Spring 2009 - Houston - NYC

04/30/09 - Left Houston and drove to Beaumont to see our friends the Cahills (John & Debbie). Ate at Cheddars Casual Restaurant. Food & companions were both great.

05/01/09 - Left Beaumont via Hwy 12 & 190 to Baton Rouge. Took I10 to I20 to I55 to Hwy 98. Getting to Hattiesburg MS at about 5:30PM. Dinner at Leathras Bar-be-que restaurant was OUTSTANDING. Best Ribs I ever had & the best potato salad in the WORLD. Drove to historic downtown (after dark) and drove around. Might have to stop back here on the way back (for more BBQ) and to walk around downtown in the day light.

05/02/09 - Drive from Hattiesburg to Chattanooga, TN was uneventful. Drove the whole way on Interstates.

This is our second visit to Chattanooga. We were again impressed by the river area and night life in the downtown area. Walking across the river on the pedestrian bridge (Market Street Bridge, I believe) is nice.

05/02/09 - Drive from Hattiesburg to Chattanooga, TN was uneventful. Drove the whole way on Interstates.

This is our second visit to Chattanooga. We were again impressed by the river area and night life in the downtown area. Walking across the river on the pedestrian bridge (Walnut Street Bridge, I believe) is nice.

05/03/09 - Drive from Chattanooga, TN to Lewisburg, WV. About 400 miles and a difficult drive (in heavy rain). Left about 9:30AM and got in at 5:15PM.

Went to Patrick O'Flaherty's Irish Pub on Washington Pub. Being Sunday night it was an Irish session. About 13 musicians (and myself on the bones) played music until 10PM. Food is good. Had the Corned beef hash & Guiness (of course).

05/04/09 - Spent the day in & around Lewisburg. We went to the Greenbrier and took the 'bunker tour'. A bunker, intended to work as a fall-out shelter, was build under a new wing of the Greenbrier. Its purpose was to shelter members of both houses of Congress in the event of a nuclear attach.

05/05/09 - Got away early to drive to Pottsville in Schuylkill County, PA. Ate at a pizza place in a small mall. It was good. I didn't get the name. It was on Highway 61 & close to the Days Inn.

The Days Inn took over the River Inn. Hotel is okay & cheap.

05/06/09 - Spent the morning in the Pottsville city library & the afternoon at the Schuylkill Co Heritage Society (SCHS) office. The SCHS was very helpful with our family research.

We found the property where the Doolings lived between at least 1865 & 1880. It was on Coal street (aka Coal Alley).

05/07/09 - This AM we went to the Schuylkill Co court house. We checked the deeds and found transactions with family involving the house on Coal Street that we had visited the night before. We didnot find any records of wills for any Doolings. Then we drove to NJ to get ready for our trip to Ireland on Saturday.