Memorials: It isn’t our first visit but there are a few memorials we have not seen before and others touch me in a different way each time I see them. New to me: the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial – it’s a powerful image “out of a mountain of despair a stone of hope”, and the Three Servicemen statue in the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial – the wall goes on seemingly forever reminding us much was lost now this statue puts faces to that loss. It was a revisit to the WWII Memorial. It is huge and hammers home the magnitude of that conflict – today we happened upon an Honor Flight of some 40 WWII Veterans seated within the Memorial – it was/is individuals who carry the weight of war – its victories and its losses. Each time I see the Korean War Veterans Memorial the story is in the eyes of those tired soldiers – how do they ever find peace with that part of their lives? Lincoln, Washington, FD Roosevelt: where are the leaders for our time?

We walked botanical gardens and sculpture gardens and I couldn’t pass up a ride on the carousel. The Mall is a peoples’ park and lovely to just stroll. We plan to do museums Saturday, it is supposed to rain.

It is 8:30 and we are out trolling the change in depth at the entrance to our little bay. There are lots of beeps on the depth finder so we know fish are down there but they don’t want what we have out. We work our way around the island. Still nothing. Enough of this, we are going to troll for muskie in the marina basin. That is a sure bet, right? Wrong, not even a tap on our lures. Then with a gentle tug at his lure Kent manages to bring the first striped bass into the boat. It is a little fellow but hey, it’s a striped bass. Ok, that’s a start but let’s try something else to maybe get a keeper. We head to a bay just a mile or so up lake where “they caught the big one” according to local lore. We find a nest of bass just hungry enough to make the catching fun. Not a one is big enough to keep but it is a great way to spend a few hours on a bright sunny day on the lake.
We move on tomorrow. It looks like catching the big striped bass will have to be our reason to come back this way again.

We head our early. Well, pretty early. We are on the lake by 8:30 and put in our best effort for over 2 ½ hours. Not even a tap. So; no, the early bird does not necessarily catch the fish! It is a beautiful morning though with a cool breeze and very little boat traffic. We are back in camp to relax a bit with the intent to try again this evening.
The evening round? Nope, no fish. I did see something I had not seen before. An osprey fishing from a perch not on the wing. He basically fell out of the tree into the shallow water to grab his supper. Weird but certainly conserves energy compared to the usual way.

We end the day with a late dinner and campfire including s’mores. It is a lovely night. No shooting stars though.

Our new neighbor tells us that there are meteor showers this week so we will be watching for more sky fireworks tonight. Space.com says the shooting stars are Draconids, remnants of Comet G-Z that originated in the constellation Draco-named after a dragon. Some call these tiny light shows dragon tears. Sounds wonderfully fantastic to me. Last night was the prime viewing night but I hope to see a few sky dragon tears tonight as well.

Kent fixed a great pancake breakfast then we head out for another shot at those stripers. Mist is lifting off the lake as the sun burns through the clouds. It is a sunburn kind of day.
We start by trolling here in our little bay but have no luck at all. We take a quick pan fish break along the steep shoreline. Carol caught her fist ever sunfish then a couple more. It is warm though so we decide its time to run a bit. There is quite a bit of boat traffic but it is still a lovely ride and we all cool down nicely. We spot a shady little cove to float and have some lunch. Kent is entertained by a bunch of tiny panfish on his end of the boat. Time for a break from fishing so we head in to relax for a few.

The forecast isn’t great but the sky doesn’t look too threatening so we head out. Just as we get up to speed drops begin to patter all around us. We speed to the north end of the lake and manage to outrun the heaviest of the rain and settle in pursuit of those illusive striped bass. I caught a little pan fish…..turns out it’s the only catch of the day. The sky is darkening and radar says thunderstorms are imminent. We blast our way home and settle in for a quiet evening of cards or boardgames. Tomorrow is to be sunnier.

Heritage Days at Broad Top Area Coal Miners Museum: it sounds like great fun. There should be food venders and craft booths and maybe live entertainment. Let’s go. Well, actually it was free entry into the museum day. That’s it! No venders or special events. We are a bit bummed but we worked our way through the museum and it is just chocked full of regional memorabilia with focus on coal and railroads but including things back to early settlement days. To top it all off, we are going to be famous. The docent tracked us down, “we have never had anyone from as far as Texas at our museum” come over here so I can take your picture. We are going to be in the Robertsdale Paper.
Next stop, the Rockhill Trolley Museum Festival of Trolleys. Hmm, seems we are on a roll with our festivals. Nothing very festival-like happening here either. We pass on the chance to ride one of what looks like 5 unique restored trolley cars. The chair of the Historical Society is here trying to sell memberships and commemorative cast ornaments. It was a short stop.
We wind our way back toward home through rolling valleys and rural towns. In Mill Creek we find Tops Diner for some local cooking. Among us we try fish tacos, Old Bay seasoned homemade chips, chicken fried steak and a porkchop. Everyone is happy with their choice.