The 4th Annual Catered for Kids' Sake at the La Crosse Radisson was a great success. It benefits the Coulee Region Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The evening is a get together of seven local caterers who prepare an appetizer, main entree, and a dessert. The dessert recipes are supplied by seven local celebrities from around the area. There was also free wine tasting as well as a live and silent auction.
During the evening, you walk around trying all the different appetizers and then vote for your favorite while there's a short presentation. The same thing is done for the main dishes and the desserts. At the end of the evening, the top three in each category are announced. Last year I won the "Best Dessert" category for my mom's Apple Cinnamon Sauce Cake. So, of course, I had to call her this year and ask for another recipe to "defend" her title.
This year's recipe was her Sin Cake consisting of coconut, chocolate, pecans, and cream cheese. It is fantastic, but I have to make it without the coconut for myself. I decided to bring in some for my co-workers to try, and everyone has loved it. Amy said I should post the recipe online, so I have it below for you to try. If you try it, please mention where you got it and email me to let me know how it turns out.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
Thanks for checking in...
Zach Brown, Daybreak Meteorologist
Mama Brown’s SIN CAKE Preheat Oven to 300°F
1Box German Chocolate Cake Mix 1 stickButter, melted
3/4 cupCoconut 3/4 cup Pecan Pieces 3/4 cup Mini-chocolate morsels 1 tspVanilla
It's time to take a little longer view of our weather as we get closer to summer. Of course, the first day of summer is still about a month and a half away, but it always seems to come quickly. (As I get older time seems to speed up even more than it used to. Oh well...!)
Now on to the topic at hand:
This winter a relatively strong cooling of the mid-Pacific sea surface temperatures developed, a so-called La Nina. That is the opposite of the more famous El Nino, which we associate with relatively mild winters. The winter produced very pronounced cold weather and snowier than normal totals, much to the chagrin of energy-bill payers here in the Upper Midwest. The trend for colder than average weather continued and April turned out to be the 3rd wettest on record.
May, it seems, has started out on the same path. But will this weather continue or finally lapse into a more normal series of events? The medium and long term computer simulations are predicting a continuation of La Nina in the Pacific into July, so it would seem to follow that the weather patterns will follow the same overall trends for awhile. The wild card here is that the effects of La Nina are typically less pronounced in the Spring season, so hopefully things will gradually shift back toward normal.
If you'd like more in-depth information visit the Climate Prediction Center and get the discussions and graphical outlooks. Their prediction for the next month look like this:
In a nutshell, chances are strong that cooler and wetter than average weather are predicted for the local area.
Tonight we kicked off our latest Going Green Series. It will run every Sunday night on the 10 PM Report and every Monday on Daybreak. Tonight's topic focused on how to dispose of old electronics that you no longer care for. You can check out that story on the homepage of our website. Here's the way the Going Green stories will shape up through the month:
Next Week: Phantom Power Believe it or not, when you have your TV turned off, it is still sucking power as long as it's plugged in. I'll let you know how much money that costs you on a yearly basis, and it might surprise you.
May 18: Keeping your Summer Utility Bill Down It doesn't feel like it now but summer is right around the corner. It isn't uncommon for temperatures to rise into the 90s during the summer, and an air conditioner can come in handy. I'll have the details on the most efficient way to run your AC.
May 25: Energy audit at WXOW To conclude our Going Green series, I thought it would be a great idea to practice what we preach. We will be getting an energy audit at our station. I'll fill you in on where we are saving energy and where we could use some improvement.
As we wrap up this week long tour of my hometown, Charleston, we're going to end with another plantation and some ghosts and aquarium. That's right! Ghosts, ghost stories, and ghost tours are a big deal in the city. We'll get to that in a moment.
The South Carolina Aquarium was opened in 2000 on the banks of the Charleston Harbor. Its home to more than 10,000 plants and animals. Not only do they house sea creatures, you'll also find snakes, frogs, and Venus flytraps. The star attraction would have to be the Great Ocean Tank that extends three floors, two of which are visible to the public. It holds almost 400,000 gallons of water. You'll be able to spot sharks, eels, blowfish, and a giant sea turtle.
Speaking of sea turtles, the aquarium has a very successful sea turtle rescue program. Through the tour of the aquarium, you're able to see how turtles can escape some specially designed shrimp nets as well as watch a television monitor of the hospital. On the screen will flash different cameras in the hospital to show you all the turtles they're rehabilitating. Since their first release in 2003, 20 turtles have been successfully rehabilitated and released back into the wild. You can even track some of them on their website with satellite tracking chips that were put on the turtle.
As I said in a previous posting, plantations are still in existence in the south and some of them are called "working" plantations. That means they still have farm lands that are used to grow crops. One such plantation is Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. It was originally known for its rice, cotton and pecan crops. There have been crops growing here for over 300 years. Today they still produce strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, and pumpkins.
Boone Hall was founded by Major John Boone after given a land grant for some 460 acres. The original wooden house was built in 1790, but the house that stands there now was built by Thomas Stone. He purchased the land in the early 20th century. On the grounds today, besides the house, there are nine original slave cabins, a smoke house, a Cotton Gin, and the grand Avenue of Oaks.
The Avenue of Oaks is nearly a mile long stretch of live oak trees. They were planted by Thomas Boone to mark the grand entrance to the property. This is actually the longest "Avenue of Oaks" in the United States. The majestic trees line each side of the drive and are spaced out evenly. Unlike other trees/plants, the live oaks will actually intertwine their roots to create a shared union of food. It took almost two centuries for each side of the oaks to touch over the driveway creating a beautiful canopy. During the hot and humid summer months, you'll actually be a lot cooler under the canopy than anywhere else.
The oak wood from oak trees was actually used to build many a ship, because the wood was so resilient. The USS Constitution was one of the ships built with the wood, and it actually repelled the shot of the HMS Guerriere. That earned the ship the nickname "Old Ironsides."
You are even invited to sit in front of one of the slave cabins and learn about the history of the Gullah culture in the south. You'll learn of their native language that is an English-based Creole language containing many African loanwords. Some words are pronounced differently and may be hard to understand. For instance, the word "think" will actually be pronounce "tink". The word "them" will actually be pronounce "dem". Their food is amazing as well. There are recipes that my family has cooked for generations, and I was surprised to find out that they're actually inspired by the Gullah recipes. Yum!
As I said earlier, Charleston, and the south for that matter, is known for ghost and haunts. There are many tour groups in the city that will take you on walking tours during the evening hours. They take you to some of the actually locations where ghosts are said to be. I've done a few tours with the Bulldog Tour Company. They take you all over the city to cemeteries, graveyards, and an old jail and dungeon. They'll tell you an actual story from the location, and then tell you about events that have happened in that same location since then. The pictures below show an alley known as "Dueler's Alley". Two men, one a doctor, met there to settle their differences over a woman. One man shot his gun into the air in hopes the other man would settle the argument in a different way. That wasn't the case. The other man shot the doctor in the leg, and a few days later, the doctor died. He's said to walk that alley during the evening and disappear into a brick wall. That place in the wall is actually a bricked up entrance to what used be a tavern the doctor frequented. You can make out the former door in one of the pictures below. You be the judge.
This is an amazing city where history actually comes alive on a daily basis. Growing up, history class had such a different feel to it since we could actually go to these locations on a field trip and learn the stories better. Thanks for taking this journey with me. I hope everyone has enjoyed it.
Today, we're off to a place called Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This is home to one of world's largest naval and maritime museums. The museum started in 1975 when the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier from World War II, was brought to town. A few months later on October 13, the carrier was opened to the public as a museum. This was to celebrate the 200th birthday of the United States Navy.
Over the course of the next few years, the Patriot's Point mission would grow even larger with the addition of additional vessels for the public to tour as well as a replica base camp from Vietnam that would tell the story of the river patrol boats and the HAL-3 Seawolves helicopter crews. The additional ships included the Balao class submarine Clamagore, the Treasury Class Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, and the USS Laffey (a destroyer also known as The Ship That Would Not Die).
The aircraft carrier has multiple tours that you can take to see different parts of the ship. You get to see everything from the brig (the jail), the mess hall, and the flight deck. There are also 25 different war planes displayed all over the ship. Each one tells the story of a different war and how courageous our soldiers are.
The brand new Congressional Medal of Honor Museum is located on board the carrier too. The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest honor for military valor. It opened to a worldwide audience in 2007. Brian Williams from NBC News served as the Master of Ceremonies at the opening celebration. Thousands of medal recipients attended the event. This is an amazing thing to see inside. There are stories that will really tug at your heart to hear.
After spending several hours touring all there is to see here, let's head back to downtown Charleston to see some of the historic houses. Nathaniel Russell was a sea merchant from Rhode Island. He and his wife lived in the house in the early 1800s. This house, like all other houses in the downtown area, has a private garden that is spectacular this time of the year. There is a giant magnolia tree next to the house that was just about ready to bloom. Tours are given of the house throughout the day, and one of the fascinating things to see is the three story spiral staircase. You might be asking yourself "Why is a staircase fascinating?" What would you say if I told you that there isn't anything holding the staircase up? Well, it's true. The free-flying staircase doesn't have any support under it or through the wall holding it up. Each stair supports the weight of the stair above it. There are only two metal poles attached to the staircase, but they are only there to keep the railing up. Unfortunately, when a historic house has been "restored" (see previous postings about the differences between restored and preserved), photography of any kind is prohibited. The pictures below are of the front of the house and the side of the house taken from the garden.
Our last stop for the day is an evening baseball game with the local farm team. The Charleston RiverDogs are a sub-team of the New York Yankees, and the team is owned, in part, by Bill Murray (Caddyshack, Saturday Night Live). Murray actually lives on Sullivan's Island, which is the island right next to mine. It's not his summer home either. He actually lives there full time and his kids are enrolled in school there. The stadium was built in 1997 and seats 6,000 people. There are nearly sell out crowds at every game. The park is named for the mayor of Charleston, Joseph P. Riley. He was first elected in 1975, and he's been serving in that capacity every since. If I'm not mistaken, he holds the title of longest serving mayor in the country.
Our stop today takes us to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. If you'll recall our chat on Monday about Drayton Hall, this was the original family plantation on the Ashley River from which John Drayton purchased some land to build Drayton Hall on. Magnolia dates back to 1676 when Thomas and Ann Drayton built the first house and gardens on the property. It was originally a rice plantation producing the "Carolina Gold" brand of rice. After the Rev. John Grimke Drayton inherited the property in 1870, the plantation became known for its beautiful gardens. The Rev. Drayton was among the first to utilize Camellia Japonica in an outdoor setting. He's also said to have introduced the first azaleas to America.
During the Civil War, the plantation house was burned down. It's thought that Union soldiers burned the house since they were making their way up the river burning other houses. It's also possible that newly freed slaves burned it down. That theory arose from a letter written by the Reverend's mother.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, the south was in economic turmoil. Reverend Drayton was forced to open the gardens as a tourist attraction. In 1870, "Magnolia-on-the-Ashley" became the first man-made tourist attraction in the United States.
Along with the majestic gardens, the 70 acres of the property consist of several ponds with many kinds of birds, alligators, snakes, and turtles. There's also a petting zoo on the grounds with goats, deer, rabbits, and peacocks.
This plantation remains under the control of the Drayton family after 15 generations.
I hope everyone enjoyed the first day of our tour around Charleston, South Carolina (my hometown). Today, we're heading out to another historical landmark that played an important role in our nation's history. Fort Sumter sits in the Charleston harbor as another defense point against enemies approaching from the sea.
The fort is actually built on a man-made island. Construction started after the War of 1812 and was still incomplete in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the Union.
The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter from Fort Johnson on James Island at 4:30 a.m. The bombardment continued for 33 hours straight. No Union soldiers were killed during the battle. Union soldiers surrendered and evacuated. The Confederate General, P.G.T. Beauregard, and the U.S. Army Major, Robert Anderson, had such a close relationship before the war that Beauregard allowed Anderson and his men to return to the north unharmed and even gave them a 100-cannon salute. During that salute, one Confederate soldier died from a cannon misfire and a Union soldier was wounded during the 27th shot of the salute. The firing stopped at 50 cannon blasts to avoid anymore accidents.
Major Anderson returned to the north where he received a hero's welcome. He carried with him the flag that flew over Fort Sumter during the day and a half bombardment. That flag is now on display in a case at the Fort Sumter National Museum.
Fort Sumter was restored and rebuilt several times after the Civil War to make it a useful again for the military. It had soldiers based there during World War I and World War II before it was decommissioned. The fort is now under the administration of the U.S. National Park Service and is accessible by taking a half hour boat trip from either Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant or from downtown Charleston. The last picture of the fort that shows a boarded up cannon hole, actually shows a shell (still in the brick) that was fired at the fort during the Civil War. There are three such shells still in the walls of the fort.
The picture below of the brown building with four columns shows the start of the "Market" in downtown Charleston. This is the place where slaves would come to sell their goods. It is just down the road from where the slaves were actually sold when they came in to port. Now this three-block long market still serves as a place for people to sell their wares. Everything from t-shirts to key chains and spices are sold in the open air buildings. This is a very popular tourist attraction to buy souvenirs or try some handmade candy or enjoy a meal. There are still folks that practice basket weaving called Sweetgass Baskets. This is a tradition that was brought over by slaves from Africa over 300 years ago. This is one of the oldest art forms of African origin in the United States. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (just outside of Charleston) has the distinction of being the only place where this particular type of basketry is practiced. The sweetgrass can be found in Lowcountry marshes, palmetto fronds, bulrush, and pine needles. Check out this website for a great, detailed history of the art form: http://www.sweet-grassbaskets.com/history.htm.
The picture of the white building with six columns is the new Customs House. Construction on this building began in 1853, but encountered monetary problems during and after the Civil War. Construction was resumed in 1870 and completed in 1879. The building has been used to conduct port business ever since.
The next couple of pictures show a little bit of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. This is a state supported college that has nearly 2,000 students in its Corp of Cadets and 1,200 civillian students in its evening programs. Only the cadets are required to live on campus, and they do not attend classes with civilians. There are a few exceptions to that rule though. Those include active military and veterans. The Citadel came in to existence in December of 1842 when the South Carolina Legislature passed an act establishing the school. The original mission of the school was to educate young men to protect the city from a possible slave rebellion. The school was all male until the mid 90's when a female, Shannon Faulkner, sued the school for rejecting her application based on her gender. She was allowed to attend the school because the judge said that a state funded school can't discriminate when it comes to admitting students. Faulkner came to the school in August and only lasted six days before dropping out. Most of those days were spent in the infirmary from exhaustion.
Tomorrow, we'll take a trip to Patriot's Point where four military ships are docked for visitors to walk through. One is the World War II aircraft carrier, Yorktown. We'll also talk about some of the historic houses in the area.
As you may or may not know, I took some time off last week to visit my family back in South Carolina. It was a different sort of trip because I drove the 1,200 miles instead of flying. It was something I'd always wanted to do. Some parts of the interstates were boring, but it was a great trip.
I was home for my little brother's 22nd birthday, and we had a big family cookout. For the first time in a long time, all four of my brothers were in the same place at the same time. Usually one or more aren't able to make it for a cookout. It was really cool to have everyone there with mom and dad.
My roommate went along with me to switch off driving when I would get tired. He had never been that far southeast before so I decided to take him all over town and show him some of the historic sites. My plan this week is to blog about my trip and share some of the sites with you. It's definitely a place you should visit to really learn about the history of our country.
One of the original 13 colonies, the first settlement in South Carolina was on Albermarle Point on the Ashley River in 1670. The state declared its independence from British rule on March 15, 1776. On February 5, 1778, South Carolina was the first state to ratify the first constitution (Articles of Confederation), and the eighth state to ratify the current constitution on September 17, 1788. We were also the first state to secede from the Union in December of 1860, and the very first shot of the Civil War was fired over Fort Sumter in the Charleston Harbor in April of 1861.
The state is also known for many "firsts" in the country. We had the first public museum set up in 1773, the first cotton exported to England, and the first Black Associate Justice of a state Supreme Court (J.J. Wright - February 2, 1870).
Working farms, or plantations, are found all over the south. Some of them are still working plantations producing some amazing fruits and veggies. Drayton Hall is one such plantation, but it doesn't have any working farm fields. This is the oldest plantation house to have survived for nearly 300 years. It was the only plantation house to survive during the Civil War. It was built for John Drayton, who purchased some land from his family who also owned Magnolia Plantation next door. The house is considered one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in the country.
The plantation house is being preserved and not restored. There's a bit of a debate between people as to which is better. Preserving the home is where nothing is touched up and no furniture is added to look as if it might have in the early years. Restoring is where the historical society that owns the site will go to great lengths to get the same wallpaper on the walls or the same paint/plaster on the ceiling. They also have many pieces of original furniture on display. I like both types of historical sites myself. In one picture below, you'll notice what appears to be a raised circular grass area. This is where the horse and carriage would arrive from the gravel road and drop off the occupant at the front door and then circle the drive to the carriage house.
If you didn't arrive by carriage, which took almost an entire day, you would travel by boat up the river with the tide. That way was the quickest (about five hours from Charleston). In another picture, you'll be able to see down the road you would have walked down after getting off the boat. Since it took so long to get to these plantations, a typical stay lasted for a couple of months. This is known as the "social season" which was January and February in those days, when the mosquitoes weren't as bad. Mosquitoes were feared because they were thought to have carried yellow fever and malaria.
Other notable things to see in Charleston are the forts that have lasted over the years. Fort Moultrie is one such fort on Sullivan's Island. It was originally built with palmetto logs from the palmetto trees that are found all over the coast. The soft logs actually helped repel cannon fire from ships in the harbor. Some reports say that soldiers actually saw cannon balls bounce off the soft logs. This fort played a pivotal role in keeping the city safe. It was on the edge of the island facing the ocean so it was a perfect spot to fend off the enemy. It was actually in service until 1947 when it was decommissioned.
I hope you'll enjoy this look at my hometown and one of the most historic cities in the United States. I'll post pictures along the way so you can see the beauty of my hometown.
If I didn't know any better, I have been living in Seattle this month. It has sure felt like it, as rainfall amounts are well above average. In fact, we have already received almost 4" of rain more than we typically see in the month of April. The latest storm that struck the area on Thursday and Friday was a big part of the wet month. Over 2" of rain fell in La Crosse between Thursday and Friday. That doesn't even compare to the amount of rain that areas to our south received. Dorchester in Allamakee County (Northeastern Iowa) received almost 5" of rain. Similar amounts were also reported in Clayton, Fayette, and Grant Counties where flooding was a problem. We have received just over 6 and a half inches of rain so far this month in La Crosse, and that is knocking at the door of a record. That puts us at the third wettest April of all time. The record was set back in 1973 when 7.31" of precipitation was recorded. While we are close to the record, the chance of topping it are pretty slim. Precipitation is in the forecast through Monday, but all amounts will be on the light side. Below, are some additional rainfall totals between Thursday and Friday.
A low pressure system over the Midwest has produced a wet end to the work week. Perhaps some of the most noticeable affects have been felt through parts of northeastern Iowa. Over the past 24 hours Clayton County has witnessed over four inches of rain. Grant County in southwest Wisconsin has also been a victim of high rainfall amounts. Emergency management officials have reported damage and mudslides over the central portions of the county. The chance for showers and thunderstorms will continue today and counties in the News 19 viewing area could see anywhere from 0.5"-1.5" of rain. The heaviest rainfall will likely fall during the morning. Crawford County is under a Flood Warning due to the levels of the Mississippi River, and will remain under a Flood Warning until the river falls back below the flood stage. This week is Severe Weather Awareness week and there are a few things to keep in mind during flooding situations. Most importantly if you see a flooded area, TURN AROUND, DON"T DROWN. This becomes extremely important if you encounter flooding while you are in your vehicle. Many people believe that their 3,00 pound or more vehicle will remain in contact with the road in flooding situations but the force of buoyancy can float your vehicle away. In fact, most cars can be swept away in 18-24 inches of moving water. For anyone attempting to walk or wade through flowing water, as little as 6 inches of flowing water can sweep you off your feet. A cold front will sweep through the Tri-State this afternoon and with it will be the slight risk for severe weather across the south and eastern portions of the viewing area. Gusty winds, hail and isolated tornadoes are all possible. Fortunately it is a cloudy and rainy start to the day, so the instability in the atmosphere won't be as high as it would be if it were sunny. Instability is one of the key ingredients to severe weather. Perhaps the biggest punch from the cold front will be much cooler air. This weekend afternoon highs will hover around a cool 50 degrees.
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