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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Norcross resident finds
Argentinian vacation wonderful
By Howard Hoffman
Norcross
Special to GwinnettForum.com
(Editor's
Note: Howard Hoffman is a native Pennsylvanian and has lived in
Norcross for nearly 25 years. He is a graduate of Bethany (WV) College
and enjoys travel and writing.-eeb)
JULY 15, 2003 ----"You are not from Argentina," the waiter
said in Spanish to me last week while on vacation in Buenos Aires.
While I may have appeared to be very cool, my long delay was due
to my little mind trying its best to translate the Spanish before
answering.
"No," I finally blurted out after considerable deliberation
mas.
Now it was his turn to pause, yet just for a moment. "Ah,
Brasil?"
"Americano," I finally advised.
And so it went for a week as this American sampled the wonders
of this huge country so far away. Why did I go to B.A., alone at
that?
The dollar is very strong (3 Argentine pesos = $1) and this country
is rich in just about everything. I stayed at a four-star hotel
for $60/night (including breakfast each day) and no matter how nice
the meal I paid no more than $11 or $12 for it.
B.A. is called "The Paris of South America" and with
thirteen million sophisticates roaming these beautiful streets and
boulevards it resembles Europe more so than South America. It's
winter there now. Translation: temp in the low 50's with gray skies
and drizzle. It didn't matter.
The food was yummy with a heavy accent on beef and plenty of Italian.
The ice cream was the best I've had. When I'd tell a local I was
from Atlanta, they'd say, "Coca-Cola, si"?
What do you think of when you hear Argentina? Evita, soccer, the
tango.
I was staying in a ritzy area known as Recoleta (which I think
translates into "ritzy area"). That is also the home of
the wealthy cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried. It's listed as
a MUST SEE in all the tourist books. It was closed the week I was
there. Since when does a cemetery close? I asked the concierge at
the hotel. He said he never knew of it being closed before. So,
for fifty plus years I waited to go to B.A. and just happened to
be there the week its main tourist stop was cerrado.
I took a lot of side trips and one day went by ferry to neighboring
Uruguay to this delightful little enclave known as Colonia. There
I sat, peacefully watching the world literally go by. A young man
on a motor bike putted past and then turned around heading back
my way. As he passed I noticed his stocking gap-red and black with
GEORGIA BULLDOGS on it. I snapped a photo and he looked at me as
if I'd lost my mind.
All too soon it was over and time to come back to The States. I
snuggled into my airplane seat for the nine hour flight to Miami
feeling very continental and as the sun began to rise over the ocean
(at about 5:45 AM), I was back in the U.S. of A.
When I got home I was asked about the trip and suavely replied,
"Muy bien."
You're such a jerk my wife said handing me the garbage and advising
me the pickup would be in a few minutes.
"Si," I replied as I turned to see her leaving the room.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Harper's
Ferry, W. Va., is great visit when near Washington
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 15, 2003 -- The Nation's Capitol is a great
place to visit, though it always is a quagmire for out-of-towners
when it comes to traffic. As much fun as Washington can be, there
are lots of relatively close-by places that are great getaways from
the city.
Take a place we had never visited until recently: Harper's Ferry,
in West Virginia. It's a little over an hour away from downtown
Washington, and an eternity away when it comes to hustle-and-bustle
from federal Washington.
Today's Harper's Ferry is nothing less than a suburban outpost
of Washington, a relatively quiet hour by train to the city for
commuters. Bureaucrats can work in the city, yet enjoy the open
and fresh air, slower pace and quiet of a small town.
Oh, it's small. Census figures show that only 310 people live in
Harper's Ferry these days. And it's a litttle isolated. tucked away
in the steep hills where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers come
together among the rapids in relatively shallow-but-wide waters
of two rivers.
For history buffs, Harper's Ferry is a haven of stories, once a
vital community making weapons for the government; before the Civil
War made famous in the John Brown incident, and later a center of
geographic intensity in the Civil War.
The Union held the town at first, in what was then known as Virginia
(West Virginia became a state in 1863.) Yet the Union forces, knowing
that the Confederates forces were converging on the town, on April
18, 1861, within 24 hours of Virginia seceding from the Union, set
fire to the Armory and Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, destroying 15,000
weapons. However, Reb forces got the weapons-making equipment, and
shipped it South for later use. Actually, the two sides swapped
holding Harper's Ferry, this key rail site, eight times during the
war.
Today tourists will find the community an ideal place to study
history, with many of its old brick buildings still surviving. Two
railroads come through town, each down a different river. One crosses
from Washington on double tracks through a tunnel, crosses the Potomac,
runs alongside the town, and heads for the Midwest. Another runs
north-south, often heavy with coal cars.
Settled in the valley between the rivers, the town has a one-way-in,
the same-way-out narrow, hilly street, with parking at a premium.
There's a new Visitor's Center about two miles from town, with buses
running tourists in regularly, obviously the way to go. We should
have, but did not use the Park Service bus, and while three people
happily scooted down the steep hill into town, only one was called
on to trudge up the half mile to a proper parking space to retrieve
the car. It is probably far better to park at the Visitor's Center.
By the way, the Appalachian Trail comes through town, and crosses
the wide Potomac on a catwalk alongside the rail tracks. It's a
popular resting place for the hikers, who by then are about halfway
from Georgia to their destination in Maine. We talked with two,
one just hiking for the first day, and another, who had hiked from
Georgia. "We'll make it by late September or October,"
the hiker starting from Georgia told us. The other....well, let's
hope she makes it.
You should allow at least two or three hours for visiting in the
town, and with the drive from Washington, this makes a nice half
day trip. It should be great in the fall, during leaf-turning season.
It's a nice get-away from the fast pace of Washington, D.C.
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FEEDBACK
7/15: Raises questions
on USA extraction from Iraq
Editor, the Forum:
Issue: "becoming more and more similar to the United States
needing to extract itself from Viet Nam."
Response: Every time the U.S. gets involved anywhere, and there's
hay to be made trying to detract from an administration's policies
(Republican or Democrat) someone plays the "Viet Nam"
card. You're better than this. You
should be ashamed of such a poor execution of comparison. I
suspect it may reveal more about your attitude and political
leaning than reflecting the truth. My memory suggests we lost
approximately 55,000 soldiers in Viet Nam
over the course of many years.
Issue: "The military occupation has not gone well"
and "the sporadic incidences of Americans being randomly
attacked and sometimes killed by insurgents, is causing fear
and consternation in America".
Response: I really don't think this is causing so much fear
and consternation in America as it is causing gallons of ink
and wasted paper (or e-mail packets) by the media types trying
to fill their blank space with something to talk about. And
if it can be sensationalized or provocative, all the better!
We put somewhere north of 400,000 combat troops into a hostile
theatre, we lose minimal life and depose a brutal dictatorial
despot, and the many in the press chooses to highlight the negative
aspects.
Are things perfect ... no. But, a more reasonable assessment
would put some perspective around the numbers and the magnitude
of what is taking place, and conclude that a difficult situation
in Iraq is being managed well.
-- Ed Thayer, Duluth
(Editor's
Note: Ed, I guess if you are the parent of a soldier in Iraq,
all you want is to extract your son or daughter as fast as possible.
You are hoping that the USA doesn't add even one more before
they are brought home. And many wish the USA had extracted itself
from Viet Nam sooner, therefore question Iraq quicker.-eeb)
7/15: Saw fireworks, then felt a thump on her car
Editor, the Forum:
Cool fireworks show that you had! (GwinnettForum, July
8.)
I was driving back from Augusta Sunday night and saw fireworks
going off in a backyard along the Interstate. As I drove by,
there was a thump on the car and later noticed a dark smoky
spot on the car where one had hit ...no damage though!!
-- Pat Mitchell, Greenville, N.C.
7/15: Comments remind of stories going around Athens
Editor, the Forum:
Re: UGA--your insight is novel and fits with what my insiders
in Athens said a few weeks back--which was that this was likely
to take down both Adams and Vince.
-- Charles Summerour, Duluth
7/15: Current problems smaller than having Saddam in charge
Editor, the Forum:
The current problems facing the Iraqi people of electricity
and water seem somewhat less troublesome than being hanged from
streetlights, tortured, or buried in mass graves by a Socialist
dictator, his sons, and his Baath party minions. If Americans
or Iraqis expected free-flowing electricity and a new Summer
of Love after disrupting the internal power structure, I'd say
their expectations weren't thought through very clearly.
-- Michael Friend, Suwanee
NEWS
ITEM
"Mobility
2030" is topic of hearing on July 21 by ARC
John Orr of the Transportation Department of the Atlanta Regional
Commission will give a special presentation on the "Mobility
2030 Regional Transportation Plan" July 21 at the Atlanta
Regional Commission's Ethnic Advisory Council meeting. The meeting
will be held at the Gwinnett Chamber Stephens Room at 6500 Sugarloaf
Parkway in Duluth at 8 a.m.
The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning
and intergovernmental coordination agency for the 10-county
area including Gwinnett. For more than 50 years, ARC and its
predecessor agencies have helped to focus the region's leadership,
attention and resources on key issues of regional consequence.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
The amazing thing
about leftovers
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty
years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original
meal has never been found."
--- Author Calvin Trillin.
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