Newport Rhode Island

Friday 6/28/13 We took the jeep this morning and ran back to the Textile Museum. The America Thread Company’s six story granite buildings still sit on the shores of the Thames River in Willimantic. The mills were closed in 1985 and recently they have begun to renovate them as condos and offices.

Across the street at the Willimantic Textile Museum we saw some of the thread processing machinery that was salvaged from the mill. They also have a collection of antique sewing machines and a reproduction of company housing for the mill workers. In addition to the cotton processing and thread spinning machinery they also had an early automated weaving loom. It used a punch card system (think player piano) to weave cloth with a design made of different color threads. 

After lunch back at the RV we packed up and headed for our next destination. We stayed off the main roads and traveled the scenic roads to a campground just outside of Newport, Rhode Island. Along the way we stopped briefly at Waskenau Beach to put our feet in the sand and smell the ocean air. 

We had planned on one day on Block Island and One in Newport, but as of Saturday morning we’re waiting to see what the weather is going to do. The air is very heavy with moisture here, everything is wet.

The skies lightened up around noon and we decided to drive to Newport. I’m at a loss for words on how to describe this place. As a yachting center it makes Annapolis Maryland look like a Mom and Pop marina, the rich and famous vacation homes sell for ten’s of millions, it has colonial history dating back to the 1600’s and it has a vibrant waterfront Mecca full of harbor view watering holes, restaurants, shopping, etc. I would definitely say put Newport Rhode Island on your travel wish list, it’s an interesting place. Go to the visitor’s center and take a bus tour, then explore on your own.

As I was finishing this entry and was thinking back at all the things I learned on the tour I couldn’t help but wonder about one woman. The 82 year old is going to be one of the new residents on mansion filled ocean drive later this summer when her house is finished. I wonder how she will be received in the neighborhood, for she is not old money, but just a lucky winner of the second largest lottery jackpot. The reason I wonder about this is because just down the beach from her new home is a private beach club.  The club would not let John Kennedy enter without his in-laws signing him in, even after he was elected president. It is said they considered the Irish Catholic Kennedy to be at a lower social level than primarily WASP membership.    

More parking lot RVing

After the long ten hour day we spent on the New York City tour Millie and I decided a change of pace was in order. We departed Florida, New York and headed east to Connecticut. We decided to avoid the normal tourist spots along I-95 and do something different. There is a Textile Mill Museum in Willimantic and we both thought that would be an interesting place to see. Unfortunately we discovered it is only open on Friday and Saturday hopefully we will be able to come back on Friday. We’re camped across the street from a small lake in a very quiet campground and have been taking it easy.

On Thursday we moved south to the Mohegan Sun Casino which is located just south of Norwich Connecticut. We are parking lot camped again, this time in a special lot at the casino for RV’s. There are no amenities’, it’s just a parking lot, but it’s free.

Millie and I took the shuttle bus to the casino and walked the large spread out complex. There are many interesting architectural designs in the connecting passages between the gaming rooms; most of it is very well thought out with Native American or nature themes. There are many restaurants and entertainment venues within the casino, some are common franchises like Johnny Rockets, some new to us e.g. Vigil’s Real New York City BBQ (New York City BBQ?)  and a few with names of personalities like Michael Jordan and Bobby Flay. Sorry no reviews, we didn’t eat in any of them.

We watched part of a dance completion at the casino convention center in the afternoon; the competitors were all young kids from private dance studios. They performed in choreographed group routines and some were quite good. In the evening there was a concert by Bruno Mars, but it is sold out. Neither of us are gamblers so we didn’t leave any money with the Indians other than $7.39 for a bag of black licorice.

Across the Thames River from the casino is what appears as a very stately collection of brick buildings. Closer examination with binoculars found them all in decrepit condition. Millie did an internet search on her phone and discovered it is the abandoned remains of the Norwich Mental Hospital. Suddenly stately became spooky, I’ll bet there are a few tortured souls lingering around those old buildings. I don’t know if this will transcribe to the blog as a clickable link, if not you can copy and paste to see an interesting and well done video about the hospital,

Part one   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvdH0bUclwk

Part two  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnaOzp1KB4U

New York City!

New York City!  I would like to be as enthusiastic as our guide Al, who says NYC is the greatest city in the world. I’ve been to the city several times so know it is not all that sterling and I was prepared for the rabid traffic, the multitudes of people, and the grittiness.

When we came out of the Lincoln Tunnel Millie experienced the boiling cauldron of  sights and smells that is the big Apple for the first time, which probably explains the first words she said, “ This ain’t no place for a Southern Gal”!

Manhattan is the crown jewel of New York City; it has the super valuable real estate, the wealthiest residents, the power brokers of the financial district, the media and theater business and the Iconic structures. Two million people a day come onto Manhattan Island to take it all in. Many people take a guided tour the first day, to get the lay of the land and probably the confidence to return on their own for several more days of exploring. I won’t try to tell you we saw it all, but we saw enough to satisfy our curiosity. 

On the way back to the campground our guide asked for a one word description of the city. The label that is most predominate in my mind is “gritty perseverance”. It has been the country’s largest city since 1790 so everything is old. It has way too many people, way too many vehicles, and they’re all trying to go somewhere. Yet, they continue to move, to work, to repair, to renovate. No where is this more prevalent than in the area around the world trade Center site. New buildings are going up at Ground Zero; a lot of the buildings in the immediate area are surrounded by scaffolding, with some type of restoration being done.

With the following words I am in no way trying to diminish the Muslim jihadist act of war that killed 3000 US citizens. The Sept 11, 2001 attack was horrendous beyond words, but it created an economic boom in New York City (and New Jersey) that has been going on for the last 12 years and will probably go on for twelve more. If the terrorist’s knew how resilient the New Yorkers are and how the city is rebounding with such gusto, they probably would not have attacked.

 Reading my own words this essay sounds like we didn’t care for the city. That’s not true, we enjoyed our visit especially the early American historical portions of the tour. Our government during George Washington’s presidential tenure was located on Wall Street; you can almost feel the ghosts of democracy’s pioneers. The statue of Liberty is an iconic symbol of freedom; it should be on everyone’s bucket list. I was especially moved by our guides talk about Ellis Island where all of the European immigrants where in-processed and the Central Railroad of New Jersey Station where some 10.5 million immigrants including my ancestors boarded trains for points all across the country. We enjoyed our entire visit, we’re just glad we don’t have to live there!

Still touring New York

Saturday June 22^nd. This morning we said our goodbyes and departed Hidden Acres Farm. We traveled a leisurely pace down route nine intending on stopping at the Vanderbilt Mansion. Entering the mansion from the south was not doable in our motorhome; the turn into the grounds is too small a radius when coming from that direction. Two miles south of the Vanderbilt’s is the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. We decided to forgo the gilded age mansion for a glimpse into the life of our 32^nd president. Not only was FDR our only four term president, he led the country through the great depression and World War II.

We arrived at our destination campground in the afternoon and it was a bit of a surprise. We learned of Black Bear CG at their booth during the rally in Syracuse. Mike the campground rep at the rally made the campground sound like a vacationer’s paradise. The campground is not bad, but I would call it your run of the mill stopping spot, not a destination resort. He also didn’t mention that ¾ of the campground is occupied by construction workers.

The presence of the workers does not bother me in the least. I have a lot of respect for travelers, the name given to skilled trades workers who migrate to big construction projects. Believe me, any of the large complex projects you’ve seen spring up are not done by Cousin Ned out of his handyman van, these are the workers with the expertise to “Git er done”.  That said if a family with kids is coming into the campground for the Boy Scout camping experience, they’re not going to find it here.

Sunday was somewhat of an adventure, We decided to take a ride over to the river where we planned on driving along a scenic byway. Our old Garmin GPS got lost and started leading us in circles. In its defense, our path took us across some steep mountains which required zigzagging its winding roads. We switched to Google navigation on our phone and found our way across, but further north than we planned. We abandoned the scenic route and detoured to the water front town of Newburgh. We walked along the water in the marina district, stopping for a while in the park to watch the world go by. 

   

Hidden View Farm

Thursday June 20^th, only having a 75 mile journey today we took our time and didn’t break camp until around 11 am. Most of the trip was down the interstate so we neared our destination in a little over an hour. Clay and Rebecca drove out to meet us at the small town of Kinderhook and lead us to their farm at Stuyvesant Falls. 

Passing thru the barnyard we see a medley of animals that Clay and his grandsons tend to, chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, cows, horses and even a peacock. A winding lane thru fields of hay leads to their log home on a grassy knoll. We are camped in their yard with a beautiful view across the farm fields.

In addition to our warm welcome at Clay and Rebecca’s Hidden View farm our gracious hosts have already taken us on a driving tour of the area, including a stop at a local farm market that buys their eggs. On Hidden View Farm we met their family and enjoyed dinner with our hosts.

On Friday Clay and I installed a surge suppressor on his motorhome. They cost upwards of $500. at RV stores but you can buy the same level of protection with a unit available at Lowes for $68.

In the afternoon we all went to the nearby home of our eighth president, Martin Van Buren. Our park services guide brought President Van Buren to life. Lou used exuberant theatrics to describe the political maneuvering that took place at Lindenwald. Van Buren didn’t lead the country thru any of the historical headliner events, but he was a life long politician who helped develop the party system that we still use today. In fact the Democratic Party was born in his home. Afterwards we drove to nearby Kinderhook where we found Van Buren's humble grave.

In the evening after our hosts prepared another delicious meal for us, I went for a tour of the outlying areas of the farm on Clay’s quad runner. The farm has extensive water frontage on Kinderhook Creek and also has a small island. It is a sportsman’s paradise, Clay and his grandsons can hunt, trap, and fish without leaving the farm.

We have really enjoyed our stay at Hidden View Farm it will surely be one of the most memorable parts of our trip.

Lake George

Monday the 17^th was moving day; we took route 5 east to Utica and then one of New York’s scenic byways to Lake George. The only notable thing about the trip was this bit of useless trivia I shared with Millie about Utica. The last time I passed thru this town was 1969 and you could buy a six pack of Utica Club beer for 98 cents. BTW, Utica Club is made by F.X. Matt Brewing Company, an American family-owned brewery that was founded in 1853. You may have tasted some of its craft brewed products marketed under its Saranac name. It also brews beer for sale at Costco under their Kirkland label. In these times of large conglomerates gobbling up all its competition, it’s an interesting American success story

We are staying at Lake George RV Resort and it is the first time Millie and I have given a campground a perfect score on our rating system. Some of the private luxury RV Resorts down around Naples Florida may be more opulent, but this is a public campground and it is the nicest we’ve seen in our travels so far. Wi-Fi that works, cable TV, full utility hookups, all in a very clean well maintained park like setting.

Today Lake George is a tourist destination but it also has some early American military history, most notably from the French and Indian war period of the 1750’s. Interesting to me, is the story of Major Robert Rogers Standing orders for his Rangers. The rules were the result of Rogers' blend of Native American tactics and his own innovative combat techniques, ideas that were revolutionary compared to the standard military practices of the time. Some 200 years later they were still using his techniques when I went to jungle school. I still have my copy of the standing orders. I’m fairly certain that they are still used today in the US Army Ranger and Special Forces schools.

The sun came out for us today as we embarked on a scenic cruise of Lake George aboard the Horicon. The 85 foot, double deck, wooden yacht is built almost entirely of mahogany, teak, and yellow pine. Launched in 1988 this beautiful ship is the fourth commercial vessel to bear this name at Lake George.

Tomorrow we hit the road again, south for about 90 miles to Clay and Rebecca’s farm.

See you down the road.

More from the Rally

Saturday morning Clay and I drove the jeep over to the fair grounds to have my auxiliary braking unit serviced. It is a device that senses deceleration of the motorhome when its brakes are applied and in turn activates the Jeep brakes with the appropriate proportional pressure. Roadmaster replaced the control module and because it is an updated part they replaced its matching remote unit for the motorhome, all at no cost to me.

In the afternoon Millie and I, and Clay and Rebecca met up with Rebecca’s cousin Bill and his wife Judy for the Reba McIntire concert. Reba still has what it takes to put on a good show; we enjoyed the concert under a perfect summer sky. Reba sang nonstop thru the entire show, leaving the stage just long enough to change into a red dress for her encore performance.

Millie and I decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant in the mall on Sunday and afterwards we came up with some guide lines for eating Mexican. The Cantina Laredo is a chain eatery that bills itself as serving Gourmet Mexican Food. In their words, “Cantina Laredo serves authentic Mexican dishes in a sophisticated atmosphere”.

My first clue that things were not exactly authentic was when I noticed there were no Mexicans working there. The entire staff was young Americans all smartly dressed in black. The décor was the next big wake up call; it was very sterile contemporary art. If this place was Mexican, it was very Avant-garde new age Mexican.

The coup de grâce to any semblance of authenticity was when our food arrived. Mine looked like one of those artsy food presentations drizzled with sauces and sprinkled with seeds. It was served on a long skinny plate that looked like a boat. My two little fish taco’s couldn’t have been more than 4 inches in diameter and where mostly filled with shredded red cabbage. Millie’s enchilada’s were flat and appeared to me to be unassembled, it was very strange looking.

While there are some very good Mexican chain restaurants, some of our best experiences have been in small independent establishments. Here are some tips for finding good Mexican food.

1. The staff is predominantly comprised of Mexicans

2. Wait staff with limited English is a good thing

3. The owner’s children and grandparents in the restaurant is a good sign

4. The decor should be festive colors, unprofessionally applied

5. Mix-Matched tables and chairs is not a design faux pas.

6. The menu will have Mexican words in it but you should be able to understand the entrees. A Chimichanga doesn’t need to be called a  CHIMICHANGA DE POLLO POBLANO.

7. Obviously Hispanic patrons is a good thing, east of the Mississippi black folks know good Mexican food.

8. Lastly, some type of religious symbolism is mandatory; an ornate crucifix is good, a little shrine to the patron saint of Taco’s is even better!

After dinner we took the shuttle back to the fairgrounds for the final concert of the rally. This one is a tribute act to the 1960’s singing group, The Vogues. One of the original members is in the act and they were quite good at reproducing the harmonies of the original group.

This is our last night at the rally; many folks have pulled out today, including our friends. Tomorrow morning we follow a scenic byway thru the Adirondacks to Lake George.

The Great Mall Parking Lot Rally

Friday June 14. Yesterday we awoke to rain once again, it was a light to medium rain but we ran in it the entire 45 mile trip up to Syracuse. We met our friends as planned and traveled to the rally site together. One lone policeman stood outside the entrance and redirected everyone to a nearby shopping mall. They’re not letting anyone else in the fairgrounds as it was all underwater, he said.

Late in the afternoon we were informed that we would be parked here for the duration of the Rally and Shuttled to the fairgrounds in buses. Camping on an asphalt parking lot is not the friendly RV camping atmosphere we were looking forward to, but we’re making the best of it. Heck it’s far more likely we’ll be buying new shoes at the mall than a new RV at the Rally anyhow!

We registered at the fairgrounds on Friday morning and looked at a few of the many new RV’s on display outside  then walked all through the vendor building finally finding the salesman who had my ceiling fan part. The distributor very kindly had shipped the part to the show for me. I also made arrangements to have my auxiliary towing braking unit serviced tomorrow. 

In the afternoon our friends Clay and Rebecca along with 1400 other couples renewed their wedding vows in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record. As the ink is hardly dry on Millie and my wedding license we stayed back at the motorhome and took a nap. Really, we took a nap!

We finished off the day at a concert by the one time headliner from Las Vegas, Wayne Newton. He still puts on a good show but to be brutally honest, his singing voice is not what it once was, and at times it was painful to watch.

New York

Wednesday 6/12: We traveled a little over 200 miles to Marathon New York. Most of the trip was on I-81 which took us across the Blue Mountain potion of the Appalachians, then thru the Endless Mountain area of North East Pennsylvania. In the coal region we took a detour thru McAdoo, home town to my parents. My fathers parent’s bar is still on Main Street, it is now called Butlers Bar and it looks exactly as I remember it. I haven’t set foot in McAdoo since circa 1975 and I wasn’t sure I would recognize much, but it looks the same. I showed Millie where Tony Midash’s Bank used to sit, Joe Midash’s Plumbing business and home, and of course the Midash Tavern. At the end of town I circled the block and much to my surprise found the house my mother grew up in. 

We are overnight camped in a small campground just off I-81. Everything here is soggy, the owner said today was the first day in a week they haven’t had rain. Some days they got as much as three inches. I asked him about the state fairgrounds in Syracuse and got some disturbing news. We will be parking on grass at the rally and they also have had lots of rain.  

Birthday, Baseball and bad brakes

Our stay here in Delaware/Maryland started smoothly enough. On Saturday we met family at the old home place for my dad’s 90^th birthday. My parents still live in the house they bought near Newark Delaware in 1953 and they’re doing pretty well. After returning to Elk Neck State Park (Maryland) in the afternoon, we hiked a mile to the Turkey Point Lighthouse. Built in 1833 the lighthouse sits on a bluff high above the water. The panoramic view includes five rivers that converge at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. In another life, before the motorhome I spent a lot of time cruising in this area by boat.

On Sunday morning we discovered we were camped in the NO PETS section of the campground and had to move. After lunch at a water view restaurant in the town of North East (Maryland) we drove to Smyrna (Delaware) to see my granddaughter Delaney play in a softball. We couldn’t stay till the end (dogs) but Delaney and her team are very good and we’re sure they finished near the top. 

Somewhere on the way home the left rear brake started dragging, we discovered it when we stopped at a traffic signal and could smell the hot metal. The damage was done and we were almost back to the campground so we continued in the jeep.

Six AM on Monday morning I drove the jeep to the local dealer, the brakes of course operated normally. It’s like going to the doctors, nothing hurts when you get there. I was sitting in the dealership waiting for the diagnosis when I got a call from the Campground Ranger Station. Millie had taken the dogs out for a walk and the door to the motorhome had somehow locked, her keys and phone inside, and it was raining.

Just before we left home I bought one of those hide-a-key things, but as you may guess I hadn’t secured it to the motorhome yet. I did have a motorhome key hidden, under the jeep which was here with me in Newark. Millie assured me she would be ok till I got the jeep fixed. I checked on the status of the diagnosis, told them to fix it and rented a car to go home and rescue Millie and the girls. I found them next door sitting with the camp host. Nothing but good things to say about the park employees and volunteer hosts.

The door opened with my key, it is still a mystery how it locked. Normally you have to lock it from the outside with a key. Anyhow we now have two hidden keys, one under the jeep and another under the motorhome.

The unexpected brake problem interrupted our plans to visit friends but we did get to have dinner with my son and his family on Monday afternoon. BTW, the defective brake caliper was only six months old; both rear calipers were replaced in December.

 Tuesday we moved 80 miles north to the Thousand Trails Campground in Hershey PA. The drive thru southern PA is below the mountain ranges and is mostly rolling hills dotted with farms. Some are large some small, some modern and some are traditional Amish farms; it is a very scenic ride.  After setting up at the campground we drove to Roots Farmers Market near Manheim. 

Millie bought fresh veggies and I bought cookies and a shoo-fly pie! We are staying one night before moving on the New York on Wednesday. We will stage one night in Marathon New York, emptying holding tanks and filling our water tank. On Thursday we enter the fairgrounds in Syracuse where we will dry camp (No hookups) for the four days of the RV Rally.

On the road again

Thursday June 6^th was day one of our honeymoon road trip. We traveled north on route 17 from Myrtle Beach South Carolina to Norfolk Virginia. Next we crossed the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. Our 350+/- mile day’s journey ended on a thin strip of land overlooking Hog Island Bay on the ocean side of the peninsula. The campground is part of my membership camp club so our cost was Zero.

The view across to the ocean brought back some memories for me. I passed by here in 1998 on my circumnavigation of the Peninsula aboard my boat “Still Sassy”. Back in the 80’s when I was scuba diving I did a few wreck dives off the coast here.

This is one of those end of the earth locations, zero cell phone or internet. Will try to post this tomorrow sometime.

Friday June 7 we drove all morning thru light rain to stay ahead of Tropical Storm Andrea. Our location for the next few days is Elk Neck State Park in Maryland. It is at the extreme other end of the bay from yesterday’s camp and on the western shore.

The drive in the rain was an easy task with mostly light traffic. We did have two noteworthy instances. For some unknown reason my under the counter coffee maker leaped out of it’s bracket, bounced off the table and landed on the floor, breaking the carafe somewhere along the way.

Three times on the way up the road the engine hic-upped or bucked. It was very quick but we both noticed it. I did some of my best diagnosis work or maybe I was just lucky but I told Millie I thought I knew what the problem was and we would stop at the next Wal-Mart to investigate. Why Wal-Mart, because they have big RV friendly parking lots and sell auto supplies. Just as I suspected the engine air filter was saturated with water, a quick run into the store and we had two new filters and a new coffee maker. Now I have another project on my list, I need to reposition the air filter intake to a location away from road spray.