Jack's Flat Stanley in Florida!

Flat Stanley, sent to us from Jack Feldhaus, had a busy day in Clearwater and Largo, Florida. A foggy morning in Clearwater turned into a sunny February day with a temperature of 79 degrees.
Stanley spent the morning volunteering at the Suncoast Animal League, Big Tent Adoption. He helped over 40 dogs find homes with loving families. 

The city has a population of 84,500.
In the afternoon Stanley went to the Largo Public Library and Largo Central Park where he played in a “bounce house” and spent time at the playground. 

 
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa and north of St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the east lies Tampa Bay. The city has a population of over 107,685. Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County and is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
Clearwater is the home of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where bottlenose dolphins Winter and Hope live.
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, and is part of the Tampa Bay Area. Largo is located south of Clearwater and north of St. Petersburg.

Abe's Flat Stanley in Asheville, North Carolina!!

Hey Abe, Mrs. Sturgis, and the rest of the class!
Thanks for sending Flat Stanley down to me in Asheville, North Carolina. He arrived when Abe’s cousins and I had the flu, so he had to hang out at our house for a little while before we could hit the town for some sightseeing. We got out this afternoon, and even though it was cloudy, we had a great time. Let me tell you a little about what we did: 

I am an artist in Asheville. We have a lot of artists here; it’s a very creative town and a great place to see art and listen to cool music. The first picture is Stanley sticking onto one of my paintings of ice cubes. He’s really quite a good painter and he helped me get some paintings ready to ship out. I think he enjoyed the studio.
All the rest of the photos have Abe’s cousins, Pearl (9 years old) and Vivi (5 years old) holding Stanley while we toured around town. 

 

Our first stop downtown was Malaprop’s bookstore, one of the oldest local shops in town. We love local businesses here and Malaprop’s is our favorite bookstore. 

 

Asheville is in the mountains, right near the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Smokies, and the Black Mountain Range. We’re about 2000 feet above sea level and it’s really hilly here. Here’s a photo of the girls with Stanley in front of the mountains. It was a little cloudy, so the mountains were a little bit hidden. 

 

That church behind them is the Basilica. It’s a beautiful European church that was taken apart and brought to Asheville and rebuilt here. We didn’t go inside, but if you get the chance to visit, you should check it out. It’s really cool. In the spring, there are big roses that bloom outside. 

 

After that, we went to Mast General Store, another great local business. There’s a guitar player outside the store. We have a lot of musicians who play downtown. It’s called busking. They open their instrument cases and people put a dollar or two in them to say thanks for playing such good music. 

 

We have a lot of tourists who visit to see the mountains, art, and eat good food. This is a photo of one of our many new hotels. It’s actually an old bank building that they’re re-using and turning into a hotel. It’s like recycling a building and it’s going to be really cool. 

 

An interesting thing about Asheville is that we have great Art Deco architecture. It’s a style that was really popular in the 1920s and even though a lot of downtowns changed over the years, Asheville kept a lot of its original buildings. That tall building behind Stanley and the girls is the Jackson Building. It’s actually the tallest building in the United States without an elevator. We didn’t make Stanley walk to the top; we would have been so tired! 

 

Down below the Jackson Building is the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. The French Broad River is our river that goes through the middle of Asheville. A while ago, a young family started making their own chocolate with cocoa beans from Costa Rica and they made the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Definitely go there when you visit Asheville; the chocolate is so tasty! 

 

This photo is Pack Square and those buildings behind them are the courthouse and the city building. Pack Square is a cool park and in the summer, there are outside movies and bluegrass music on some of the weekends. 

 

The tall pointy sculpture is called an obelisk and that one is Vance Monument. It’s right in the middle of downtown, near Pack Square, and is named for a former governor of NC.

 

The building behind Stanley and the girls is the Grove Arcade. It was supposed to be a skyscraper but after they built the first two floors, they didn't have enough money to finish it so they kept it like that. Now it has cool stores, restaurants, and some offices. 

 

The girls are standing with Stanley in front of the Bee Charmer. Asheville is a Bee City; we protect pollinators because of how important they are to the environment. If you need some honey or a beeswax candle, that’s the store for you. 

 

Maybe you have heard of Wall Street in New York City, but we have a Wall Street here too. It’s where Abe’s Aunt Harli works. There’s a cool triangular building called the Flat Iron building and a cool public sculpture called the Flat Iron that are in these photos.

 

These last photos are in the River Arts District. Years ago, artists turned old warehouses by the river into studios and now there are around 200 studios there as well as restaurants and shops. It’s a fast growing area with a greenway by the river and a lot of cool stuff to see.

 

We didn't get to do everything in Asheville with Stanley. I would have loved to take him on the Blue Ridge Parkway, an amazing road through the mountains that goes from Virginia all the way to Georgia. It’s a beautiful drive with lots of good hiking and even goes over Mount Mitchell, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River.

Also, there’s the Biltmore house. The Vanderbilt family built it in the middle of Asheville in the 1800s and it’s the largest single family home in the US. They had their own dairy farm and still make ice cream from their cows. There’s a little part of downtown near the Biltmore house called Biltmore Village with lots of great shops and restaurants. You should definitely visit there when you come to Asheville!
If you visit in the summer, you might be able to go to a minor league baseball game and cheer for the Asheville Tourists or maybe even go to a minor league soccer game and cheer for Asheville City Soccer Club. We have a men’s team and next summer, we’ll have a women’s team too. Their games are awesome!
Asheville is a really neat town in the mountains and I hope the Stanley enjoyed his visit. We only have about 90,000 people who live here, so it’s a little bigger than Portland, but over 10 million people visit here every year! It’s a lot of visitors, but we like that they want to come and see the beautiful mountains, ride mountain bikes, hike, go tubing in the river, eat delicious food, and see all the cool artwork and sights in town. Hopefully sometime, you can come visit us too! In the meantime, thanks for letting Stanley visit! I wonder where he’s going next...

Harrison's Flat Stanley's Travel Plans!

Ben and I are back from Seattle now and here I am sitting on the window sill in his painting studio, and guess what? I have a Valentine! She is a cupid, like a little girl with wings and she needs those wings because you can see how high off the ground we are on this window ledge. That red ribbon used to be around a box of chocolates that I bought for my valentine but she, well we, ate them all up…and another guess what? Ben, Harrison’s artist friend, is having a show of his paintings in Los Angeles in two weeks and he said, because I was so good on the trip to Portland Oregon and Seattle Washington, that I could go with him to Los Angeles! How cool is that?!  He says that  =most people just call the city “L A” and that you have to drive everywhere because the city is so big. Ben says that Los Angeles is another city on the Pacific Ocean in the state of California. Also he  says that it is about 600 miles south of Portland Oregon…that is a long way south, almost to Mexico which is an entirely different country! So we leave on March first and will be there almost a week. Ben says that my outfit of short pants and a tee shirt is perfect for Los Angeles because it is so warm there. Maybe we will go to the beach!  So, news from LA in a few weeks!

Abe's Flat Stanley in South Carolina!

Abe's Flat Stanley is having a great time sightseeing in Charleston, South Carolina.  Look at all the fun he's having!

Harrison's Flat Stanley in Seattle, Washington!

This morning we are leaving Seattle, Washington. It has rained a lot during our visit but that is normal for the northwest of the United States. In one photo of me, you can see the PUGET SOUND, the Seattle harbor, behind me. After this photo was taken we left the hotel and drove down to the ferry terminal. Now this part is cool- because Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides which is called a peninsula, people take big boats called ferries to get across the Puget Sound to get to other parts of the city. You can drive your car onto a ferry! The other picture is me in the car waiting to get on the ferry boat you can see behind me. But the coolest part, you'll never guess. Ben let me steer the car! My feet don't touch the pedals but I can steer  awesomely well! After the ferry docks on the other side of the Sound we are going to take a long drive thru the OLYMPIA NATIONAL FOREST. It is a huge forest which juts out into the Pacific Ocean at the way far edge of our country. We are driving south back to Portland, Oregon where we will spend the night before flying back to Boston tomorrow morning!

Harrison's Flat Stanley in Portland, Oregon!

We left the area of town called the Pearl District, an area of shops and apartments in an old industrial area, and went over to the river a few blocks away. Portland is divided in half by a river they call the Willamette and there are lots of bridges across the river so people can get from one part of town to the other. This bridge behind me is called the railroad bridge. Trains cross this bridge as well as cars, trolleys, bicycles and pedestrians. It has a cool part in the center which  goes up like an elevator so boats can go under the bridge.

 

This bridge behind me is called the railroad bridge. Trains cross this bridge as well as cars, trolleys, bicycles and pedestrians. It has a cool part in the center which  goes up like an elevator so boats can go under the bridge.

 

We walked further up the river but I got tired so I rested on the riverbank for awhile. That is the railroad bridge again behind me. Portland has lots of forests with really big trees and not far from downtown there is a big volcano mountain called Mount Hood.

This is volcano Mount Hood which you can see from downtown on a clear day. Tomorrow we are getting in a car and driving to a city called Seattle in the state of Washington, almost at the border with Canada. Seattle is a long way from Gorham! 

Brenham's Flat Stanley in Washington!

Flat Stanley came to visit Meghan Rongey in Washington State. She sent this nice message: I live in a little town called Oak Harbor on a small island called Whidbey Island. We are home to NAS Whidbey Island and Flat Stanley LOVED to listen to the planes flying overhead. He also enjoyed visiting the beach with me. We took a walk in Gary Oak park and looked at all the pretty trees that my town was named after. Thank you for letting him come visit. We had tons of fun! I hope he is enjoying his time traveling. 

 

 

Nicholas' Flat Stanley in sunny Florida!

Nicholas' Flat Stanley is having a great time with Nannie in Florida!

Here he is on Nannie's couch!

Here's Flat Stanley bowling with Nannie at Strikes!  Good job, Stanley!

Stanley's having a great time golfing at Sherwood Park Golf Course.  Where's the snow, Stanley??

Here, Stanley is enjoying Delray Beach!

Flat Stanley at Gumbo Limbo, enjoying the nature and sunny skies!

Stanley made a new friend at Gumbo Limbo! Stanley, is he real???

 Here, Stanley is blowing around a bit at Boca's South Beach.  Looks great, Stanley!  Don't forget your sunscreen!

 Look at Stanley!  Here he is in the sand at Deerfield Beach!  Thank you, Nannie! 
 
 
 

Grant's Flat Stanley in Bryant Pond, Maine

I am having a wonderful trip! The day I arrived in Bryant Pond, Maine, we were having a very bad winter storm.  It started with lots of snow and ended with freezing rain!  I was so happy to be warm and dry inside, but it was very pretty to look outside!  Now I know what a fairyland must look like!  For two days, I watched as my hosts shoveled snow.  Finally the work was done and they took me sightseeing in the western mountains of Maine.  But it got even better!  Guess where they took me:

*Its peak is 6,288 feet above sea level
*It is the highest point in the Northeastern US
*It is nicknamed "Home of the World's Worst Weather"
*The highest wind speed ever measured on earth, 231 miles per hour, was recorded here.
*The location is Sargent's Purchase, Coos County, NH 

Did you guess?  Did you say Mount Washington?  

It was so beautiful because every tree branch was sealed in twinkling ice!  No, I didn't go to the top but I did go all through Mount Washington Valley.  Here is a pictures of the sun high above the clouds:

 I've done lots of snowmobiling and looking at animal tracks: moose, deer, bobcat, turkey, squirrel, partridge and rabbit.  I even saw an eagle fly right overhead! 

 But it has been very cold and I really want to travel to a warm climate.  I think I will go to Sarasota, Florida.  I will visit 2 people who are retired teachers and have lived there for 50 years!  I wonder if I will see the Gulf of Mexico?  I'm hoping I will see palm trees, crocodiles and alligators! See you soon!