The homes of St Elizabeth Ann Seton

We walked the grounds … what an amazingly beautiful day with tons of sunshine, but very little humidity! There are three key places to visit – places that figure prominently in the life of Mother Seton. The first one is the “stone house” which was the very first residence … a brief history of the building and the community is available via audio when you reach the house.
This was originally a small, one-story house. The building had some additions made through the years to accommodate the growing community.

We weren’t able to go inside the stone house – but we could learn about its history as well as look inside its windows. We can see that the original rooms were indeed quite small.

The next place was the “white house” (so named for rather obvious reasons), which served as the primary residence, chapel, and school for Mother Seton’s community.

For this we were greeted by a guide who walked us through the first floor rooms and gave use some wonderful insight into the life of Mother Seton and those who worked and served here.
The piano (left photo below) was in fact owned by Mother Seton as a young woman and she kept it her entire life. The rest of the room (right photo below) was set up much as a classroom much as it may have been during Mother Seton’s life.

Across the hall from this first room we came to the chapel (left photo below) where the community prayed and attended mass. There’s a small brass plaque on the very right-side of the communion rail where Mother Seton received Holy Communion. The crucifixion scene (right photo below) was a personal object owned by Mother Seton. It hangs over the fireplace of the room in which she died at age 46.

This is the room in which Mother Seton died. The room is adjacent to the chapel. The crucifixion scene above the mantle is indeed something Mother Seton owned … All the rest is replica or copies of furniture from that time.

Last day – St Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine & Basilica

We decided to spend our last full day by taking a daytrip to Emmitsburg to visit and tour the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Basilica. This is on the grounds of her home from 1809 to her death at age 46.
We started at the Visitor Center – here’s a statue of Mother Seton just outside the center.

The center has a museum that recounts her life and legacy … and it shows a 15-minute film. The museum includes copies of St Elizabeth Ann Seton’s own letters as well as several of her own personal items.
For example, here is Mother Seton’s own writing desk and chairs that she used while here in Emmitsburg.

The Shrine Basilica is atop the visitor center. It is filled with images of the Daughters of Charity and Sisters of Charity, Stations of the Cross, and stained glass imagery of Mary as she is known by her various titles from the Litany of Loreto.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton lies in the right-side shrine. (She was originally buried in the central cemetery, then was moved into a mortuary chapel on the cemetery grounds … and finally was brought here to her shrine when she was canonized.)

After touring the museum and spending time in the Basilica, we headed to the grounds to see the homes – one is called the stone house and the other is called the white house – and the mortuary chapel in the original cemetery.

More from the Community Bridge

So, the day was a bit drizzly … but we still had a bit of a wander through Frederick. Here are some more paintings from the Community Bridge.

Remember, the cool thing about this bridge is that it’s ALL PAINTED! No engraving or etching … and no stonework at all. The stone facade is all painted; and inside many of the stone panels are hidden images …

(See the full set of photos, which includes more from the Community Bridge as well as other sites during our trip) 

 

Day 7 – a rainy day in Frederick with a little bit of walking

So the day was a bit of a washout with a passing rain … we decided to change some plans as a result.

A slow start to the day and then we headed back to Frederick for lunch and a little bit of a walking tour in the drizzle – and stopping in some stores as well.

Lunch was, again, at Quynn’s Attic – a great little restaurant/pub that offers some great atmosphere and some amazing food. This is definitely one of our favorite eateries in Frederick; and we’d recommend it to anyone and everyone!

After lunch, we ambled to the Barbara Fritchie house.

A friend of Francis Scott Key, the source of local legend and quite the character, an 1863 poem reputes her having waved an American flag while General Stonewall Jackson and his men marched through Frederick in 1862 … as a way to perhaps antagonize them?

"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;
The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word;
"Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.....”

Apparently in 1943, so the plaque on the building says, Winston Churchill passed this way with FDR, and Mr. Churchill recited the entire Barbara Fritchie poem from memory.

She is buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Day 6 – the Battle that saved Washington DC

Today we stayed nearby … we had a bit of a late start to our day – but, hey! it’s our vacation so that’s perfectly fine.

Near Frederick is the Monocacy National Battlefield, which is a small national park commemorating the July 9, 1864 battle.

This was the third ‘invasion’ into Maryland by Confederate forces (the other two that led to the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg). It’s referred to as the “Battle that saved Washington” because, although it was a Union defeat, the Confederate forces were delayed in their march to Washington allowing for the Union to better setup and arrange the defenses around Washington DC. Had this battle not occurred it would be very likely that the Confederate forces could have captured the capital city.

The Visitor Center is located near the first line of battle where the Confederate forces set up one of their artillery units … Here’s a canon just outside of the museum; and take a look at these canon and mortar shells … imagine having a bunch of these raining down on you.

The Union forces were commanded by General Lew Wallace. The visitor center museum includes his frock coat, vest, shoulder boards, along with other items from the General.

And what was General Wallace’s other claim to fame?
He wrote Ben Hur

After the museum at the visitor center, we took a car audio tour of the battlefield itself.

The battlefield includes several farm buildings and homes from that period. Here is the third stop of the auto tour – the Worthington Home. The building is closed … all buildings are closed to the public … but you can walk its grounds and its veranda. The Worthington family witnessed the battle on that day. This was the site of the Confederate cavalry crossing the Monocacy River … the Confederate forces were being held by Union forces along the major crossing of the river. The Confederate, then, had to find another location to cross the river … winding up pretty much in the Worthington’s back yard.

View more photos in the Flickr set

Day 5 – just relaxing with family

We made a decision that this vacation was not going to be devoted just to site seeing and activity … We’ve done that before. This vacation was going to be one of relaxation as much as possible along with taking in the sites as we wanted.

So, after a full day in Washington DC seeing sites, we decided to take the next day at a slow pace … to just visit with family and hang out, as it were.

We spent the entire day with my mom visiting my sister, niece, and nephew.

A fun time – and relaxing time – was had by all! Our batteries recharged, we are able to tackle the rest of our week.

Day 4 – Lincoln and more Lincoln

The WWII memorial was the first half of the day. The second half was devoted to things Lincoln, starting with the Lincoln Memorial itself. … and yes, we walked the length of the mall to get there from the WWII memorial, which is challenging in the August heat and humidity that’s typical of Washington DC.

Since my brother-in-law and his family recently came from Illinois – the “land of Lincoln” – the children were already up on a bunch of history and were eager to see more stuff about our 16th President.
(By the way … the children are all homeschooled and each of them can tell you the names of all the US Presidents in order! Rather impressive)

We arrived at the Lincoln Monument … the kids were all excited to see “what’s on the back of our pennies”

We looked and walked around and took some photos and then made our way toward Constitution Ave where there was a small outdoor cafe – because we all needed to sit down for awhile with some water and a little snack.

After the Lincoln Monument, we headed over to 10th Street to visit Ford’s Theater and the Peterson House. But first …. we all needed to eat lunch.

After chowing down at the Hard Rock Cafe, we took the tour of the Ford Theater museum, which is located in the downstairs area of the building, and then proceeded upstairs to see the presidential box.

One of the cool things was seeing my niece and nephews working on the junior ranger program booklets.

After Ford’s Theater we went across the street to the Peterson House, which is where President Lincoln died. This is the front parlor of the house … the first room when you enter it. These rooms are kept much as they were at that time in 1865.
The front parlor was where Mary Lincoln spent most of her time waiting, as she was inconsolable when she was with the President.

The second room was set up to conduct the interviews of individuals that evening. Again, it is set up just as it had been used that evening in April.

And the back room was where they laid the President as he died. The actual bed is in Chicago – so this is an exact replica.

The room is much smaller than you’d think … and so the various engravings, sketches, and paintings of that night (there was no photograph taken) would seem to be rather incorrect … there really was no way for everyone to have fit into this tiny room all at the same time. They probably took turns.

But one thing for sure … it was quite moving and a little chilling to be at the location.

Best line of the day from my son. “I had a good time walking around with my cousins because they asked such great questions and it gave me a chance to see things through their eyes.”

Day 4 – Visiting family and touring DC (WWII Monument and Memorial)

My brother-in-law is now working at the Pentagon; he and his family have just moved to the Alexandria VA area. So, we thought that it would a crime not to visit them while we were in the area. And so, plans were made.

We arrived at their home (they’re renting a wonderfully nice house) and all took the Metro train into Washington DC.

“What do you guys want to see?” 
I definitely wanted to see the World War II Memorial. And that’s exactly what we did. Here’s the entrance to the memorial – it is a gradual decline to the main part of the memorial which is a central fountain that has two pillared areas: one for the Atlantic/European theater and the other for the Pacific theater.
Along the wall as you enter the memorial area, there are bronze plaques depicting scenes of both military and civilian efforts during the war – so there is a depiction of the Battle of Bastogne and a depiction of workers assembling airplanes.

One of the aspects of the memorial was that it made clear that the civilian effort at home was just as important as the effort and sacrifice of the soldiers who fought on the front lines. It was a national effort – something which my Dad was always sure to make clear when he told his stories of the war. It was nice to see a monument pay tribute to all who contributed.

My father served as a Merchant Mariner during the war, so this was something I felt important to see (since it had been opened well after we left the area some 15 years ago). At the entrance the base of the flagpoles have the insignia of the services as they were during the war. Here’s the one for the Merchant Marines.

As you come to the center of the memorial, where there is a fountain, you can see the Washington Monument via one side – and the Lincoln Monument via the other.

Of particular interest to me was the memorial for the Atlantic theater – which is the one my father served and fought … particularly during the Battle of the Atlantic.

 

The is one side of the memorial. The Pacific theater memorial is at the opposite end.

The fountain here lists the major battle areas in chronological order.

The pillars on either side have the names of the states in the union at the time of the war … the wreaths alternate between different types of grains – representing both the agricultural and manufacturing power that was brought to bear during this time.

There is a large wreath with eagles inside the memorial. This is the symbol of victory.

 

Certainly the most moving section is the wall of gold stars. There are over 4,000 gold stars on this wall. Each star represents 100 service personnel killed or missing. That’s a total of over 400,000!

My son remained quite solemn and silent when we came to this part of the memorial. Afterward he said two things: “This is very humbling.” and “Thank you for taking us to see this.”

View the complete set of photos via Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elrancholoco/sets/72157635143670169/