The Bay State Pt.1

  We left Jefferson, OH on June 13 and headed east on I-90 into New York and the Southern Tier Expressway, aka I-86. What a mess that road is! The first 50 miles of the that stretch has to be the worst road conditions for an interstate I have seen yet. It was actually shut down in both directions causing a detour for about 15 miles. We stopped at a Corps of Engineers campground that was actually in Lawrenceville, PA. That was one of the nicest public campgrounds I have stayed in to date. We only stayed two nights and our itinerary took us to Roundout Valley in Accord, NY which is in the Hudson Valley.

We stayed there for four nights and headed to Rochester, Massachusetts Gateway to Cape Cod RV Park. Our main destination while there was Plymouth, MA. You know, the rock and Pilgrims and all of that. We made a couple of trips  there. Everyone knows the story: the Mayflower and 102 Pilgrims land at Province town on Cape Cod but decide to look for a better place to settle. They were actually given a grant to settle in Virginia but missed their mark and, being so late in the year, were not able to get there. The Rock is housed beneath a pergola:

There is much history surrounding the Rock and I will not get into it here but in a nutshell the Rock was never mentioned by William Bradford or any of the chroniclers from the Mayflower. Its existence wasn't described until about a hundred years later. The Rock will always be an icon of America and that is all that matters. We checked out Pilgrim Hall where the entire story of the Pilgrims is on display. No photography allowed so no pics inside.

The town of Plymouth is a typical quaint New England village. There is a lot of statues dedicated to historic figures including Native Americans.

Interesting fact: the original treaty signed by the Mayflower settlers and Native Americans in 1621 is the only treaty to go unbroken by the white man.

The city is teeming with historic buildings and houses:

Another cool sight in Plymouth is the Mayflower II. It is as close a replica of the original as historians can get since the original Mayflower was lost to history. No one is exactly sure what happened to the original. Some speculate it was sold for scrap! 

The hour was late and the ship was closed for the day so we moved on to celebrate my birthday. I had to have lobster of course and there is no shortage of restaurants. We selected the East Bay Grilling Company. I got the baked, stuffed, one-and-a-half pound crustacean.

What a meal!

We took a walk around the bay and took in the sights:

I had to snap a photo of our old cat's ice cream parlor:

Our second trip into Plymouth was two days later for our anniversary. Since we dropped a bundle at dinner for my birthday we decided to go a little low key. There are a couple of counter service sea food places that the locals rave about and we decided on the Lobster Hut. The main menu item is the lobster roll. It is chopped lobster served on a new England style hot dog roll. For upwards of $18! I don't get it. The ocean is right there. Why does it cost so much? We ate and watched the boaters pull their boats in at the end of the day.

Plymouth is a lovely little town worth the trip. The seafood abounds but bring your credit card.

Miles this leg: 739.2

Total miles: 4562.4

Total amount of fuel used: A SMALL FORTUNE!!!!!!! I was horrified to see diesel selling for $4.39 a gallon in New York. Those damned ISIS folks. 

The Buckeye State x2

  I have fallen way behind but that is okay; there has not been that much to write about. We are presently in Sturbridge, MA. To get you caught up: We left Kentucky on June 5 and headed to the Buckeye State. Our campground was in Wilmington, OH which is about halfway between Cincinnati and Columbus but a little closer to the Queen City. We were in the middle of nowhere so there wasn't much to do but I discovered the Phillies were in town to take on the Reds. We decided to drive into Cincinnati for the game on a Saturday afternoon. Ordering tickets was no easy task. I called Ticketmaster for accessible seating and decided on seats in section 108. For the life of me I don't understand why teams sell their tickets through Ticketmaster. There is a convenience fee and even a fee to pick them up at the will call window. I opted to print them my self since I did bring the printer along. The only place with wi-fi in the park was at the office so I loaded up the computer and printer into the truck, drove to the clubhouse, set everything up, and of course I was out of black ink! I had to get one of the employees to help me by sending the e-mail with the attachments to her and have her print them. We got the tickets printed and headed to the game.
  Great American Ballpark was an easy drive of about 45 minutes and it was a Saturday so traffic in town was light. We found close parking for $10 near Paul Brown Stadium which is a short walk to the ballpark. About the same distance from Heinz Field to PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

There is a nice riverfront park across from the ballpark:

We gave ourselves plenty of time arriving about three hours before game time. We walked around the stadium to see Pete Rose Way and Johnny Bench Way.

Great American Ballpark is on Joe Nuxhall Ave. Joe was a longtime Reds broadcaster and former player. He holds the distinction of being the youngest player to ever appear in a major league game. He was only 15 years old when he pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief in a game during WWII when there was a shortage of players. He eventually played about 12 years.

Great American Ballpark is a nice stadium and Red's fans are very loyal and proud of their team. Adjacent to the park is a Red's hall of fame and museum. That is not included with your ticket and is $10 to get in. We skipped that but I was able to see the Pete Rose baseball display with one baseball representing every hit.

Next to the hall is a rose garden with a white rose in the center representing the exact spot where hit #4192 landed in left-center field of old Riverfront Stadium breaking Ty Cobb's all time hit record.

Say what you want about Charlie Hustle, there is no disputing that he was the most prolific hitter the game has known. He is still a hero in these parts.

The gates open 90 minutes before game time but patrons start queuing up early.

We made our way to our seats and set out for some refreshments. Cincinnati is a small market team and I didn't quite expect Great American Ballpark to be so large and accommodating. 

The stand are stacked high and every nook is utilized for a seat. I thought our seats were going to be better since we paid about $45 a ticket but they were lousy.

The upper level hangs over the lower level and the view is obstructed. Add to that they sell a lot of standing room only tickets and fans line up behind you. They are supposed to stay behind a yellow line but no one seems to see it. The usher had to constantly kick people out.

We had our share of $9 beers and food. Cincinnati is known for it's chili so I had to get a famous chili dog from Skyline Chili

It was okay. They drown it with finely shredded cheese and don't put enough chili on it.

The Phillies played lousy and lost 6-1 I think. Carlos Ruiz hit his whopping second home run of the season for the Phils lone run. (someone is not as powerful without PED's). Ryan Howard whiffed a couple times.

J. Roll got on base but couldn't get home and the pitching by Roberto Hernandez was mediocre.

The game was a nice backdrop to a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The green grass of the field; the azure skies; and the red worn by the hometown faithful are what a day at the park is all about.

Cincinnati is a great baseball town and the stadium is first class. I was very impressed.

Miles this leg: 238

Total miles: 3549.6

Our next stop in Ohio was Jefferson. Jefferson is half way between Cleveland and Erie. The only sight seeing we did there was Geneva on the Lake. 

Geneva on the Lake is a throwback to the days before theme parks. It is a quaint vacation town on the shore of Lake Erie. Old fashioned pizza parlors, ice cream stands, miniature golf,  and pinball arcades line the main street. I had to play the Indiana Jones pinball machine. It is good to know I still got game- i left the machine with three credits on the board. 

We stopped for lunch at a gyro stand

The weather was good at first but then the clouds came out and then the rain. We ducked into a local restaurant and winery for a wine tasting while the rain passed by. 

The beaches were mostly deserted 

Miles this leg: 273.6

Total miles: 3823.2

The Bluegrass State

  Today is Tuesday June 10. We are currently in Ashtabula County Ohio. First I will backtrack to our activities since my last post. While we were in the Nashville area we calculated the cost of paying campground fees and decided we needed to find a way to economize. We found a membership in Thousand Trails camping and bought a membership. Our yearly fees cover 60 nights of free camping per year and $3 a night after that. You can stay up to 14 nights at any campground but if you spend more than four nights in any spot you have to leave for seven nights before returning to a membership campground. Our system has been to stay four nights and move to the next place. With that in mind we left Tennessee June 1 and drove up I-65 into Kentucky. We stayed in Mammoth Cave National Park for four nights. The closest city was Bowling Green and we drove there to get some food at Kroger. While there we stopped at Camping World to pick up a satellite dish since most of the campgrounds we will be staying at do not have cable. After the upfront cost for the equipment we will be paying about $54 a month. That cost is doable since we have eliminated our campground fee budget. We bought the Dish Tailgater and Dish receiver. The Tailgater is portable and automatic. Just face it to the southwest sky and that is it.
  We were really trying to just lay low for a while after all we have seen and done since leaving on May 4. We spent one day sightseeing. First stop was Mammoth Cave National Park:

Since we had other stops to hit for the day we didn't go on the cave tour which takes a couple of hours. The tour is not handicap accessible anyway so the ranger directed us to the cave entrance to take a look. There is a long descending path to the cave entrance:

At the bottom of the path stairs descend into the subterranean cave:

The amazing characteristic of the cave is the sudden change of temperature you can feel as soon as you approach the entrance. A cold blast of 55* air hits your legs and, as you take the first several steps, your entire body. Mammoth Cave is the longest mapped cave in the world with nearly 400 miles of known passages.

One could spend days or even weeks enjoying the park. In addition to the cave there are miles of hiking trails throughout the park.

  After Mammoth Cave it was off to Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace and boyhood home about 45 minutes north of Mammoth Cave. They are two separate site. His birthplace is about eight miles from his boyhood home. If you are going to visit keep in mind the boyhood home is only open Thursday through Sunday. You can visit the other days but the buildings are not open and there is no park ranger on duty.

  Lincoln was born in 1809 on his father's farm several miles outside of what would be Hodgenville, KY. until his family moved to another location in 1811, hence the boyhood home historic site.

There is a short video presentation in the visitor's center along with a cross section of the "boundary oak" which was an oak tree that marked the property line and was about 30 years old when Lincoln was born. The tree died in 1976 and was 16 feet in diameter. It was a common practice in those days to use a prominent tree to mark the property line. After leaving the visitor center head to the memorial housing the famous log cabin of his birth. There is only one problem: historians discovered that the cabin that was preserved is not the actual Lincoln cabin. The cabin never less has become an iconic symbol associated with Lincoln and is very similar to the actual cabin. There are 56 steps leading up to the memorial representing each year of the president's life:

The entrance is around the back of the building. Inside is the cabin:

The ranger was telling Doreen that log cabins built in Kentucky differ from those built further north. Log cabins built in the south are taller with the logs further apart to keep the cabin cooler. 

We then headed into Hodgenville and the Lincoln Museum before it closed. The museum was just a commercialized collection of paraphernalia and bric-a-brac. I didn't go in so I hung out in the square while Doreen went in:

The square is dedicated to Lincoln whom the town claims was born there, however the town was not founded until 1818, nine years after his birth.

It was then off to Lincoln's Boyhood Home on the other side of town:

The Lincoln Tavern was built in 1920 as watering hole along the Cumberland Trail where the Lincolns lived for several years:

Next up is the Buckeye State.

  Miles this leg: 151.1

Total miles: 3311.6