Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Sunday June 30 2013 was another soggy day in Rhode Island. We decided to go to the movies to see White House Down. It is an action film about one man rescuing the president when the white house is attacked by bad guys. It reminded me of a Bruce Willis’s Die Hard type film. 

We left early on our way to the theater and stopped at the waterfront town of Narragansett Pier. We walked the promenade along the water, stopping for a while to watch a surfing championship.

On our way from Narragansett to the movies we had a front brake caliber stick on the jeep. There doesn’t seem to be any end to the brake problems on the jeep. It cooled off while we were in the movies and hasn’t stuck since, but it will, it’s just a matter of time.

It all started after the jeep sat in the garage for about a year. In 2011 when I was downsizing my fleet of vehicles I started driving it again. Front calipers started sticking, the house was sold and I was living in the motorhome so I took it to a garage. They changed everything brake related in front of the firewall. It cost me a bunch but I figured it was a garage kept vehicle in like new condition so it was worth the money. In December 2012 it needed rear brake pads, I told the jeep dealer to just change out the rear calipers. He agreed that installing loaded calipers (calipers already fitted with new brake pads) was the way to go. As you know six months later one of those new calipers locked up earlier on this trip and I had to have the rear brakes replaced again in Delaware.

                                        Big white house in the background is Kennedy compound

Monday July 1, 2013 we departed Rhode Island looping around Narragansett Bay. Along the way we passed through the state capital of Providence and then cities of Fall River and New Bedford. Our destination campground is in Cape Cod Massachusetts, it is just across the street from Nantucket Sound. After setting up the motorhome on our site we took the jeep and drove over to Hyannisport. It is not hard to find the much photographed family compound of the Kennedys. No one came out to greet us; I guess they weren’t home!

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.