Most everyone knows that a marathon is a long distance running event that is 26 miles and 385 yards. Fewer people know the origin of this race. There is a coastal city in Greece called Marathon, where lived a loyal Greek messenger named Pheidippides. During his time, Greece was at war with the Persians—a war which reached the shores of Marathon in August or September of 490 BC and in which Pheidippides fought. At the battle’s end, Pheidippides was sent to bear the message of victory. He ran the distance from Marathon to Athens (which happens to be 26 miles and 385 yards), announced victory to the assembly, then dropped dead.
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| Bilbo on the beach in Marathon |
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| Minnie enjoying the indigenous giant pineapples of Marathon |
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| The view from our resort in Marathon |
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| Bilbo and Minnie at the Acropolis |
The reason I’m telling you this story, which Bilbo and I learned while on our honeymoon in Marathon and Athens, is because it is the perfect illustration of our lives this week! No wars have been involved, but there has been non-stop work to the point of deadly exhaustion. The source of this labor? Move out week! It went a little like this…
Sunday—Drove home from the Elder-Bauers’ (Bilbo’s parents), where we celebrated graduation. Drove to Marietta, OH (to be explained later).
Monday—Made a game plan and began packing.
Tuesday—More packing for Bilbo and Minnie’s final book club (tear).
Wednesday—More packing and Bible study.
Thursday—Our friends came over to finish packing and start loading the truck (Thanks Jacqueline, Julia, Dave, and Chad!).
Friday—Finished loading the truck (Thanks again Jacqueline!). We wanted to drive back to the Elder-Bauers’ that day but were to tired, so we watched a movie.
Saturday—Up bright and early, drove the 2.5 hours to the Elder-Bauers’, unloaded the truck on the patio, sorted our belongings, took the majority into the basement and attic, and crashed.
Sunday—Finished sorting our things and storing them, drove home, relaxed.
Monday—Made a game plan and began packing.
Tuesday—More packing for Bilbo and Minnie’s final book club (tear).
Wednesday—More packing and Bible study.
Thursday—Our friends came over to finish packing and start loading the truck (Thanks Jacqueline, Julia, Dave, and Chad!).
Friday—Finished loading the truck (Thanks again Jacqueline!). We wanted to drive back to the Elder-Bauers’ that day but were to tired, so we watched a movie.
Saturday—Up bright and early, drove the 2.5 hours to the Elder-Bauers’, unloaded the truck on the patio, sorted our belongings, took the majority into the basement and attic, and crashed.
Sunday—Finished sorting our things and storing them, drove home, relaxed.
Monday through Friday I was still working from 7:30-4:00 each day, so the progress seemed terribly slow and painfully tedious. You can therefore imagine our surprise when team Bauer (Bilbo, Minnie, the Elder-Bauers, and Bilbo’s sister) unloaded the entire truck in one hour! It was like magic. Of course, the sorting and storing phase took a bit longer, but WHEW was that one hour unload a relief!
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| The truck arrives |
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| Team Bauer in action |
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| One hour later... |
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| Now we have to sort through this... |
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| And this... |
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| Bella and Fyodor even helped out! |
After unloading on Saturday, we introduced the rest of Team Bauer to one of our favorite restaurants in Morgantown, Puglioni’s. There is a back story which is essential to your understanding of the significance of this dining delight. You see, Bilbo and I lived in Morgantown for 7 years and only happened upon Puglioni’s within the last month of our residency there. For the past two years since leaving Morgantown, we have tried to eat at Puglioni’s during every return visit. Each attempt is met by either the restaurant being closed or some event popping up that prevents our consumption of their good goods…until this time! Oh was it glorious! The establishment itself is the small hole-in-the-wall type, only seating around 50 patrons at a time, but it is a treasure. The pine nut vinaigrette, the tomato sauce, the homemade pasta, and oh the bread! They bring you a chunk of toasted bread with a dousing of melted butter and fresh chopped butter literally poured over top. We downed 4 of those babies and all were happy! If you are ever in Morgantown, you need to look them up.
You may be wondering if this was the mini-adventure that we alluded to last week. Well, it is not. Last week’s adventure was a bit of a flop…double flop, actually. The trip was initial planned because Bilbo found a tow dolly at a pretty low price in Marietta, OH. Close to Marietta is the WV state park, Blennerhassett Island. It was the home of a wealthy Irish couple that fled their homeland due to Mr. Blennerhassett’s involvement in plotting Ireland’s freedom from England, traveled through the “new world”, and purchased the island in 1798. The island, with its extravagant mansion, was the center of social life in the Ohio River Valley during the time of Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett; however, they were forced to flee again in 1806 due to Harman’s involvement with Aaron Burr’s conspiracy. A few years later, the mansion burned down and a legacy died. The WV state park organization has rebuilt the mansion and offer a ferry ride from Parkersburg, WV to the island from May-October.
Like our experience with Puglioni’s, Blennerhassett Island has been an allusive goal for us. We tried going last November, not realizing that the park was closed at that time. We had a lovely weekend exploring the town and staying at the Blennerhassett Hotel, but no island. This time, the island was closed due to excessive rain which makes passage by ferry unsafe. So, we went to the Blennerhassett Museum instead. It was a nice museum with history pertaining to Parkersburg, Wood County, and West Virginia as a whole; however, it was not the Blennerhassett experience I was looking forward to. So, downtrodden and defeated we left the museum and Bilbo call the owner of the tow dolly to meet up. This is where the double fail comes into play. The owner informed us that he had already sold it and we went home. Hope has not been lost, though! Just as we came to our destiny with Puglioni’s, we will one day set foot on Blennehassett Island! I’m sure that there will be plenty of things to distract me between now and then…like a trip across the country! Right?
That’s all for now folks! Wish us luck as we prepare for the first leg of our journey! Today was the first day of my last week of work! The bus, or Honda in this instance, pulls out this Friday, May 27th! Oh my goodness…we have a lot to do this week!
Two last remarks:
1. If you aren’t a follower become one! We will have games, competitions, polls, and other interactive activities in the future and we would love your input.
2. If you know anyone that has a tow dolly they would like to rent, sell, or let borrow please make a comment below.
Thanks, The RBs
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