DAY TRIP

These pictures were taken at Leesylvania State Park, on the Potomac River about 30 miles south of Washington, DC. The park is beautiful, with a marina overlooking a protected harbor and two boat ramps, each capable of serving up to 6 trailers at a time. Here’s the Half Shell, tied up at one of the piers [commercial fishing, or tour? I don’t know.].



The area has a rich history – in the 1950’s it was envisioned as a Vegas-style entertainment park, complete with a floating casino.



Virginia was a dry state at the time, with no gambling, hence the floating casino which was moored in Maryland waters (the border is 50 feet offshore). Here’s my wife and I, standing on a fishing pier nearby, one on each side of the border.



The survey marker is embedded in the pier deck. [And yes, a Virginia fishing license is acceptable, even though you’re fishing in Maryland waters.]



During the Civil War, Freestone Point (above the fishing pier) was a Confederate outpost overlooking the Potomac.





Only one cannon is left, although the bunkers for several more are still evident at the top of the bluff.



And of course, no day trip is complete without Bambi, who was having dinner beside the road.

THE BLOOM IS OFF THE ROSE

On Fox & Friends this morning, Karl Rove indicated that the American public is trending more conservative. Here's some data.

This first graphic is the Obama Approval Index from Rasmussen Reports. I've been tracking the approval index ever since the inauguration, waiting for it to hit zero, but never quite getting around to posting. The straight line is the trend line.



The second graphic appears to support Rove's contention. Green indicates those who "strongly support" President Obama; red indicates those who "strongly disapprove"; and black indicates those in the middle who lack a strong opinion.



Looking at the trend lines, the middle has remained relatively constant at about 1/3 while the strong disapprovals have gotten significantly higher and the strong approvals have gotten significantly smaller. The trend suggests that strong approvals are moving toward approvals, approvals are moving toward to disapprovals, and disapprovals are moving toward strong disapprovals.

If Obama's poll numbers reflect policy preferences, the Rasmussen data does indeed Rove's conservative trend.