Last Day Living the Dream

Waking up for the final time on my trip to the northeast coast, I was finishing up where it all began - Philadelphia. I woke up early and trekked to northwest Philly to complete the transaction on my car rental, which couldn’t have gone better.

With that out of the way, I took an Uber to the airport. The staff at the airport were much nicer than what I experienced at Hertz at the front end of the trip. I was able to check my bags with no problems and I boarded the plane with just one more stop remaining - Washington, D.C.

Having only been to the nation’s capital once when I was 14, I was definitely excited to get a chance to see it during my layover en route to OKC. Initially I had not booked a flight with a five-hour layover in DC, but I received an alert weeks after booking my flights with alternative times and layovers. I was initially annoyed at the changes, but I decided to make the most of it and see as much as I could while I was waiting to head home.

I took the metro to the Mall, which is where most of the more memorable sites can be found. Among the sites I got to check out were the Einstein Statue, the Vietnam Veteran Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, MLK Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, and the White House.

At some point, I did have a slight sense of nervousness as I was saddled with an overly full backpack that definitely caused me to stick out like a sore thumb as I was walking around. As I neared the White House, I was conflicted with feelings of excitement and anxiety as I thought about the likelihood that I was on someone’s radar as I positioned myself to get a couple of pics and selfies.

I didn’t stick around for very long and once I had what I wanted in terms of views and pics, I was heading back to the metro to return to the airport. Everything went well and I was in my seat and ready to fly home on time.

The trip was amazing and one I will never forget. There were some highs and lows and some sites that will always stick with me. And once home, I was ready to get started planning the next one!

Chasing Dreams in the Iron Belt

Two of my favorite experiences in life have been my fandom of the Miami Dolphins and my enjoyment of watching “The Office.” My next to last day of the trip allowed me to reflect fondly on those memories.

I started off my morning in Buffalo by heading south to Orchard Park, where one of the Dolphins’ division rivals plays its home games. I didn’t do anything specific to break the Dolphins’ recent losing streak against the Bills, but I convinced myself that my presence alone would be enough. Little did I know, it would take until 2022 before I would see any evidence of that positivity.

Still surrounded in darkness in the early hours of the day, I turned my attention to my next scheduled stop - Scranton, the “home” of one of my favorite sitcoms. I had done my homework and picked out a few stops - the Steamtown National Historic Site, the Electric City Sign, Alfredo’s Pizza, Poor Richard’s Pub and Cooper’s Seafood. The last of the stops was a great place to grab lunch and also happened to be a prime spot for picking up souvenirs for the family.

After leaving Scranton, I needed to check out one more location from “The Office” - Lake Wallenpaupack. Normally, this would just seem like any other lake; however, for anyone who is a huge fan of the show, this lake was a famous site for a daytime activity outside of the office.

No trip to this part of the state would be complete without visiting the Promised Land - Promised Land State Park, to be more specific. An area that was once purchased by a religious group called the Shakers, it was eventually sold after it proved to be a poor place for farming. The name “Promised Land” was made sarcastically as they eventually sold it, but the name stuck and remains in place today.

My quick stop to gather a quick photo turned my attention to my brief trip to Delaware, which is just south of Philadelphia. I stopped for dinner in Wilmington, took a few photos around town, and then headed to my Philly hotel that would be hosting my final night of the trip.

Niagara, the Beautiful!

On a handful of occasions, I have had the opportunity to see some of nature’s most magnificent features. Those moments included treks to Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Yosemite National Park and one of the greatest memories of this trip - Niagara Falls.

Trying to describe Niagara Falls could never do it justice. On paper, it is an incredible series of waterfalls with white foamy water cascading over in a constant outpouring of glory. In person, it is so much more than that.

My first morning in Buffalo began with taking a bus up to Niagara and walking over to the Falls area. I started out hopping on to the Maid of the Mist and getting an extremely up close (and wet) view of the falls. As one of the first ones in line, I got a front row spot at the front of the ferry and took in all of the glory emanating from this historic waterfall area.

After exiting the boat, I headed over to Goat Island and stepped out near the Cave of the Winds - yet another location After exiting the boat, I headed over to Goat Island and stepped out near the Cave of the Winds - yet another location where ponchos and flip flops came in handy to avoid getting your clothes soaked. The remainder of my time at Niagara was spent walking around getting angled pics from various locations of the waterfalls, the waterways and the land on both sides of the area.

The downside of this day was that despite having purchased my first passport prior to the trip, I was unable to travel into Canada to see the falls from the north. Although I did get to spend a few minutes in a neutral zone outside of New York the day before when I checked out the Peace Bridge, my hopes of experiencing the land belonging to our neighbors to the north were delayed until another time (thanks a lot, COVID!).

I took the bus back to Buffalo, took in a little bit of the nightlife, and then grabbed some pizza before heading back to the hotel. With Niagara in my rear view and only one more night remaining for my trip, I was ready to kick off the next day getting back on the road and checking out as much as I could on my way back to Philadelphia.

Let's Play Two!

When someone mentions New York, it is easy to immediately think about the Big Apple and all that can be found in the state’s biggest population center. But when I drove into what is often referred to as upstate New York and traveled through mostly rural areas, I saw a part of the Empire State I had never seen before - rolling hills, wooded mountains, mesmerizing lakes, clear rivers, and those ever-changing leaves that become so prominent this time of the year.

At this point in the trip, I had begun to recognize that I only had a few days remaining before I had reached the end. But the great thing about this trip was that I had made every day a great one with lots of sites to visit - and today was going to start with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Walking through the hallowed halls, I was slightly surprised to see so many mentions of guys who have been prevented from being a Hall of Famer - Pete Rose, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and others. While they haven’t yet been voted in and may never get voted in, they still have a presence throughout the museum. So, they will always have that!

Having spent the morning checking out this really cool place, I continued driving through the incredible scenery as I ventured to Syracuse for lunch. I didn’t stick around to check out much in Syracuse or make stops along the way at sites I thought would make for great pics. But I did make good time pulling into Buffalo.

The interesting part of arriving in Buffalo is that I had put on my list of photo stops the Peace Bridge. I drove to where the map in my rental car showed me to go to the Peace Bridge while not recognizing that I was actually entering an area that was considered outside of New York while not actually being in Canada. I got out of the car to get a few pics of the bridge, hopped back in and saw the “Welcome to New York” sign that started my confusion.

I quickly noticed that there was a border entry station in front of me and that I was going to need to be prepared to show some documentation. I had fortunately brought my recently-secured passport just in case I did have a chance to go to Canada, so I was able to show them everything I might need. There were a couple of minutes of tension for me as I waited on the guard to go through everything and ask questions as to what I was doing.

By the time it was over (a few minutes), it was determined that there was nothing all that unusual about someone driving to that spot and taking a photo and then coming back. So, I was let through and I went on to the hotel.

The staff was exceptionally nice when I arrived at my resting place for the next two nights, and one of them actually went outside to move her car so I could have a parking spot at the front. I was really impressed with their hospitality.

That night, I took the train northward to have dinner at the Anchor Bar, which is the original home of buffalo wings. I thought they were great and the bar itself was really cool. I definitely recommend!

Back to the room, I was ready to tackle the next day at one of America’s greatest natural sites - Niagara Falls.

The Day I Officially Became a Leafer

After spending most of the day before traveling the northeastern coast, it was hard to believe that I had an even better day planned for seeing nature at its finest as I prepared to drive away from the coast and into the heart of the New Hampshire/Vermont areas - but that is exactly how it turned out.

I took an extremely scenic route from Bangor to Conway, NH, and it was an array of rolling hills and trees with their multi-colored leaves all along the way. Once I made it to Conway, it was just a matter of time before I reached the Kancamagus Scenic Highway. There were so many stops with creeks, scenic views, and everywhere I was able to see the early “changing of the leaves” that this area of the country has gained so much fame for. I definitely picked a great time to be traveling through this part of the U.S.

Among the many stops I made on this highway were the Albany Covered Bridge, Lower Falls Scenic Area, Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, Sabbaday Falls Picnic Area, and Sugar Hill Scenic Overlook. I was definitely not disappointed!

I was encouraged by a friend back home to check out the Flume Gorge, so I headed there in the early afternoon. It was the highlight of the day with more amazing views, waterfalls, large rock formations and even another covered bridge. Having put in a great walk for the day, I hopped back into the car and headed toward the next state - Vermont.

As previously mentioned, I managed to check out numerous Ivy League schools on this trip and my last stop in New Hampshire included Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. I saw rowers in action on the Connecticut River, which serves as the border between the two states. Driving through Vermont was relatively brief but beautiful as I traveled through the Green Mountains and checked out the Shires of Vermont.

Before I knew it, I was back in New York but in the upstate part that is generally used to describe most of the state outside of the New York City area. I had just enough daylight to capture a few sites in the state’s capital, Albany, before heading to nearby Schenectady and the casino that was hosting me that evening.

By the end of this day, I was feeling the effects of having driven around or walked for most of this day. And since my lunch had been a really early one, I was tired and hungry when I arrived at my room for the night. I had a great steak dinner in the casino and then went straight back to my room - I knew I had another busy day coming up but I at least knew the drive time would be significantly less as I continued west to Buffalo.

King of the World (or at least Maine)

Growing up as an inspired young writer, Stephen King was always the one whose work I was most drawn to. So, when I was planning ahead for this trip and I knew the easternmost part of my travels would be Maine, I knew I was going to have to make sure I attempted to get to King’s home.

Before I was able to make that happen, however, that day started exiting Boston (or Chelsea, to be more exact). My first stop was going to be Salem, which is home to the House of Seven Gables and the famed Salem Witch House. I was told by a bartender while in Boston that there were many myths about the witch trials and where they actually happened, but his words sounded more like a conspiracy theory and the truth is the trials happened in a nearby city (Danvers) that at the time had been known as Salem Village. So, maybe he was partly right.

Having read that the tours were overrated, I chose to just get pics of the house exteriors. The rush hour traffic I had to go through to get into and out of Salem was worse than I had prepared for, so time was already my foe on this day. As quickly as I was able on this early Monday morning, I drove to Kittery, Maine, with the intention of doing a little shopping. Little did I know that most of the shops were either closed for the day or hadn’t opened yet. So, it was off to Portsmouth (I’m not much of a shopper anyway), and a fantastic view of the Atlantic Ocean.

I finally took some time to walk around and allow all of my senses (minus taste, since lunch was scheduled for later) to take in all that Great Island Common had to offer on what turned out to be a really nice late September day. This was where I was able to view my first lighthouses of the day, but not my last.

Traveling up the coast in Maine offered up some incredible views and as I discovered, delicious lobster rolls. I checked out the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and the Marshall Point Lighthouse (yeah, the one from “Forrest Gump”) before leaving the coast and heading inland to Bangor.

After checking out a couple of sites referenced in past King books (Paul Bunyan Statue, WKIT sign), I drove to the day’s primary destination. A fence that wasn’t particularly imposing surrounded the property, which was significantly smaller than one might have expected. A few items that aligned with what might expect from King were a part of the fence design, but his home otherwise gave off the appearance of any other home. I had been forewarned that King wasn’t particularly social with tourists seeking out his residence and that while pics were allowed, it would be wise to keep it at that.

Having taken my pics (the Paul Bunyan statue is really cool) in Bangor, I had a nice dinner that night before preparing for the next day of the trip - off to New Hampshire, Vermont and back into the Empire State as I continued to head south and west en route to the next stop.

"Shipping Up" to Boston

For all the history I experienced in Philadelphia, trekking around Boston brought about memories of a time when some of the most famous historical references in our nation’s history took place.

Pulling into Boston, it was a real-life Chelsea to Chelsea trip as I started the morning in Chelsea, New York and checked into my Boston-area hotel in Chelsea. After a quick change of clothes I was en route to my dinner reservation in the North End. I got to enjoy a dinner of lobster ravioli, a couple of drinks and another couple of shots with the bartender and a new friend I made at the bar. My new friend gave great advice on how to tackle the next day, especially in getting across Boston Harbor into the heart of Boston.

Waking up early the next morning (yes, I was feeling a little hazy), I began the historical part of my Boston journey at the Boston National Historical Park, which included the USS Constitution Museum, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Charlestown Navy Yard and an incredible view of Boston Harbor.

After taking a scenic view on a water taxi across the harbor, I traversed along the Freedom Trail and took in all of the historical sites I could handle - Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Old North Church, Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Massachusett’s State House, and Boston Common.

The day didn’t end there. I also got to check out a place associated with one of my favorite memories of all time - the Cheers bar. Not only did I get a chance to sit at the bar, but I was able to drink a couple of beers and have some lunch. I also grabbed some Mike’s Pastry while I was out on the trail that afternoon.

With the day winding down but still more to do, I hopped in my rental car and headed to Cambridge to see Harvard University. How ‘bout ‘dem apples!

The day couldn’t be complete without heading to Fenway Park to catch one of America’s biggest baseball rivalries with the Yankees in town to play the Red Sox. And as luck would have it, Big Papi just happened to be there as part of a pre-game ceremony. The downside was that the seats weren’t exactly set up for guys my size and the guys around me apparently were on the same diet. I managed to stick around for five or six innings of a game that ultimately got exciting later in the game. But I was exhausted and needed to get my rest before I headed off to see the northeast coast on my way to Bangor, Maine.