July 21, 1947 Back in Connecticut, One House Closed, Two Houses Open, The Biggest Pile and The Coconut Pies

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Here we are at home again.  The trip was fine and the only trouble we had was a slow leak in a tire and had to have a new water pump put in.  We happened to be at a station both times.

We stopped early every night so none of us got tired.  We had plenty of room and weren't crowded at all.  It wasn't hard to find places to stay and we didn't have to use the cot at all.

Our trip to Washington was wonderful and we were so glad we went.  There is so much to see that we just couldn't see near as much as we wanted to because we had just a half day.  The White House wasn't open afternoons so we couldn't go in but we saw it from the outside. 

Our visit to the capital was interesting for both houses were in session and spent a little time in each.  Then we saw the Wash. monument, Lincoln Memorial and dozens of other places.  To me, the best part of our trip was our tour through Mount Vernon.  That is over in Virginia and a short drive from Washington.  This was Friday and Sat. morning we drove in to Philadelphia.  It was pouring rain but we went to see the Liberty Bell and a few places anyway.  It was about 7:00 that night when we got home.

Yesterday we unloaded the car and today we got all the dishes washed and put away.  Now we can begin planning some things for Gini to see.  She really enjoyed our trip here.  We are using Aggie's guest room for her which makes things easier for all of us.

How is everything at home?  It seems so long since we were there.  I suppose Grandma is the same.  Is the house started yet?

Say, Daddy, I wonder if Ray Cleveland's pie was good.  Ha!  If he is like me he paid for that pie with scratching.

We took a short ride through New Britain yesterday and went to the college this morning.  B had the biggest pile of mail I ever saw.  A publishing company is inquiring about publishing his dissertation but I don't know whether anything will ever come of it.

We stopped at Buddy's for only a few minutes.  Buddy and Francis were at work of course, so we didn't see them.

I hope we hear from you this week but you'll probably wait till you hear from me.  Write soon, anyway."

                             Lots of love,

                                    B & Bonnie

NOTE from Ann:  I have no idea what the expression "paid for with scratching" means.  The photos are scanned slides taken by B on the trip. Gini is B's niece.

Popular in the fall of '47, listen below to an old-fashioned favorite of B & Bonnie.