Category: Curiosities

Redemption for Kansas?

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Tuesday, 5 September 2017
Lamar, CO to Hutchinson, KS ~ 275 miles

0905 Lamar to Hutchinson route 275

Map credit: Google Maps 2017, courtesy AAA

We kind of figured the Thai Spicy Basil would not be open for breakfast, so we decided to give the nearby Hickory House a try.  Another good call – not only was the food fine, we had another cute as could be and super friendly server!  We had fun chatting with her and sharing our story.   On our way out of town, we stopped by a Roadside America site to see a building made of petrified wood – nothing terribly exciting, but since we’d been to the petrified forest state park, it was kind of interesting.  Soon we were on the road, and before too long we were crossing the border into Kansas.  Have I mentioned that until this trip, Kansas was our least favorite state of all fifty of them?  I had a feeling that after the past few days and the roads we’d been on, Kim may have been looking forward to some flat, boring prairie driving – and she was!

Our breakfast destination
Omelet and hash browns – all good!
The petrified wood building
On another famous trail
It’s looking a lot like Kansas!
Kim was happy to see this road!

We’ve driven across Kansas (west to east), albeit on the interstate, and we’ve driven south to north across it on Hwy 83 (the Road to Nowhere), and we’ve explored the southeast corner several times (on Route 66), and while some of the sights we’ve seen (Dorothy’s House in Liberal, Monument Rocks in the middle of nowhere (one of the 8 wonders of Kansas), Prairie Dog Town near Oakley (now closed), Baxter Springs (on the Route) have been good ones, others – Garden City, Scott (lake, city, county, state park, etc.) have been underwhelming.  As kids, we rode across Kansas and stopped at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene and then Daddy just drove and drove and drove.  For us, even North Dakota and South Dakota were more interesting; however, after criss-crossing Nevada twice now, Kansas was in good shape to move up a rung or two.  Fingers crossed, because our first stop was to be Garden City. Was redemption at hand?

On our first trip to Garden City, back in 2007, the main thing we wanted to see was the Big Pool.  The Big Pool was hand dug and concrete poured by the people of Garden City in 1921 and opened for its inaugural season in 1922. The bath house was a WPA project constructed during the 1930s, and a children’s wading pool was also added in the 1930s. Sounds intriguing, right?  Thing is, we arrived there on the day before Mother’s Day, which was early enough in May that the pool wasn’t open yet.  Bummer.  Not only that, but our meals in Garden City that trip were at Arby’s and Long John Silver’s – not because we were craving fast food (you know it’s against the rules) but because it’s all we could find open!  Well, that’s not exactly true – we were directed to the Ramada Inn for the Mother’s Day buffet, but after about five minutes inside (we had even been seated), we left.  Not happening! Anyway, here we were, back in Garden City, and it’s the day after Labor Day.  I was hoping that the pool would still be full!  You’re probably wondering what could be so exciting about a municipal swimming pool, but this isn’t just any pool – it’s the BIG POOL! When I say big, I mean BIGGEST!  At 330 feet long by 220 feet wide, it’s longer than a football field and four times wider.  It is so big that people have water skied and wind surfed in it!  It takes two teams of eight people SIX DAYS to vacuum it.  A motorized boat is used to sprinkle soda ash in it, and there is a guard stand in the middle of the pool, meaning you would have to get wet to get on the stand – all of you former lifeguards out there – you know what a bitch that would be on a chilly day, a rainy day, or on first or last shifts!  Thankfully, we were rewarded – the pool was closed (meaning we could take all of the photos we wanted) and it was still full of water.  The pool is right next to the city zoo, and we learned that, back in the day, they brought the elephants over to frolic in the pool after it closed for the season.  Sadly, the elephants aren’t there any more, so we missed that spectacle, but there is an elephant slide in the kiddie pool.

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Some of the history of the Big Pool

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It really is ENORMOUS! This is the shallow end, with the bathhouse/concession area at left.

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Pictures don’t do it justice! Two low dives and two water slides in the deep end.

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See the guard chair in the middle of the pool??

Turns out that the zoo and the city museum (also next door) are free, so we decided to get a few steps by walking through the zoo.  And, if you drive through the zoo, it’s $10, and you don’t see much.  Go figure.  Kim probably wished we had skipped the zoo, since I love taking pictures of animals, but I really enjoyed it.  It was not a huge zoo, but it had some fun stuff.  You can skip the pics if you want – I may have gotten carried away…

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After the zoo, we had to go to the museum, since the main reason we stopped was to see (I’m not kidding here) the world’s largest hairball.  There, I said it.  And it was right here in Garden City, although we almost missed it!  The museum was nicely done and we learned a bit more about Garden City, the Santa Fe Trail, and life on the prairie.  And about the hairball…

An original International Harvester
And the showstopper – the Giant Hairball!
Map of the Santa Fe Trail
One of Garden City’s more colorful characters

Our next stop after Garden City was Dodge City, which I was concerned would be the Gatlinburg of the Prairie.  In case you are not a long-term Sassy Sister follower, we have a habit of bestowing the ‘Gatlinburg of the ______’ moniker on things that we thought would be cool, interesting, or at least worth a stop but that ended up being tourist traps more than the places we expected (and that they probably once were).  It’s kind of sad, because we grew up going to Gatlinburg and loving it, before it became, well, THE Gatlinburg.  In case you’re wondering about some of our ‘award’ winners:

  • Gatlinburg of the Midwest – Wisconsin Dells
  • Gatlinburg of the Civil War – Gettysburg
  • Gatlinburg of the Coast – Myrtle Beach
  • Gatlinburg of the Badlands – Wall Drug

You get the idea!  Let us know if you have someplace we should include on this list!

Another blessing – Dodge City was not a Gatlinburg!  Our main stop in Dodge was as quirky as they come – the Wild West Wax Museum/Kansas Teacher’s Hall of Fame.  Yep, both of these oddities are housed in the same building, and the story is a funny one. Turns out the guy who owned the building was a photographer who somehow started collecting wax figures, mostly of wild west heroes and villains, with a few exceptions – John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein, most notably.  His photography studio was on the first floor, and the entire second floor was filled with these wax figures in semi-elaborate dioramas with a backdrop of black velvet, black light painted murals.  When the teacher’s Hall of Fame was looking for a home, the studio was just perfect, and the wax museum was part of the deal.  The coolest part of the wax museum is that it hasn’t changed since the 60’s!!  We almost didn’t get to see either the museum or the Hall of Fame, as it was open by appointment only after Labor Day, but the nice lady who answered our phone call agreed to meet us at 3 PM or shortly after, and sure enough, when we arrived about ten after three, Miss Mary Lou was there to greet us.  She sent us upstairs to see the wax museum, and then she was our personal tour guide for the Hall of Fame and it’s piece d’resistance, an authentic one-room schoolhouse that has been restored and permanently placed on the property.

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The Kansas State Teacher’s Hall of Fame was very impressive!  Since 1977, the best teachers in Kansas have been honored by their peers, and it’s not easy to be in this group.  First, a teacher must have taught in Kansas for 25 years, and then, he or she must be nominated for the award.  Of course, many letters and recommendations are needed and then a group selects the award recipients from the larger group.  In addition to being a place of honor for these dedicated educators, there is a small museum featuring desks, books, typewriters. blackboards, musical instruments, etc. through the decades, and there is a gift shop, too – all in addition to the one-room schoolhouse, which is a museum itself.  We appreciated Miss Mary Lou taking time from her day to share these museums with us!

The refurbished one-room schoolhouse
In the Hall of Fame Museum, we took a trip down Memory Lane with Dick & Jane
and My Weekly Reader
Teaching math in 1927
And learning about Kansas
The interior of the school
Beautiful butterfly garden in front of the schoolhouse
Beautiful butterfly garden in front of the schoolhouse
Beautiful butterfly garden in front of the schoolhouse

We thought about finding something to eat or drink while in Dodge, so we walked down the hill to the famous (or infamous) Boot Hill.  We opted not to pay to see the recreated Main Street, but we walked by it and then up and down a few blocks of the town.  In the end, we didn’t get refreshments (the brew pub and the distillery were closed) and just decided to head on to Hutchinson, our destination for the day.  On the way, we passed a huge feedyard of cattle and then an even bigger wind farm.  No kidding, the windmills, by the thousand, went on and on for miles!  We had already passed two different windmill-making facilities and a truck with a windmill arm.  This is definitely the place for it!

Boot Hill in Dodge City
A shootout on the lawless streets of Dodge
Mural of a stagecoach on the Santa Fe Trail
The old town
Big Longhorn
Posing with Matt again
The Boot Hill Distillery
Lots of grain elevators on the prairie
BIG feedyard
Ginormous wind farms!
And sort of what we expected..

We were looking forward to staying in a Hampton Inn again, and we had no trouble finding ours in Hutchinson, since we arrived before dark (again!).  After getting some recommendations for dinner, we decided to drive a few miles south to the town of Yoder (population 194) and a place called Carriage Crossing.  Turns out Yoder is the center of several nearby Amish communities, and this restaurant (and bakery and gift shop) is family-owned and is known for its comfort food, which can be served family style if there are enough of you.  We were happy with our choice – good food, plenty of it, great prices, and PIE!

Our dinner spot for the night
A bit about the restaurant
Freshly baked bread and cinnamon butter
I had roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans
And peach pie…

Buffalo, Bismarck, Big Bugs, and Bears

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Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Jamestown ND to Medora ND ~365 miles

Bugs!

After a fantastic night’s sleep at the Jamestown Quality Inn (which was packed – where did all of these people come from??) we repacked our bug-spattered car (ick!) and headed out in search of breakfast.  We tried a place across the street which didn’t open until eleven, but some of the women working there pointed us in the direction of the Depot Cafe downtown.  After a bit of searching we found it, in the “mall”.  It was a happening place, although we were the youngest patrons in there by about 20 years.  But they knew how to make a good breakfast!  The place was full of railroad memorabilia and all of the menu items had train names.  Kim and I both had “The Fireman”, a ham and cheese omelet with hash browns and toast.  Good way to start the day!

Breakfast at The Depot Cafe

After a short ride through downtown, we arrived at Frontier Village and the National Buffalo Museum – what a great time we had! Frontier Village was great – an old West street lined with museum quality shops and services – a newspaper office, post office, saloon, blacksmith, dentist’s office, barber shop, church, school, law office, bank, general store, etc.  Writer Louis L’Amour grew up in Jamestown, so there is a Writer’s Shack that honors him and his books. There was a stagecoach, so we paid our $5 fee and hopped aboard.  What a ride! We were practically hysterical!  It was fun for ten minutes, but we determined that we would have been whiny pioneers!  We rode out of the village and past a few buffalo grazing, then returned back to the stagecoach station.  From there we walked down to see the World’s Biggest Buffalo, which is one of Hampton Inn’s Landmarks.  We first discovered these mostly restored pieces of Americana on Route 66, and now we are on the lookout for them.  It was a big buffalo, all right – 60 tons!!  We walked through and looked at most of the exhibits, then drove down to the buffalo museum to try to see White Cloud, an the only female albino buffalo in North America.  It was a hot day (for North Dakota) so she was down in the shade of the trees, pretty far away, but we got a few photos of her.  It was almost noon and we had not gotten on the road, so we opted to skip the museum and get going.

World's Largest Buffalo, Jamestown ND

Our goal today was to get to Medora, in extreme western North Dakota.  We had been duly warned about the boringness of North Dakota, so we had searched high and low for places of interest so that the drive wouldn’t just be interstate all the way.  Our first detour took us south of Jamestown to pick up a section of “A Very Long Straight Road” which goes from Hickson to Streeter, North Dakota.  They were not exaggerating!  What we didn’t expect along this straight road through the prairie was lots of water!  And it came right up to the road, in lots of places!  It appeared that some of the water had appeared unexpectedly and had flooded out areas.  There were even seagulls!  What was really odd was that it wasn’t clear from where the water came – no rivers, just seemingly random ponds and lakes.  We enjoyed the drive out in the country and on our own. Shortly after the town of Gackle (spelled out in red, white, and blue tires) we turned back north and rejoined the interstate, headed for Bismarck and another state capitol.  Best things about the interstates out here – no traffic (NONE!) and 75 mph speed limits!

A Long, Straight Road

On the way to Bismarck, we passed the World’s Largest Sandhill Crane in the town of Steele.  It was behind the Lone Steer Motel/Cafe/Lounge and there was a pretty little memorial garden there.  It was a nice little diversion…

World's Largest Sandhill Crane

The North Dakota state capitol in Bismarck is one of only four capitol buildings in the US that are skyscrapers (you may remember the Louisiana state capitol in Baton Rouge from last year’s trip, and Florida and Nebraska are the other ones).  We didn’t think the building was very pretty from the outside, but we loved the art deco interior.  Again, symbolism abounded inside.  We had a wonderful tour guide, Taryn, who shared some of the fun facts about the capitol.  Here are a few things we learned: The sculptures in the huge Memorial Hall represent farming and mining, the two largest industries in ND; the chandeliers represent heads of wheat, weigh 1000 pounds each, and contain 109 light bulbs each; the lighting in the House chamber represents the stars and moon at night, while that in the Senate chamber represents sunrise and sunset; the bronze doors of the elevators depict the pioneer experience; and there’s a really cool room that serves no particular purpose (it’s a back entrance to the Secretary of State’s office) that is lined in “monkey wood” – you can see the faces of different animals in it.  We enjoyed the views from the 18th floor, especially of the mall with “North Dakota” spelled out in flowers.  Across the way from the capitol was the state historical museum and a statue with Sacajawea and her papoose.

North Dakota State Capitol

From Bismarck, we went south to see Fort Abraham Lincoln, but when we got there, we learned that the park had just closed (at five PM), so we turned around and visited the ND Veterans’ Cemetery next door, then continued west, bound for the Enchanted Highway.  But first, we saw the World’s Largest Holstein Cow, “Salem Sue”, a statue of a cow so big (38 feet high and 50 feet long!) that we could easily see her from the interstate.  We just took pictures from the road and chose not to stop for this one.  Erected in 1974, Sue honors and advertises the dairymen of the area, their superior herds, and the production of high quality milk.

Salem Sue, World's Largest Holstein Cow

The Enchanted Highway runs from Regent, ND, to the interstate due north, and it is lined with some of the World’s Largest (are you spotting a theme here?) Metal Sculptures.  It was easy to see where to get off the highway, as “Geese in Flight” holds the Guinness World Record as the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world.  It was erected in 2001 and is built of used oil well pipe and oil tanks.  Other sculptures along the way were The Deer Family (2002), “Grasshoppers in the Field” (1999), “Fisherman’s Dream” (2006), “Pheasants on the Prairie” (1996), “Teddy Rides Again” (1993), and “Tin Family” (1991).  Which one is your favorite?

"Geese in Flight" World's Largest Scrap Metal Sculpture

On the Enchanted Highway, we saw lots of pheasants by the road.  They hang out right along the sides of the road (something we had noticed on our Roadside Giant Tour in 2007) and this year I even got some good photos of them!  We also saw beautiful fields full of sunflowers in full bloom (second largest cash crop in ND) and we enjoyed the rolling green hills dotted with big rolled bales of hay.  By the time we got to Dickenson, we were pretty hungry, so we stopped at the first place we found, El Sombrero, and wolfed down some pretty good Mexican food.  It was dark by the time we pulled into Medora, so we found our hotel and lugged in our stuff.  We loved having our own little Teddy bear to greet us!

Teddy!

Thinking North Dakota was a lot more fun to cross than Kansas,

Jan

Day 2 Jamestown to Medora ND

Where in the World Are We?

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15 September 2009

As predicted, the day dawned a bit on the overcast side.  We wondered why we had not saved the cave for today, but since it sounded like it was REALLY raining in the area where we would be going, we decided to spend a little more time in Kentucky.  After getting clean in our little slanty wigwam shower, we headed out into a little Mother Nature shower, bound for the Cream and Sugar Cafe that we passed yesterday in Cave City.  It was a lovely space, with a hardwood floor and cheery yellow walls filled with original art.  Our server was a little ray of sunshine on this cloudy day, and our breakfast arrived in a jiffy on darling little cherry plates.  Kim had country (not city) ham and eggs with a biscuit, and I got the Highlander omelet – ham, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese – with a biscuit.  The perfect way to start the day!

Here’s how nice they are at Cream and Sugar – my friend Anne liked the dishes in this picture so much that she emailed the cafe, and they wrote her right back with info about where to purchase them!

[NOTE: Cream & Sugar Cafe is permanently closed. So sad.]

Our morning’s destination was Kentucky Down Under, an attraction in nearby Horse Cave that boasted a collection of Australian animals, a cave, and several other items of interest.  Since I’ve just returned from Australia, I thought it would be funny to have pictures of kangaroos taken in Kentucky!  We got there just in time for the 10 AM cave tour, which we weren’t necessarily planning to take, but when we heard it was a short tour and that the cave had lots of formations, we changed our minds.  Our tour guide, Shannon, was a local girl whose grandfather had led tours of this same cave.  The only other cavers with us were a mom and her four-year-old son, so we got personal attention.  This cave is called Mammoth Onyx Cave, as the owners of this land tried to catch tourists before they got to Mammoth Cave (back in the day).

The cave was allegedly discovered by a young girl in 1799, who stumbled upon the entrance (a 30 foot deep sinkhole) while she was playing in the woods.  When the owners first began exploiting the cave as a tourist attraction, visitors climbed down (and back up) a wooden ladder through this hole.  Imagine the clothes women wore back in the early 19th century and picture that!  Since this small cave is open to the surface and is not protected by a sandstone layer like Mammoth Cave is, it is a wet cave and therefore has lots of wonderful formations.  It was slippery going in the cave, and some of the passages were quite narrow, but the formations were pretty cool.  My favorite one looked like a chocolate fountain!  The colors ranged from a light brownish yellow to deep red-orange to chocolate brown.  Early visitors to the cave were allowed to break off pieces of stalactites to take home as souvenirs, but today more care is taken to protect the cave. 

There was a small pond in the cave that used to be a home to eyeless fish and crawfish, but they are no longer living due to the number of pennies that were thrown into the pond by sightseers (over $20,000 worth!)  One of the fun things they always do in caves is turn out all of the lights so that you can experience utter darkness – it is always a surprise to me how very BLACK it is with no light, and how even one little light can illuminate so much!  On the way back up the stairs and out of the cave we spotted several small (two or three inch long) salamanders, which is a good sign for the health of the cave.  Thankfully, even though it had been overcast and much rain was predicted for the day, we didn’t get flooded down in the cave.  Shannon told us she had given tours ankle deep in water!

Back out in the heat and the light (did I mention the humidity?), we went to our first Down Under exhibit, which was about bringing non-native plants and animals to the continent of Australia.  I found it interesting that there was no mention of bringing non-native animals (like kangaroos) to the US, but maybe that’s just me.  The presenter of this exhibit, Jesse, did a great job.  He talked about seemingly non-threatening animals that the British introduced that have since caused much harm, chief among them being rabbits.  The Australians had even built a LONG ‘vermin-proof’ fence in Western Australia just to keep rabbits out of the many sheep stations there.  Of course, the rabbits just burrowed under it.  Other animals he talked about were dogs, sheep, goats, and camels.  The camel turned out to be a good thing, as it was good for traversing the desert which occupies so much of the interior of Australia.  We met Camelia (original name, huh?) and then we were on to our next stop – the kangaroos!

The exhibit here had three kinds of kangaroos – the reds, the Eastern grays, and the smaller wallabies.  We were able to pet a couple of them, but most of the kangas were just lying around being lazy.  They were cute, though, and it sure was funny to see them in Kentucky!  Also in the enclosure were black swans and emus.  We got to pet an emu, too, and feel how thick its feathers are.  No wonder it can’t fly – they were heavy!  From the kangaroo pen, we walked over to the lorikeets.  These birds were by far my favorite Australian birds – they are so colorful!  Green, blue, red, and yellow – just like a rainbow of birds.  These guys knew it was feeding time, and they could hardly wait until we got in the pen.  One landed on Kim’s shoulder and stayed there the whole time!  Another stopped on her head for a little while, but it was really funny to see the birds on the heads of the bald men!

We had missed the border collie shepherding event, but we got to feed some lambs and see several different kinds of rams.  I didn’t realize that some rams do not have horns, and I surely didn’t know that one variety of ram can have up to twenty horns!!  The little boy who had been on our cave tour also got to milk this GIANT cow.  From here, we went through the exhibit that had lots of different bird cages.  The birds are so exotic and pretty!  We had missed the morning digeridoo recital, and we chose not to wait for the 3:00 show, so after a quick stop at the dingo pen, we were on our way.  This was a nice little park and one I would recommend if you find yourself in the area for a few hours.

Since we were trying to let the southern torrential rains work their way east before we went south, we decided to take the Cordell Hull Scenic Byway down to Tompkinsville, KY instead of going straight to Nashville.  This route took us through the metropolis of Glasgow, where we got hungry for some lunch.  Even though we had our Road Food book with us, it was of no use in this part of the state.  As much as I’ve liked most of the places I’ve eaten on the Sterns’ recommendation, my biggest gripe about their books is that often, you need to stay in one area for many meals, and then you might go hungry before you find your next good place to eat!  You’ve probably realized that our trips are as much about food as anything, and we’ve learned to sniff out the local eateries pretty well.  Now with Garmins and iphones, in addition to AAA and books like Road Food, it’s even easier.  And so we found ourselves navigating the streets of Glasgow, circling the town square and landing in the parking lot of the Li’l Country Diner, a very non-descript looking building with a large, mostly empty, gravel parking lot.  Given that it was about 2:00, this didn’t dissuade us.  Good thing, ‘cause there were some good eats inside!  We got the meat and two, for which both of us chose roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes (and gravy), and green beans.  I also succumbed to the pull of a freshly made deviled egg, and of course we each had a roll and a huge glass of iced tea with lemon.  The pie of the day was butterscotch, but for once we were able to control ourselves.  We did have the foresight to take a half-pint of homemade pimiento cheese with us, and you can’t beat the prices here – both of our lunches, plus the cheese, cost under $15…

[NOTE: I think this place is closed, too.]

Off we went, stopping at the Sonic for our road tea, headed for Tompkinsville, where we didn’t know what we might find.  The road was pretty and before too long we were there.  We saw signs for the Old Mulkey Meeting House, so we went to see what that was.  It was a lovely old log church meeting house, set in the woods next to some old cemeteries.  In the afternoon mist it made a great picture.  Several of Daniel Boone’s relatives, including his sister, were buried there.  Sheila, the lady at the visitor center told us that back in town, Tompkinsville was famous for its Rolley Hole Marble players. She suggested that we stop in at the Monroe County Marble Club Super Dome and watch some marbles being played.  She gave us a map and a description of Rolley Hole marbles, so off we went. 

Well, I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but this was NOT it!!  I’m afraid a written description won’t do it justice, and neither will my photos – you sort of had to be there! To get to the Dome, we hung a left at the IGA and went past the Armory and its many warnings and no trespassing signs, and then we came upon a sort of Quonset hut-like structure, if Quonset huts were made of wood and looked like they could fall down any time. Since we were looking for a dome, we were a little surprised, but since the road ended in the parking lot (I use the term loosely), we figured this was the place. Then we saw the ‘marquee’ that said Monroe County Rolley Hole Marble Dome and we were sure we were in the right place. We were soon greeted by three men who somehow knew we were not regulars there! We were just hoping we weren’t about to become permanent residents. But we needn’t have worried – they were very hospitable and invited us into the inner sanctum.

The arena consisted of a large dirt (special dirt) floor marked off by a wooden wall about 8-10 inches high. The court (?) rink (?) was surrounded by chairs and recliners in all stages of disrepair. Sort of like a LaZBoy hospice. Or cemetery. In the middle of the court were three shallow holes, apparently where you want the marbles to end up. The shooters that the men use are made of flint or granite and can be different sizes. They can make you one, if you forgot yours. The place was even air-conditioned, if you count fans and large open doors as air conditioning. I’m thinking it could get cold in there in the winter!

HERE is a great article about the Rolley Hole Super Dome and the men who play there. Spoiler alert, they are WORLD CHAMPION Rolley Hole players! And if you have a dead recliner, send it to Tompkinsville, KY.  They can use it at the Marble Dome! 

These were our hosts at the Rolley Hole Super Dome.

On the way out of town, we stopped at the IGA to get supplies for the road – saltines for our pimiento cheese, cold brew tea bags, and ice.  We were good to go!  We had thought we might take scenic route KY 100 over to Scottsville before heading south to Nashville, but after our recent Close Encounter of the Deliverance Kind, we just went south! 

Right past the Tennessee state line, we came face-to-face with a grazing buffalo, and then we started seeing some large horse farms.  Soon we were nearing Gallatin and surely we were passing some homes of country music stars – big spreads!  Kim’s son’s girlfriend, Laura, works in Gallatin, so we gave her a call and stopped in to see her.  We invited her to dinner with us and made arrangements for our room for the night, and then we took off for Franklin via downtown Nashville.  Even at 6 PM and leaving about 15 minutes after we did, Laura had time to go to the grocery before Lee (our Garmin mate) had gotten us through the center of town.  We did get a good look at the Titans stadium, the Cumberland River, the old Union Station, and the state Capitol though!  We drove right through Vanderbilt’s campus and eventually got to our hotel in Brentwood.  Laura met us there and we enjoyed being in civilization by getting sushi at Peter’s Sushi in Cool Springs.  I got Spicy Catfish (a Thai entrée) and Kim and Laura got sushi rolls.  We didn’t see anyone famous except In the photos on the walls.

We were grateful to have made it to Tennessee and to have missed most of the rain, although it was POURING when we got home from dinner.  Tomorrow, it’s Natchez Trace time!

Lost in time but not in space,

Jan

Looking at Louisville

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13 September 2009

Having a bad day in Louisville?  Just head on over to Lynn’s Paradise Cafe and World of Swirl and everything will be all better!  And did you know they take reservations there – definitely the way to go!!  We had made reservations for 11:30 Sunday morning and even though the place was packed and the line was long, we got seated on the patio right away!  It was a gloriously beautiful day, and being surrounded by all the pink, purple, yellow, and red silk flowers just made it perfect.  And then we saw the menu.  OMG!!!  I almost got what would have amounted to dessert for breakfast – thick slices of cinnamon swirl bread, griddled in vanilla nutmeg batter, smothered with chocolate sauce, strawberries, and whipped cream, disguised as French Toast – but sanity prevailed.  Instead, I had the Kentucky Farmhouse Scramble – three eggs, scrambled with roasted red peppers and country ham, topped with local cheese and tobacco onions, served with fried green tomatoes, bread with honey butter, and a side of cheese grits like you’ve never tasted!  I guess that could be a heart attack disguised as breakfast, but it was SO GOOD!!!!  Kim had the fried green tomato BLT with a side of fruit.  She is so good…

[NOTE: Sadly, Lynn’s is no longer open, as of January 2013. A pity.]

We loved the people watching there and had fun after breakfast looking through the gift shop (the World of Swirl) and checking out some of the fun displays out in the parking lot.  Peppy had fun posing as a spoon.  From here, we drove over to the lovely Cave Hill Cemetery, which is the final resting place of Colonel Sanders and George Rogers Clark, among others.  The cemetery is HUGE, and even though we got directions to the Colonel’s grave, we got a little lost.  Imagine that.  But we found it, many other interesting monuments (we loved the magician’s), AND we got out.

Our next stop was Churchill Downs, where the famous twin spires have pretty much been overshadowed by the sky boxes, museum, and other signs of progress…  The museum was closed due to flood damage, so we just took some photos out in the parking lot.  The monument to Barbaro was stunning – he looked like he was in full gallop, riding through the air.

We drove through the UofL campus and found our way back to the Hyatt, where we parked the car and started off walking.  On the way to the Louisville Slugger plant, we passed lots of the Gallopalooza horses on display throughout town, and then we went past the 21c Museum Hotel, which was decorated with red penguins and had a pomegranate stretch limousine parked out front.

Perhaps we should have stayed here – check it out:

“21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, KY is the first of its kind—a 90-room hotel dedicated to accessible luxuries, Southern-style hospitality and contemporary art from living artists, exhibited throughout its galleries and public space. Among the many upscale offerings: iPods with a wide variety of music for guests’ listening pleasure, award winning design and décor, poster art, 42″ HDTV flat screen televisions, WiFi, 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets imported from Italy crowning the exquisite bedding, silver mint julep cups, gourmet coffee makers, mini-bar refrigerators, Malin + Goetz bath amenities, and nightly turn down and Concierge services. The hotel also offers a full exercise facility with a steam room, sauna and spa services. And, of course, red penguins.” 

Around the corner, we passed a strange sculpture of Daniel Boone, and then we arrived at the Louisville Slugger factory and museum.  You can’t miss it – the world’s largest baseball bat is propped up on the building.  It’s 120 feet high and weighs 68.000 pounds!! It’s hollow, and could hold 30,000 gallons of water….  We had to laugh, because right next door is the Kentucky Mirror and Plate Glass Company, complete with a mural of a baseball breaking a window.  We popped in long enough to get our tour ticket, even though supposedly they don’t do tours on Sunday, and then we walked around the corner to GlassWorks.  One of the cool things about Louisville is that lots of the museums are all situated near each other – the Science Museum was just across the street from Louisville Slugger.  Makes it easy to see a lot in a little bit of time!

Glassworks was worth a look – we wanted to see the gallery there.  Kim is a fused glass artist (she has done some great stuff!!!) so even though there was a lot more blown glass than fused, it was still fun to see all the creativity and talent on display.  Back we went to the Slugger, where we joined about 20 other people for a really interesting tour of the factory.  Great interactive displays and very knowledgeable guides made this a fun activity.  It was hard to believe that all Louisville Slugger bats are made here, and that most of the wooden bats in use are Sluggers.  Yet another example of a family-owned, small, very successful Kentucky companies – they may be onto something!  Make sure to stop by next time you’re in Louisville!

On the way back to the hotel, we walked down by the river (the mighty Ohio, for those a little geography challenged) and we agreed that Louisville has really not capitalized on the riverfront like it could have.  The Ohio also flows past our hometown of Paducah, where it is a focal point of the city.  No wonder riverboat riders are pleasantly surprised when they stop over in Paducah!  We re-entered the city on 4th Street at the Galt House and took our souvenir bats back to our hotel room.  When we got hungry (did you notice we didn’t have lunch???) we walked down 4th Street Live in hopes of finding something good, but we found nothing that suited us.  Back to the car!

We found our way down Bardstown Road and stopped in at Wick’s Pizza, which was hopping with football fans.  It reminded me of Mellow Mushroom, so you know it was good!  We chilled over our Blue Moons and pizza and watched a little football, then we went looking for Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen.  Aaahh, sweet reward!  This is my kind of place!  We shared a piece of chocolate chess pie with cookie dough ice cream, and I got a piece of caramel Dutch apple to go (for a healthy breakfast).  We sat outside – perfect weather – and enjoyed our slice!

Since we didn’t have a wheelbarrow, we had to waddle back to the car and to the hotel, where I was too stuffed to blog.  What a satisfying day!!

Loving Louisville!

Jan

Ye Olde Curiosity Tour Wrap-Up

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1 July 2008

Our trip may be over, but we still have some accounting to do!

Critter Count 2008

Critter Count

As usual, we saw lots of wildlife on this trip. Here’s a list:

  • lots of horses, cows, goats, butterflies, and fish
  • many deer, mostly up close
  • 2 wild turkeys
  • plenty of chipmunks
  • 2 snakes
  • too many raccoons, some live, some not, and some babies
  • several dead possums (at least they looked pretty dead – hard to tell with possums)
  • 1 red tail hawk (up close and personal)
  • lots more soaring hawks
  • ducks, ducklings, and more ducks
  • several schools of fish (albino ones, too)
  • rabbits
  • plenty of donkeys
  • a whole barnyard full of sheep, pigs, chickens, goats, ponies, and roosters
  • 6 pet dogs, including sweet Quincy (who went with the two cute young men from Vermont), Chase, Buddy, Boo, and Tess
  • lots of cats
  • a gazillion ground hogs
  • lots of bluebirds, as well as some goldfinches and robins, orioles, chickadees, sparrows, and woodpeckers
  • ravens
  • swans
  • a few squirrels
  • a trainyard full of Thomas crazy little boys (if you don’t think they are critters, think again!)
  • a gaggle of geese
  • frogs and tadpoles
  • 1 very large, very dead snapping turtle
  • many, many June bugs and other flying insects
  • a goodly number of very drunk, nicotine addicted, tie-dyed, friendly, and feeling no pain ‘hippies’ (for lack of a better word)
  • a camel (really, not a llama)
  • alpacas
  • a cormorant
  • a black bear (really!)
  • a herd of ostriches
  • an osprey
  • fainting goats
  • a skunk (real, not just Peppy)
  • a parrot

Where’s Peppy?

To liven up this trip, we had a game where we asked our followers to guess where our travel companion, Peppy, was based on a photograph and a clue. For those not familiar with Peppy, he is a plaster skunk who was a 7th grade art project of Kim’s. Our mom dutifully saved him all these years, then gave her to Kim one Christmas. Just after Kim and her kids held a ceremonial going away party for Peppy and dumped him in the trash, Mom called to tell Kim she’d better not throw that skunk away! Needless to say, Peppy lives!

We took him with us on our first Sassy Sister trip, The Mother Road, in 2006 and photographed him at iconic Rt. 66 stops. He is a great conversation starter, allowing us to talk to the strangers Mom told us not to talk to, so there you have it.

There are still some unanswered questions, but I’m not sure we will even remember where some of them are!

Where’s Peppy #1

Where's Peppy? #1 Roadside Giants Tour

Hooray! At long last Suzanne has figured out that this was at the USS South Dakota Memorial in Sioux Falls, SD, from last year’s trip!

Where’s Peppy? #2

Where's Peppy? #2
Congrats to Patty C, who submitted the correct answer! Peppy is with Merlin at Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, VA.

Where’s Peppy? #3

Where's Peppy? #3
And the prize goes to Patty C (she is so smart!) who knew Peppy was on the tail of a dinosaur at Dinosaurland, White Post, VA

Where’s Peppy? #4

Where's Peppy? #4
Has Peppy flipped his lid?

Where’s Peppy? #5

Where's Peppy? #5
This is an easy one…and we have a winner! Patty C correctly placed Peppy at the National Toy Hall of Fame in the Strong Museum of Play, Rochester NY

Where’s Peppy? #6

Where's Peppy? #6
Babs has somehow figured out that Peppy is at the TePee Trading Post in Cherry Valley, NY. Good work!

Where’s Peppy? #7

Where's Peppy? #7
Congrats, Babs, for knowing Peppy was keeping secrets in the Secret Garden at the Stone Hill Quarry Art Park!

Where’s Peppy? #8

Where's Peppy? #8
Cool moove…and MOO! to Suzanne, who knoooo that Peppy was on the grill of the Ben and Jerry’s truck in Waterbury VT!

Where’s Peppy? #9

Where's Peppy? #9
Rock on! Suzanne has correctly placed Peppy at the Rock of Ages granite quarry. He’s actually in one of the cages that the workers get lowered down (by a huge crane-like thing on a derrick) into the 600 foot deep quarry.

Where’s Peppy? #10

Where's Peppy? #10
Congrats to Cathy P! Peppy is taking a break on the front porch of the Sugar Hill Inn in Franconia, NH

Where’s Peppy? #11

Where's Peppy? #11

Slow down!

Where’s Peppy? #12

Where's Peppy? #12
Which way to Canada?

Where’s Peppy? #13

Where's Peppy? #13
Once again, Babs knew Peppy was in the mood to talk at Moody’s Diner!

Where’s Peppy? #14

Where's Peppy? #14
Babs knew Peppy was wanting a ride on an old Ford at Owl’s Head!

Where’s Peppy? #15

Where's Peppy? #15
Babs was on a roll (thankfully, Peppy wasn’t, even though he was cleverly disguised as a lobster!)

Where’s Peppy? #16

Where's Peppy? #16
Even me?

Where’s Peppy? #17

Where's Peppy? #17
Home, sweet home – Anne recognized Sandy’s beautiful roses hanging over her picket fence and correctly placed Peppy in Stonington, CT

Where’s Peppy? #18

Where's Peppy? #18
Good job, Suzanne! Peppy was not in Madison County, but he is in the covered bridge at Kent Falls, CT

Where’s Peppy? #19

Where's Peppy? #19
Kim Mc knew Peppy was in the press box at Yankee Stadium!

Where’s Peppy? #20

Where's Peppy? #20
Like talking to a rock!

Where’s Peppy? #21

Where's Peppy? #21
Rex correctly placed Peppy under the treads of a tank at West Point

Where’s Peppy? #22

Where's Peppy? #22
That’s right, Suzanne! Peppy’s standing on Lucy’s toes.

Where’s Peppy? #23

Where's Peppy? #23
Can you spare a quarter for a tune?

Where’s Peppy? #24

Where's Peppy? #24
You’re right, Suzanne – Peppy is peeping through the window of the Shoe House in Haddam, PA

Where’s Peppy? #25

Where's Peppy? #25
I’m not leaving!!

Our Favorites

Each year, we try to come up with some lists of our favorites. Stay tuned!

Best Eats

Favorite Experiences

Biggest Surprises (and Disappointments)

Coolest Icons

Memorable People

Funniest Things

States Visited

  • North Carolina
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Maryland
  • Pennsylvania
  • New York
  • Vermont (toured the capitol in Montpelier)
  • New Hampshire
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island (toured the capitol in Providence)
  • Connecticut
  • New Jersey
  • Delaware

Friends We Got to See Along the Way (and who were kind enough to host us!)

Thanks, friends! You made our trip the best!

  • Lynn & Robert (and kids)
  • Katy
  • Diane & Louis
  • Denise & David (and kids)
  • Sandy
  • Melanie & David (and kids)

A BIG Day!

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29 June 2008

We were in no rush to stick around the Atlantic City area, so we grabbed a quick bite of breakfast and were on our way by about 8:30. Did we mention that our hotel had a riverboat docked behind the dumpsters? We’re not sure why, and we did not go investigate, but it looked pretty funny to us. Atlantic City seemed to be a bit seedy to us, and in all fairness, we did not go all the way into the city to check it our for ourselves. Margate City seemed okay enough, and the beach (or shore) was pretty, but we’ll take our North and South Carolina beaches any day!

We did not have a whole lot on our agenda today – a drive-by of Storybook Land, Longwood Gardens, the Charcoal Pit, and a detour to the Haines Shoe House, which we missed in Pennsylvania at the beginning of our trip. Storybook Land was just down the road from our hotel, and it did not open until about 11, so we had to be satisfied with a few photos from the parking lot. Given that it’s an amusement park with a $20 ticket price, that’s probably all we would have done even it if were open! You can read about it at http://www.storybookland.com/ (turn your volume down – it’s loud!) and if you’re in the area with small children (somehow Atlantic City and small children don’t seem to go together…) you may want to visit. It looked really clean and well-maintained, and it’s been family owned since 1955.

On our drive across New Jersey towards Delaware, we saw a few curiosities worth stopping for – we just had to stop and turn around to get a picture of the American flag made out of colored milk jugs in someone’s front yard, and we were a little surprised by a Muffler Man sighting. Before long, we saw the twin spires of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, but not before we stopped for gas (again!) to take advantage of the lower prices and great service in New Jersey.

Our original plan was to have lunch at the Charcoal Pit in Wilmington, DE, on our way to Longwood Gardens, but since it was 10:30, we decided to visit the gardens first and then go back to the Pit. We passed the turnoff for Winterthur, which we had considered visiting, and we drove right through Chadd’s Ford, which is home to another Wyeth museum. So much to do and so little time!! We had voted on Longwood Gardens to honor our mom and grandmother, who both had gorgeous gardens and are/were excellent flower arrangers. We were not disappointed!

Longwood was the estate of  Pierre du Pont, and it encompasses over a thousand acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows as well as a summer home, a conservatory, and lots of fountains. Visit it at http://www.longwoodgardens.org/ but really plan to see it in person! We strolled through the flower garden, which I loved because of the way the flowers were planted in groups of similar colors – it was like walking through a rainbow! From the flower garden, we went to the Italian Water Garden, where my favorites were the waterfall tumbling down a staircase and the frog fountains. A special display going on this summer was a series of treehouses created especially for the Gardens. The first one that we came to was the Canopy Cathedral, which reminded us of the Gillette Castle because of the way the logs were carved.

 

From the fountains in the Italian Water Garden, we walked up a long hill past the meadow, and soon we had come to the next treehouse, the Lookout Loft, which was in the shady Forest Walk section. It was a sort of Adirondack-style treehouse. We walked past the duPont house, not sure if we could go in it or not, and then we found ourselves at the final treehouse, the Birdhouse. It was nice to go up in the trees and enjoy a few moments out of the heat of the sun, and Kim and I were reminded of the fantastic treehouse our dad had made us when we were kids. All the neighborhood kids hung out at our house, since in addition to the treehouse (which also had a fireman’s pole) we had a bagswing and a roller coaster that Daddy had made. We had a nice little walk down Memory Lane as we walked through Longwood Gardens!

When we realized you could go in the house, we took that tour, too. It was so interesting! I have loved being in these totally well thought out and well designed homes of people who clearly knew what they wanted and could afford to have it built the way they wanted it! Some favorite things in the house were the built in map case, the hidden library, Mr. du Pont’s office, the towel warming rack in the kitchen, the silver safe, and the fly fan. Even though the air conditioner was allegedly on, it was very hot and humid in the house, so we didn’t linger as long as we might have.

From here, we went to the Conservatory, which was built in 1919 and houses almost 200,000 square feet of plants!! Outside the Conservatory was another fantastic fountain display, the Main Fountain Garden, which covers five acres and has 380 fountains spraying 10,000 gallons of recirculated water. Wow! Next to it was the topiary garden, and from there we went to the Chime Tower and Waterfall. We could have stayed here for a few more hours – there was a lot we didn’t see – but we were wilting and hungry, and we had miles to go…We stopped in at the gift shop and we have to tell you that even the bathrooms were beautiful, complete with flower arrangements and mosaics. What a spectacular place this is!

Like I said, we were hungry and couldn’t wait to eat at the Charcoal Pit, (http://www.charcoalpit.net/) which we had read about in Road Food but we’d also heard from Melanie that we would not be disappointed. We had no problem finding it, and since it was getting close to 2 o’clock, it wasn’t too crowded. On the way in, we noticed some of the awesome ice cream creations and we saw some mighty juicy burgers, so we knew we were in for a treat! Kim had a chocolate soda with her burger and fries, and I opted for the big burger (no fries or onion rings!) and a hot fudge sundae. Heavenly!! Sure wish we lived closer to the Pit!!

Backtracking again, we were soon back in Pennsylvania and before we knew it, we were back in Amish country. We had loved the rolling terrain and green farmland of this part of Pennsylvania when we first started our trip, so it was a treat to get to see it again. We drove through Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand again, and we loved hearing the clip-clop of the horses on the Amish buggies. Why, you may ask, were we not heading south since we were on our way home? Well, one of the things we had really wanted to see on this trip was the Haines Shoe House, which is near York, PA. (http://www.jarrettsville.org/family/shoehouse.htm) You may remember that we had to bypass it on our first pass through PA, or else we would not have gotten to Lititz and Wilbur’s Chocolates before it closed, so we had figured out a way we could get here on the flip side of the trip. It was just a bonus that we got to enjoy Lancaster County again!

We arrived at the Shoe House a little after 4:00 and were there in time for the last tour of the day. Sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the house, so you’ll have to be satisfied with seeing the outside and going for yourself to see the inside. I will say it was cool – people could (and have) really live there, and the current owners have decorated it really nicely – lots of shoes of all varieties add to the fun theme. We had no problem turning down the ice cream (there’s a shop there) since we were still on a sugar high from the Charcoal Pit, and now it was time to turn south and head for home.

It’s always hard to realize a trip like this is almost over, but that time was fast approaching! We weren’t sure where we would be spending the night, so we started looking at the map and perusing our Hampton Inn book. Kim made a few phone calls and we decided we could get as far as Leesburg, VA, before it got too late. We traveled down Highway 15 (which goes to Durham, too) and soon our Hampton was there to greet us. Since I’d been craving Chinese food for days, and we were pretty pooped, we took the easy way out and ordered some to be delivered. A couple of cold beers from the car, Chinese on paper plates – it was just what we needed! We got a little blogging done, downloaded pictures, planned our next day’s drive, and watched a little TV. Only one more day…

Taking time to smell the flowers,

Jan

A Ride with a View: Taxi, Pedicab, Feet, Car, Boat, and Train

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Friday, 27 June 2008

We had one more day in the big city and we wanted to make the most of it, so we hit the ground running. On the news the night before, we had seen a big story about the unveiling of an interesting art project – four waterfalls on the East River. They were installed by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, and they range from 90 to 120 feet tall. Yesterday was opening day, and they’ll be up through October 13, 2008. How could we leave New York without seeing them in person? We went to the website, http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/, and ordered tickets on a water taxi for later in the afternoon, and then we checked out of our Hampton and hailed a cab heading for the Hearst Building.

We had had the bright idea to ask our cousin Melanie’s husband, David, to take our bags home with him so that we could spend the day unencumbered, and he had agreed. Thanks, David!!! You saved us many headaches. After we had told the cabbie where to take us, it occurred to me that David might not want to have to lug our bags from his office to wherever his car was, so we gave him a quick call. When we gave the cabbie our new destination, maybe two or three blocks away from the original one, you would have thought we had asked him to take us to China the long way! At any rate, we met David at the Applejack Diner, got our bags safely stowed in his car, bid him thanks and a good day, and went back to the Diner for breakfast. I had eggs Benedict (you know I’d been craving them since Kitchen Little – they would have been better there, I suspect) and Kim had her usual. Just as we were leaving, a huge school group came in for breakfast, almost filling the whole restaurant. It was a good time to go!

We walked around Columbus Circle and crossed over to Central Park. Several buggy drivers attempted to solicit our business, but we were just planning to stroll around for a while. Then this cute young man – blond hair, blue eyes, foreign accent – accosted us and he was so earnest and sweet that we agreed to ride with him. Then he told us to wait right there while he got his bike! We had no clue that we had just hired a pedicab, but we had, and it was such fun! Nick (Nikolai, from Russia, small town of half a million people on the Volga River near Moscow) was a great tour guide. We loved his accent (he told us some people told him it made him sound sexy, so we just called him our Sexy Mon) and his charm. As you can imagine, he had to work pretty hard pulling us around by bike, and it was becoming very hot and very humid very fast. He was full of information and we helped him out with a few pronounciations and facts that he didn’t know about. Turns out he has been in America all of four WEEKS, and he’s been doing this job for only two. Prior to that he had worked for an air conditioner company, a butcher shop, and had been a flyer boy – we think he has found his niche for now!

Anyway, he rode us all through Central Park (http://www.centralpark.com/), past the carousel, the dairy, the statue of Balto (the Alaskan sled dog of the diphtheria vaccine fame), statues of Mother Goose and a pilgrim, to the Bethesda Terrace, Cherry Hill, Strawberry Fields, the Great Lawn, the Tavern on the Green, and much, much, more. He narrated the whole time, never missing a beat, even talking about many of the buildings surrounding the park. We stopped several times and were able to take pictures and he even took one of us (it was not flattering so I’m not sharing it – you’ll just have to imagine how pampered we looked in our pedicab). We had a great time and I recommend pedicabs over buggies (I’ve done them, too) in Central Park any day! I’m so glad we didn’t end up trying to walk our way around, because we walked enough the rest of the day…

 

After we said our goodbyes to Nick, we walked across the park to the newly renovated Plaza Hotel. It was still closed when Rex and I had been to New York in December, so I was glad to get a chance to see it. We admired the Baccarat crystal chandelier (commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia) and the Palm Court, then we found Eloise’s portrait and wandered around part of the renovated area where shops are being installed. Then we crossed Fifth Avenue to go to FAO Schwartz, where we were greeted by the doorman who must have been HOT inside all that regalia. It was not as cool as it had been in December, but it’s still my favorite store to shop in. I guess I’ll always be a kid at heart..

We left the toy store and strolled down 5th Avenue, just taking in all of the window displays (which were pretty inventive, but not as much fun as they are at Christmas time), storefronts, churches, tall buildings, and people. As usual, people watching won out! It was pretty crowded, especially for a hot summer weekday. We chose not to go to the Top of the Rock, opting instead for the Empire State Building. We were pretty tuckered out by the time we got there at 12:30, and were so disappointed to see that it was under construction. Kim didn’t even get to see the gorgeous Art Deco work in the lobby. It was going to take longer than we had to go to the top (we had 2:00 reservations on the water taxi) so we took a load off and sat at the bar of the nearby Heartland Brewery for a bite of lunch. We split a shrimp appetizer and some onion rings, but mostly I drank my iced tea! I think I had three or four glasses and was very thankful that they didn’t charge me for refills (for a change!) As a matter of fact, we acknowledged the bartender for being one of the only servers we’ve had on the entire trip who offered us refills (without us having to ask) and he was the ONLY one who gave us a fresh slice of lemon. Good tip for him!

Feeling almost rehydrated, we tried to hail a cab and ended up getting a car instead. Costs more, but it was worth it to have the AC on and the windows up and to be in a Lincoln instead of a yellow cab. We had a bit of a drive down to the Southside Seaport, and we were really just glad to be riding instead of walking. We passed the Fulton Street Fish Market – I wish we had had time to check it out. I had not ever been to this part of the city before – it was a bustling place. But we needed to get our tickets from will call so we could see the waterfalls and the city from a different perspective. As it turned out, our boat was running about thirty minutes behind, so we just watched more people. Sharing our boat was a busload of Asian tourists, so we were ready for a lot of picture taking and excitement. We were not disappointed – I took lots of group photos, and then they would take a picture of me – it was pretty funny, and it was fun to be with a group that didn’t just sit back and watch. Our tour guide was the greatest – his name was Lee, and he did a rhyming version (would have been a rap with a little background sound) of the tour spiel – we loved it!

We passed the Staten Island Ferry, Battery Park, the Colgate clock, the NJ train station, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Governor’s Island, several bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, and of course, the waterfalls. I would love to see the falls at night, and if you’re planning a trip to the city, you don’t have to take a boat ride to see the falls; however, if you’ve never experienced the NYC skyline from New York Harbor, I highly recommend a tour by boat. As we were stopped at the Statue of Liberty, Lee offered to take pictures of anyone who wanted them, holding an American flag that he provided and with Lady Liberty in the background. He was awesome! All too soon, the tour was over…

Time to head back to Grand Central and catch our train back to Croton – we had no trouble getting a cab this time, and we drove right along the riverside past NYU Medical Center and getting great views of both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

  

We got to the terminal just before 4:00, found our ticket counter, but were a little unsure which train to take. The cashier cut right to the chase, sold us two tickets, and then said, “You have one minute to get to track 26, behind you and to the left. Run!” We made it, but barely! At least we didn’t waste much time waiting around, and we were able to get an off-peak express train to boot.

Melanie met us at the station and we went back to the house and regrouped – we had practically unloaded the whole car and repacked for our trip to the city, so we got organized again. David got home soon after we did, and once we had our luggage from him, we started in on laundry. I don’t know what we would have done on this trip without a little help and a lot of hospitality from family and friends! It sure made it a lot of fun to see people we knew and be in their homes instead of always a hotel room (or tree house!) Thanks again to all of you who opened your doors to us, fed us, and made us feel welcome!! Sure hope we can return the favor someday!

We sat out on the patio, enjoying the view and a chilly one, and then Melanie and David fixed dinner for us. David grilled some giant steaks and Melanie had prepared a delicious tomato, cheese, and spinach salad and some great potatoes. Add a good bottle or two of wine and some lively conversation with them and their twin daughters – what an enjoyable evening! The girls were going into the city for a party, so we stayed up and caught up on family news, heard about their family’s recent trip to Spain and Portugal, shared some of our experiences, and pontificated on life in general. What a fine way to spend a Friday night!

Loving looking at life from lots of different perspectives,

Jan

Hail Yes!

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24 June 2008

Since we were so close to our first morning’s event and it didn’t open until 10 AM, we took our time this morning. We ate our breakfast at the Hampton and on the way out of the parking lot we saw NASCAR driver Carl Edwards’ car trailer. This weekend’s race would be in New Hampshire. This was exciting for me but Kim could have cared less. I kind of like Carl (he’s tall & does back flips!) and NASCAR. Somehow, between Jill and our maps, we found our way to America’s Stonehenge, although it took us much longer than we planned for. Funny how that seems to be a theme for ALL of our escapades…

We entered A.S. through the gift shop and watched a short orientation video about the site. You will definitely want to learn more about it at http://www.stonehengeusa.com/ – it was fascinating! Most of the rock formations found have been carbon dated to the 15th century, which as any of you who know even a little history will recognize as being before most any Europeans were thought to have been in this country. Of course, this area of America had long been home to many different tribes of Native Americans. While it is not known who built these homes, drainage systems, walls, and communal places, parts of it reminded me very much of the medicine wheel we saw in Nebraska last year (check out last year’s blog and read the part about Dancing Leaf Lodge in Wellfleet, NE).

There was an elaborate placement of large rocks which align with the sun’s position on the equinoxes (equinoxi?) and solstices and other important solar and lunar dates. Many think that the boulders of Stonehenge in England as well as other mystical sites are also markers of this kind. What was also neat is how well the drainage systems still work – it had rained really hard the night before, but the area all around these rocks was dry except where water was coming out of the drainage ‘rocks’.

Remember our Massachusetts friends from the Sugar Hill Inn? They had been to A.S. on their way up to Vermont, so they had been just in time for the summer solstice celebration that happened here. We saw remnants of where the ceremony took place, as there were still flowers and spices placed on a large rock flower and a series of trees formed into arches encircled the ‘altar’. As we walked back from the main site, we were enchanted by the beautiful birds that were singing and playing around in the woods. We saw orioles (not something we are used to seeing), chickadees, sparrows, and woodpeckers, as well as lots of chipmunks and some of those green bottleflies. It is worth reporting here that the ‘green’ bug spray we paid $8 for (in Vermont, where else?) works pretty well and we have been glad we had it on more than one occasion. When people tell you the north woods mosquitos could carry you away, they are not kidding.

As we got back to the gift shop, we hiked by several pens of alpacas, so we got to see them up close and personal. They are indeed the ‘lambas’ we saw in Pennsylvania. They are so funny looking, especially after they have been shorn! We are pleased to say that we both love our new hiking boots and after having very little cell phone service for the entire trip up to this point, somehow, in the middle of NOWHERE NH, we both had five bars of service the whole time we were here. Go figure. Anyway, we stayed here longer than we thought we would and now we were over 90 minutes behind schedule. My road to hell must be at least 90% paved by now, especially since I haven’t yet sent my Christmas cards which say “Happy New Year!”

Given our time issues and the fact that Massachusetts does not seem to have many non-interstates/big highways that go anywhere in a north-south direction (all roads lead to Boston or around it), we took the path of least resistance and time (we hoped) and braced ourselves for the interstate straight through Boston to Pawtucket, RI. Astonishingly enough, we sped right through Boston and even went through the tunnel of ‘Big Dig’ fame with no problems. We got back on US 1 as we got close to Pawtucket, where our first stop was the Hasbro headquarters, as we had a date with Mr. Potatohead.

He was so cute – a big ole spud in between the HQ and the R&D (and maybe manufacturing plant – we don’t know ’cause they wouldn’t let us in – top secret toy stuff, you know) buildings. The places in the parking lot were marked with Monopoly cards – we really tried to figure a way to infiltrate the plant, but they were onto us right away. Wouldn’t even let us take pictures in the HQ building or get past the guy in the lobby of R&D. How do you get to work at a toy place, anyway? I love to play!

It was getting so far past a normal lunch hour that our options were very limited (same old story, I know) but as luck would have it, most diners are open 24/7, and the one on our list today was the Modern Diner in Pawtucket. It was housed in a Sterling Streamliner and was the first diner in the country to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bet you didn’t know that diners originated in Providence, RI, in 1872. Our server told us that they had great hamburgers, so we tested them to make sure. She was right, and their onion rings were not too bad, either. As we were leaving the diner, the heavens opened up and… 

We got drenched just running to the car. Our next stop was Providence, and in case you don’t know, Pawtucket and Providence are right next to each other (as everything in the tiny state of Rhode Island is not too far from anything else). We were going to see the state capitol, so we figured, no big deal, we’re almost there anyway – how hard could that be? Well, if it had not started HAILING immediately after we got on the interstate, we would have been fine. As it was, I was driving down the road with one arm up over my head because it sounded like we were under artillery fire!! We expected the windshield to be cracked and broken at any second. The hail was at least marble (shooter) sized – not quite golf balls but damn, it sounded like cannon balls were landing on us! I was so afraid to see my car – I was almost glad that it was still raining when we stopped so I couldn’t tell what the damage was. I just knew there was some. And there was…

We parked (parallel again!) on the street in front of the capitol building, and for the first time in a long time, we had to go through a metal detector to get in. We spent the rest of the thunderstorm inside and enjoyed seeing another beautiful capitol. Kim and I were talking about how neat it is that these old buildings are, for the most part, still being used for the purposes they were intended – they are not torn down or even renovated (at least not to the point that most of us can tell – maybe wiring, AC, computers, etc.) but the furnishings in many look to be original. The Rhode Island capitol was full of fascinating artifacts – my favorite was the Gettysburg Cannon, which was a cannon used at that famous battle but it got a cannonball stuck in it when it got struck by a Rebel cannonball just as the yankees were loading their cannon. So there it was in the building, cannonball still sticking out of the bore.

Next, we were intentionally heading to the PJ’s so we could see Nibbles Woodaway, the giant termite perched on top of some pest control building. Sadly, he’s easily visible (but not photographable) from the interstate, but from the lovely alley where we were (we opted not to pull into the “Cheaters Gentlemen’s Club” parking lot) we only got a side/rear view of Mr. Woodaway. But we got that, anyway.

We drove down US 1 (aka Post Road) to the coast of Rhode Island, stopping in for a look-see at Smith’s Castle, circa 1678. We were sad to see that it was closed, although it was not at all what we were expecting. Unless you think that normal looking old frame houses should be called ‘castles’ I think you would have been surprised, too. The grounds were lovely, though, and there were lots of geese and ducks out on the water behind the house. Turns out Richard Smith (it was his castle) must have been a big deal back then, because everything in that area of the state was named for him. I have not researched him yet, but I may have to find out a little more about him.

Next stop, the Watch Hill Bathing Beach and their Flying Horse Carousel, which is the oldest one in the country, having been built in 1883. The horses had real hair manes and tails, and they were suspended from the ceiling by chains. There was a chute for the brass rings that the kids tried to grab as they went round and round. If they were lucky enough to get a ring (the attendants even handed them to the littlest riders) they put them over their horses’ ears until the ride was over. The panels on the interior were painted with different ‘flying horses’ – it was a charming ride in a very high rent district.

We were just across the state line from Stonington, Connecticut, where we were spending the night. Thanks to my good friend, Anne, we had reservations at the home of her good friend, Sandy, who I had met but didn’t really know. What a trusting soul she is, to let two almost complete (and some would say crazy) strangers stay with her! We are grateful to our friends and theirs! We found Sandy’s charming little cottage with no trouble, and even though she wasn’t home, she had left the door open for us. It’s hard to imagine being able to live like that in the places where we live. Shortly after we arrived, Sandy pulled in and gave us a quick tour of the house and the lovely beach area nearby. After that, we were off to Mystic to see what was there and to eat dinner, and Sandy was off to a previous engagement. 

We found Mystic to be quite touristy, which is rarely to our liking. The movie Mystic Pizza, starring Julia Roberts, was actually filmed in quaint and lovely Stonington. Not a surprise to me! We found one of the restaurants Sandy had recommended in Mystic, but when we found out there was a 45 minute wait (at 8:30 PM) we hightailed it back for Stonington. On the way back, we saw a beautiful rainbow (for no apparent reason) and this time we got a picture of it. Going back was a good choice! Sandy had told us about a place called Noah’s, which we walked right to from Sandy’s house. We had one of our best meals of the whole trip there! Kim had panko-crusted broiled flounder with garlic-chive mashed potatoes and green beans, and I had sea scallops with an orange-chili salsa, rice, and a medley of fresh vegetables. Oh, and we each had a delicious salad – Kim’s with bleu cheese and mine with avocado slices. The homemade bread was great, too, but the piece de resistance was dessert.

When I saw that they made pavlovas there, I told Kim we HAD to have one. So we each had one! For those of you not familiar with this Australian favorite, a pavlova is a meringue shell, filled with ice cream and/or whipped cream (that would be an AND in this case) and garnished with fruits like kiwis, strawberries, raspberries, and oranges. And maybe drizzled with raspberry puree. Heavenly! I dreamed about mine!

When we got back to Sandy’s, she had left a note saying she’d found a ride into New York City and had decided to leave that night, so we had the house to ourselves with instructions to lock the doors and turn out the lights when we left. Thanks a million, Sandy, for truly opening your home to us, and to you, too, Anne, for telling Sandy we weren’t known criminals. Our only excitement for the night occurred when Kim went out to the car to get something and there was a for real, live and in person (or in animal) SKUNK out by my car. And then it went UNDER my car! Thankfully, it did not spray Kim or the car. We think it heard that Peppy was in the hood…

I’m dreaming of a white pavlova, just like the one I ate tonight,

Jan

Bed, Bath, and Beyond

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23 June 2008

We really hated to leave Denise’s wonderful house, especially the Bed and no *#&@ Breakfast part of it! But we had miles to cover, so armed with a full pitcher of fresh tea, we were on the road by 8:30. It was a foggy, cool morning – the kind I’ll really miss once we are back home. We had planned to have breakfast at the local Bristol Diner, but they were on vacation (the week before the ‘real’ season begins) so we set our sights on Bath, sure that we could find something to eat there.

On the way, we stopped by the hugely popular Taste of Maine restaurant (not open for breakfast) and took a picture of the big lobster (we didn’t know he would be a Bubba Lobster!) out front. In addition, they had a lobster fisherman in his yellow slicker and hat (carved out of wood) and a huge pole for osprey nests.

Bath is on the coast north of Portland, on the Kennebec River, and it’s a huge shipbuilding port. It was home to Bath Iron Works, which has been sold and is now General Dynamics. Their biggest customer is the US Navy, and they’ve built battleships, frigates, cruisers, and destroyers here. It has a HUGE crane that you can see as you cross the bridge into town. We got off the highway (US 1) and went in search of food. Right away, we spotted the Starlight Cafe, but we had already passed the street we needed to turn on before we turned. As we drove around town, we enjoyed the 19th century architecture and then we passed Beale Street Barbeque. Given that Kim is from Memphis, we doubted the authenticity of the place, so we found our way back to the Starlight.

Boy, can we ever pick them! This was the cutest place – sort of underground – I had to duck to get in. There was a counter and several small tables. A friendly local woman urged us to try (with absolutely no hesitation) the cinnamon bun French toast. Since I could see the cinnamon buns right in front of me, I bit. The woman told me I wouldn’t need to eat for hours later and that I’d be on a sugar high all day!

Kim, ever the steadfast companion, had scrambled eggs and ham and a humongous biscuit. We loved checking out the place as we waited for our food. Each table had a different set of salt and pepper shakers – ours were lobsters, next to us was Dagwood and a huge sandwich, etc. Oh yeah, I also was unable to resist the blueberry scones that were on the counter next to the cinnamon buns, but I got it to go and didn’t eat it that day. I was stuffed by the time we left, and was on such a high that I didn’t even mind when Jill got us so lost that we were going the wrong way down a one-way street. In fact, I didn’t even notice it, but thankfully, Kim did and we were eventually able to wind our way out of Bath and back to the highway without attracting any unwanted police attention. There are hazards to having a red car, though…

The next curiosity on our list was a ‘Moose or Monster’ sculpture found in some gas station parking lot next to the highway near a Holiday Inn and a McDonalds. Believe it or not, we found it! I will spare you the ugly details about our parking lot escapade. We emerged unscathed, and no animals were injured, including humans. Or other vehicles, by some miracle. By the way, we think it’s closer to a moose than a monster.

We saw a cute little cow in a coffee cup on the ceiling of some java joint – Kim got a great shot of it, and we weren’t even expecting that one! We arrived in Freeport with one item on our agenda – to take a picture of the giant boot outside the LL Bean retail store. Well, we did that, and then we needed to go inside in search of a rest room, so now we both have a new pair of hiking boots and I have a new pair of comfy brown slides. I did not buy the $7 socks – I can get those at Target! It was a good thing we did not have time to do any more shopping, because we are running out of space almost as fast as we are running out of money. Of course, there is always UPS…

On the way to Yarmouth, we passed an outdoor furniture shop with a giant Adirondack chair, so we turned around to get a shot of it and the big Indian across the street from it. Yarmouth is home to Eartha, the world’s largest rotating globe (a certified Guinness World Record) at the DeLorme map store. She measured just under 131 feet around, and 41 feet, one-and-a-half inches across her middle, and she’s reportedly gorgeous at night, when she’s all lit up and you can see her from the highway. It was pretty impressive to see her in broad daylight, but impossible to photograph her in a way that does her justice. You sorta have to be there, but you can also check her out at http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10408

Next stop – Portland, Maine’s largest city. As you may know or have guessed, it’s also on the coast and we spent our time there in the Old Port district. We parked on the street (no mean feat, but for once on this trip I did not have to parallel park) and stopped in at the visitor center. We took a long walk along the waterfront down to the Maine Narrow Guage Railway Museum. We opted not to take a three mile train ride, but we did spend some time in the small museum there. We got to see men actively restoring some old rail cars, and we got to walk through several different kinds of passenger cars. Check it out at http://www.mngrr.org/ and learn all about narrow guage railways! Toot, toot!

We had thought we might walk UP to the old Observatory, but we satisfied ourselves with a photograph since we only had two hours parking time (on the other side of town) and we still were due for lunch at some point. Plus, it looked like it could rain at any minute. Read all about it at http://www.portlandlandmarks.org/portland_observatory/oww.portlandlandmarks.org/portland_observatory/observatory.shtml – it’s really cool and we would have liked to have seen it. Huff, puff.

On the way back towards the car, we passed the Maine Customs House (official business only, no weapons, show your ID and you’d better have a damn good reason to go in!) and walked down several cobblestone streets. There was a lot of neat shopping and some cute stores. We ducked in one that was full of maritime junque – we first saw some mermaids and other neat carvings, and when we went in there was a parrot sitting on the proprietor’s shoulder. It was a fun place to look around – kind of like Mom’s house, had she lived at a seaport.

On the way down the street, we passed a brewpub called Gritty’s and then remembered that was a place Denise had suggested we eat. So we did! I had a steak salad that was really tasty, and Kim had chicken caesar. We split some homemade potato chips and wisely (but with difficulty) avoided having beer. While there, we saw not one but TWO men wearing Tennessee shirts/jackets – these were the first even remotely close to Tennessee people we had seen on the whole trip, while we North Carolinians get around. Kim went over to talk to the guy with the UT Lacrosse jacket on – he was in town on business and was a UT alum. He said the bartender at his hotel was also from Tennessee.

We had already decided that we were going to need to take the interstate from Portland on if we were to have any chance of seeing the Paper House in Rockport, Mass, before it closed. That turned out to be a really good choice, because it began pouring down rain just after we got out of Portland. What a dreary trip! We sped through Portsmouth (sorry, Danielle!) but we did see the two HUGE state liquor stores at the NH state line (one of each side of the road). Somewhere along the way, we got off the interstate and found a road that took us through Ipswich, Essex, and into Rockport, and even more amazingly, we found the Paper House! Before it closed!! You will surely want to check it out at http://www.paperhouserockport.com/ because our photos don’t begin to do it justice.

My favorite thing about it was the honor system used for charging for the obviously self-guided tour. Put $1.50 per adult in an envelope (provided) and drop it in the mail slot of the house next door! We did, although we had to raid our laundry money since we only had twenties! Other items of interest there were the grandfather clock made out of newspapers from each state capital and the desk made of newspaper accounts of Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic. Now you know what to do with all of those papers you’ve been reading!!

We went to Gloucester in hopes of getting some good shots of the Gloucester fisherman (http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc22624.php) but our hopes were dashed by the DOWNPOUR of rain. We waited it out (of course, we had parked and were walking) at a neat Spanishy Greeky (not sure which) restaurant where we had sangria and some roasted tomatoes and goat cheese. While at the bar, we learned all about the ‘Gloucester Twenty’ (the high school girls who for some insane reason got pregnant on purpose) since they (but not the boys involved…) were the news story of the day. Except for the weather, which was really the top story. So much for our lovely drive around the northern coast of Massachusetts…

Undaunted, we went to Salem even though all of the attractions there were of course closed, since it was after six by now. We found the Salem Witch Museum and what we thought was a statue of a mean old witch, but it was really just a pilgrim, Roger Conant, who was the first settler of Salem. He was born in 1592 and died in 1679. Salem must have agreed with him – good thing he wasn’t a woman! We loved the crosswalks – they were bright green with witches on them. We found the Essex Peabody Museum (highly recommended by several people) but it was closed, too. We did not see the Bewitched statue and did not look too hard for it.

Since this was one of two nights that we did not have hotel reservations, we thought we should be finding a place to spend the night. But first, we saw signs for the House of Seven Gables, so off we went. It was closed, too, but we saw the outside, the water, and several OLD houses (built in the 1770’s). From there we went to the Hampton Inn Peabody (peeBUDdy, for those of you who thought it was really Peabody) but they were booked, and so was the next closest one at Wooben (I thought he was asking me if I wanted a Reuben sandwich and maybe had a speech impediment) which is really Woburn…no wonder we couldn’t find it on the map. Good thing we don’t have to speak to Jill (Well, we do, but thank God, she can’t hear us! I hope!)

Since we were striking out in the Boston area, and we were going to America’s Stonehenge (betcha don’t know about that one!) the next day, we just decided to drive to Manchester, NH, and stay at a lovely (really – it was great!) Hampton Inn and Suites. We even had a fireplace in our room! And a kitchen and a couch! Too bad we were there for about 9 hours, most of which were spent in a deep slumber. We didn’t eat dinner (thanks to our tapas break) until after we got to Manchester. We ate at Bugaboo Creek (okay, it’s a chain, but it was close and open and nothing else was!) I had French Onion Soup (made with their ale) and lettuce wedge and a Maine blueberry mojito (really yummy!) and Kim had a chicken quesadilla. The restaurant was decorated in that north woods look, complete with a talking moose (over the mantel) and a flying squirrel that were not Rocky and Bullwinkle.

I had issues getting an internet connection so that’s one of my many excuses for being so late to post this blog entry!! But, true to Hampton form, they gave us a $25 gift certificate to Brookstone for the inconvenience. Can’t beat that with a stick.

Not quite from beyond the pale,

Jan

Holla! From Pollywogg Holler….

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15 June 2008

Dear readers,

Do you remember our earthen lodge experience from last year’s trip? You might have thought nothing could top it. You would be mistaken. Tonight we are writing to you from our treehouse in Pollywogg Holler, somewhere near Belmont, NY. By all means, please check it out at http://www.pollywoggholler.com/ otherwise you will not believe me. Keep in mind that we had looked at the website before we arrived, and the pictures look much better on the website than the accommodations look in person. Actually, it’s not the actual lodgings that are an issue, it’s more the fact that this eco-lodge is so eco friendly that it has no electricity or running water. So you know what that means…

Once again, I find myself holding my laptop in the dark, hoping my words run out before the battery does. But, at least this year I have a handy light that plugs into my USB port so I can see the keyboard! Thanks, Melanie H!! Joining us at the Holler tonight are about ten or twelve women here for a bachelorette party and a couple from Queens who are here because she’s a travel writer. They are sharing our experience, as they arrived here with not even a flashlight. We, on the other hand, being the seasoned primitive campers that we are, have a mini maglight, a battery operated lantern, and the aforementioned computer light. And a blanket!

Our ‘room’ is quite cozy, having one large bed, one twin sized bed, and one piece of foam on a wooden shelf. We also have a dresser and an oil lamp with a foil pie pan for a lampshade. I’m sitting in a normal chair and there’s also a chair made from a tree stump up here. The stairway up is made of tree branches and wood and it’s a spiral staircase. We’re thinking we will visit the “facilities” before retiring for the night, and if we have to go again, we’ll just leave. We have had nothing to drink except the homemade wine (red raspberry merlot) that we needed immediately upon arriving to Woodstock, Jr.

Yes, that’s right. No need for us to visit the newly opened Woodstock Museum, since it could be right here. When we arrived this afternoon, mercifully later than expected (surprise!) the Sunday afternoon pizza and music fest was just ending. We estimate that at least one hundred people were here, all drunker than they should be to drive on the roads that got them here, and we did feel like it was 1968 and the summer of love. We felt slightly out of place, the way you would if you showed up about four hours late to a party where you didn’t know ANYONE and they were all totally sloshed by the time you arrived. And you were stone cold sober. We had no piercings or tattoos and were older than many of the party people. We were greeted by a nice, normal young man on a customized golf cart kind of thing made out of wood. Sort of like a baggage tug at the airport… He’s the one who told us we had come to the right place and he gave us and our luggage a ride down the driveway into the Twilight Zone.

The band was just breaking down and people were wasted and trying to stagger back out to the road. A young boy came up wearing a mudpack on top of his head. Really, a brain-sized piece of mud was on his head with rivulets of muddy water streaming down his face. He was so happy! Another little boy showed us his stamps. He was stamped from the top of his head all over his body (three on his stomach) with “Funknut” in ink. He was happy, too! We were trying to figure a polite way to leave, but nothing came to us, so here we are. While the crowd was dispersing, Bill, the owner of the property, took us under his wing. Remember Harley from last year? Bill reminded us of him, only he didn’t stick his tongue in Kim’s ear!!! And he’s older. The normal man who had chauffeured us was his son, Quentin. His other son, Mickey, is our host. Mickey makes a mean strip steak on the grill out back and serves it with a fantastic tequila lime sauce that he concocted (and shared with us).

While things were winding down from the afternoon frivolities, Kim and I toured the property. That’s when we realized that plumbing was not happening here! We took LOTS of pictures (not as many as at Roadside America) especially of the tiki trail and sculpture garden. And the snake we saw lounging on a tarp by the path… Mickey told us we could get an internet connection by parking in the driveway next to the office (down the road – Kim said if we had seen it first, we could have just kept driving!!) so we did that and posted yesterday’s blog. Since dark was falling, we thought we’d better get back to our room while we could still see the path (it’s at least a half mile from the driveway to the ‘base’) so we stopped blogging before we had added all the photos. We should be able to catch up on the blog tomorrow night when we reach civilization at the Hampton Inn! We have not seen a TV since we left, and we’ve had cell service for about an hour a day. We’ve actually had more internet service than anything!

But enough (for now) about our evening’s experiences. The rest of our day was loads of fun! We spent last night at the Weeping Willow Bed and Breakfast in Tunkhannock, PA, and it was lovely! Our hosts, Patty and Randy, couldn’t have been nicer. Two couples, one from the Jersey Shore (Dennis and Eileen) and one from Mountaintop, PA, (Dave and Cindy) were at the B&B, too. We regaled them with stories of our travels at breakfast this morning, and they were kind enough to listen and laugh. We did not have a jam-packed day today, so we didn’t end up leaving there until after 11:00, even though we had gotten up at 7 again. By the time we got gas, fixed our teas for the road, and figured out our route, it was 11:30 before we were on our way.

Cindy had told us about a roadside giant in town, and Kim spied it as we zoomed past it. We turned around to snap a photo so Cindy would know we saw it. The people who live across the street from the giant (once a Big Boy, now a NAPA parts guy) were out working in their yard and stared at me as I walked from the car over to take a good picture. We are sure they’ve never even considered taking a photo of it themselves!

Once on our way, we hadn’t gone far when we had to stop for a wreck that had just happened. We were so thankful we had turned around for that picture, or we could have been in the accident. Ambulances arrived as we sat in line, so we turned around and followed the locals. At least, we hoped they were locals, since we were following them up a steep, narrow gravel road. When suddenly cars appeared on this road going the other direction, we knew we were on the right short cut. Soon we were on our way.

Our only planned stop today was at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is south of Wellsboro. While in Wellsboro, we went to the local Weis grocery store and bought chicken salad, slaw, cheese, and cherries to have with our Amish bread and Rt. 11 Potato Chips, and then we went to see the Grand Canyon. It reminded me of Quechee Gorge in Vermont, only not as cool. But it was neat and there were lots of hawks soaring on the updrafts and they were very entertaining. We took a short (but steepish) hike out to another overlook and had our picnic then. Did I mention that it is now raining and thundering and we haven’t made our bedtime bathroom run? What were we thinking???? Rats!!!

Our route across northern Pennsylvania was on Route 6 through the Endless Mountains. It is a nice road with quaint towns and expensive gasoline. Lots of places were still decorated for Flag Day, and it was neat to see how some towns are thriving while others are just hanging on. Once we were done at the Canyon, we stopped down the road at Animaland. We ended up just having a photo op and checking out the gift shop. I took a pit stop there and thought I would share with you the lovely jungle-themed ladies room. You may not be able to see it in the photo, but the flusher handle is a jaguar (like a hood ornament off a Jaguar) and the mirror over the sink matched the toilet seat. We didn’t stay to see the animals there, as we thought we might be missing something here at the Holler if we got here too late. If only we had known…


From the canyon it was back to Route 6 until time to cross the border into New York. We got Ms. Garmin out for the first time, and boy, was she annoyed that we had not listened to her all day. We got here, though, and now we’re waiting for a break in the rain so we can go to bed in comfort. We’re thinking we’ll be checking out early, likely sans shower…



Until tomorrow, ribbet, ribbet, ribbet,
Jan

Pictures coming tonight, without fail! We survived the night, although it poured down rain most of the night…

175 miles traveled

This just in – check out this link to get a great overview of Pollywogg Holler. You must have audio to fully appreciate it! I’m pretty sure the man singing is Bill. Enjoy! http://youtube.com/watch?v=H4DOORDbms8

On the road again, naturally

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11 June 2008

Gas prices are at an all-time high, temperatures are soaring, and crazy weather is happening all over the country – it must be time for Peppy and the Sassy Sisters to start another road trip! After weeks of researching and planning our routes, I’m ready to get going. On this trip, we’ll be looking for more roadside giants and anything that’s the least bit curious, off-beat, or downright strange. That’s why this trip is dubbed Ye Olde Curiosity Tour! Our route is loosely based on ‘The Appalachian Trail’ trip from our Road Trip book, although I’m sure we’ll make plenty of deviations. along the way.

For those of you who are new to riding along with us, here’s a quick review of our “Sassy Sister Road Rules”:

  • Talk to strangers, the stranger the better.
  • Drive on two-lane roads as much as possible.
  • Be off the two-lane roads before dark.
  • Eat at local restaurants (not chains) for every meal possible.
  • Always stop for ice cream, regardless of the hour.
  • Start early and eat breakfast before you go too far…
  • Check the tub before you get naked.
  • If you think you should take a picture, stop, get out of the car, and take it. Go back and take it if you have to.
  • Turning around is advised – you’ll always regret that you didn’t stop.
  • Stop and see any attraction that costs less than $5, especially if it has great billboards.
  • If there is an alternate route or detour, it’s worth a look.
  • If it’s a national park, monument, lakeshore, or recreation area, it’s worth stopping for. That’s why you’ll want to have a national park pass!
  • Ask for what you want. Just because a place looks closed doesn’t mean you can’t go in.
  • Keep your cell phone charged and handy.
  • Laugh loudly and laugh often, especially if you’re lost.
  • Have an idea where you’re going and do your research so you won’t miss anything good.
  • Be prepared to change your mind and your route at any time.
  • Be flexible. Call ahead when you’re running late and make alternate arrangements.
  • When you get lost, blame the mapmaker or the road signs instead of the navigator or the driver.
  • Be prepared. Travel with plenty of ice and drinks (always have one beer per person in the bottom of the cooler) and take your favorite snacks, too.
  • Remember all the little stuff you may need – Tide to Go, TP, Sharpies, batteries, paper towels, pocket knives, GPS, etc.
  • Have great music and play it loudly. And sing.
  • Synchronize the date and time on all cameras.
  • Blog or journal and download your pictures every day. It’s amazing what you forget! Use a tape recorder, too.
  • Take a file for your memorabilia, maps, tickets, plans, etc. and use it.
  • ALWAYS have a camera with you.
  • 300 miles in one day is a lot to travel on two lane roads with lots to see and do; however long you think it will take, add several hours.
  • Always have plenty of gas in the tank.
  • Remember that the ‘rules’ are really suggestions – be safe and have fun!

Kim got a big laugh when we came up with all of these rules, since I’m one of those people who thinks rules are for everyone else…

This year’s trip has started off differently from all the rest – we were on the road before eight, we checked in our hotel before seven, and we saw everything we wanted to see and then some! I met Kim in Salisbury, NC, where we spent a most enjoyable evening with our friends Lynn and Robert and two of their kids, Sarah and Will. We even got to celebrate Lynn’s birthday. And a birthday shout out goes to Skip, too! Peppy could hardly wait to get going…

From Salisbury, we went to Winston-Salem in search of two curiosities – the Shell station shaped like a shell and the big tin coffee pot in Old Salem. And we found them! It was not too far from Winston to Mt. Airy, home of Andy Griffith and the inspiration for Mayberry. We had breakfast at the Snappy Lunch, which is famous for their Pork Chop Sandwiches, but we were too early for one of them. We walked all over town and saw Floyd’s Barber Shop, the Old Jail, Andy’s squad car, and more. Good times!

Fancy Gap, Virginia is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Mt. Airy, and we picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway here. It was a fine day to be on the Parkway – about 15 degrees cooler than it had been, blue skies, and hardly any traffic. We saw mostly motorcycles and a few other hybrid cars and hardly any SUV’s. Our first stop on the Parkway was Mabry Mill, which is allegedly the most photographed spot on the Parkway. You have to admit it makes for a lovely photograph!

 

The mill is a working mill, grinding cornmeal, grits, and buckwheat. There are also lots of other exhibits there – our favorite was the blacksmith’s shop. Traveling on the parkway is leisurely perforce, since the speed limit is 45 mph. That proved to be a good thing, since we saw LOTS of live animals VERY close to our car!

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Like Asheville, NC, Roanoke is right on the parkway. We got off here and went in search of the O. Winston Link Museum. Link is famous for his photographs (mostly black and white) of steam engines and the Norfolk Southern railroad. We were very impressed! The museum also had an exhibit about Raymond Loewy, who is famous for many American advertising icons (coke bottle, Exxon and Shell logos, designing Studebakers, and more). He also had re-designed the Roanoke train station. After we had seen the museum, we walked past the Hotel Roanoke and over to City Market where we had a quick lunch. I opted for Cuban food (carne vaca) and Kim had a turkey pita. Then we were off in search of Miniature Graceland (really!) and the Mill Mountain Star. They were worth the trip!

 

Miniature Graceland is in someone’s yard in an otherwise normal residential area. You sort of have to see it to believe it! The Mill Mountain star is the largest man-made star in the world. At night, it is lit up in red, white, and blue to show support for our troops. While there, we were on StarCam and our daughters got to see us in real time. Unfortunately, we showed them not our best sides…

Back to the Parkway, and on to our next attraction – Natural Bridge, VA, which is supposedly one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World – higher than Niagara Falls, older than the dawn. We beg to differ. It was cool (well, actually is was muggy steamy buggy HOT) but we much preferred Foamhenge and other enchanted creations of Mark Cline. We went to his Enchanted Castle Studio and got to meet him and his daughter. Again, you’ve got to see it to believe it! That’s him posing with Kim and Batman, which was one of his tamer productions.

 

We had dinner at the awesome Pink Cadillac Diner and called it a night. Except for blogging, which I’ve been doing for the past two and a half hours! Uploading all these pictures is slow going, so we hope you enjoy them. So, until tomorrow, good night!