Tag: New York

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)

From the banks of the Hudson to the Jersey shore

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28 June 2008

We slept in a bit in an attempt to recover from our long hot days in the city, and then we still had laundry to fold, bags to pack, and a car to load, so we did not get an early start this morning. Melanie showed us around the yard so that we could see the results of their landscaping projects. I especially love their beautiful pool and the way it is surrounded by grass instead of a typical deck. The view of the Hudson is spectacular, and she and David recently re-roofed and re-windowed their solarium. They will surely enjoy it this summer! David had suggested that we check out the Croton Mini Deli for an egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich (with ketchup and pepper), so we found our way there (no problems, Mel – good directions!) and got our food and some ice for the road.

We drove north up Route 9 to Bear Bridge, where we crossed the Hudson River. Just before we crossed the bridge, we stopped at a scenic overlook (complete with a street vendor!) and saw the place where the American colonists had stretched a chain across the Hudson in an attempt to stop the British during the Revolutionary War. Didn’t work, but it was an interesting thought!

We drove a bit farther north to West Point, which is where I wanted to go to school when I was young (and before they accepted women!) Wonder what I was thinking then!! We were hoping to take a tour of the US Military Academy, but we couldn’t get on the next one and it was too long to wait for the one after that and do the tour, so we settled for checking out the visitors’ center and wandering through the museum. They were very well done and we learned a lot about the history of West Point and a good bit about the life of a cadet. New plebes would be arriving on Monday, so it was pretty quiet today. Kim and I could not imagine how it must feel to drop one’s child off with only the clothes on his/her back and some toiletries as a freshman in college! Sure would make packing easy, but the goodbyes must be really tough!

From West Point, we drove along the west side of the Hudson and into New Jersey. We were so disappointed not to find a ‘Welcome to New Jersey’ sign, but we were excited about being in a state where it’s against the law to pump your own gas! Between that and the low gas prices (lowest ones we saw all trip!) we could see many fill-ups in the not-too-distant future. We were looking for a place called the Gingerbread Castle in Hamburg, NJ. The ride to Hamburg was excruciating – lots of traffic on a four-lane highway going through little towns – and we were hoping we wouldn’t have to go back the same way. Jill was having trouble getting us where we wanted to go (but at least we had her, since Melanie charged her up for us!) but we spotted a street sign for a street called ‘Gingerbread House Road’ and decided to take it. 

We were warned about a one-lane bridge and we went past an old mill and factory, but we did not find the castle/house that we were looking for. Soon, we were back to a highway, so we stopped at a service station and got filled up. We asked the attendant about the castle, and he told us where it was (we had driven right past it) and said that it was in bad repair and under new ownership and that he thought it was closed. We turned around and went back anyway. Lo and behold, there it was, right where we had been distracted by the one lane bridge. It was looking a good bit worse for the wear and indeed, had lots of no trespassing signs posted. So we parked on the side of the road and took pictures from a distance. It looked like it would have been pretty neat back in its heyday. We still saw Humpty Dumpty, the well that I assume Jack and Jill used, the pie that may have contained four and twenty blackbirds, and a few other recognizable nursery rhyme icons.

We were getting pretty hungry, and the gas station guy had told us about a place down the road with a big horse in front of it that had good food, so we went in search of. Before long we came to the horse and the Homestead Rest Restaurant. It was about two o’clock, but thankfully, we could still get lunch. It was an interesting place – the walls were COVERED with photos of prize winning horses and it had a rustic western theme going on. We ordered our iced teas and our server, Kim, brought out these gigantic Ball jars full of ice and tea – my kind of place!! We each got a spinach salad and shared some onion rings. The onion rings were really good, but the salad was missing some ingredients (pine nuts), heavy on others (red onions and goat cheese – yum!) but the dressing was pretty overpowering and we had not thought to ask for it on the side. It was spicy, and even though I love spicy, it was not the complement that it could have been. We ate what we could and then hit the road.

Somewhere along the way, we came to a Toyota dealership and decided to pull in and just see if the service department was still open and we could get our new fuses. Well, we were sort of in luck. It was just after three and the service guys had just left, but the salesmen were extra helpful. We spoke to one man who was in the middle of a sale in the lot, and he made some calls and directed us inside. There, the receptionist called a salesman to help us, and boy, did Tony do the job! He crawled up in the small space under the steering wheel and located the bad fuses (see Mr. Clifton Park Toyota man, I knew it was just bad fuses!!) and then salesman number one came to check on us and he went in to get new fuses. Tony replaced them for us (it was pretty hot out by now, and he worked up a sweat there in the lot – we really appreciated his goodwill!!) and then would not charge us for his work. We checked to make sure everything was working and we all cheered when the XM came on – even Tony! He even gave us a couple of extra fuses in case we blew them out again. We told him all about our trip and gave him our blog address, so Tony, if you haven’t given up on us yet, here’s a shout out to you!! We thank you so much for helping us, so if any of you are ever in New Jersey and need a new Toyota, go see Tony at Condit Toyota on Routes 206 and 94 in Newton, NJ.

With tunes blaring, we had renewed energy as we continued south towards Princeton and Trenton. We had heard they were both pretty towns, and of course, Trenton is the capital of New Jersey, so we wanted to at least see the capitol building. And then it rained. HARD! Just as we were getting to Princeton, and all the way to Trenton, it just poured. We finally stopped in Trenton to readjust our route, because we would never make it to Lucy the Elephant if we stayed on the back roads in this downpour. We reluctantly decided to take the interstate, so for me at least, the rest of New Jersey on this day is pretty much a blur. It did stop raining, and we drove down and across the state without incident.

Lucy, who is a national landmark, lives in Margate City, just south of Atlantic City. We needed to get to her before the last tour began at 7:30 (thank goodness it was officially summer somewhere up here!) and so we cheered as we pulled into her parking lot at 6:50.

Lucy is a magnificent pachyderm with a storied history. Read all about her at http://www.lucytheelephant.org/ and you’ll understand (well, maybe you won’t understand, but you’ll get the picture, anyway) why we wanted to see her. We had time to take some photos and make a pit stop before our tour began, and then Connor, our tour guide led us up through Lucy’s left rear leg. Just inside the door was the original ticket booth, and then we made our way up to the main floor. There were lots of photographic displays of Lucy and her history, and we watched a video about her. At one time, a family had actually lived in Lucy, and we could still see their bathtub. We all got a chance to walk up and look out of Lucy’s eyes, and then we all trooped up another set of stairs and outside to the very tip-top of Lucy!

From there we had a grand view of the Atlantic and Atlantic City to the north (in the hazy distance). We came back down through Lucy’s back right leg and even saw the peanuts she’d had for lunch that day. We spent some time in the gift shop, where we talked to Joan and Sue (who were working there) and a man from California who was talking about the Wigwams. We of course shared our story about staying at the Wigwam Motel while on Route 66, and then we told them about this year’s trip and some of the unusual buildings we’d seen so far. We were all the more determined to make a detour to the Shoe House (that we’d missed in Pennsylvania on the way up) on our way home the next day.

Leaving Lucy, we made our way through some of the Monopoly streets (Ventnor Avenue being the main one) and located our Hampton for the night. It was not our favorite one – in a bit of a seedy area between Pleasantville and Bayside, just outside Atlantic City. We were not at all tempted to venture into Atlantic City, and we felt like we were being pretty daring to go out for dinner. We had only passed a couple of possibilities, and one of them was recommended to us by the people at the front desk, so we decided to try JoJo’s Italian Grille just down the street. Turned out to be a wonderful choice – lots of locals were there and they had brick oven pizza and yummy looking desserts. I had a pizza with roasted red peppers, basil, cheese, grilled asparagus, and prosciutto, and Kim had one with prosciutto, cheese, and basil. Both were delicious and we could not eat all of them, especially since we saved room for dessert. We split a piece of homemade cheesecake with cherries – most excellent! Once again, our server’s name was Kim, which we thought was kind of funny. We went back to the hotel, worked on the computer and watched TV, and called it a night pretty early. It was hard to believe that we only had a couple of days left on our trip!

Betting that elephants never forget,

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

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple

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26 June 2008

We had two big things on our agenda today – a tour of Yankee Stadium and “Young Frankenstein” – so we hit the ground running. We had the name of some Chelsea area restaurants, so we got our bearings and walked over to Madeleine Patisserie for breakfast. Kim had a ham and cheese croissant and I had Canadian bacon and grilled onion quiche, which also came with a salad. I’m not accustomed to having salad with breakfast, but it was good! This little restaurant is famous for their macarons (no, not macaroons) but we did not get any this morning, thinking we might stop back by. That didn’t happen, so I’ll have to try a macaron some other time. It was raining a little bit, so we had our jackets and hoods on, which was making us pretty sticky and hot, as it was warming up fast and was pretty humid.

We were already a little stressed, just knowing we had to get ourselves from lower Manhattan to the Bronx on the subway. But, being the intelligent, intrepid adventurers that we are, we made our way to the subway entrance and entered the underworld. Even though we had specific instructions about which trains to take, we did what any smart Southern girls would do – we went to the window and asked what to do. The attendant could not have been nicer – she sold us our tickets, told us how and when to change trains, and pointed us in the right direction. Now, if only we could follow her instructions! We did pretty well, only having to ask a nice man at the next stop which train we were supposed to get on (we had been in the right place) and soon we were arriving in the Bronx. Of course, we went the wrong way when we got off, so we stopped in a little grocery store and got re-oriented.

Once we went around the corner in the right direction, there it was, right in front of us – the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium! And immediately across the street was the new stadium, well underway. For those of you who are not big baseball fans, this is the last year that the venerable old stadium will be used, as it is slated to be demolished once the new venue is completed. The first game in “The House That Ruth Built” was played in 1923, so you can imagine that it’s seen a lot of wear and tear. Read more about it at http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy and see some great photos. On the way from the subway to the stadium, we met a dad with his daughter and son who were also going for a tour. They were from Lubbock, Texas, and we had fun chatting with them. It was raining pretty steadily so we all sought shelter under awnings as we waited for the tour to begin.

Soon we were inside, being separated into four groups. Our group began the tour in the Yankee clubhouse, which was a big surprise – not all the tours get to go in the clubhouse. This was the only place we couldn’t take pictures, but it was still fun. A couple of things of interest – the late Thurmon Munson (a Yankee who was killed in a plane crash) still has a locker and Derek Jeter has two lockers – the one he uses like everyone uses, and the one next to it that is full of his fan mail! From the clubhouse, we went through the tunnel and into the dugout just like the players would. That was pretty cool, too! We sat on the bench in the dugout and got to see the same view the players would during a game. By now, it had stopped raining, and we were able to fully enjoy the experience. From the dugout, we walked through the stadium (up the stairs and ramps) to the press box. One of the funniest things about that was the wire baskets used for the press kits and stat packs – it looked like something you would have seen forty or fifty years ago, especially next to the green blackboard with lineups written in chalk. Not exactly high tech here!

 

The view from the press box was primo! One thing we learned about was the area in the outfield bleachers called the Batter’s Eye – out in dead center field was a section painted black (as opposed to Yankee blue) and no one ever sits there so that there is nothing to distract the batter from beingable to see the little white ball that’s coming at him. Who knew? We got a chance to buy a special version of the Yankee press guide (we bit) and then we walked out to Monument Park, which is near left field, next to the bullpen. Along the wall leading to it are the numbers of all the retired Yankee jerseys. Did you know there were two number 8’s retired? Both belonged to catchers – Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Around the corner were the monuments – some to famous Yankees like Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and some plaques commemorating things like the Papal blessings (there have been three) of Yankee Stadium and 9/11. All too soon, (even for Cardinal fans) the tour was over and we were on our way back to the subway.

Once again, we stopped to ask specifics. The attendant we asked this time was just getting off duty, so she personally escorted us to the correct train and then said, “Where in the South are you ladies from?” We just had that look about us, I guess! We had a nice chat with her and then just waited for the train to come. We were sort of leaning against the wall (germophobes, don’t even think about it) and Kim had her bag on the floor at her feet. Suddenly, this man swooped in and stood right next to Kim, ostensibly reading his paper but in reality scoping out her seemingly unattended bag. We were looking at pictures on my camera (while really paying attention to everything around us) and after a while, Kim casually reached down and picked up her bag. With that, the newspaper guy left, just as quickly as he had arrived. We were almost hysterical thinking what he would have done with Kim’s bag had he stolen it, since all it contained was Kim’s rainjacket and Peppy!! I told her we were lucky he didn’t take it – he might have come back and shot us when he saw what was in it!

We got back to the hotel without further incident, and since it was getting on in the afternoon, we looked for lunch options. Ya know, in New York City, you can eat just about anything, anywhere, at almost any price, but I’ll bet there aren’t many of you who would have found the Trailer Park Lounge and Grill. But the Sassy Sisters did, and it was just our speed! On our way there, we passed the iconic Hotel Chelsea, which was practically across the street from the TPL&G. The minute we stepped through the screen door (no lie!) we felt RITE at home. There was a bowling alley section, a real trailer, lots of black velvet Elvi, and tons of Southern signage and such. I’ll try to post a variety of photos so you can get the full effect. At any rate, the place was practically empty (it was about 3:30) except for a few people at the bar. We had chicken salad sandwiches – Kim had mac and cheese (it was FINE!) and I had sweet potato fries – and we had really good frozen margaritas – strawberry (K) and mango (J). The place was so cool (temperature-wise, too) and entertaining that we lingered over our meal, chatted with the bartender, and took lots of pictures. I have no shame! The bartender was a fine southern boy – from South Dakota! We talked to him about all the places in SD that we had visited last summer. He doesn’t miss it.

After lupper (you know, lunch/supper) we walked down to the Chelsea Market. This melange of neat shops is housed in what used to be the Nabisco factory, and boy, have they retrofitted it! It was a fantastic place, full of foods of all kinds and home (at least we think so) to the Food Network. There was definitely something Iron Cheffy going on there – we followed the VIP signs until they caught onto us. We watched bread being made and baked at Amy’s Bakery, somehow passed by gelato without getting any, looked through a market full of produce, spices, dried fruits, cheeses, and more, wandered through an awesome kitchen store, and finally succumbed to ice cream (coke float for me, purple cow for Kim) at this fun little dairy bar. Got milk?

We were sad to hear that the Chelsea Flower Market was closed, cause we had heard good things about it. Since we had play plans for that evening, it was time to move on. We walked back via a different route, and just enjoyed the street life of New York. Except for the man who looked around to see if anyone was looking, saw us, and peed into a fenced in churchyard anyway, right there on the street! Is nothing sacred? We crossed the street. We had a little bit of time to cool off and rest before show time, and then we were off to the theatre district.

We started out walking to the Hilton Theatre, because cabs weren’t stopping on 6th right then, but by the time we got to about 30th or 32nd, we got a cab. The Hilton is at 42nd and Broadway, so Kim got to see a little slice of Times Square and all of its craziness. We were excited about seeing Young Frankenstein, as it was one of our favorite movies of all time. I just hoped it could live up to my expectations. The cast was great – Dr. Frankenstein was played by the guy who played George (the creepy pharmacist on Desperate Housewives), his fiance, Elizabeth was Megan Mulalley, who was on Will and Grace, and Inge was played by Sutton Foster, who was the lead in Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway a few years ago (Rex & I had seen her in that). The set and special effects were beyond fantastic, and the play stayed true to the movie, and all the hilarious jokes (and more) were in there. We were howling most of the evening! If you’re a Young Frankenstein fan, you’d love the play, and if you’re not a Young Frankenstein fan, I’m sorry!

After the play, we walked back to the hotel and again observed and enjoyed life in Manhattan. It is not like where we’re from! It had been a long day, and by the time I downloaded pictures, we were crashing and burning. Now you know how I got so far behind on my blogging…

Much more to see and do tomorrow – the waterfalls are calling us…

Jan

Rocks and water; frogs and flies; trains and taxis

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25 June 2008

 

We had another packed agenda for the day, as we planned to ride all over Connecticut on our way to our cousin’s house in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, and then take the train into the city, so we did not tarry at Sandy’s this morning. We took some pix of the house – we loved the way it was decorated, and we were so intrigued by the ingenious way Sandy had managed to pack so much into such a compact space. The stairs were particularly fascinating to us – they were very narrow and quite steep, since there really wasn’t enough room to put a full flight of stairs from the first floor to the second. My favorite room was the dining room, which felt sort of cavelike, since the one wall was a huge boulder. Very cool digs – thanks again, Sandy, for letting us stay for the night, and for your great recommendations of Noah’s and Kitchen Little.

Speaking of Kitchen Little, that’s where we were headed for breakfast this morning. In addition to Sandy’s suggestion, we had already read about Kitchen Little in Road Food, where it received great raves. It really is a teeny place – about 400 sq. ft., according to Road Food! We opted to eat outdoors, where we shared a picnic table with an elderly local couple. It was a beautiful day, and we were almost a little chilly in the shade.

Kitchen Little lives up to its motto, “AM Eggstasy” – I had a difficult time making my breakfast choice! If I had seen the special board before I ordered, I would have had no problem, since I would have gotten Eggs Benedict with avocados and tomatoes, but somehow I missed that. I don’t remember the name of what I had, but it was some concoction of eggs and vegetables and cheese over potatoes, and it was delicious. I will leave Kim’s breakfast choice up to you to guess… The view from the patio was so peaceful and serene – if only I could start every day this way!

 

From Kitchen Little and Mystic, our route took us up the Connecticut River to East Haddam, where we would be touring the Gillette Castle. Almost everyone guesses that this was built by the razor blade Gillette’s, but it wasn’t. William Hooker Gillette was a stage actor who was famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He lived for many years on a 104′ houseboat (that he later expanded to 144′) named the Aunt Polly, and one day as he sailed up the river, he found a spot he liked, hopped out, hiked up, loved the view, and decided to build his ‘retirement home’ there. He never really retired, but he designed and oversaw the building of this extraordinary home and the railroad around it. I could write for PAGES about this place – it was definitely one of my favorite places – but I invite those of you who want to know more about it to go to http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=325204&depNav_GID=1650 and/or http://www.friendsofgillettecastle.org/sofgillettecastle.org/ – they both have great pictures and plenty of facts.

The castle was named Seventh Sister, after the mountains in the area. Gillette was fascinated by trains and built three miles of narrow guage railroad around the property, including switches, turnouts, trestles, a roundhouse, a repair shop, and Grand Central Station. He had two engines built, an electric engine and a steam engine, and he had two Pullman cars which held seven passengers each, and one serpentine observation car that held 20 passengers. Albert Einstein and Calvin Coolidge both rode on the Seventh Sister Shortline, which cost $50,000 to build. The house itself cost a million dollars, and it took twenty men five years to construct. After Gillette’s death, his heirs sold the Castle to the state of Connecticut for $30,000.

 

 

As we left the Castle, we passed by a pond covered with lily pads, so we pulled in for a closer look. I love taking pictures of frogs, lily pads, and lotus blossoms, and I felt sure there would be plenty of opportunities here. I was right! There were about six HUGE frogs sitting near one side of the wall, then a couple of giant tadpoles that were maybe two weeks away from being frogs, and after carefully scanning the lily pads, I found a couple of frogs sunning on them. Aren’t the lotus blossoms beautiful?

By the time we left the castle grounds, it was after noon. We went through several little Connecticut towns, many of which had horrible traffic patterns (Middletown and Meriden, to name a couple). It seemed like it took us forever to get even just a little way across this small state. We stopped in at the Timexpo Museum in Waterbury and learned tons about clocks, watches, and timepieces as well as the role that this factory played in the town’s history.

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From Waterbury, we made our way to the rolling hills of Litchfield, and by now we were pretty hungry, even after our big breakfasts at Kitchen Little. The first place we tried to eat in Litchfield was a little bakery that had already stopped serving lunch (it was three o’clock…) The girl there recommended a couple of other places around the corner, so we went in search of food.

The first place we went to didn’t seem to have a door, so we went back to the Village, where we sat at the bar and had a couple of salads. The walls of the bar were covered with pictures from the Litchfield Hills Road Races throughout the years. This was a pretty little town, and we had parked on the town square right next to a statue honoring Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was born here. We were really running late now, so at Torrington, we altered our route and went across the state to Kent Falls, which had a little covered bridge and a waterfall that went on and on. We took the quarter-mile (straight up) hike and got so many different views of the waterfall. Everything was so lush and green – not at all what I had thought about seeing in Connecticut!

As we were leaving the Falls, we saw some exquisite dragonflies. Aren’t they pretty?

After we left the falls, we intended to make a beeline for Croton, but then we passed a huge spillway and saw a sign for a one-lane covered bridge, so you know what happened next… We were at Bulls Bridge, where we took a short hike that was right next to (and on a pretty slippery trail) the roaring river.

It was almost six by the time we left, so we went straight to Croton with no other stops. Much to Melanie’s surprise, we showed up at her door without having to call for specific directions, and without Jill’s help, since she had gone silent on us. Remember our fuse problem? It was still not fixed (no thanks to you, Clifton Park Toyota!) and now we apparently have blown another fuse, since neither auxiliary adapter works now. Needless to say, the XM is not singing to us, either. Anyway, it was great to see our cousin Melanie and her daughter, Nora, and Nora’s boyfriend, David. Melanie fixed us drinks and she had already cooked some yummy chicken and a Caesar salad, which we ate out on the terrace while looking across the Hudson River all the way to Manhattan. On a clear day…

Soon it was time for Kim to make her virgin run into NYC! Melanie took us to the train station (after we practically totally unloaded the car and re-packed for the city) and walked us through the ticket buying process and delivered us right to the track, where the train arrived about five minutes later. Wouldn’t want to rush into anything… The train ride was uneventful and Kim loved Grand Central Station and its beautiful ceiling and just the grandeur of the whole place. We caught a cab and yi-haw!!! Off we flew! Actually, we started at a crawl through Times Square, but the minute our cabbie saw daylight, we were off for the races! We were staying at the Hampton in Chelsea, and we got there about eleven, got settled, and crashed, ready to see the city the next day!

Falling for New England,

Jan

Sunshine, good times, and friends!

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Thursday, 19 June 2008

At about 5:15 AM, we got good news and bad news. The good news was that the sun was shining brightly; the bad news was that the sun was shining brightly in our eyes and it was 5:15 AM…

Not surprisingly, we were able to get back to sleep for another hour or two. We found that the Trapp Lodge had the best shower on our trip so far – great water pressure, hot, hot water, and big fluffy towels. A wonderful way to start the day! Since we were kind of out in the middle of nowhere, we opted for the huge European style buffet breakfast at the lodge. Great idea! I had a healthy bowl of Muesli (with added flax seed, for those of you who worry about my eating habits) and a big plate of fruit. Oh, and also possibly the best blueberry muffin I’ve ever had and a teeny little croissant with homemade raspberry jam and strawberry preserves. Kim had fruit, granola, meat, cheese, and a cranberry muffin. Our iced tea gave us our morning shot of caffeine and we were good to go. It was probably after nine before we left, but we didn’t have a big travel day planned. Oh, and we realized we were eating at a table next to one of the Trapp family!

On our way to Burlington, we realized that we had forgotten to check out the Flavor Graveyard at Ben and Jerry’s, so we took our first detour of the day. The Flavor Graveyard is where all of the permanently retired B&J flavors have been laid to rest. It was pretty funny, and you know we love a good cemetery! Since we were stuffed from breakfast, we were able to resist the very strong temptation to have ice cream…for now, anyway.

 

We took US 2 into Burlington, which took us just forever! We barely drove through town, just passing by the University of Vermont and the hospital. We took an unintended side trip to the Intervale, which we have no idea what it is, but we’re quite sure they were not expecting cars on what appeared to be a bike path. We were in search of the Grand Isle ferry, which we eventually found. We had to laugh, though, because when we were at Ben & Jerry’s at 10:30 and we found out that the next Burlington ferry didn’t leave until 11:45, we opted to go for the Grand Isle ferry instead, since it left about every 12 minutes or so and we could get on it much sooner. It probably won’t surprise you that we were on the 12:30 ferry…

On the ferry ride, we saw huge osprey nests and we got dumped off in Plattsburg, NY. Our plan was to find a grocery store and get a picnic lunch for our hike in the Ausable Chasm, but then we found ourselves in front of a restaurant called Gus’s, which was advertising Red Hots. From somewhere deep in my memory banks, I seemed to recall reading about this place in Road Food, so we stopped and got the book out of our backseat library (right next to our backseat bar). Sure enough, there were THREE Plattsburg eateries in the food bible, so we read about all of them and decided to try the red hots, aka Michigans, aka chili dogs (from where I come from, anyway) at a place called McSweeney’s. We had barely gotten going down the street and were trying to ask Jill where to go when we drove right past it. U turn! It was a great choice!

We had our virgin Michigans and shared an order of onion rings. Yum! But the best part was talking to our hosts, JoAnn and Stephen. They were so nice and friendly and their food was great! We shared our road trip book with them and hopefully they’ll find time to take a road trip of their own someday soon. JoAnn and Stephen, thanks for the hospitality and have a wonderful trip to North Carolina for your nephew’s wedding! 

Soon we were in the Adirondacks, and they were so pretty! We passed an interesting little sculpture park that had lots of sculptures, but we could not figure out how to get in there. We had passed it, turned around, drove past again, and still never found a driveway. So we just pulled off and got a couple of pictures. Soon after that, we passed a sign for Ausable Point, so I quickly turned in, because I thought that’s where we were going. I was a little premature, but it was so odd to see marshes up here that look so similar to those at the beach. Well, except for the minor detail of mountains in the background… Anyway, we were still searching for the Ausable Chasm and sincerely hoping the rain would stop just anytime. We were in need of a hike to walk off our red hots!

Soon enough, we were rewarded, or at least we hoped that was the case. We saw the big signs for Ausable Chasm, but they looked so much like the signs at Natural Bridge that we were a little bit concerned that it might turn out to be another underwhelming adventure.

It was raining pretty hard when we got there, so we donned our rainy day gear (such as it is) and our ball caps and went into the visitor center. Can you imagine that we were the only ones there, except for the workers? We just laughed when they tried to sell us rafting tickets. It may have been 61 degrees… We got extensive instructions and several maps for our $16 ‘tour’ and we were thinking we had really been had. We ended up having a great time and seeing nature at its finest. And we weren’t with the 200 children who had been there earlier in the day!

First we saw a structure called Elephant’s Head, which you’ll have to agree was very aptly named. Then we crossed the bridge and got a good peek at Rainbow Falls. So far, so good! We walked on down a path that had been recently restocked with wood chips, so it was soft and smelled great. And by then it had even stopped raining! Soon we were standing above Elephant’s Head and looking back over where we had started. There was a LONG set of stairs that we had noticed when we were over there (hoping that we would not have to go down them, since that usually means you have to come back up them) when we noticed something odd. The last few sections of stairs were broken and the last ‘step’ was about 20 feet! Turns out that in 1996, the area had flooded so badly that all of the footpaths and all but two bridges had been washed away, which means that the water had risen to at least 150 feet in the gorge!

There were lots of different geologic features to the chasm, and the trail was well marked with signs telling about each feature and how it had been formed. There was so much moss and millions of ferns – it was lush with greenery and dripping with water. The earthy smell after the rain was wonderful, and the peaceful, quiet walk was a great way to spend the day. Until we had to climb up as many stairs as we had come down! We saw the place where the rafters put in and noticed a sign saying the park closed at 4 PM. It was about 3:50 at the time, and no one had mentioned any time limits to us! Amazingly, a shuttle bus arrived to take us back to our car (the only one left in the lot) so we were safe!


Since my friend Katy was expecting us sometime after five, we thought we’d better make our way to the ferry back to Vermont. On the way, we saw an incredible rainbow (yes, it started raining again just as we finished our hike) and we got to the ferry about 10 minutes before it was to leave. In the meantime, I called my Looper friends Diane and Louis, who are from Durham, and they are taking a year to tour the Grand Loop on their boat, the Bella Luna. They started at their home port in Morehead City, NC, and they have come up the intercoastal waterway, sailed into New York harbor, come up the Hudson River, and if you can believe it, they were on the southern end of Lake Champlain docked for the night at the town of Vergennes, which is about 15 minutes from where we were staying! Coincidences like that don’t just happen!

We got off the ferry about 5:30 and miraculously found our way to Katy’s brand new camp (that’s Vermont talk for house on the lake) in North Ferrisburg. It was so AWESOME!! And she was kind enough to let us be her first house guests! She and her husband, Chal, had just gotten furniture moved in last weekend, and I am here to report that I did not see ONE BOX. Amazing! I was ready to spend the summer at camp! Except for one thing – Katy and Chal’s oldest child is getting married up there at the end of next month, so they have lots to do between now and then. But we are so grateful to both of them for opening their brand new home to us! We talked Katy into going down to see Diane and Louis with us, which meant she had to drive, since we couldn’t fit her in our car. We found the Bella Luna and her crew with no trouble. Aren’t the falls at Vergennes pretty?

The Bella Luna was docked with a clear view of the falls! We met some of the other Loopers that Diane and Louis have been traveling with, and we shared a drink with them and got a tour of their wonderful boat. Their dog, Buddy, was happy to see us, too! It was such fun to have our paths cross and to hear about Diane and Louis’s adventures. We got to see their route and realized they would be cruising through our hometown of Paducah, Kentucky, in a few months, so we are going to try and meet them there, too. I love the plaque Diane has hanging in the galley of the Bella Luna. It says, “Take time to explore, as every step of the journey IS the journey.” Hear, hear!

We went back to Katy’s to enjoy the sunset and have dinner and just catch up. Katy’s dog, Boo, was enjoying the lake view, too!

We got a grand tour of the whole camp and the dock, and it was spectacular! Katy fixed a most delicious pasta dinner for us and we spent the remaining daylight hours on the back porch and then had a leisurely dinner, sharing stories and laughing into the night. It is moments like those that make trips like these so worthwhile! To have gotten to see three friends in the same day when we are hundreds of miles from home – how special is that? No wonder the sunset over the lake was the first one they’ve had for days!

Feeling particularly blessed today,

Jan

Across the Empire

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17 June 2008

We thought we would take advantage of the breakfast bar at the Hampton, so by the time we got on the road we had at least been nourished! I don’t remember now what time we got away, but it was not a terribly early start. We were riding across the state on Highway 20, which goes across the tops of most of the Finger Lakes. We drove through Seneca Falls, home of the women’s suffrage movement, across Cayuga Lake, and through Auburn. Our first stop was at Skaneateles, on Skaneateles Lake, which we have no idea how to pronounce, so we just called it Skittles. Many of the towns, counties, and lakes have Indian names, which I think is so cool – it really reminds us who was here first and is sort of like stepping back in history – but I have no idea how to pronounce them!  

We found a spot to park on the street, and I had just gotten us parked when a man knocked on Kim’s window. Turns out it was the driver of the bus who was a few spots behind us, telling us that the meter just ahead of him still had 92 minutes left on it. So we thanked him and backed up! We first walked out on the jetty, where several people were fishing. It was chilly today – highs were not expected to be out of the 60’s – and with the wind blowing across the water, we were glad we had our jackets on. We were amazed at how clear the lake water was! It didn’t seem fair to the fish that the fishermen could see them!

Since the bus that was parked behind us was full of senior citizens walking and rolling around town, we thought it best that we give them a head start, so we chatted with some of the fisherman (rock bass, biting well) and then walked around a bit. We had the names of a couple of Road Food places, so we first found a cute little bakery (Skaneateles Bakery) and we shared a Half-Moon cookie (a great big sugar cookie, iced half with vanilla and half with chocolate – yummy!). Then we checked out Doug’s Fish Fry, which was just across the street. Unfortunately, it was too early for lunch and we were not about to put fish lunches to go in our car for a few hours…but it looked and smelled great! There was a great mural of the town covering one wall, and a train ran on an elevated track through all three rooms of the restaurant. Loved the fish light fixture, too!

We did a little window shopping on the way back to the car, and then we were off again. Our next stop was the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park just past Cazenovia. We thought about detouring off to see Chittenango Falls, but we decided not to. Later, we decided that was a mistake, but more on that in a bit. We were just about to give up on finding the art park when all of a sudden, there was a sign for it. We pulled into a gravel driveway and somehow knew we were in the right place. We saw signs for a secret garden – who could resist that? – so off we hiked. After finding the cool little garden area, we drove up the hill to the parking area.

There was a little old lady pulling weeds, so we greeted her and then looked around a bit. There were lots of neat sculptures, and then we made our way back to see the gardener. She reminded us so much of our mom – very sweet and knowledgeable about gardens and art. She invited us to go in the gift shop/visitors’ center, and she was genuinely pleased that I correctly guessed that she was Dorothy, the artist who had sculpted many of the pieces we had already seen. We so enjoyed chatting with her! We poked around a little more, taking some great pix of the loud frogs in the pond and looking at more of the flowers and sculptures. I especially d the one of the camera!

As we left the art park, we considered turning around and going to see Chittenango Falls, which was only about 13 miles away. Dorothy had told us it was the end of the Appalachian Mountain range and that it had pretty limestone cliffs. We weren’t sure how far we would have to hike to see the falls, and it looked like it could rain at any minute, so we drove on. Once we had really gotten too far to turn back, we realized that Chittenango was the home of L. Frank Baum, who wrote The Wizard of Oz. We’re thinking we may have really missed something…

The next place we had planned to stop was Richfield Springs, which is home to the Petrified Creatures Museum. As we rolled into town, we realized we might should eat some lunch, since it was after two. We stopped at the Tally Ho restaurant, which was next to our target, the Village Snack Shop (closed – not summer yet…) Even though Tonya, our server, did not know what was good or if there was anything on the menu that they were known for, lunch was fine. Kim had a grilled cheese and I had a Hatfield sandwich (roast pork, horseradish, lettuce). Since they had over a dozen homemade pies, we each got a slice to go – Apple Cranberry Crumb for Kim and peach for me (even though Tonya had never had it). Tonya did know where the Petrified Creatures Museum was, although you guessed it, she’d never been there. We struck out in search of it and soon almost drove right past it. There were no cars in the lot (bad sign) and indeed, it was closed. And it had seemed so promisingly cheesy!

At this point, we turned south for Cooperstown. The drive was wonderfully scenic as the road hugged the shore of Lake Otsego. We came upon a sign for the Glimmerglass Opera, so we turned in even though the season hasn’t started yet (not being summer and all). Wow! It was HUGE!!! Made us sorry we couldn’t see a show. Soon we were arriving in Cooperstown, where we had just planned to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, as we drove past the Farmers’ Museum on our way into town, we decided to check it out, so we turned around. What a good choice! Turns out we could get combo tickets for the farmers and baseball, and it was a fun, interactive, educational experience.

We entered through a huge stone barn, which was original to the site. Just inside was the world famous Cardiff Giant, which started as a small hoax and ended up being an international sensation. From there, we walked through the barn learning all about the history of ice cream – fascinating! Once outside, we were at a fair – people walking on stilts, a real carousel, and other entertainment. We rode the carousel, which was run by a man whose son lives in Roxboro, NC. Kim rode Willy the Wildcat, I chose Bucky the Beaver (the first animal carved for this carousel), and Peppy rode on  Sophie the Skunk – we hope he’s not in love!

Once out in the village, each building was manned by someone dressed in period costume who told all about what his or her job would have been, back in the day. The frame buildings had all been dismantled, moved, and reconstructed just like the originals. We went in the general store, the barnyard, blacksmith shop, doctor’s office, apothecary, law office, church, inn/tavern, family home, and school. We learned it was really a working village, as most of the things sold in the general store are made in the village. We were so glad we stopped! Even though we were warned to ride the shuttle bus to the Hall of Fame, we took our chances and drove. We ended up parking behind a family from Fuquay Varina, NC. Small world.


 

There were tons of people at the Hall of Fame! The final (ever) Hall of Fame ballgame was supposed to have been on Monday, but it was cancelled due to the horrible weather. We’re guessing lots of people were still in the area who had come for that game. We had a blast learning even more about baseball than we already knew, and we were awed by the actual Hall of Fame. It was such fun to see our favorite St. Louis Cardinal players and read about the famous and fabulous players from days gone by. Before we knew it, it was after six and we needed to get going.

 

We had ignored Jill (the Garmin voice) all day, so we paid for it now. We were no sooner out of Cooperstown than she had us on a gravel road that had been pretty washed out in the rain the day before, but soon we got to a real road. We were aiming for Cherry Valley, which is home to the ‘world-famous TePee’ and before long we rolled into town. We couldn’t find the teepee though, even after driving through town. Twice. How hard can it be to find a fifty foot teepee??? We gave up and took off for Albany, and you guessed it, there it was, right on the highway (not where we had been advised to look). We pulled in to find out that even though it was open six days a week, every week, it was closed on Tuesdays. Bummer.

Jill managed to get us past Albany and Schenectady and straight (well, maybe not straight) to our Hampton in Clifton Park. I got to work on the blog while Kim walked across the street for pizza, which we ate in our room. We had our pie for dessert – yum! I was still blogging and Kim did yeoman’s work and got our laundry done. We were exhausted and we had an early day ahead of us, but we were almost all the way across the Empire State!

Tuckered out, but with clean clothes!
Jan

Play Day!

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16 June 2008


After a semi-restful night’s sleep in the Wood Loft, we were up early as the sun came streaming in our double garage door windows. We were just happy it was sunshine and not rain that was streaming in! We dressed without showering (in the spring water shower that shared accommodations with the ‘efficient composting toilet’), gathered up our things, and started trudging down the very muddy path to our car. The party had lasted until about 4:30 AM; needless to say, no one else was stirring.

 

The remains of our steak dinner and all of the wine glasses were still sitting where theyhad been left the night (morning?) before. Mickey had told us he’d be at the office by 7:00, but breakfast wasn’t until 9:00. We didn’t feel like sticking around that long, so we planned to meet him in the office to settle up. What a shocker that neither he nor anyone else was there at about 7:50…We amused ourselves by getting online and posting yesterday’s message. About 8:15, Bill and Barbara appeared so we paid our bill (our most expensive lodging bill to date by FAR) and left without our “hearty breakfast” – we were afraid it might have been more homemade wine! At lunch time!

As we drove down the gravel road in search of the interstate, we laughed about the whole experience, and once we got on the highway, we noticed how normal the woods on either side of the road looked. We will never think those are just woods from now on! You’d be amazed at what is hiding in almost plain sight…




We were on our way to the town of LeRoy and the Jell-O Museum, and we vowed to stop at our first opportunity for breakfast (and a bathroom with a flushing toilet!). Sadly, that didn’t come for quite a while. We stopped in Fillmore and ate a delicious breakfast at Friends and Family Restaurant. Other than the fact that their iced tea tasted more like coffee than tea, the food was tasty! Kim had scrambled eggs and sausage; I had a Scramblemelt, which was eggs scrambled with onions, peppers, and mushrooms and topped with cheese and tomatoes. It was served with home fries (good) and whole wheat toast (which Kim ate). The locals there were very friendly and told us which way they would go to get to LeRoy. They seemed to know we were not from around there. And did I mention our total bill was $6?

It was an uneventful ride to LeRoy, which was a very picturesque little town. We could really tell which towns had been prosperous and which had not… LeRoy surely benefitted from the invention of Jell-O in 1897, and even though the manufacturing plant has been in Dover, Delaware for quite some time now, the town is still capitalizing on it. The Jell-O Museum was full of fun facts and great advertising, which has been the secret to Jell-O’s success. We had fun there, and our tour guide, Caroline, was so nice and helpful. Downstairs was a transportation museum, which featured everything from an ox cart to a 1908 Cadillac. It was a great display as well. We enjoyed our jaunt to LeRoy, but we were off in search of our next fun time.

Rochester is probably best known for George Eastman and the Rochester Institute of Technology, but since the Eastman House was closed on Monday, our destination was the Strong National Museum of Play. Boy, did we have fun! It’s home to a carousel made just down the road at the Herschell Carousel company in North Towanda, Dancing Wings, a butterfly house, and the National Toy Hall of Fame. Kids of all ages were having so much fun with the mostly interactive exhibits there. We ate lunch at the Skyliner Diner (there is one in the museum) and had fantastic burgers. It poured down rain while we were at play, so it didn’t bother us at all! We found out later (once we got to our hotel room) that there had been severe weather going on around us – a fierce hail storm and possibly a tornado. We were glad we missed those!

We had no problems leaving Rochester, but we were surprised to cross the Erie Canal. We turned off to see if we could get right near it, and we could by crossing a one-lane steel bottom bridge. Unfortunately, there was a good bit of traffic over that bridge, so we couldn’t get a great photo from the bridge. We also realized we had likely missed our chance to see Lake Ontario…


Our next stop was Ganondagan State Historic Site, which has a replica of a Seneca Longhouse. We were sadly surprised to see that the park was closed on Mondays, so we couldn’t go inside the longhouse. We were able to walk down to it, so we walked off a bite or two of our burgers. It was our second walk of the day, since we had had to hike our way out of Pollywogg Holler.

By this time, we were pretty worn out and it was almost five, so we just headed for our Hampton (I can’t tell you how excited we are to be staying in a Hampton!!!) and the beautiful Finger Lakes. After I crashed for an hour and Kim enjoyed a hot shower (our Pollywogg night had caught up with us) we took off walking through the streets of Geneva in search of food. We found it at Parker’s Grill and Taproom, where we had a light supper of Harvest Soup and a house salad followed by an ice cream cone on the lake. Yum. We watched the almost full moon rise over the lake and wondered if the fish were biting. We talked to a neat young man with dreads who biked out on the pier where we were having our ice cream. He had a guitar with him and was very friendly. Later on, as we were walking back to the hotel, we passed him again, only this time he was riding his bike while singing and playing the guitar. Now that’s talent! We’ve enjoyed watching our first TV since we left home, although we were sad to see how bad the flooding in the midwest is and we were very thankful that it was last year’s trip that took us to that part of the country.

All played out,
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