Basically everyone on Doctor Who wehen they enter the TARDIS.
When I first saw the master bathroom in Kentuck Knob, I thought that Frank Lloyd Wright had been rather parsimonious, only giving the family a shower instead of a bath. That was because most of the tub couldn't be seen behind the door; it's a full sized tub, with some good shelf space too.
Kentuck Knob was one of the last houses designed by Wright, who was 86 at the time. It was, for him, a partial job; he let the owners, the Hagen family (friends of the owners of the nearby Falling Water, install a fair amount of the furniture and do the landscaping. Mrs. Hagen in particular had a strong say, insisting that the kitchen be expanded (because she liked to cook and was worried about getting snowed in (She also chose a very cool futuristic stovetop, where the burners folded away when not in use, and could be detached and plugged in elsewhere to used as a hot place for dinner parties.)
But Wright's style is still a major component. He had a strong visual theme, and kept it going throughout the house. For example, most things are hexagonal, including the skylights:
This really pays off when the sunlight hits the house, creating a cool pattern:
When the Hagens moved out, Lord Palumbo (Wikipedia informs me he is a baron; the tour guide used the honorific lord) purchased it to use as a summer home when he was here in the colonies. Then he decided to make it available for tours about 15 years ago.
In addtion to the fascinating home, there is also a lot of modern sculpture on the grounds. I think my favoirte pieces were a row of vintage British phone booths and a sculpture called Red Army. I'm not wild about the photos I took, but the artist has some nice ones on his website here.
Luarel Caverns\
The last cave I went to was Lurray Caverns in Shenendoah Valley. Laurel Caverns is rather different. for one thing, it's composed of an entirely different type of rock. While this means there are no stalagmites or stalactites (there were a handful, but early explorers broke them off and took them as souvenirs), you can also safetly touch the walls without fear that the oils in your hands will damage the delicate formations.
There are two ways to explore Laurel Caverns. You can take the short, guided, family friendly tour which goes down 17 stories along well marked paths. Or you can travel on your own (in a section that is still well explored), bringing your own light sources, climbing over boulders and crawling through some tight spaces. I chose the former.
The tour is really designed more for kids, but it was still pretty interesting. My favorite part was an optical illusion, based on the fact you lose your sense of direction when you can't see the horizon. But I also found the parts about early explorers interesting. In addition to taking samples, they graffiti-tagged a few sites to show how deep they went. They also named several of the rock formations, presumably to help fellow explorers. For example, they warned that when you came to this bird, you should head in the direction of his beak, because the other way was the Devil's Staircase, a 40-foot drop.
I don't know why the explorers were so keen to go around the cavern.. The tour guide never mentioned any valuable minerals found in the area.
Laurel Caverns also features a cavern-themed miniature golf course which I didn't play on, but think is a cute idea.
Fort Necessity
While George Washington did many wonderful things for our country, it's a good thing he wasn't in charge of naming stuff. Otherwise I bet Washington D.C. would be called Capital City and the Declaration of Independence would be known as The Letter to King George.
Fort Necessity got his name because he thought his soldiers woudl need a fort to defend themselves from the French. Depending on who you believe, the French and Indian War started when the British ambushed a group of French soldies and massacred them, or when a group of British soldiers on their way to parley with the French were attacked as they approached.
Either way, the British made some boneheaded decisions. Washington signed a document agreeing that he had assassinated the French commander in that incident because -- get this -- it was written in French. Apparently Col. Washington had a mediocre translator, and the document was also wet and smeared. Later on, a group of Native Americans approached General Braddock, Washington's mentor, and said they were worried about the French encroachment to their territory, and were considering helping the British. Braddock cleverly replied that once they won the land would belong to England, and not a group of savages. Surprisingly, this didn't sway them to his side.
Washington recognized that where he had built the fort was actually a good location for trade, and purchased the land, believing it would be a good location for an inn. He never built one, but was instrumental in getting the National Road, the superhighway of the early 1800s, connecting Pennsylvania to the western states. Someone else built the Mount Washington tavern on the land in the 1830s.
My favorite moment at Fort Necessity was when I saw a deer. At first, since I was a little distance away, I thought it might be a golden retriever, because she (?) was wagging her tail and standing on the trail. I got about 50 feet away without her spooking, but she ran into the bushes as I turned on the camera. I guess she hadn't paid the admission fee for the park.
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