.

On top of this, the staff at the Gaylord gave us each an oversized, hooded, calf-length parka of which any Arctic explorer would approve. The parka also acted as a sort of built-in sled when we reached the ice slides near the end of the tour. "Lift your feet up!" called the attendant at the bottom of the slide as I began sliding down in a seated position. A suggestion which, if followed, will tilt the unsuspecting victim on their back so that the slippery parka turns into an Olympic-speed toboggan. 

Most ungraceful, but I felt like a little kid all over again. Sadly, I was too busy laughing hysterically to get a picture of my friend sliding down after me.

Solid ice comprises the Christmas tree, the presents, and the huge
slides on either side of the room. Only the tinsel-y tree trimmings were non-ice.

Yeah, yeah, I know my photo's crooked and shaky. But I kept having to take my hand out of my glove to snap photos and by this time I couldn't even feel my fingers. 

Santa and sugarplums then gave way to a trip into New York City on a wintry night, where even the Statue of Liberty has joined the festivities by donning a red suit and hat. Again, great subject, rotten photo. My poor frozen fingers. I finally broke down and whipped out the HotHands hand warmers.

Santa of Liberty

Check this out: "Phantom of the N. Pole" and a poster that looks like a Galapagos penguin photobombing Les Miz. Technically not made from ice, but I don't think I could have resisted doing this, either.

Broadway Signs

At the end of the walk-through, we came upon a larger-than-life nativity with incredible detail and delicacy. My flash revealed the intense chilliness in the air, which they pumped in from overhead to maintain the 9 degree temperature, the sadists.

Nativity of ice. The matte ice creating the ground contrasted with 
the shiny figures. Methinks this art form takes a tiny bit of skill...

Awwww....

As we shuffled out the mega-tent's door and into the night air to head back into the Gaylord, we both stopped and exclaimed, "Wow, it's hot out here!" It was 40 degrees. 

I will never again complain about cold winters. We survived nine degrees all for the sake of festivity and art! I think some hot chocolate is in order. Spiked.

Or maybe I'll just steal some treats from Santa's plate.