Wowza! What a day! We started off with a nice swim at the hotel, and then took off to check out Hartford and the very first Deaf school in America: American School for the Deaf (ASD). It was fun trying to get there... we couldn't find any Chick-fil-a's (is it a Southern thing?) but we sure did see plenty of Friendlies and Dunkin Donuts! We arrived to ASD unannounced and were welcomed with warm hospitality. They are in the middle of renovating so we saw a lot of people moving stuff... here's a quick tour of all we saw:
Recognize this? Its at the entrance of ASD as well as Gallaudet University. The same artist was commissioned twice in his lifetime to do two original pieces, honoring Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, the founder of both schools.
We met the superintendent, who was quick to talk baseball with us, especially when he found out we were headed to Boston!! He brought out his baseball signed by Ted Williams WAAYYY back when he was JJ's age... he said he was at a game, leaned over, fell, and chipped his tooth on a pole. They took him to the infirmiry, where you were given a bandaid and a signed baseball to feel better. He keeps it in his office especially for visitors like us!!
He also showed us this relief, work done by the Deaf artist John Carlin. It is of Thomas Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell, and a few other original students. It especially caught my interest because we are staying at Carlin Hall while we live at GU, and I didn't know that Carlin was an artist! This relief was part of an original monument that was outside ASD at a previous location, but didn't survive the move to the new campus. That's when they commissioned the second sculpture up top.
The architecture on campus is beautiful!! While they are rebuilding, they plan to keep the original facades so it will look the same. I'm glad!! Traveling to New England and many parts of the East coast makes me feel like the little pig going to the house that was made with brick. Almost everything on the west coast is made of sticks!!
Here's one last random thing of traveling with the Kalers. I had managed to find the kid's favorite series called "Bloodhounds" on ebay before we left, and I had it waiting here for us at Gally when they arrived. They've been so excited to read, they are a little too thrilled to be in the car. Sometimes I have to coax the book out of their hands, sometimes I let them bring'em along. Overall, not a bad problem to have!! Here's JJ not giving up his book as he was in the last chapter and "its the best part mom!!"
Special thanks to the Supt and also the museum curator at ASD, who shared their time and knowledge with a joyful heart. For more info on ASD check out www.asd-1817.org/
Hey Gally students: a test, do you know who Fowler Hall is named after? (Hint: we saw her wedding dress at the ASD museum)
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