Poe

Dear Dad,

We escaped New Jersey briefly over the weekend and took a day trip down to Baltimore to visit Edgar Allan Poe’s house. After G3 dressed as Red Death for Halloween, we had promised him we’d take him to see Poe. And finally, we had a weekend that allowed us to make good on that promise. The house was very tiny. Hard to believe Poe lived there with five other people, including his cousin whom he eventually married. Despite the fact that it must have been cramped, it was a productive time in Poe’s literary career. He wrote several stories while residing there though none that I remembered. Once upon a time, I read a thick volume—taken out of the Mattituck Library—that included every single one of Poe’s stories. But while I am a voracious reader, my memory is a sieve. Sadly, I forget most of the books I devour after a few months. G3 makes fun of me all time, but really it is quite frustrating. In all the times you visited my brother in Baltimore, did you ever visit Poe’s house? If so, what did you think of it? It’s a National Historic Landmark, so I know you’ll be happy that G3 got to see it. 

Even though Poe was a fairly prolific writer, he died poor. In his lifetime, he was successful in getting his work published, but he was not successful in making a lucrative living. Death, however, brought fame. If he were alive now, royalties from his work would probably make him a rich man. His legacy also runs deep. He influenced many writers that came after him including Stephen King and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Quotes by both men adorn the walls in one of the rooms in Poe’s house. King said,” “Poe was the first writer to write about main characters who were bad guys or mad guys and those are some of my favorite stories.” According to Doyle, “Where was the deceptive story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?” But Poe’s impact on fiction didn’t stop at authors, it extended further. Alfred Hitchcock credits Poe for influencing his career choice, “It’s because I liked Edgar Allen Poe’s stories so much that I began to make suspense films.” I’m sure Poe would have preferred to have enjoyed some of this success in his lifetime. I’m positive that he would have relished the idea of making enough money off his art that he didn’t have to struggle to make ends meet. But belated success, I suppose, is better than obscurity. 

On the way home, we stopped at a winery. Kati and I did a tasting and we sat outside listening to music. It made me think of you. Oh how you enjoyed the wineries on Long Island and sitting outside on a warm sunny day to have a picnic or pet the animals. I don’t think you’d have liked the wine in Maryland though. It was all rather sweeter than you preferred. After our tasting we stopped at Gunpowder Falls State Park to do an Adventure Cache. Only I was the only one motivated to do it. While I walked, Kati and G3 sat on rocking chairs in the shade, enjoying the quiet of the late afternoon.

I am now in the process of planning our summer road trip. With the exorbitant prices of gas, we need to stay closer to home than we did last year. Therefore, we are heading south instead of west. And since the there don’t seem to be many first come first serve camp sites, we can’t really go where the wind blows us. Which is my preferred way to travel. Instead, we need to make reservations. I went to AAA today to pick up some of their free travel books only discover they don’t print them anymore. They are only accessible online. I must admit I was disappointed. I’m rather old fashioned when it comes to reading material. We have not settled on a complete itinerary yet, but we will definitely visit Great Smokey Mountain National Park. G3 heard you complain about it enough times. It was the one park you didn’t like, and that somehow makes it appealing to him. I wish you were here. I would love to call you up and discuss the upcoming trip. I would love to you hear your input on what we should do, where we should go. Of course, there will be historical sights—lots of them—what would a vacation be without them? 

I miss you!