The Highways Traveled

August 2012. Loose-ends Trip. By loose-ends I mean getting in all at once several otherwise small visits. The main purpose of this trip was to spend a night in three states I had night previously spent a night. Those states are: New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware. Also, I got to visit a major city for the first time: Baltimore. Finally, I needed to check in once more with my beloved aunt, uncle and cousins who always make me feel so at home. For benefts, I got in another home/library/museaum of a U.S. President (Pierce in N.H.) which now makes 15 of 43 men plus a re-visit to my most admired President, George Washington and his beloved Mt. Vernon. States visited: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

TRAVELING IN GENERAL: I love seeing all of the places in the U.S. On my Bucket List is to visit all 50 states and spend at least one night in all of them. I also want to visit all major U.S. cities. More specifically, I am out to get a photo of every state capitol building. I also like to visit national parks, U.S. Presidential homes/libraries, and, see the major universities. Those are all things that will be around for generations to come.
WHERE I HAVE BEEN: There were several things I learned at an early age that most people wait until decades later. Fortunate that way. One of them was to highlight in a Rand-McNally atlas every highway I have traveled. This trip will allow me to highlight several more roads in that atlas. :>) (In case you are curious, two others were to put a checkmark by the photo of everyone in my high school and college classes that I knew at the time, and, start researching the family history while many of the grandparents' generation is still living (and remembering things).
FREEDOM: Interestingly, every time I travel it always occurs to me what an incredible freedom it is that I can go wherever I want and change my plans in midstream to do something different. And, here is the most amazing part to me: I do not have to get approval from any government to do any of this. I am free to go wherever. I do not know why I always think of that on a trip, but I do. Maybe it is from hearing how people in some countries, especially such places as Nazi Germany, the old Soviet Union, China and other southeastern Asian countries have to get approval from their governments. So, it is a freedom that I have never taken for granted.
As we were landing in Dulles, the stewardness and I were talking. She said that in her job over many years she has seen it all. And it was interesting how she phrased her next sentence that was leading to a story of one example of the worst. She said that she has seen the best of humanity and the worst of it. I thought that was a good phrase.

FLIGHT TO NEW ENGLAND: Kansas City International (MCI) to Manchester, NH (MHT), changing planes in Dulles (IAD) which was good since my return flight home originated there after driving back to D.C. from New Hampshire. The airline was United (actually, some subsidiary of theirs which flies fairly small planes and there is but a single seat on the left side of the plane. Nice. And, I was in row three both to Dulles and New Hampshire so I was usually the first into the terminals. Double nice.

NEW ENGLAND: New England is the best part of the country for many reasons. It is where much of what the U.S. became was started (along with Virginia, of course). Americans love the seafood that comes from here along with the famous New England Clam Chowder. Boston Cream Pies. Dunkin Donuts is headquartered here. Countless historical sites to see. Some of the most famous universities in the world are here. And then there is the incredible fall colors that everyone wishes they could see at least once in a lifetime. Their highway system is wonderful as they have multi-lane roads (compared to one or two in the Midwest) and good signage. But, they do not believe in straight roads. They constantly curve and several roads can all converge into one intersection or split off into several ramps leading to various other roads. But mostly I loved the area because I have studied it in detail for decades because of family history research. I have been here many times and will keep coming back.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: The state is very pretty with lots of trees everywhere and small mountains (in the south anyway, see the 2010 vacation trip for north and central). Several things were against the state today. One, it was rainy all day interrupted only by the occasional thunderstorm. Two, no one (of four) at the airport could tell me how to find the highway 13 to the west towards Hillsborough. I had to go about ten miles out of my way by the time the GPS could find any satellites. And three, people in this state do NOT break the speed limiit (I think I also said this in past vacation write-ups). Absolutely not. They ride their brakes if necessary. And if it is raining (like it was today), then subtract 10-15 MPH. Thus, it took 20% longer to get anywhere than I planned. Something I find odd about New Hampshire is that many tourist places do not open for the year until July 1, at least in southern New Hampshire. I encountered several of those places in 2010 so this time I got to visit some of them in August.

New Hampshirites (is that the right term?) love boating. About 80% of every vehicle I saw on that rainy Saturday had at least one paddle-type boat on the roof or was hauling a bigger one behind on a trailer.

I spent the night in Nashua (Hampton Inn). That is important since, despite having been in New Hampshire on three prior trips, it was the first time I spent a night in the state.

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN PIERCE HOME: President Pierce (not exactly one of the giants among U.S. Presidents) had a childhood home just west of Hillsborough and his own house (called Pierce Manse), a very large house in northern Concord (which is now privately owned but a sign outside marks it for historical purposes).

BOSTON: Boston is my favorite U.S. city. This is the eighth time I have been here, all for fun (although my company of 19 years has an office in nearby Quincy). Would liked to have visited the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in the Back Bay area (been there 4 - 5 times) but they are closed Sundays and Mondays. I first joined NEHGS in 1986 after my first visit. Boston Common is always open and always full of people enjoying the day and the park. I did likewise. It is right next to the state capitol building so I had to get my requisite photo of it (as I try to do for all state capitol buildings).

RHODE ISLAND: In 1986 we drove through diagonally the entire state in 90 minutes, no stopping. This time I stayed a night. Rhode Island, as does most of New England, has a good highway system. Lots of limited access highways that are even three and four lanes wide. However, only Rhode Island puts, about every mile or so, a U-turn across the median. And, the highway patrols is out in force during workday rush hour traffic. Oh, and as in New Hampshire, countless vehicles were carrying/hauling some type of boat.

CONNECTICUT: I was in Connecticut in 186. So this orignally was mainly as pass-through state. But since I got done with Rhode Island soon than expected I had some extra time to tour a bit of Connecticut. Mystic, Hartford, New Haven and Milford.

NEW YORK: New York City was right in my path so I had to venture a little visit. Always wantd to see Yankee Stadium (although the new stadium exists now and not the one for Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson). And, I wanted to try my hand at driving in Manhattan, albiet avoiding rush hour traffic (8:00 am to 9:30 am). Plus I wanted to experience Manhattan itself. I did it although I did miss out seeing the homes of Presidents Arthur and Theodore Roosevelt (GPS could not handle Manhattan).

NEW JERSEY: I spent eight weeks in Newwark in the summer of 1981. There were a couple of things I wanted to see elsewhere in the state. Two were in Princeton to help cover two things I like to see on trips -- major universities and the homes/museums of U.S. Presidents -- Princeton Univerity and the privately-owned house that once was President Cleveland were both in Princeton. And of course in Trenton I could photograph another state capitol building, yet another thing I like to do on trips. I was impressed with what I saw in Princeton and uninpressed with what I saw in Trenton. And of course, northern New Jersey is just one big continuation of Manhattan, acting as its suburb for where people go to change clothes and sleep.

PENNSYLVANIA: I was in Philadelphia for only a couple of hours. I did see their stadium while driving by it on the interstate. I was there only to see the gravesite of Benjamin Franklin, mu very favorite person in all of history.

DELAWARE: I passed through here in 1986. The northern part of Delaware is less than 20 miles wide. This time I had to spend a night. There are NO cheap yet decent hotels in the Wilmington area. Since there was not much to see/do there either, I decided while on the trip to change the plans and spend the night in Dover. That way, it is a better and cheaper hotel (nearly half the price of Wilmington) AND I get to take a photo of yet another state capitol building. That meant I also get to go through Annapolis (where I was in 1986, see below). I only saw a little bit of Wilmington as I went looking for gasoline and lunch. Nothing at the exit I selected so decided to go on to Dover. Dover is a nice little town.

MARYLAND: In 1986 we spent three nights in Annapolis (including Mother's Day). Annapolis is the home of the U.S. Naval Academy. It was so impressive that day to see all of the cadets in naval dress whites (best looking military uniforms, period) and their mothers with red rose carnations. This trip, I got to revisit Annapolis plus get a photo of the Maryland state capitol building. I unintentionally visited there as I was following the GPS directions to a McDonalds (that no longer exists) which was right where now is an entry gate to the Naval Academy. Talked to the female midshipman at the gate who suspected I was using a GPS (guess it's happened before).
And wow, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge leading into Annapolis from the east is not for the faint of heart and those with a fear of heights or bridges. That is one long bridge that seems like it just keeps going up and up. Actually, it does, for two miles since the bridge is 4.3 miles long. I often marvel at engineers, the real builders of our society. Farmers feed us and government organizes us and doctors heal us but engineers build us the things we use all day everyday, and most we just take for granted. The engineers even make possible what farmers and governments and doctors do for us.
And, for the first time I got to see Baltimore, one of the few remaining major U.S. cities I still needed to visit. In some ways it is like New York City. From the interstate I saw the stadium. I visited the National Cryptology Museum at Ft. Meade as well as Fort McHenry. I also went by to see John Hopkins, both the university and the hospital (separate parts of the city). I used to work with a guy that grew up here. He pronounced the city name without the letter "i": Balt-more.

WASHINGTON D.C.: Well, I wrongly thought that all east coast big cities started rush hour at 8:00 am. However, D.C. starts earlier. So I got caught in the beginning of it. Then the GPS simply could not find the address for President Wilson's house there nor any intersections near it -- same issue I had in Manhattan. I tried for two hours to find the place to no avail. Lesson learned: when I want some obscure place, get from Google Maps its coordinates. The GPS can surely understand that,

MT. VERNON: Incredible place. It has changed quite a bit in the 40+ years since I first saw it. But what a hallowed place to be at.

VIRGINIA AND FAMILY: Got to visit with the uncle and cousins for the afternoon and evening. Then off to the airport in the morning to head home. Always great to catch up with family that I too rarely get to see. They always make me feel at home.

IMPRESSIONS: I still love New England (all six states) after several trips to the area. I could happily live in any of them. The Middle Atlantic states (NY, PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA) are okay for visiting/touring but living there would not be my preference.

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

The Bests:

  1. For the most part I love New England, period. Great place to be. Someday I'll have to be here in mid to late October for the fall leaves.
  2. For my traveling goals, I spent the night in three more states, visited the homes of 7 U.S. Presidents, photographed 7 state capitol buildings and saw two more Ivy League universities.
  3. Visiting with family in the D.C. area.
  4. Did not have to look at a PT Cruiser for a few days :>))
  5. Had my annual donut (yes, I eat only one donut each year). Moderation in everything, right!!??
  6. The two small capital cities: Dover and Annapolis.
  7. Manhattan, as crazy as that place is, it was way cool to experience it.
  8. Cryptology Museum as that is so different from most museums and has played an important part in our history.
  9. A friend told me she likes to collect shot glasses stamped from a particular place. She asked if I would pick up one if I happen to be in someplace that sells them. I had never heard of any one collecting them but it sounded interesting. So I was determined to bring back several because I can relate to be a collector of something (done that all my life). Without going to a lot of time and effort, I did find three: Newport, Washington D.C. and Mt. Vernon. It was fun to deliver them to the friend.


The Worsts:

  1. The weather in New Hampshire (I also said that in 2010). Note to Larry for future -- never come to New England in the summer. It is too hot and too cloudy/rainy.
  2. The penisular highway leading into Newport Rhode Island from the north.
  3. New Hampshire drivers on two-lane roads.
  4. Traffic lights in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
  5. GPS cannot handle Manhattan or D.C.
  6. Dulles Airport almost gave me my first missed flight. Made it to the gate with a mere three mibutes to spare. Too many lines, each of them long, and everything is so far apart from everything else. Even the rental car drop-off was harder/longer than it needed to be.

The Totals: