The Independence Series ... and Winterthur

 In my quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states, there have been some strange trips. I had originally thought about a 2-week trip to the mid-Atlantic states and New England to pick up 5 of my final 6 states -- but that required a lot of time off and just didn't make sense. 

I found a 2-state weekend in September that would allow me to complete Vermont and Maine, so I focused in on Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey -- which I could run on a Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The first two states were so close together that I could even stay at the same hotel. I flew out on Monday, worked from the hotel on Tuesday (because it would have been grim to fly in the night before, frankly), then raced starting on Wednesday. 

I had some time after the Wednesday race to visit Winterthur and its exquisite decorative arts collections. I took the tram to the house. The gardens weren't particularly in bloom, but it was lush and green. I loved that it was all DESIGNED to look NATURAL. 

Then I went into the house and admired both the architecture and the exhibits. 

what's that on the right??

IT'S A KNIFE HOLDER

gorgeous embroidered necklace

After touring the collections, I moseyed around the grounds a bit. My favorite was this swimming pool and "seahorse": 

I enjoyed this very strange trip -- a great mix of running, sightseeing, and meandering. The only downside was that Wil couldn't join me for it. But he will be joining me for the shorter trip to New England in September!

June 3 - fly to Philadelphia, drive to Elkton, MD

June 4 - working in Elkton, MD

June 5 - Independence Series day 1, Bear, DE, plus Winterthur

June 6 - Independence Series day 2, Elkton, MD

June 6-7 - Gettysburg

June 8 - Independence Series day 4, Sussex, NJ

June 9 - Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater