by Judy Handley | Jun 29, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 180: Delightful Day with the Goldpebbles
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2017
Weather: Mostly Cloudy with Sun Here and There; Very Windy, High 70’s, Low 60’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
What a delightful day I had with the Goldpebbles. This was Day 2 of Camp Oma 2017 and my goal was to make sure we had a day that Jonah would consider ‘grand’ since yesterday didn’t quite meet his standards. My strategy was to let the boys decide what they wanted to do without any guidance from me. They came up with the idea of going to Woods Hole to the aquarium and miraculously, they all agreed.
They wanted to visit the aquarium, have lunch at the market in Woods Hole, and then go to the beach. This was all easy and it turned out to be a truly ‘grand’ day. All three boys enjoyed the day and they provided endless entertainment for me. They really enjoyed seeing Bumper and Lucille, the resident seals at the Woods Hole Aquarium.
Even though Bumper and Lucille refused to put on a show with the trainer, after she left, we stayed and watched the seals frolic in the water and put on a private show just for us. We then toured the aquarium and enjoyed looking at all the fish before walking to the village market to buy lunch.
I sent a text to Heather to let her know we were in Woods Hole and she was able to join us for lunch.
The boys loved that. Then we took off for the agreed upon beach—Bristol Beach next door to Falmouth Heights Beach. We lasted there about 10 minutes before we were ready to leave. There was a very strong wind from the southwest and we were right in its path, making it totally miserable. I suggested we to north to Megansett Beach because it has a bit of a protected harbor, but this ended up to be just as windy. So, my final suggestion was the marsh behind Chapoquoit Beach. Bingo. It was perfect. We were hidden from the wind and even though the tide was going out, there was still enough water for the boys to enjoy.
They collected fiddler crabs and raced about in the water on their boogie boards while I just watched and enjoyed their antics and the beautiful marsh scenery. When the boys decided it was time to go, we headed back across the road to the parking lot for Chapoquoit Beach. We noticed the wind surfer kites, so we couldn’t resist heading down to the beach to watch. All three boys ran the beach, playing tag and watching the kite surfers.
Then they decided to inch their way toward the water to jump the waves. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
by Judy Handley | Jun 28, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 179: Slip and Slide into Summer
Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Weather: Beautiful Cape Cod Summer Weather, High 70’s, Low 60’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Beautiful Cape Cod summer weather is finally here and it feels great. Today was the first official day of Camp Oma for Summer 2017. I didn’t make any grand plans because I thought Sam, Jonah, and Ollie would just like to chill after their travels to and from West Virginia, but I think that was a mistake. Jonah wanted his first day of summer vacation to be special, even if we all were a little road weary. So, I’m going to have to make sure tomorrow is ‘grand’. What we did do today was slip and slide into summer on Jonah’s birthday present from his Grammy Marti. She gave him a backyard water slide and we all worked to get it unpacked and inflated. A good friend of Sam’s, Ethan, needed a place to hang out today and into the evening, so we invited him to join us. The four boys enjoyed the water slide, but the highlight for me was Jonah’s impromptu ‘Singing in the Rain’ performance. You hook up a hose to the waterslide and water shoots up and sprinkles down on the plastic slide. It felt like rain, so Jonah headed into the house to get an umbrella and a rain hat, and danced and sang in between slides. What a delight.
by Judy Handley | Jun 27, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 178: Back Home on Cape Cod
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Weather: Great Travel Weather with Lots of Sunshine
Location: Back Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today’s 16-hour drive home from southern West Virginia was long, but the memories gained from the weekend with family made the trip well worth it. The entire weekend was just perfect. Despite a forecast of rain for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we had nothing but sunshine. Since there were 40 of us, there was no one location that could accommodate all of us.
We thought that might pose problems, but the two places where we stayed had different things to offer all of us and added new dimensions to our stay. The farmhouse at Creekside gave all 40 of us a wonderful place to gather for meals and conversation. It is such a serene location with the waters of Indian Creek always within view and the grounds around the farmhouse so beautifully landscaped.
And there was a pool and a lawn that went on forever where the children could run and play with abandon. The cabins at Grandview are grand as they sit on top of a ridge.
The views are spectacular and staying there gave us access to a game reserve that we could drive through to see all the animals. As a family, we explored the area of Monroe County in southern West Virginia where my father grew up
and traveled to Mountain Lake in Virginia where he was born. We hiked to the top of Salt Pond Mountain in Giles County, Virginia, where the views were spectacular.
We explored the area of Monroe County in southern West Virginia where my mother was born and visited the farm that Mark and I bought in the late 1970’s and where we built a log home. While there we held a memorial service in Mark’s memory and the grandchildren helped me spread some of his ashes on the one piece of land he loved like no other. It was a beautiful time of closure for all of us.
We then returned to Creekside for a proper Sunday dinner. Some cousins from the area came to have dinner with us and others visited with us afterwards.
And then yesterday, we celebrated Jonah’s 8th birthday by exploring Organ Cave. Jonah loves collecting rocks and was excited to visit a cave that had interesting formations and a very interesting history. This cave was used by the Confederates during the Civil War for mining potassium nitrate, commonly called saltpeter. At that time, saltpeter was a major ingredient in making black gunpowder. We had a great guide, Caleb, and all of my grandchildren thoroughly enjoyed the almost 2-hour tour.
Then last night the whole family celebrated Jonah’s birthday. The local caterer had a birthday cake with a cave-theme made for the occasion and it was over the top. We all enjoyed the three-dimensional cave on top of the cake, complete with stalactites hanging from its ceiling. And I think Jonah enjoyed having all of his cousins with him to celebrate.
I made the arrangements for this weekend which meant I was in charge of making sure things went smoothly. My job was made so much easier by the staff at Creekside, the caterer they arranged to help feed us all, and the help of set-up and clean-up of meals by family members. But even with the help, I was very busy all weekend overseeing the whole affair. I was much too busy enjoying the time with family to take time to write my daily logs or edit and post photos. I will work on doing this over the next few days, but tonight’s log will serve as a summary of the weekend in the meantime. Tomorrow I hit the ground running with the first official day of Camp Oma for Summer 2017. Jed leaves home at 6 am to catch a bus to the airport in Boston. He flies to Japan around 10:30 in the morning. Heather has a speaking engagement on the Outer Cape tomorrow evening, so I will be on ‘Oma duty’ all day and on into the night. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco left West Virginia on Monday afternoon and are now on their way to England to visit with Jo’s family. Onward.
by Judy Handley | Jun 25, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 175: Family Gathering, Day Two
Date: Saturday, June 25, 2017
Weather: Beautiful Day, Sunny with High in the 80’s
Location: Creekside Resort and Spa, Greenville, WV
Fantastic day!!! Our focus for today was my father’s side of the family. His mother was a Goodwin and his father was a Martin. Both were born in Giles County, Virginia, on one side or another of Salt Pond Mountain. Mountain Lake Lodge, where a good portion of the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed, is at the top of the mountain. What the evidence shows at this point is that my grandmother, Fannie Elizabeth Catherine ‘Kate’ Goodwin, grew up in Clover Hollow on the east side of the mountain, and that my grandfather, Fred Burton Martin, grew up on the north side of the mountain. My father, Hayes Winfred Martin, was also born in this area. We all met at Creekside and started our travel eastward across the mountains.
I was in the van with Heather and family leading the caravan and we immediately encountered a black bear in the middle of the road. We came around a curve and scared him so badly that he scurried up a steep hill on the side of the road and tried to jump a fence. I was sure he was stuck at the top of the fence, but he managed to wriggle free. Whew! I sure am glad he didn’t get caught up in the fence. After that adventure, we continued on and next encountered an unbelievably narrow, twisty country road going up over Peters Mountain. That was an adventure all in its own right. Once across the mountain, we followed Potts Creek to a dirt road that leads to a small cemetery where my grandmother and the first two children of my mother and father are buried.
It is now called Arthur’s Cemetery and my grandmother and my two brothers are the only Martins buried there. It is possible that the cemetery is on land that was once owned by grandfather and that the Arthur’s were buried there in later years once the land was sold. I should have checked the dates on the tombstones, but didn’t think of that until now.
The first time I went to that cemetery was when I was a little girl. I was with my mother and we got there by walking through the woods from my grandfather’s house. The area around the gravestones was all grown over and I would never have found them if my mother hadn’t been with me. I don’t remember that there were other graves nearby. I went back sometime in the 1970’s or early 80’s with one of my nieces, and again, I don’t remember all the other graves. My grandmother was buried there in 1910 and my brothers were buried there in 1924 and 1928. So next time, I’ll check the dates on the other gravestones. But while we were there, in typical Martin fashion, we had another adventure. We certainly don’t want too many hours to go by without some excitement. The dirt road that leads to the now fenced and well-kept graveyard turns to grass and gets very narrow close to the cemetery. And by the way, there is a sign that says you’ll be shot if you trespass, but I convinced everyone that trespassing to get to a family cemetery is okay—just no promises that you won’t get shot.
The ‘road’ has a little dip in it at one point. The SUV owned by one of my nephews needed to back up in the low spot and in doing so one rear wheel went over the edge of the path. There was no way to push it out as it was sitting on the edge quite precariously, so I went with one of my nieces to find help. We drove back to the paved road and headed toward the home once owned by my grandfather. We saw someone sitting outside and we pulled into the driveway. It was gated, but they let us in, and lucky, lucky for us, the couple owned a tractor and have had to pull others out of that spot before. Whew! It took a bit, but the gentleman was successful in pulling out the SUV.
He wouldn’t take any money for helping, so we thanked him, all gathered in the cemetery for the required family photo,
and then continued on. We had sent the niece that took me to find help with my sister and brother-in-law on to the nearby farmhouse where my father grew up. We were very late in our timing and I had arranged to meet our new-found cousin there at 11 am. But it was now after noon. I had no way to call him as there was absolutely no cell service. He had driven four hours from Richmond, Virginia, just to meet us and it would have been terrible if our paths had not crossed. But they did find him there, so all was well. The farmhouse sits on 170 acres and is now owned by a retired couple from New Jersey. I had called them to warn that we would be coming, but they were going to out of town. Otherwise, they might have felt like they were being invaded! But back to the farmhouse and the barn where my parents fell in love.
It was the hub of the saw mill business owned by my grandfather. There was a company store on one end of the house and rooms that could be rented on the second floor. At one time, a railroad ran right in front of the house where the road is now. The railroad is how the timber and iron-ore mined near-by Paint Bank got out of the mountains. My grandfather once owned hundreds of acres adjoining the current property, but when the timber had been taken off it, the land was sold. The purpose of visiting the property was just so the younger members of the family who have never been there will now have a visual memory of part of their family history. This property is in an area that is referred to as Laurel Branch which is in Monroe Country, West Virginia. But as you drive the six miles from my Grandpa Martin’s place following Potts Creek to the tiny little town of Paint Bank, you find yourself in Virginia. The only place I could find for us to have lunch was in Paint Bank, so we all headed there. Stopping for lunch gave me and my sister Patsy
a chance to talk Aaron, the long, lost cousin. Our relationship is a very long and complicated story, but basically he is the great grandson of my father’s half-brother. Aaron’s great grandmother ‘Kate’ Goodwin Martin, is my paternal grandmother. And he found me by searching online for his great grandmother’s full name. I mentioned it in one of my logs in 2015, and through the magic of the internet, we met.
After lunch, we all headed to Mountain Lake Lodge on the top of Salt Pond Mountain, still in Giles County in Virginia. The purpose of this trip was to explore the area where my father and his mother and father were born. Aaron and I went in his truck and headed over the mountain on an unknown road to try and find Clover Hollow where we know ‘Kate’ was born. We are not sure where Aaron’s great grandfather, my Uncle Emmett, was born, but we know that my father’s birth certificate says he was born in Interior, Giles County, Virginia. There is no such place. I have searched and searched to no avail. But low and behold, because we sent the rest of the gang on a safer road to Mountain Lake, along the way, Heather spotted a sign. It was at a tourist attraction, a train stop along the railroad that no longer exists, that says, “Interior.” Success! Something I have searched for on the internet and in court houses for years does exist. It was an area, not an established community, and in the right spot. I find it now, but only when I search for train stops. Aaron and I did find Clover Hollow, but it will take a lot more research to find the exact spot where ‘Kate’ was born. But I know one thing. Neither Aaron nor I will ever drive there the way we did today. We were basically on a fire road that went straight up and down a mountain that was in our path. And there were no road signs and lots of turns that just were not on the Google map I had printed out. Thankfully we were in a truck. I had originally planned for everyone to take this road and that would have been a disaster. Cars could not have made it. But we did all make it to Mountain Lake at about the same time. I said farewell to Aaron
who was going on to meet another family member in search of a place called Goodwin’s Ferry. And he found it! Even though it much later in the afternoon than we had planned, the rest of us went for a hike to the top of the mountain where we had been promised there was a beautiful view of the New River Valley. And there was. It was beautiful.
We had left behind my sister Patsy with nephew Tommy and his wife. They decided to go into the Mountain Lake Lodge to wait for us and the people inside invited Patsy to have special “dirty dancing” lessons in Mary’s Barn. It was “Dirty Dancing” weekend and the dance lessons are a feature of the weekend. She declined, but went in to watch the dancing and had a wonderful time.
We drove home along the New River and drove back into Monroe County, West Virginia, from the west side of the county making a complete circle. On the drive back to Creekside, Heather, Justin, and I stopped in Wikel to say hello to Betty Mom. Betty Comer provided child care to our children when we lived in Wikel (1979 to 1984). We moved to West Virginia in November and the following fall, Heather was in kindergarten which met three days a week one semester and two days the other. She was at Betty Mom’s on the non-school days that year. Justin was with Betty Mom full-time for two years and both Heather and Justin will always have a special place in their hearts for this wonderful woman. Thank you, Betty.
And thanks to our wonderful caterer, dinner was waiting for us. After dinner the little ones chased fireflies outside and then there was piano playing, chess games, and just general enjoyment of family. I planned this day to honor my father, and I could never have imagined that it would turn out so perfectly. Hayes Winfred Martin, you started this, and every living member of the Martin clan salutes you.
by Judy Handley | Jun 23, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 174: All Together Now
Date: Friday, June 23, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny with High in the 80’s, Sprinkles Here and There
Location: Creekside Resort and Spa, Greenville, WV
We made it to West Virginia singing “Almost Heaven” along with John Denver on the CD player. The ride south through the Shenandoah Valley and then the ride across the Appalachian Mountains and down into the hilly southern West Virginia countryside was just beautiful. It took longer than we planned due to road construction all along the way, but everyone hung in there. Near the end, everyone but Jed and I took a much needed nap. As soon as we arrived here at Creekside I had to quickly meet with Kerri Clarkson and her daughter Lauren who arranged this gathering for us. I hardly had time to soak in the beauty of the place, but believe me, it is the absolutely perfect place for this family gathering. We have rented the entire farmhouse for the weekend and it is just delightful. The little ones jumped right into the pool while I launched into the massive project of fixing enough salmon cakes for 40 people. And that took longer than planned as well. The rest of dinner was catered and I think we had enough food for 80 people. But better too much than not enough. The highlight of the day for me was watching all of the little ones running around with abandon on this gorgeous property. I sure wish my mother and father were still alive and could see what they wrought. There’s no way a photo could capture that moment adequately, but it is a memory I will have with me forever. I was so busy that I really didn’t get to take many photos today, but I promise to do better tomorrow and share those with you.
by Judy Handley | Jun 22, 2017 | 2017 Life Logs |
2017 Life Logs, Day 173: On the Way to West Virginia
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2017
Weather: Partly Sunny and Warm with a Few Sprinkles
Location: Red Roof Inn, Allentown, Pennsylvania
After so much anticipation, we are finally on our way to West Virginia for the gathering of my family. I call us the Martin Clan and tomorrow night we will all be together. We are coming from Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Massachusetts. We left Falmouth around 5 pm hoping to miss rush hour traffic in the corridor between Massachusetts and New York City, but that plan didn’t work. We missed rush hour but road construction on I 95 slowed our progress. We didn’t arrive in Allentown, Pennsylvania until 12:30 am. Sam and I shared one room and Heather, Jed, Jonah, and Ollie shared another. We all went straight to bed. No log was written last night, but we are now on the road. Next stop, southern West Virginia!
