Series Spotlight: The Witchlands by Susan Dennard

The Witchlands by Susan Dennard

I am so excited to tell you that I was invited to be a part of the blog tour celebrating the new fancy schmancy boxset of the wonderful Witchland series! It came out on Tuesday and you really should check it out! It includes the first 3 core books of the series with new covers and an amazingly detailed map of the Witchlands!

Every Tuesday for the last couple months on Instagram I've been posting photos about how much I love this series! I thought I would do a round up for you folks who aren't hanging out over there yet!

But before we go into that I should probably tell you what it is about! The series is set in a world that has three empires ruling it. Everyone there is born with some kind of magical skill that is called a Witchery, hence the world being called the Witchlands! For the last two decades the three empires have held a sort of peace that was brought about by the "Twenty Year Truce." But that truce is about to come to an end, bringing back the centuries-long war! The books mostly follow 2 badass women, Safiya and Iseult! One can tell if you're lying and the other can see the threads of emotions. Together they can stop the war, so what happens when they are torn apart? (Have I hooked you yet? Honestly I was hooked the moment I read "WITCHLANDS! so if you got any farther than that I'm surprised!)

So, back to the round up! Through these posts I have found out that I am definitely a waterwitch and that if I were to have a patronus from the Witchlands it would be a Sea Fox. But what does that mean? Well, in the Witchlands everyone has a witchery. There are so many kinds but they all fall under one of six elements. Four of them are the physical elements like Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, and then two are more abstract, Void (death) and Aether (life). To find out I was a waterwitch I took THIS quiz that Susan Dennard the author of the series made. I was surprised by this because I was sure that with my work with animals I would be an earthwitch! Then the coolest thing happened. I voiced this surprise and Sooz Dennard actually commented! She said that, "maybe my waterwitchery let's me connect with animals because I'm naturally in sync with the ebb and flow of the world!" The more I think about this the more I believe that she may be a genius! That fits me perfectly! The more I learn about the world of #theWitchlands the more I fall in love with the series! And as for my Witchlands Patronus? Well it goes spectacularly with my waterwitchery! I got the Sea Fox! I took the quiz HERE and it said, "Fickle as the tides, their tempers might turn on a dime--but their hearts never will. Silky, beautiful, and awe-inspiring, no magical creature in the Witchlands is quite so alluring--or quite so clever--as the Sea Fox!"

Honestly, as cool as finding out how I would fit into the Witchlands, the witchery isn't my favorite part of the world that Susan Dennard has made for us. What I love the most is her characters. Safi and Iz are two of the strongest leads I've ever read and they are surrounded by even more badass, strong allies! I wish I lived in a world where they were in charge! I wholeheartedly recommend that you read this series! Come for the magic but stay for the connections! 

The Witchlands Boxset can be found at most major retailers, irl and online! Let me know if you check them out!

~Laura!

Thoughts from Places Spotlight: London As Seen Through 13 Little Blue Envelopes

(Please beware: this post contains 13LBE Spoilers)

Standing in front of Harrods

My beloved copy of 13LBE opened to the
Harrods chapter!

As long time readers of my blog will know, Maureen Johnson's 2005 novel 13 Little Blue Envelopes inspired me to travel. One of the most important places that the main character, Ginny goes to is London. There she follows the directions in envelopes 2 and 3. The entire adventure her Aunt Peg leads Ginny on comes to an end in London as well.

When I went to London I knew that I had to try and see some of the places that Ginny went to. First on the list was Harrods. Harrods is where Ginny's uncle Richard works and where Aunt Peg ultimately led Ginny to find her paintings. When Ginny first gets to London Richard takes her to Harrods. So of course I wanted to make sure that one of the first things I did was head to this huge department store. I underestimated it's size. This place is almost too big. I don't think I seen even a quarter of it because it was getting very late and my mom and I were exhausted. Originally, I was planning on finding Mo's Diner, where Richard and Ginny eat in the novel. I didn't though. Honestly, I'm not 100% positive it existed. I could have been searching for a fiction, but I didn't mind.  

Ginny "looked left" but in front of Harrods
you must look right! These were very
helpful in London.

The Egyptian Escalator

I also wanted to find the chocolate counter that Ginny went to so often in the novel to have the woman working there page Richard for her. I found it and was extremely pleased with myself. I didn't buy any chocolate there though because I had already bought a bar from another shop just in case the counter was a fiction too. The chocolate bar I bought even had a picture of Harrods on the wrapper (which I saved and pasted into my copy of 13LBE). I was amazed by the sheer size and weirdness of Harrods, just like Ginny was. They really do have a escalator that looks like it was ripped out of stereotypical ancient Egypt. I was so astounded by this that I stopped dead in my tracks and some guy bumped into me! Harrods was a strange, sort of wonderful place and I could see why Aunt Peg liked it so much!

Envelope #3 instructs Ginny to “become a mysterious benefactor.” Aunt Peg tells her to give an artist she likes £500. I do not have that kinda cash so I settled on a fiver. 

Alex and Jim!

I wasn't kidding about all
the sheep!

Richard tells Ginny she should check out Covent Garden and while Ginny didn't find her artist there I did. Jim and Alex performers who haunt the Garden regularly. They were fantastically entertaining and I wished I had more to give them. They did everything from juggling to unicycles. I really liked how they asked a young boy from the audience to help. I encourage you to go on youtube to look those two up. Covent Garden itself was a strange place though. It is an indoor/outdoor market type place where a lot of artists busk for a living. Among Jim and Alex there was also a man playing this crazy multi-piece instrument, a man who could make a creepily accurate sculpture of you in a half hour, and for some very odd reason a hundred or so Shaun the Sheeps. I could have stayed there for hours just watching all the people perform.

Standing in front of Aunt Peg's favorite painting.

My small tour of Ginny's London also took me to the Courtald Gallery where they have in their collection a very important painting to Aunt Peg, Manet's The Bar at the Folies-Bergere. Aunt Peg loved this painting so much she had a print of it on her wall where ever she lived. She also hid the key to the cupboard that held all her paintings under the left top corner, directly under the famous green slippers. I needed to see this painting for myself and so very early on our last morning in London I made my mom go to the museum when it opened. I was a girl on a mission! I was here to see Peg's favorite painting (also to see Van Gogh's Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear but that is another story). I am so glad that I went to see this painting in person. I never really understood why Peg loved this painting until I went to London. You stand looking at it like you are the artist, facing the bar. It portrays a young woman who looks terribly bored despite all the action that is happening in front of her (we see what is happening behind us through the mirror behind the woman). All of this excitement is happening and yet the girl is not enjoying it. That was sort of me in London at times. I was doing exactly what I had always wanted but I wasn't enjoying it, more like checking it off a list. However, here in this gallery with only my mom, the guard, and this painting I was finally seeing. I was seeing Peg's love of this painting and my own love of London.

My copy opened to the page the painting is first mentioned.
I pasted in a print of the painting ages ago. MJ herself took
a picture of this page when she saw what I did to it.

13 Little Blue Envelopes came alive for me in London. This year I plan to follow more of the envelopes as I backpack across Europe almost like Ginny does in the novel. I encourage you to read this amazing book if you haven't already. You can read my semi-incoherent-because-I-was-too-excited review of the book here, and my post about meeting the book's author, Maureen Johnson here.

More to come soon, 

~Laura

Thoughts From Places Spotlight: Ashland, Ohio (2014)

My Pit Stop at Grandpa’s Cheesebarn 

and Sweeties Jumbo Chocolates of Ashland, Ohio!

The outside of the Cheesebarn.

Me outside of Grandpa's Cheesebarn.

I have always been fascinated by old fashioned American road trips. The idea of picking a place to go, driving there, and when a billboard for a place off the highway catches your eye you can just stop and explore it for an hour or two. Grandpa’s Cheesebarn was one of those spontaneous pit stops on the way home from Columbus. The name of the place was so crazy and the promise of cheese, fudge, smoked meats, and gifts so inviting that Jessica and I just had to go.

Just some of the cheeses at Grandpa's.

I think that the decision to stop at Grandpa’s Cheesebarn will become one of the greatest decisions of my life. It is called a cheesebarn for a reason. I have never seen so much cheese. I have never TASTED so much cheese; because that is the best thing about Grandpa’s Cheesebarn they have samples of EVERYTHING they sell. I tried 30 distinctly different cheeses (I bought the smoked English cheddar), a few kinds of jerky, jams, dips, ciders, BBQ sauces, syrups, and popcorn. It was overwhelming and fantastic. It can only be described as a cheese lovers’ dream.

A sample of some of the chocolates at Sweeties.

Across the parking lot there was another building called Sweeties Jumbo Chocolates: a very dangerous place for anyone with a sweet tooth. They had homemade chocolate pizzas, nut clusters, creamed candy, and chocolate cups of every kind. They also had a large variety of homemade fudge as well. My favorite was the cherry cordial chocolate fudge that really did taste like a giant cherry cordial. The woman behind the counter was also very nice. She was very interested and amazed at our story, especially the idea of driving five hours for a bookstore and the tale of the giant cream puff of Schmidt’s.

Read more of my spontaneous Ohio adventure here! 

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places Spotlight: Mount Vernon, VA (2010)

My Trip to Mount Vernon!

Mount Vernon

I don’t remember when or why we decided to go to Mount Vernon, home to our first President George Washington, but I’m glad we did (and not just because it was in National Treasure 2).

The Statues of the Washingtons and grandkids.

When you first go into the grounds of Mount Vernon there is this beautiful archway with what I’m assuming was probably a guard house or something of that nature. Above this arch is a painting of the mansion. I stood there looking at the painting and wondering how much the actual mansion today would look like the bright portrait. To my delight when the mansion came into view I realized that the painting could have been completed the day before for that was how close the actual physical house looked still to this day.

A staircase on the grounds.

Before we went into the mansion we went into the information center. Here they had life size statues of George (age 53), Martha (54), and their grandkids “Washy” (4), and Nelly (6). I don’t know why, but I adored those statues, they were very domesticated. And then there was this practically to scale doll house version of Mount Vernon. That thing was amazing and it MOVED. When we first went over there we circled the (huge) doll house and saw the house’s outside walls and then the back wall just came DOWN. It showed the perfect to scale miniature of the house we were about to see. My mom loves doll houses, and my grandma used to make them so this was an unexpected delight for my mom and we stayed there for a while looking at it. I actually remember the doll house more than the actual mansion. It was worth going there just for that doll house.

One of the paths on the grounds

We then went on the tour of the actual mansion then. We couldn’t take any photos inside though and I think that’s why I don’t remember much of the tour or anything. I am very visual when it comes to trips. When I go on a tour I tend to remember the story of the thing if I take a picture of it while it’s being explained but because I was prohibited from doing so almost everything has left my head. I do remember that the rooms were very brightly painted, that they were quite small for a mansion so big and that the beds were tiny because people were smaller then.

A breezeway connecting the new
 and old parts of the mansion.

I do remember a lot of the grounds though because not only was I allowed to take pictures, they were also extraordinary. Everything was very symmetrical, planned out, and just absolutely astounding. The landscaping was very ordered. According to one of the signs Washington took the symmetrical organization of English gardens and applied it to the America’s natural wilderness. He really liked designs to be balanced and I particularly appreciated this because so do it. But it’s not all straight either there are winding, curving paths that guide visitors to these ordered places (and of course they are balanced as well). We didn’t see all the grounds though because there are like 8,000 acres or something like that. To do Mount Vernon properly one must take a full day or maybe even two. I mean, this place even has its own forest!

The Lower Garden

The top of the tomb.

We did what we thought was most interesting and close. We saw the out buildings like the stables, paint cellar, his carriage house and the necessary. There were a lot of animals there as well because it is still a farm. We also saw his tomb which I liked. It was a large brick enclosure with a iron, gated door. It was in a very peaceful place and there was an air of elegance to it. I wish I would have thought to take a picture in front of it but alas I did not. I guess that just gives me a reason to go back again. 

The view from the porch of the river.

One of the best bits of the grounds was the view from the mansion’s back porch. It overlooked the Potomac River. There were chairs lined up on the porch for the visitors and as my parents, G., and Daisy were sitting up there I ran down the lawn a bit to take a picture of them sitting there. It sums up my trip. My mom was on her phone (probably sending a picture of the view with a “haha I’m here, you’re not” to facebook), dad and Daisy were looking very confused at what I was doing, and poor G. looked exhausted and amused.

One of Martha's exhibits in the museum.

There was a fabulous museum about Washington as well on the grounds. Washington was such an amazing man, not just as the first President, which in itself took a heck of a lot of guts (he set the precedent for every single person who takes the job after him). He also had a good sense of humor and humility. I am pleased that his home has remained for future generations to see it. The museum was quite complete too, with wax figures of him doing the most memorable things such as being the General of the Continental Army and being sworn in as President. They had a lot of paintings and artifacts. They also had a good collection of Martha Washington’s things as well because, of course, Mount Vernon was her home, too, including one of her dresses.

One of the most memorable bits of this visit had nothing to do with Washington. At lunch (which was kind of cafeteria style) we had picked our food and then we went to pay for it. Dad went to pay for the bill for all of us (me, dad, mom, G., and Daisy’s) but G. was 3 steps ahead and had already bought ours. I think that’s when dad decided that a) G. was not an ax murderer and b) he started a war of paying for things. For the rest of my trip, dad and G. were trying to race each other to cash registers. It was pretty hilarious for us girls to watch.

Needless to say I could probably talk about just the grounds of Mount Vernon for a long time. There was so much to see in just the tiny bit we did. I would love to spend a week there and just explore. Maybe one day I will.

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places Spotlight: Manassas, VA (2010)

My Trip to the Manassas Battlefield!

Plaque that marks the site of the First Battle of Manassas or Bull Run.

Monument to the fallen Union soldiers.

One of the main things you must know to understand my dad is that he is a Civil War buff. He knows everything about the Civil War, his favorite battle is Gettysburg, and I think he was secretly very pleased that I was born on July 1st, the first day of that Pennsylvanian battle that changed the course of the war (even if me being born that day meant that I was over a month early).  He’s been to Gettysburg twice already so this time he wanted to see a different field of battle.

Here’s a little history for you who don’t know about the Manassas Battlefield (commonly known as the Battle of Bull Run to us Northerners): Technically, there were two battles, the first which took place on July 21^st, 1861 and the second which happened a year or so later between August 28 and 30^th, 1862! It is most memorable for being the place that Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson received his famous nickname “Stonewall.”

Jackson's Statue.

The stars sort of aligned to get us to the Manassas Battlefield. As luck would have it some friends of my mom’s lived in Manassas and offered to take us sightseeing while we were there! We had never met them before because mom had met them via facebook but it didn’t matter as soon as we met G. and Daisy (nicknames) it felt as if we’d known them forever. We were worried about dad though because he doesn’t get the internet and for a little while was convinced we’d be going to our deaths (which is reasonable of course) but as it turned out Daisy was just as big of a history nut as dad so they had plenty to talk about.

The Battlefield is part of the National Park Service and obviously because it is a battlefield it is rather huge so we only saw the most exciting bits. Because let’s face it battlefields are really just a lot of grass. No matter what happened there they aren’t EXTREMELY exciting (unless you’re my dad or someone similar that is). We went to the visitor center and then to the Henry House near Matthews Hill, which served as the opening phase of the first battle. This was a very large, you guessed it, field of grass with a scattering of monuments, plaques and a tiny graveyard with only a few stones. 

The Stone House

Despite how boring I make it sound, it was pretty cool and slightly strange. There were several plaques that said would mark the spot of some famous person or another who had been wounded or died there. There was a monument to the fallen Union soldiers and the statue of “Stonewall” Jackson that marked the spot he got his nickname when someone famously said “There stands Jackson like a stone wall.” I think what Dad and I liked the most about the battlefield actually. I think it’s incredibly cool that they put up a giant statue of him on his horse to mark that. His nickname is literally set in stone!

The cannonball in the side of the
Stone House.

Next we went to the Stone House which served as a hospital during the battles. Which like the battlefield is exactly what it sounds like. We, as a country, suck at naming things, I’ve come to notice. Most things are very obvious. The Stone House was important not just because it was a hospital but because it served as a landmark for the soldiers. Everyone knew where that house was because it was the only thing at a very important intersection. It was a cool house. A lot of it was still original and the NPS restored the rest of it and added historically accurate items to the house such as a maps and newspapers. 

I took this while sitting on the steps outside looking in.
The camera is on the floor and with both doors open you
can see the worn path to the battlefield.

My favorite part was the cannonball that is still stuck in the bricks of the house near the door and that if both front and back doors were open I could see straight through the small house out onto the battlefield.

If you want to read more about my week long trip to Washington, DC in 2010 click here!

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places Spotlight: Smithsonians (2010)

My Trip to (some of the) Smithsonian Museum 

during my trip to DC!

Elephant at the Natural History Museum

The main purpose of our trip to DC was so that we could see some of the Smithsonian Museums. We saw 3: Natural History, American History, and Air & Space. We probably would have seen more except that we took 2 days to go to Manassas and Mount Vernon.

Easter Island Head

Natural History Smithsonian Museum:

            I suck at museums. I love them a lot but I am a horrible museum goer. I spend 99% of the time going around, ignoring signs and taking pictures of things that look cool. That’s pretty much what I did at the Natural History Museum. The only thing I knew about this is that it was the setting of the Night at the Museum movie so after I saw the Easter Island head I went a bit stir crazy. So needless to say I didn’t learn much. I saw a lot of stuffed animals and that was it. They did have an aquarium though and I found a Dory near a Marlin so I imagined how those Finding Nemo characters would have felt if they suddenly turned up in a museum across the world. My favorite thing though was the Elephant in the Atrium. He was just so big and cool.

Edith and Archie Bunker's chairs (All in the Family)

American History Smithsonian Museum:

            Even though I still took a lot of pictures in this museum this is an experience I remember better because I was so excited to be around the artifacts that I had studied for as long as I could remember. Here’s a little back story: I had never heard of the Smithsonians until I was watching that episode of Gilmore Girls when Rory is in DC for the summer because she was elected class VP. In passing she said, “Well, I got to see Archie Bunker’s chair at the Smithsonian Museum, so it was a big thumbs up for me” and Jamie replies, “Yes, there are times when this country’s priorities are exactly right.” I immediately knew two things: that I needed to see that chair and that I needed to see what else this “Smithsonian” thing had if they had cool stuff like the chair!

Ruby's Ruby Slippers

(If you don’t know who Archie Bunker is I am very disappointed in you.) Once I did more research into it I realized that Archie’s chair was in American History Smithsonian and that the majority of the museum’s collection was not pop culture memorabilia, but very important artifacts from our history.

This museum might be my favorite museum in the world BECAUSE of our priorities. This museum honors everything from Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz and Disney World rides to Lincoln’s Top Hat and the famous “Teddy” Roosevelt bear! The museum represents American’s diverse, often misplaced interests. They just had so much STUFF! I really cannot give you an accurate description of even a percent of the coolest items but I am adding 6 photos of my very favorite ones.

Dumbo Disney ride!

Lincoln's Hat!

I had so much fun at this museum. I also realized that my dad is not to be trusted near anything because as soon as you put a “don’t touch” sign my dad is there poking it. He put his finger up all of the mannequins’ noses (I am not kidding, he is pretty much a huge kid). There was also a great moment when my mom was leaning over a train display and her sunglasses fell in. So my dad CLIMBED into it and got them out. Alarms went off, but my dad was able to climb out and look innocent before the guards could surround him. (Where was I through all this? Well, as soon as I saw the glasses fall I skedaddled to the next exhibit in case my parents got arrested I wouldn’t be associated with them so I could bail them out.)  I could have spent at least a full day just there but after a while my parents were getting tired and we needed to move on. However, one day I will go back to DC and spend as much time as it takes from me to see everything!

Greenough's Washington

 Air & Space Smithsonian Museum:

Famous Teddy Bear!

Dad was the one who really wanted to see this one. I could not have cared less about it and yet the few cool things I found were SO COOL that it made the whole experience worth it. I saw the Wright’s Brothers’ plane, vehicles that went to the moon, and I touched a MOON ROCK. My favorite bit of this trip happened in an empty display room with my dad. We were alone and looking up at some plane or another and then when we looked down we were SURROUNDED by about 20 or 30 little kids all wearing bright yellow. They were in a single file line holding hands. The chain of kids was turning around and the kid at the end looked exasperated as he said, “WHAT?! We’re turning around AGAIN?! HOW BIG IS THIS PLACE? I like planes as much as the next kid but this is too much!” I connected with that kid. That museum was huge and seemed endless if you aren’t a fan of planes, or space. 

If you want to read more about my week long trip to the DC area, click here!

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places Spotlight: Liberty and Ellis Islands (2010)

My Trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands during my trip to NYC!

Street Performer in Battery Park

After seeing Ground Zero on the second day of my first NYC trip, we went took a ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. My group and I were waiting in line to get onto the ferry and we came across a street performer who sang “You Are My Sunshine” and gave us wonderful advice such as “Be Responsible and get the best out of life.” He also told the girls of the group to “Enjoy living, invent something, don’t just become a dumb house wife, we have enough house wives in America already” and to the guys: “don’t marry a woman who has five babies and don’t know who the daddy is.” All in all, very sound advice coming from a man sporting bright yellow rain gear and a rainbow afro wig. As I listened to him sing and saw people stop and give him their spare change I couldn’t help but think about how he was going to forever be in my memory as the very first street performer I saw in the City. I thought about how there people like him all over NYC that are trying to make some money off their talents when they’ve hit the end of the road. About how people who live in New York probably don’t even notice him or people like him anymore because they’re all over, but that my group from Buffalo will never forget how we got to share in that unique experience of waiting for a ferry while talking to a man playing a ukulele in Battery Park. In retrospect, I wish I had asked him his name.

Standing at the base, looking up.

The ferry ride on the Miss Liberty was the one of the first times I was on a boat (it was when I discovered that I don’t get seasick). I really liked it. We had so much fun. Everyone was taking pictures of each other and the Manhattan Skyline and the Statue of Liberty as we got closer to the Island. Not just the kids in my group either because there were other travelers on the boat and as I stood there watching I was thinking about how amazing it was that all of the people on the boat were on it just to see a huge green statue. Everyone was excited to be so close to the Statue that represents America and the freedom she holds. The feeling was almost palpable. Being so close to the Statue of Liberty while on the Island was just very weird for me. I have seen the Statue almost every day on TV, in books or the mini versions on top of Buffalo’s Liberty Building but to actually stand at its base and stare up at the actual statue was just weird, I can’t really describe it in any other way. 

Other than seeing the actual Statue one of my favorite parts of being on the Island was seeing everyone else’s reactions to not only the Statue but the Manhattan Skyline as well. As a group we took photos in front of both, but as we were leaving the observatory area where they have the telescopes so you can see Manhattan closer I took a picture of strangers looking at the City.

Strangers looking at the Manhattan Skyline

The picture just makes me happy even though the weather is obviously miserable everyone is still smiling because of where they’re standing. (I regret that I did not get a photo of just me standing in front of the statue. I have a habit of making sure I document what everyone else is doing and forget to document what I was doing. Oh well, I won’t forget next time.)

The Registry Room at Ellis Island

We got back on the ferry which took us to Ellis Island. We only got to spend twenty minutes here because we had spent a little bit too much time on Liberty so I don’t remember much because we were so rushed. I took photos of everything I saw so that I could look at them closer later and I really regret that. I should have taken the time to really look at a few things instead of rushing everything because maybe I would remember it but I learned my lesson. Besides now I will have something to look forward to when I go back. I do remember standing in the Registry Room and imagining it as it was when my family went through there. It had to have had a lot more people in it and they must have been so nervous and excited. I also remember trying to the wall to see if I could find one of my family members. I documented every single thing I saw so that I could show my mom later because she has always wanted to go there to do genealogy research.

The Balloon the Clown of Battery Park made me!

And after all that rushing to make sure we kept to our schedule half of our group was forced to stay behind on Ellis Island because there wasn’t enough room on the ferry for all of us. This was perhaps my favorite part of the trip because, like the street performer we saw before getting on the ferry, this experience was unexpected and led to another unique experience. I was in the first group so we had to wait in Battery Park while we waited for the others to arrive. Luckily for us there was a clown there who made balloon animals for us while we waited (he wore a costume and a nose but no makeup, if he had worn makeup I probably wouldn’t have gone anywhere near him because clowns in makeup freak me out). He was ridiculously talented at balloon shaping. He made all the normal things like dogs and swords but he also made seriously complicated hats! He made me a heart with a small dog on it! Since meeting him I decided to learn how to make balloon animals and years later I still can’t figure out how he made that tiny dog go on that heart!

While in Battery Park we also saw living statues of Liberties, a live band, several vendors, and a wild turkey. I thought it was a bit strange to see a turkey in the middle of Manhattan but didn’t think much of it after that. It wasn’t until this past year, when looking through an entry for Battery Park in a travel book, that I realized that the turkey had a name and was in fact famous. Zelda the wild turkey has lived in Battery Park for at least 10 years and I was lucky enough to see her and not even realize that she was famous!

To read more from my trip to NYC click here! 

 ~Laura!

Thoughts From Places Spotlight: Buffalo’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade (2014)

My Experience at Buffalo’s Large St. Patrick’s Day Parade!

Why do many Buffalonians go out in the freezing cold to watch a bunch of drunk people wearing green walk down the street? Because it’s tradition.

Despite growing up in Buffalo, surrounded by Irish culture, I had never really paid attention to any of it because I'm not Irish. This year in part because of the turn my blog has taken and because of the History of Buffalo class I’m taking I decided to start paying attention.  My best friend Anne and her family are American-Irish who are proud of their past. They go to the large Delaware Avenue St. Patrick's Day parade every year and they let me tag along.

I have never seen so many people wearing so many different shades of green. They wore green pants, shirts, hoodies, coats, scarves, headbands, shoes and hats! So many Irish hats! I saw green caps, warm hats, hats with shamrocks, with the flag, with a Guinness logo, cowboy hats, golf hats, and so many top  hats, some were black, some were green, lots had buckles, many had red beards attached! Hats seemed to be the most common way of expressing oneself at the parade. I saw a lot of plaid and at least 50 men wearing kilts on the sidelines. I saw one man dressed up as a bottle of Guinness and I could also tell that he had had a few himself by the time I saw him.

Many people participating in the parade were dressed up as well. Many members of the bands wore kilts; some of the marchers wore long black peacoats with top hats, sashes and canes. There were several troops of traditional Irish dancers and a couple breeds of Irish dogs marching as well. I counted at least 6 people dressed up as St. Patrick. There were a few leprechauns ranging in age from 10 to 50, and bagpipes and traditional Irish dancers galore! A lot of the Delaware Avenue Parade seemed very stereotypically Irish to me though, from the multiple pots of gold and the giant box of lucky charms.

I figure that if I were to go to a St Patrick's Day parade in another city I would see all of that, too. However, our parade is different for many reasons. As the parade went on I noticed that a lot of the marchers were from unions. There were the iron workers, the craft workers, the heat and frost insulators, the sheet metal workers, and more. A sign on one truck said "keep the middle class unionized." Not long after a woman behind me said that it was "nice to see the unions out." It seemed appropriate that the unions were out celebrating an Irish holiday, especially when one considered that when the Irish first came to Buffalo in the early 1800s there would have been no way they could have unionized. Several local celebrities were also marching, including the major newscasters, Mayor Byron Brown, and Congressman Brian Higgins.

Anne and I during the Parade!
(I am in fact wearing green underneath all those warm clothes.)

Another thing that made our parade a Buffalo parade is that every truck honked out the ever familiar “Let's Go Buffalo” cheer and that every single person shouted it back at the top of their lungs. Personally, I don't think that the parade celebrated St. Patrick's Day so much as it celebrated the Irish's history in Buffalo. I overheard one man say that he “honestly thinks that the Parade is the best part of Buffalo!”

I can see now why many Buffalonians, Irish or not, go out every year to the Parade. Everyone is Irish in Buffalo during St. Patrick’s Day weekend!

If you would like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Buffalo one year, you can check out this parade on the Sunday before March 17th, or the smaller, more historical parade in the Irish First Ward on that Saturday. You can also check out the Irish Center on Abbott Road, or hit up one of the many Irish pubs that will no doubt be serving Corned Beef and Cabbage that weekend. 

~Laura!