My brother and sister-in-law are Johnny and Vickie Manning for those who don't know them. When I was traveling east to Ireland and Europe, they were traveling all over the United States. I have been on a few trips with them since I retired - Johnny does the driving no matter how long the day is - he says he gets too nervous when someone else is driving. I know that feeling when I am in the passenger seat in Ireland. I am perfectly happy to look at the sights and sites and leave the driving to him!
Johnny texted me the other day to say they were driving to Philadelphia - was I interested - it would probably be two overnights. I am still trying to pay off my last two trips to Ireland, but I immediately said yes!!
I was at their house in Bourne this morning at 9 am. It is a bit different this time - usually their son Jason would come to the house to mind their dog King. But sadly King died a few weeks ago - he had been suffering from kidney cancer. So he is at peace now, but it is still sad when he is not there to greet me or not there expecting me to be scratching and rubbing his back. Johnny and Vickie are free to travel whenever they want now. So we jumped into the car and headed out.
One thing I enjoy about traveling with them is that Johnny likes to avoid the highways and take back roads when he can. Today we headed out I 195 toward Providence. I do like this highway - I love passing by New Bedford, Fall River, Providence, New Haven - first because we are driving along their harbors and there is so much to see. Secondly because I can't help but wondering what life was like when all the mills were up and running. I know in Lowell and Lawrence the mill girls at first were farmers' daughters - their lives were very regulated to preserve their morals. When they began to strike - like the Bread and Roses Strike about 1912 in Lawrence, the owners replaced them with immigrants who were glad for the jobs. I suppose New Bedford, Fall River and the others might have been the same. The noise from so many mills must have been deafening. I have heard a few mills clacking at the Boot Mills in Lowell, and that was pretty loud - I can't imagine what hundreds would sound like! I have also visiting the boarding house in Lowell where mill girls would have lived - they must have had boarding houses in these other mill towns. I took a tour of one of Lowell's canal - are there canals in these other towns? I need to take a trip to New Bedford or Fall River and see if there is a tour of the city.
It was a beautiful day for a drive - it was 61 degrees when I left my house - it got up to 70 when we were in New Jersey. The sun was shining for most of the day - I think it was late afternoon before it got cloudy. The trees were just starting to bud or were in early bloom as we drove along route 195. There was a little bit of color in some of the trees like Japanese maples.
The view was disturbed only in Providence when we passed a pick up truck with the picture of an assault rifle in the back window - with the words "Come and take it" printed across it. The truck also had a bumper sticker "Stop Elizabeth Warren" on the back. Politics are everywhere. We also slowed down for a while then passed a couple of police cruisers - the police were out on the shoulder of the road - one was searching with a police dog - we don't know for what but traffic picked up as soon as we passed them.
We passed a few farms - crops were just starting to poke through the ground. There was more green than the winter browns that Beth and I saw on the way to Florida the end of January. We also passed the food trucks on a road along side of 195. I have always wanted to stop and check them out - I say that each time I pass them! There must have been 10 or 12 food trucks. And they are always busy!
There are all kinds of billboards along routes 195 and 95 - ads for cannabis, ambulance chasing lawyers, breast reductions, and worse - but it is interesting and sort of let's you know what kind of neighborhood you are driving through.
I don't mind some highway driving - especially when I can look down at or over at gardens, houses, even shopping malls. I noticed the foliage was getting greener around Bridgeport - trees were in full bloom. We got off the highway to drive some back ways through Connecticut. The daffodils were way past their prime but colorful tulips were standing tall. Forsythia was already turned green but lilacs were just blooming. There are some beautiful houses and grounds in Connecticut! The dogwoods were blooming; landscapers were starting spring clean ups. There are loads of stones along these back roads - so many stone walls - it reminds me of Revolutionary times when the Minutemen in Lexington, Concord, and Arlington were firing on the British behind walls like these. And parts of Connecticut paint their fire hydrants yellow!! The drive was a nice diversion.
We stopped at Westport Auctions - Johnny was picking up some things he had bought online. I have been here several times before with Johnny and Vickie - I recognized the exit and the turns. We were taking some back roads - it was a nice day so why not? We drove through a part of Norwalk - lots of building going on there including Merritt Apartments or condos. We crossed the Merritt Parkway 3 times before we finally got on it. There were lots of dandelions along the side of the roads and the highway mediums. We drove through Bedford in Westchester County - there was some gorgeous architecture there!
We got to the Mount Cisco auction house about 1:45. Then we got back on the Merritt parkway over Mario's bridge/the old Tappan Zee bridge. I love to look up the Hudson River as we drive over this bridge - there were sail boats out today! There were also three long black objects in the river on the western side of the bridge- I wished I had binoculars - I wonder if they were fish farms? And there are so many houses built up on the cliffs over the river - I wonder if their view is obstructed by all the trees.
We continued south on 287 - parts of this are very boring - there are tall barriers along the highway so that you can't see anything - when there are no barriers, there are woods. I was happy when we finally pulled off onto 87 south - there was a horse farm as soon as we turned onto 87!
At some point we were on route 519 - the smell of freshly mown hay reminded me of the smell of hayfields in Sneem after they were cut - or when we would be in those fields turning over the hay to dry it. There were folks out mowing the grass - mostly on rider mowers - some pushing a gas lawn mower. We stopped at a no name gas station in Holland, New Jersey - gas was $4.19/gallon compared to brand name stations at $4.49.
We drove through Frenchtown, New Jersey - I was drooling over the architecture and all the cute gift shops. Route 29 South runs along a river - the Delaware River maybe? - there is a lovely river walk that follows a good distance along it. One newer house was built on stilts - because of flooding? We passed by Prallsville Historic Mill District - originally built in the 1700s! We reached Lamberville about 4:30. We passed Rago auction house - I think we are going there tomorrow afternoon to preview an auction. Lambertville has such great architecture! Cute row house with adjoining porches, gingerbread houses, Queen Ann style - so many different styles!! We passed Lambert Living History Farm - I just checked out their website - sheep shearing has been rescheduled to next weekend because of rain tomorrow and Saturday!! How disappointing!!
We passed another long river walk but I never saw any place to park. We arrived at Element Hotel in West Trenton about 5. I have a lovely room to myself including a walk in shower. We checked in and then headed out to eat - we had stopped at Dunkin Donuts in RI or Conn and hadn't eaten since. We drove to route 1 and found a plaza with several restaurants. They seemed busy especially anything Mexican because of Cinco de Mayo. We ate at Seasons 22 or 52. I had scallops with risotto and asparagus - delicious!!
Johnny decided to drive to downtown Princetom after we ate - the days are getting longer! When Beth and I were driving to Florida, it was dark by 4:30 - by 5 as we got further south. I had never been to Princeton - knew nothing about it - but found it very interesting. Parts of the college reminded me of Oxford in England. My sisters, Patty and Joanne, and I had driven there in our Inspector Morse quest. Princeton had the same stone archways leading into a large quadrangle. I took the pictures below through the car window - Princeton was packed with people so we just made a few passes through it.
There were so many large churches in Princeton!! I wonder how many people to these churches on a regular basis? And so much different architecture! And so many people!! There is also a canal that passes through some part of the city with a canal walk. We saw more golf courses - none of the courses we passed today had golf carts or caddies - people were carrying their golf clubs! Is this something new?
We passed by Clarke's farm where the battle of Princeton was fought during the Revolutionary War. I guess part of the battle also took place where Princeton College now stands.
We headed to a market near the hotel for some snacks. We passed luxury apartments - they had the West Trenton airport on one side and New Jersey Correctional Facility across the street. Doesn't sound too luxurious to me!!
Tomorrow we need to be on the road by 8:45. There is a light breakfast in the lobby in the morning. We plan to grab something there and then head to an auction in Philadelphia - we have to be there by 10 am.
So goodnight!
No comments:
Post a Comment