Our Wander Years

TS9 Hop 2: Newark NJ to Montclair VA

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Sparky

275 miles via I-78, Garden State Parkway, US 1, I-95, US 1 again, local streets to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, I-95 again, DE 896, US 301, US 50, I-495 (around Washington DC), I-95 again, VA 234 and local streets. Miles since the end of Hop 1: 329. Cumulative route miles: 477. Total TS9 miles: 531. The extra miles were due to our trips to Liberty State Park (to get the ferry), to Staten Island (to get the ferry) and some short shopping trips.

We had a lunch break in Morrisville PA, an interim stop at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a refueling stop south of Philadelphia and a bio break when we entered MD on US 301. With all these stops and with much of the route being on back roads in DE, this was 8 hours from start to finish.

The lunch stop was interesting. We stopped initially at an Italian restaurant but Marlene really wanted breakfast rather than spaghetti so we moved down two blocks to the Bird’s Nest where breaksfast is served all day. It didn’t look like much (it is, in fact, a converted bar) but the food – scrambled eggs and bacon for me and an omelet for Marlene – was terrific. The staff and patrons were friendly. A very fine lunch/breakfast stop.

Independence Hall, on the other hand, was a disappointment. Tickets were needed to tour the hall and none were available. Viewing the Liberty Bell was free, but the line was over 30 minutes long. The hall where Congress met until the capitol building in Washington was finished was also free but the line there was also too long (I had limited our stay to 30 minutes because the parking was very expensive – $12 per hour – and we wanted to reach VA before dinner). So we just walked the grounds and looked at a few of the exhibits in the Visitors Center. Perhaps the most interesting thing we saw was the excavation of the slave quarters where George Washington housed his 9 slaves while he was President. I was not aware that our first president had slaves while in office.

To make the visit just a bit more miserable, I lost my parking ticket. I had to go to the parking office and plead my case to pay just $12 instead of the $27 lost ticket charge.

The refueling stop was also a bit unpleasant as I paid $3.95/gallon – the highest price I have encountered on either the TN9 or TS9. I got just 5 gallons. It was particularly painful as I had seen gas selling for under $3.40 in NJ.

When we finally arrived at our destination – Jett’s son and daughter-on-law, Devin and Mary, we went out to dinner at El Paso Mexican Grill in Dumfries VA. Very good and the custom artwork was very interesting.

A full day.

Our home for 3 nights in NJ was the Howard Johnson Hotel at the Newark Airport. This is a relatively inexpensive hotel for the area. And it is right on the flight path for a very busy airport. But we heard no noise and the room was recently renovated and very nice. Much better than expected. And it had a small restaurant that served up very good, reasonably priced breakfasts. It was also convenient to both the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island. This was a very good choice for our stay in New Jersey.

Categories: Adventures, DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, Routes, TS9, VA | Leave a comment

A day in New York

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Sparky

Marlene and I spent Friday in New York City. We experienced the Staten Island Ferry, Trinity Church, the 9-11 Memorial (just the memorial – we didn’t go into the museum), Wall Street, the South Street Seaport, the Brooklyn Bridge (which we walked over), the New York subway system, Times Square, Central Park (just a view) and Fifth Avenue. Whew! We logged over 21,000 steps – probably over 10 miles on foot. Everything was novel to Marlene. The 9-11 Memorial was new to me (it was a hole in the ground when I last visited in 2002), as was the Staten Island Ferry and the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Even the things I had seen before were very different than I recalled, so it was all pretty new to me, too.

The choice of the Staten Island Ferry was not because it was the cheapest or fastest way to get into Manhattan from Newark – that probably would have been the PATH train to Penn Station. But I really wanted to experience the ferry. The idea that a 30-minute ferry ride on a $200 million vessel could be completely free just boggled my mind. It didn’t disappoint. The ferry was HUGE – a passenger capacity in excess of 5.000.

The walk on the Brooklyn Bridge was also a surprise. I had no idea that so many people walked this bridge. It was crowded and the entire route – well over a mile – was lined with vendors. Some of the art in the subway was also a pleasant surprise as my memory of the MTA was dark, drab and dirty.

All-in-all, a very good sightseeing day – our 4th in a row. A travel day will be a pleasant respite.

Subway, Times Square and the New York Hilton

Categories: Adventures, NJ, NY, TS9 | Leave a comment

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Sparky

Marlene and I toured Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty on Thursday. These sites were the main reasons we stopped in the New York area – Marlene had the Statue of Liberty on her bucket list. In fact, Marlene had never been to New York before, so we planned to devote one day to Ellis Island and the Statue of Libery and the other day to New York City. That would knock both items off of her bucket list.

Both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are on islands which can be accessed by ferry from Liberty State Park in New Jersey. We drove there and bought tickets in the morning. We got the senior discount – $18 instead of $24. And we opted for the additional cost of “pedestal access” which gave us entry into the statue pedestal and museum. That add-on raised the total cost for each to $18.30. That’s right – the admission to the pedestal was 30 cents. I can’t imagine why they bother to have two different prices. Why would anyone not pay 30 cents to access the pedestal? The pedestal is actually a bit taller than the statue – 154 feet to the statue’s 151 feet – and is pretty interesting in its own right. Absolutely worth 30 cents.

The tickets were sold at the old Central Railroad of New Jersey terminal building which was a long walk from the ferry (probably a tenth of a mile). The ferry ride to Ellis Island was only about 10 minutes. We spent nearly two hours touring the building (only one building – the one used to process immigrants from 1892 to 1925 – has been renovated and converted into a museum). There are many displays and a 25-minute film about the processing of the immigrants. Quite interesting.

We boarded the ferry again for the trip to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. This ride was just a bit longer – about 15 minutes. Once on Liberty Island we could have gotten a free audio tour, but we passed. We walked around the island a bit, taking in both the views of the city and the statue before entering the pedestal.

We were on Liberty Island about 2 hours. We walked to the top of the pedestal – 195 steps (shorter than the Bunker Hill Monument). Everyone else took the elevator. We also spent some time in the museum.

A long day, but very interesting. And the weather was beautiful. Clear and about 75 degrees. A good day.

Categories: Adventures, NJ, TS9 | Leave a comment

TS9 Hop 1: Worcester MA to Newark NJ

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Sparky

202 miles via I-290 (south out of Worcester), I-90, I-84, I-91, CT 15, CT 8, I-95, I-278 (into Manhattan), FDR Drive (down the east side of Manhattan), I-278 again (out of Manhattan and over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge) and I-95 again. Cumulative TS9 miles: 202.

This was a familiar route over mostly interstate roads. Traffic was heavy (no surprise) and showers came frequently. But it was an uneventful trip.

During my 24 days in Worcester I did a lot of driving: 1,525 miles. The Toyota consumed 64.4 gallons of gasoline for an average mileage of 23.7 mpg. Total fuel cost about $234 ($3.63 per gallon). Not great but there was a considerable amount of city driving.

Categories: CT, MA, NJ, NY, Routes, TS9 | Leave a comment

5 final days in Worcester MA

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Sparky

Marlene and I will embark on the 9th trip south (TS9) in a few hours. But before I go I want to document the very busy last 5 days in Worcester MA. Or, to be accurate, the time we spent in Worcester MA, New Salem MA, Kittery ME, Portsmouth NH, Rockport MA and Newport RI. Whew! I get tired just thinking of all the traveling and sightseeing we did in our final 5 days in Worcester.

First, New Salem MA. Ray and Kim, who provided our squatting home in Worcester, invited us to their cabin in the woods in New Salem MA for two nights – Friday and Saturday. I have gushed about this serene cabin before and it was just as serene this time, with deafening quiet (except for the humming of the hummingbirds). But this time we also got several visits from the resident white-tailed buck (who let Marlene get surprisingly close) and a juvenile porcupine. Some wild turkeys, too.

We spent several hours on Saturday at a HUGE tag sale in Belchertown. I walked away with a $2 pair of sneakers and a $1 Red Sox cap. Marlene got a bunch of stuff, some of it useful. Ray and Kim scored some nice items for the cabin.

We were well-fed, too. Kim prepared some wonderful fish tacos on Friday and chicken shish-ka-bob on Saturday, accompanied by an amazing salad with grilled red onions. She is a wonderful cook.

We also walked to the Quabbin Reservoir (4 miles round-trip) and found a very colorful (and non-poisonous) spider on the shed door.

Sunday, after a hearty breakfast, Marlene and I returned to Worcester. But we stopped in Royalston MA along the way so that I could show Marlene what disc golf was all about. I did the first hole at the Tully Lake Disc Golf course, just as a demonstration.

Monday was a huge sightseeing day. We drove to Kittery ME (specifically to the Kittery Trading Post), just to let her say she had been to Maine. She wasn’t impressed. But she was impressed with Portsmouth, NH, just over the river from Kittery. I gave her a driving tour of the wonderful downtown area, then stopped at Prescott Park to view the gardens. She loved those.

But her biggest thrill was found at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We spent nearly 90 minutes there. I walked out with an armload of very nice clothing for under $17.

The bridge connecting Portsmouth and Kittery

We had a very late lunch at Woodman’s of Essex, sharing a fried fish dinner with french fries and onion rings. Then we moved on to Rockport MA which, of course, she loved. Everyone loves Rockport. After the sightseeing we briefly visited Jett’s grave.

We also stopped briefly, as dusk was settling in, in Salem MA. We got some outside shots at the House of Seven Gables, which was closed. Then the long drive back to Worcester.

Tuesday had two main events: a day trip to Newport RI to view two of the mansions there (The Breakers and Marble House) and, in the evening, a WooSox game in Worcester.

Categories: Adventures, Family, Food, MA, ME, NH, Places, RI | Leave a comment

Five days with Marlene in Worcester MA

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Sparky

Marlene flew into Boston a week ago. It was a non-stop flight but she was in Coral Springs FL the night before, with her brother, and had to leave at 4am to get back to Ft Myers to catch her 11am flight. So she was tired. But she was all smiles when she came through the door into the baggage area. It was her first time in Boston and we hadn’t seen each other for 3 weeks, so she was pretty energized.

I barely made it to the terminal to meet her. One of the tunnels to the airport was closed for repair and traffic was both heavy and detoured. I missed a turn to get to the terminal and ended up in the swarm of cars heading back into Boston. It was about a 15-minute mistake. But I made it.

I gave her a driving tour of Boston and Cambridge, highlighting points of interest that I didn’t think we would see otherwise. We drove past MIT and Harvard and lesser points of interest in Cambridge before heading to Worcester. We stopped for some groceries, got her settled in and had a simple home-cooked spaghetti dinner. Then to bed.

Monday, after a late wakening and breakfast, I gave her a driving tour of Worcester and environs. We had a light lunch at Friendly’s, an old-fashioned New England restaurant chain, went to an early movie then drove to Foxwoods to play the slots. I won $31, she lost about $100. I hadn’t been to Foxwoods in over 20 years. It was sparsely attended and the energy that I remembered was missing. Maybe New England has reached its gambling saturation point?

We arrived back in Worcester around 3am on Tuesday, so, not surprisingly, we slept in Tuesday morning. The car had sprung a slow leak in the right rear tire so I spent some time Tuesday afternoon arranging to get it fixed. Then we went to see my old college roommate, Roger, and his wife, Nancy. We walked to Filho’s Cucina in Groton Center for a wonderful dinner. I had a fettucine/artichoke dish that was out of this world. Marlene had a salad with roasted chicken that she liked very much. Wonderful dinner! Highly recommended. The walk was very pleasant, too. Groton is a beautiful old colonial town.

Wednesday was a BIG tourism day. We drove to the Alewife Station on the MBTA Red Line and took the subway to Boston Common. We walked the Freedom Trail, taking pictures and generally enjoying a beautiful 75-degree sunny day. The kind of day we never get in the summer in Ft Myers.

We saw most of the historic sites on the trail, then took a lunch break at Quincy Market: chinese food and clam chowder. We walked to Old Ironsides (aka USS Constitution) and toured both it and the ARC Gloria, a Columbian Navy tall ship. By that point we had logged about 7 miles of walking. But Marlene wanted to see the nearby Bunker Hill Monument, so we walked up the hill to the monument, then climbed its 294 steps to the top. It would be fair to say that we were tired but we continued on, walking to the MBTA Orange Line. We took the subway to the South End to have dinner with Marlene’s friends, John and Steve. We dined at Five Horses Tavern. Good beer but mediocre food. Then John and Steve drove us to the Red Line and we made out way back to Worcester.

A VERY full day.

Total Wednesday steps: 15,383. About 8 miles!

Thursday was more sightseeing, but less walking. We traveled to Lexington to see the Buckman Tavern and Lexington Green. But the tavern was charging $12 to enter and I judged that it was not worth the price, so we just walked the grounds then headed to Concord. There we drove the entire length of Battle Road Trail, but our main destination wat the North Bridge which is generally regarded as where the American Revolution began as it was the first time the colonists fired on the British Army, killing 3.

We had dinner at Burton’s Grill in Westford, with my old friends Barb and Bob. Wonderful dinner, wonderful social evening.

Categories: Adventures, MA, Places | Leave a comment

My beard at 4 weeks

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Sparky

The beard continues to grow, as beards are wont to do. The difference between 3 and 3 weeks is not dramatic (and the early-morning 4-weeks photo isn’t very flattering), but I can tell that it is getting thicker. I can’t say that I am liking it much, but my kind friends say it looks good.

Categories: Commentary | 1 Comment

The ninth trip south (TS9) preview

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Sparky

My ninth trip south (designated TS9) will start in 6 days, on August 30. The plan is to arrive back in Fort Myers on September 8, then leave September 10 on the 30-night transpacific cruise. I won’t even unpack.

Unlike the TN9, I will not be alone on the TS9 – Marlene will accompany me. She is with me now in Worcester, having arrived August 20. I will report next on our first 5 days together in Worcester.

The TS9 route is being driven by the following requirements:

Spend at least two days in New York City (Marlene has never been there).
Spend at least two nights in northern Virginia with Jett’s sons and grandson.
Spend at least two nights in Acworth GA with Marlene’s son.
Arrive in Fort Myers by September 8 (we need a full day to adjust our luggage for the cruise).

Those requirements leave just two days free and we will spend them in Charlotte NC – a city I have visited before but haven’t fully explored. To get from northern Virginia to Charlotte we will route ourselves into western Virginia and will traverse a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway – another place Marlene has never been.

The plan, then, is 9 nights in 5 hops covering almost 1,800 miles.

Categories: Preparation/Planning, Routes, TS9 | Leave a comment

Four days with family in Worcester MA

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Sparky

My son Tony joined me in Worcester for 4 days this week, to see the daughter (my granddaughter) that he hadn’t seen for 2 years and the brother that he hadn’t seen for a year and a half. The weather didn’t cooperate – it was cloudy and cool when it wasn’t raining – but it was a successful reunion despite the weather.

He flew in Tuesday afternoon. He was very tired as he hadn’t slept the night before – too worried about getting up at 3:30am to catch a 6:00am flight. We fetched Lili (daughter/granddaughter, almost 18) and went to a late lunch at O’Connor’s Restaurant in West Boylston MA, adjacent to Worcester and very close to where Lili lives. I had a reuben sandwich which was very good, but the appetizer was the best potato skin dish I have ever had.

Then Tony napped.

Wednesday featured a visit to the New England Aquarium. I didn’t join Tony and Lili for that one as I think it is one of the lesser attractions of Boston. Apparently, they thought so too as they stayed just 2 hours while I wandered around downtown, noticing the changes that had accrued in the past year. We then picked up brother/son Frank and had a lunch/dinner at Redbones in Somerville. I have fond memories of Rebones – great BBQ ribs and 30 beers on tap. Well, it has changed. The ribs were still good, but not spectacular, and the draft beers were gone. I can no longer recommend it. Sad. The Redbones in Ft Myers (no relation) is now better than the namesake in Somerville.

Thursday was an afternoon of shopping (back-to-school time for Lili) as Tony bought some clothes for his daughter at the Natick Mall. I then cooked dinner (spaghetti and Italian sausage) for them before we all went to the WooSox game (the Worcester Red Sox, the AAA farm team for the Boston Red Sox) at Polar Park in Worcester. Not the most exciting game – the WooSox lost, 2-1 – but it didn’t rain.

Friday featured a trip to the Museum of Science in Boston. I have been there many times, but my last visit was probably more than 8 years ago. It is a nice museum. Not huge, but there are many exhibits that are interesting for both children and adults. We particularly enjoyed the electricity show. The Van de Graff generator (the huge metal balls) were out of order but the show featured Tesla coils which were pretty impressive in their own way.

One complaint about the MOS – the options to get tickets online and at the self-service kiosks were both wastes of my time. I couldn’t figure out how to complete the sale online and the kiosks seemed to offer only add-on tickets (IMAX movie and planetarium options). I can’t understand how a technology-oriented museum can have such useless software. Annoying.

We had a farewell breakfast with Lili Saturday morning, then Tony and I drove to Frank’s home and picked him up. I dropped them off near Fenway Park with clear instructions to Tony on how to get to the airport (a 15-minute walk and a $3 bus ride). With less than 3 hours to kill, what could go wrong? Well, I don’t know the details (or, more accurately, I received different accounts of the details from Tony and Frank) but the bottom line is that Tony missed his flight. Fortunately, American Airlines rebooked him at no extra cost, so he made it home just a few hours later than planned.

Despite that last-minute glitch, it was a successful and full four days.

Categories: Adventures, Family, MA, Places, Sports | Leave a comment

A week in Worcester MA

Posted on August 17, 2023 by Sparky

My first week in residence at the home of Ray – Jett’s brother – and his wife, Kim, was mostly spent getting settled – shopping, washing clothes, etc – and enjoying not driving much (though I still had to get behind the wheel every day). Except for the first day when I spent the afternoon with Ray, I was mostly alone. The weather was unsettled. I got a sunny afternoon to play disc golf at Lake Tully but my trip to Kimball Farm to get a fried haddock bite dinner (superb!) was overcast. I was startled by a tornado warning one morning but no tornado materialized.

The big event, though, was three days at Ray and Kim’s cabin in New Salem MA, on the edge of the Quabbin Reservoir watershed. It is a serene setting, with constant activity at the hummingbird feeders. We took a 4-mile was to/from the reservoir one afternoon – good exercise that I sorely needed. And Kim – a fantastic cook – kept me well-fed.

On the last day at the cabin we buried Rusty’s ashes next to Cha-Cha and Grace.

Ray and I also made a trek to the Tree House Brewery in Deerfield MA to sample some fine craft beers. We had 48 to choose from. I had a peanut butter chocolate stout that was fantastic.

Categories: Family, MA, Places, Sports | 1 Comment