George Washington's Surveying Office

Outgoing postcard US-3373216 to Taiwan shows a vintage card of George Washington's Surveying Office on the Washington Farm, located along the northern bank of the Rappahannock River, across from the city of Fredericksburg, in Stafford County, Virginia.

Also known as the Ferry Farm, it is the George Washington Boyhood Home Site where George Washington spent much of his childhood with the Cherry Tree Myth, and where his father Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743 at age 49 when George Washington was 11 years old. Augustine had left behind a small set of surveying instruments after he died. The illustration shows the only building remaining which is said to have been used by George Washington as a workshop while acquiring practice surveying.

However, archaeologists later found the building dated to the late 1800s, post Civil War. So it could not have been used by young George as a workshop. "The Surveyor Shed" was a subject of money making schemes by James Beverly Colbert and George Allen England who promoted the non-important structure as a genuine relic, in an attempt to profit from the land's associations with Washington in the 1920s.

Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia

Outgoing postcard US-3372299 to Taiwan shows an aerial view of Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I), a state-supported military college in Lexington, Virginia. Allegheny Mountains in the distance, V.M.I is famous as a military and engineering school, frequently referred to as "the West Point of the South."

In keeping with its founding principles as the oldest state-sponsored military institution in the United States, V.M.I enrolls only military cadets and awards 18 baccalaureate degrees exclusively in 14 majors in Applied Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer & Information Sciences, Economics & Business, Electrical & Computer Engineering, English, History, International Studies & Political Science, Mechanical Engineering, Modern Languages & Cultures, Physics, and Psychology. V.M.I offers cadets strict military discipline combined with a spartan, physically and academically demanding environment.

Photo by Herbert Lanks.

Kenmore, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Outgoing postcard US-3208612 to Germany was a vintage card showing Kenmore, a plantation house built in 1752 at Fredericksburg, Virginia. It is a beautiful specimen of colonial architecture with ornamented ceilings and mantels designed by George Washington. It is home of Col. Fielding Lewis and his wife Betty, the only sister of George Washington. George Washington sent two Hessian prisoners to carry out his artistic conception.

The house was added to National Register of Historic Places on June 4, 1969, and was declared a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970.

There are similar cards from the Tichnor Brothers Postcard Collection at Boston Public Library.

University of Virginia in Charlottesville

Postcard US-3149031 to China shows the lawn at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Established in 1819, the central quadrangle was designed by Thomas Jefferson. He planned the two story Pavilions as homes for professors, who lived upstairs and taught downstairs. Between them are rows of single rooms where students have lived since 1825. It's part of the Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO in 1987.

Update: In his State of Union address to the nation this evening, President Obama challenged the Congress to make two-year community college free under certain conditions, and to overhaul tax codes to shift benefits away from wealthy Americans in order to offer tax credits for college. As a public and state-affiliated institution, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville offers a good example on what investment on higher education can do for the nation by its association with 7 Nobel Laureates, 7 NASA astronauts, 7 Marshall Scholars, 4 Churchill Scholars, 29 Truman Scholars, and 50 Rhodes Scholars,

Santa in an Airship High Over the Panama Canal

A wrong number listed on a Colorado Springs newspaper advertisement by Sears started NORAD's Santa Tracking program in 1955. Google also started to track Santa's movement in 2004 as a Google Maps service. However, the radar tracking may reveal Santa is not on a sleigh after all, as the vintage postcard US-3141511 from Virginia shows that Santa Claus on an airship overlooks the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.

Bee Rock Tunnel, Virginia

Outgoing postcard US-3125851 to Czech Republic shows the Bee Rock Tunnel, a former railroad tunnel located Appalachia and Big Stone Gap, Virginia. It was built in 1891 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. At 47 feet 7 inches or 14.50 meters, It was once known as the World's shortest railroad tunnel. However, it was soon realized that both the Westmoreland Tunnel (46 feet or 14.02 meters) in Gallatin, Tennessee and the Backbone Rock Tunnel (22 feet or 6.70 meters) near Crandull, Tennessee were shorter than the Bee Rock Tunnel. The Bee Rock Tunnel is now part of the Bee Tunnel-Roaring Branch Trail.

Auto Train

Postcard US-2690034 from Florida shows that Auto Train, an 855-mile or 1,376-km scheduled service between Sanford, Florida near Orlando and Lorton, Virginia near Washington D.C. by Amtrak, transports passengers AND their cars. Trains depart daily at 4:00pm and arrive at the destinations at 9:30am next day. It is the only one of its kind in the US.

When I was a graduate student living in the east coast, I had chances to take the train. However, I ended up passing the opportunities, as the cost of driving was considerably lower when the gas costed lesss than two US dollars and if wear and tear of the car was not factored in. However, with the current average gas price at $3.50, an one-way trip from Orlando, Florida to Washington D.C. would take almost 12 hours and cost at least $120 using AAA's fuel cost calculator. In comparison, a least expensive one-way Auto Train ticket from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Virginia on April 15, 2014 would cost $102 for a passenger plus $186 for an automobile or $131 for a motorcycle. While the fare is complex just like airlines ticket and not inexpensive, it may be worth a try just to eliminate stress from the 12-hour driving.