We settled into the
Brandywine valley southwest of Philadelphia for a few days. Our son Troy stayed with us in the camper and
drove us into Philly one day to see the progress on his warehouse. One section had been one story, so he built
an addition to bring it up to three floors like the rest. He has 17 apartments finished with five more in
progress to finish out the building in spring.
Each is different making the building a unique interesting place to
be. Some of his other businesses are also
located in the building—Tattooed Kingpin (clothes and tattoo equipment and
supplies) and Villain Arts (printing and publishing) and a noncommercial winery
with a few friends. He plans a storefront
and gallery for the front spaces too. He
also took us to his latest building—a warehouse to store equipment and supplies
for his big tattoo shows and the truck and supplies for his table, pipe and
drape business catering to other conventions.
I don’t know how he manages everything and tattoos in his shop too.
Troy took us to the esteemed
Barnes Foundation Museum. Albert Barnes
was a doctor and chemist who made a fortune on developing several pharmaceuticals
and selling out just before 1929. He
used his wealth, beginning in 1912 until his death in 1951, to acquire a
stunning collection of art, largely impressionist work including the world’s
largest collections of Renoir (181) and Cezanne (69). We wandered about in awe.
Another day we enjoyed the
Brandywine Valley. It is a lovely river
valley with wonderful old stone and brick and Victorian houses.
N. C. Wyeth chose Chadd’s Ford there to study
illustration with Howard Pyle. Wyeth
became one of America’s greatest illustrators, painting the pictures for
Treasue Island, Kidnapped, Last of the Mohicans and many other books, magazines
and advertisements. He taught his five children
including Andrew Wyeth and grandson Jamie Wyeth.
Studio
Troy is envious of this natural light studio.
N. C. Wyeth's mural of William Penn and Troy looking to the New World
The Battle of Brandywine
ended with Washington’s troops retreating to Philadelphia due to intelligence
failure, but the experience showed the patriots that they could engage the
British respectably, and it fueled the rebels’ cause.
This huge sycamore probably
was there for the battle. Troy and Don
must have gotten the tree-hugging from me.
House where Washington stayed
and planned strategy with his generals.
We are heading south
now. It is time to get home to Florida,
see the grandboys and settle down for a while.
View from the Skyline Drive in
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.