Savannah Trip-- Part 4: Trains and History and Kittens

MONDAY, APRIL 8

Trip to Savannah today.  We took a tour of the Savannah Railroad Museum which features a round house and had a nice talk with some people refurbishing an old engine.

Then we walked over to the nearby Savannah Historical Museum which has  a lot of stuff from all ages of the city's past.  Also on the grounds are some of the recreated American Revolution Battle of Savannah where the Polish officer/American General Pulaski was killed.

Today was also the much hyped Day of the Eclipse.  Ed and I didn't have the special glasses so didn't get too see it.  Julie was more fortunate and was with someone who had the glasses so she got to see it.

My sister Julie has established a cat rescue house and was involved with that most of the time I was there.  And, she did her best to get me to adopt one of those kittens and was sorely tempted, I must admit.  She brought two kittens home for me to play with:  Olaf and Daisy, but Daisy looked like one of those Star War Ewoks so that got to be her name.

Still Catless.  --RoadCat

On a More Fun Note: More Christmas CDs

I found three more Christmas CDs that I didn't list up by the stereo by the family room tree: CHRISTMAS ISLAND-- Jimmy Buffett //// SOULFUL CHRISTMAS-- Aaron Neville ///// CHRISTMAS ALBUM-- Beach Boys. ///// I had been listening to them while setting up the Christmas village under the tree. Liz had already put the tree up (I do the outside decorations) and the railroad tracks going around the tree (we have a train with a Chicago & Northwestern engine and a Milwaukee Line car, two railroads who had a huge impact on the Chicagoland area until merged into the current Metra. //// Merry, Happy. --RoadDog

The Toy Train and Village Under the Tree

About seven years ago, I bought a toy train set at Walgreens, the great usurper of classic corner buildings, for $20 marked down from $60. This is a Lionel-size train with a short track. It consists of a steam engine, coal car, cattle car, and a caboose.

What I really liked about the train was that the caboose and coal tender both had the logo of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad (C&N)' a famous line from our area. Dad took this everyday into work when we lived in Palatine and he worked in Chicago at Quaker Oats in the Merchandise Mart.

The cattle car has a Milwaukee Road insignia on it. That railroad provided service out to Round Lake and Fox Lake before Metra replaced it. Metra also replaced the C&N.

After putting it up around the base of the tree, it was decided that a village was needed. Over the years, it has grown to occupy just about the whole area with a barn, lighthouse, winery, tavern, church, a house, blacksmith shop, two bridges, a covered bridge, lots of trees and people.

Making for a Real Christmas Feeling. --RoadDog