Thread: Ramblings From The USA - 1

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N is for New Zealanders crossing, C is for see it's right there, J is for jalopes ahead, bb is simply for Big Block V8's required ahead, and lastly E is for Entertaining trip in store for you!

Monday 14th September.

Back to Jefferson’s Monticello, the gates opened at 8:30, we were there at 8:33…got an excellent parking place and went on the first shuttle ride up to the ‘Big Hoose’ itself.
An extremely interesting place; the man was an innovator, a thinker, trying to make the ideas from the past (from the great philosophers, inventors, and architects,) work better in his today.
Some things he succeeded with…others…nah.
One such dumb-ass idea was for the marital bed to be enclosed in an alcove on three sides. I could’ve saved him the bother of trying that idea; we once had a caravan set up like that, and if I wanted to get out in the middle of the night I had to crawl over the missus.
Which did not impress her…so that’s a no-no Tom!
He was obviously an astute politician too…but having said that; who knows of any politician ever who has practised what he preached?
There’s no such creature…never has been; never will be.
(And if you do happen to find one shoot the bastard quick before he turns bad!)
And so it was with Jefferson…famous for espousing the ideals of: “all men are born equal” and have a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
And kept two hundred slaves.
Whipped them if they displeased him, (not himself personally; his overseer did that,) and if they really upset him, he sold them.
It didn’t matter if families were broken up…they were only slaves.
So it didn’t matter.
He freed only seven in his lifetime.
And most of them were his own progeny.
He may have been a great man, and done great things; but he was also a First Class hypocrite.
And I’m sure that if I’d met him I wouldn’t have liked him.
Admired him for what he achieved…yes.
Liked him…no.
But the place itself is well worth visiting. We spent four hours there, and enjoyed the trip through the past.

Okay…set our sights on the Virginia Holocaust Museum, 2000 E Cary St, Richmond VA 23223

Pulled up, parked in a park dedicated to Holocaust Museum Visitors Only…and couldn’t find the place.
I finished up asking a UPS driver where it was…”Right there,” he said, “up those steps and along that deck. You’ll find them.”
Well I couldn’t.
A few Minutes later he walked around the corner with a parcel to deliver to them,
‘Oops,” he said, “they’re closed!”

So we elected to visit The Museum and White House of the Confederacy, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum, both at 1201 E Clay St., Richmond 23219.
Wandered around for twenty minutes or so and couldn’t find them.
So gave up.

Right…keep on truckin’ for Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, 301 W Camden St., Baltimore 21201.
And got seriously caught in traffic.

3:45 I said to Rick “This is a waste of time. By the time we get there we won’t have time to see the place. Pull off, we’ll find a motel, crash for the night, and go look for Geppi’s to-morrow.”
So that’s what we did…and finished up in the grot-shop to end all grot-shops of a motel in Marilyn Baltimore.
$50 per unit per night. Cash only, no credit cards, no cheques, no wifi.
Crikey; there’s not even a wall plug that will accept my 3-pin adaptor for my pooter!
Thankfully the battery’s charged.
But it does have a microwave and a fridge.
The Boulevard Motel, 7436 Washington Blvd., Elkridge MD 21075

And yes; they’re either Indian or Pakistani.

Tuesday 15th September.

First stop was Geppi’s Entertainment Museum 301 W Camden St., Baltimore 21201.
Found the place alright, but parking was a bit of a problem; took around thirty minutes to find a parking building.
But we got there eventually.
“Is there a discount for geriatrics?”
Blank stare.
“No; just for Vets, serving members of the Armed Services and old people.”
“We” (indicating,) “are old people. Geriatrics.”
“Oh.”
Sheesh.
It’s true.
Some people do have stupid children that don’t know their own language.
And we went on to pend a happy couple of hours remembering Bringing Up Father with Jiggs and Maggie, (corned beef and cabbage,) Lil Abner of Dogpatch, Pop-eye and Olive Hoyle, Snow White and Doc, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, and Sleepy with their ‘I owe, I owe, it’s off to work we go’ song, Dick Tracy…

And many, many, more.
Well worth the visit…although nearly thirty bucks for parking took a bit of the gloss off.

And trucked off to Newark where we’re ensconced in a very clean and tidy Super 8 that’s also being run by Indians or Pakis.
So there ya go…

One thing I have noticed is that the ever-present golden-rod is nowhere near as prevalent over here…can’t know the reason why not.

Wednesday 16th September.

First stop was the Franklin Institute, 271 N 21st St. Philadelphia 19103.
They had a ‘special’ exhibition showing the life and times of Genghis Kahn which proved to be extremely interesting.
A man ahead of his time in so many ways.
(The exhibition is on until January 3rd, so if you’re going to be in the area I would reccomend making the effort to see it.)
The rest of the Institute was interesting too; we spent about four hours there ( at around the $40 per head mark I wanted my money’s worth!) until the young ones started showing signs of boredom..
Okay; so what’s a trip to Philadelphia without a look at the Liberty Bell?
So that was the next stop.
The parking we found meant a fair sort of a hike to 5th St and Market where the bell is, but the heat wasn’t too bad so we made it okay.
And then we couldn’t really get near the thing for bloody Japanese tourists!
But we can say we’ve seen it…even if we couldn’t get close to it…bloody tourists… they should be banned!

And that filled the whole day.
All good.

Thursday 17th September.

Away by 8:15 this morning, we’ve got a lot of miles to cover.
Driving through Chester County I noted several huge cowshed/dairy type operations all with minimal or no paddock grazing…they couldn’t graze…there were no fences.
Their entire farms were either just recently cropped, growing crops, or being prepared for growing crops.
And the silage bunkers were huge; some of them would hold around five thousand tons…and there were many of them.
These would be factory farms on a massive scale…I’m sure these fellas have done their maths on it; but it wouldn’t work in NZ.
The capital involved in machinery and buildings, the labour involved, nah; the sums wouldn’t add up.
Our system is simple, with minimal input for maximum return.
She and I ran our place for years with just the two of us apart from during the spring calving time when we usually employed a solo mum to feed the calves twice a day for about twelve weeks.
And we were milking 250 cows. Not a great number; but quite respectable.
These people would need a minimum of three full-time tractor drivers to contend with feeding at least twice a day, mucking out and spreading muck, and cultivating and harvesting crops.
Then at least another two staff to milk…as well as someone to relief milk and drive on days off.
These fellas would have to be being heavily subsidised. Otherwise the numbers just wouldn’t add up.
(It was mainly through development phases that we employed full-time staff; when I was spending all day on machinery.)

At Brentwood there was a mob of polys paddock grazing, running with one of the most magnificent poly bulls I’ve ever seen…standing there on a slight rise…”Who wuld dare meddle wi’ me!” written all over him.
Beautiful.
A bloody gorgeous specimen.

In the Paradise area there were a few smaller (50 – 80) fresian herds being paddock grazed; well conditioned and good pasture management skills.

These totally enclosed battery-type ‘cowsheds’ are thick on the ground around Ephrata. If subsidies were to be removed or cut there’s gonna be a lot of pain and tears out there.

Towards Trexlertown more vineyards were appearing; it must be getting too dry for cattle.

Camelback Mountain…lots of bush (woods, I think the locals call them,) no or little undergrowth…and yep, next thing a sign saying: ‘Deer next 4.5 miles.’
And goldenrod is appearing again.

Over Mt Polono and The Endless Mountain Ranges. The scenery is just bloody gorgeous.

Harford; and some fella is spreading lime over his paddocks with a bulk spreader.
Strange. I had noticed none of the obvious (to me) indications of low pH. Perhaps I’m missing something, ‘cos I would think that he would know what he was doing.

And overnighting at a motel in Bainbridge NY 13733 called Algonkin Motel, owned and run by true-blue Americans; not Pakistanis, Indians, or Koreans, who are spending money on improving and maintaining the place, not milking it.
As we pulled in today they were just finishing re-sealing the entire forecourt.
The American entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.
You go you good people!
(And it’s clean and tidy, with smoking rooms, has a fridge, a microwave, and three chairs!)

Which "golden-rod" are you speaking of? The flowering plant, or something else? Just curious, 'cause the phrase made my ears perk up, figuratively.

.

The flowering plant.
Is there another sort?
Am I missing something exciting here?

Nah, not really. There is a dehumidifier that is used in safes and other closed spaces to keep moisture at bay, that is called a golden rod; and since you used the word ubiquitous, I wondered if it was something exclusive to New Zealand an/or other environs that was common in "let" accommodations, sort of like a Mezuzah, that little icon that Jewish folks put on their door posts. An idle mind finds all sorts of things to be curious about, especially when it is not very well traveled.

.

Nah...it was the flowering plant that I was referring to.
Further west it seemed to be the 'weed of choice', invading any and every space available to it.
But the further east we travelled so we saw less and less of it.
Until yesterday.
It would appear it doesn't like harsh treatment; being not so obvious in areas that are regularly mown or cropped.

Friday 18th September.

Got talking to a permanent resident at the motel last night, helluva nice bloke. Told us little anecdotes about growing up in the area that he has lived in all his life; apart from a Tour of Duty in Vietnam.
When we left Rosie gave him the rest of our perishables: butter, bread, milk, tomatoes etc., ‘cos they’d be throw-aways after spending today in a hot car.
He shot off to put them in his fridge, and came back a few minutes later with a wee porcelain squirrel, which he gave to Rosie, “To remind you of old Rich from Bainbridge when you get back to NZ,” he said.
That was bloody good of him, and much appreciated.
8:15 departure, a fog keeping visibility and temperatures well down…all good about the temperature!
Crikey but there are some big hills out there! And lots of them…they stretch for bloody miles in every direction! (I know; ‘cos we stopped at the top of one range and looked.)
Around Cooperstown we went through several deep shaded cuttings, one side of them being perpetually damp and never seeing the sun.
Sphagnum moss! And in great quantities too! I’m surprised none of the locals have taken it upon themselves to harvest and market that…a good little tax-free pocket money earner.
A lot of the land under-utilised and reverting; a very sad sight to see…apart from the ‘factory farms’ that were scattered here and there, the overall impression of rural America is of run-down and dilapidated, uncared for poverty-stricken farms and people.
My heart goes out to them…I can equate with how frustrating it must be.
An awful lot of the arable land is being utilised, and very well too; but there’s an awful lot that’s not.
But it’s not just the rural areas; we’ve seen it in the big cities too…middle America is suffering…the small Ma and Pa businesses/entrepreneurs…and until their problems are solved the whole system will stagnate.

Kept truckin’ on to arrive at the Mark Twain House and Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford Connecticut 06105 around 2:30, in time to take the hour-long 3:00 tour.
I must admit to being a tad disappointed with the tour, the guide was a young university student; full of education but no real knowledge.
I know for a certainty that I, with my meagre knowledge of the man, could have fleshed the story out to make the man become more real…more ‘alive’.
Still…ya pays ya money ya takes ya chances.

Overnighting at a Super 8 motel about 2.5 miles from the museum…and yep; it’s being run by a fella named Singh...

Been to his house nice place, based o a sad story of being broke and needed to entertain big wigs to get by!

Saturday 19th September.

Knowing that the Harriet Beecher Stowe centre didn’t open until 9:30, so aimed to arrive bang on the dot. Which we did; to be told: “We’re expecting a tour group here shortly; could you come back around 11:00?”
Nope.
I would’ve read Uncle Tom’s Cabin better than fifty years ago, and frankly, don’t remember much about it now.
Reality is that we were only going to go to the Centre because we were there where it is.
So we headed off to the Springfield Museums 21 Edwards St Springfield MA 01103
‘Four Museums on one Site!’ was the blurb.
Two of them were closed.
But what was available filled in about four hours. (And I purely loved the Dr Seuss sculptures!)

Okay; truck off to Gillette’s Castle, 67 River Rd., East Haddam, 06423
Gillette himself was a movie star in the 1920s and made a heap of dosh…so he proceeded to spend it.
On building himself a castle.

If you’re thinking about visiting it…don’t.
It’s gross.
It epitomises excessive money and an utter and absolute lack of taste.
It’s worse than gross…it’s an obscenity.
The five minute ferry trip was of far more value.

So started heading for Cape Cod..
Got as far as Groton, thought we’d find a motel for the night. Only to find all those we tried were full! (Or had they been warned of our imminent arrival?)
Finished up in Quality Inn, 404 Bridge St Groton 06340 at a cost of twice per unit than what we’ve been paying.
Ouch!

Originally Posted by johnboy

The flowering plant.
Is there another sort?

Johnboy, I am a bee keeper and when the bees start putting on honey from goldenrod you might as well scrap it by feeding it back to them in the winter, the honey smells like dirty gym socks, and taste worse. Now I know its in full bloom time to collect the honey and hope they haven't started storing it yet!

Originally Posted by stovens

Been to his house nice place, based o a sad story of being broke and needed to entertain big wigs to get by!

Yeah; his whole life story is a bit sad really.
Fortunes made and lost, only one of his kids living to any age, and she never married to give him grandchildren.
But he still left a great legacy behind with the words he wrote.
A literary master.

Nay...genius.

Originally Posted by Matthyj

Johnboy, I am a bee keeper and when the bees start putting on honey from goldenrod you might as well scrap it by feeding it back to them in the winter, the honey smells like dirty gym socks, and taste worse. Now I know its in full bloom time to collect the honey and hope they haven't started storing it yet!

It's obviously an aggressively invasive weed; although it doesn't seem to be able to handle 'hard' treatment, e.g. bruising, crushing, or mowing.
And the prolificacy of it is astonishing. I'm surprised its not been posted as noxious, with compulsory clearing orders.

Originally Posted by johnboy

Got as far as Groton, thought we’d find a motel for the night. Only to find all those we tried were full! (Or had they been warned of our imminent arrival?)
Finished up in Quality Inn, 404 Bridge St Groton 06340 at a cost of twice per unit than what we’ve been paying.
Ouch!

Hopefully you noticed a bit more "quality" (no pun intended) in the lodgings for the added price...