Bar Harbor, Maine

Place: Bar Harbor, ME

Weather: Showers, 57/70F

Route: From Portland 174 mi NE on I-295 N, I-95 N, US-1A E, ME-3 E.

Population: 5,264 (2012)

Places to Visit: Acadia National Park, Abbe Museum, George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History.

Images:

The town from the air (from cruise-bruise.com)

Acadia National Park (from visitmaine.com)

Portland, ME

Place: Portland, ME

Weather: Scattered thunderstorms, 62/76F

Route: From Bretton Woods 93 miles SE on US-302 E, ME-113 S, ME-114 N, I-295 N.

Population: 66,2115 (2019)

Nickname: The Forest City

Places to Visit: Portland Museum of Art, Portland Observatory, Wadsworth-Longfellow House.

Images:

Downtown with harbor in background (from newenglandwithlove.com)

Portland Lighthouse (from wolfcoveinn.com)

Bretton Woods, NH

Place: Bretton Woods, NH

Weather: Scattered thunderstorms, 57/72F

Route: From Ripton 151 miles ENE on VT-125 E, VT-100 S, I-89 S, I-91 N, I-93 S, US-302 E.

Significance: Bretton Woods is a resort area and home to the Mount Washington Hotel, originally opened in 1902. Its main claim to fame is that it was the site of the Bretton Woods economic conference in July 1944.  The conference included representatives from 44 countries - all members of the Allies in World War II. D-Day was less than a month before the start of the conference - so the war was still 10 months from being over in Europe and over a year before Japan would surrender.  The main purpose of the conference was to establish the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and increase open markets.  It also established exchange rates, which at that time were pegged to the value of gold.  Many people view this conference as the beginning of "globalization" of our economy.  

Most people would say that overall that has been a success. Overall the average standard of living has improved around the world.  And economic partnerships between countries many times makes war less likely - and we haven't had anywhere near the level of conflict since WWII as we had before then.  Obviously there have been some losers in this system.  Manufacturing in the U.S. has decreased substantially - decreasing the percentage of people considered "middle income" and increasing economic disparities.

Image: 

 Mount Washington Hotel (from omnihotels.com)

Homer Noble Farm - Ripton, VT

Place: Homer Noble Farm - Ripton, VT

Weather: Rain showers, 61/75F

Route: From Concord, MA 175 miles NNW on US-3 N, I-89 N, VT-100 N.

Significance: I'm afraid I've gone on a bit of a literary tangent here in New England. Homer Noble Farm is where the poet Robert Frost spent his summers and falls from 1921 to 1962 - teaching at the Broad Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.  Frost is probably the most famous American poet of the 20th century. He won four Pulitzer prizes for his poems.  His most famous poem is "The Road Not Taken."

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

I had always thought of this poem as advice from an old man given to a young person to boldly tread where few people had tread before.  But, after reading some interpretations online I realized I was wrong. If you look at the last stanza the most famous part is him predicting that he will say in the future (he wrote it when he was in his in his early 40's) "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."  And earlier in the poem he states that both paths "had worn them really about the same."  So, the poem is really about our ability to congratulate ourselves about our choices, rather than anything having to do with how we should make those choices.

Here is a 2015 essay by David Orr in Paris Review setting down the case that Road Less Traveled is "The Most Misread Poem in America."

Concord, MA

Place: Concord, MA

Weather: Mostly sunny, 65/89F

Route: From Salem 29 miles WSW on I-95 S and MA-2A W.

Population: 17,669 (2010)

Significance: When Paul Revere yelled "The British are coming!" - he meant they were coming here.  There were arms for the Patriot militia stored in Concord. The militia defended the town against the British and forced them to retreat to Boston.   The first shots of the Revolutionary War ("The shot hear round the world") occurred a short distance away in Lexington and the remembrance of that day is the reason for the holiday "Patriot's Day" in Massachusetts, the day the Boston Marathon is held each year.

The literary figures who lived in Concord in the mid-19th century were some of the most important of their time - they included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Thoreau's Walden pond is just a short hike outside of town.  They were part of the "Transcendentalist movement" - a movement that emphasized the ability of individuals to generate insights that are more true than any dogma of organizations or religions.  It was also influenced by Hinduism - which was rare for philosophical movements in America or Europe to incorporate thoughts from outside the Judeo-Christian world.

Places to visit: Minute Man National Historical Park, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, Walden Pond State Reservation, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, The Wayside.

Images:

Old North Bridge - where the Patriots fought off the British (from npca.org)

Walden Pond (from travelandleisure.com)

Salem, MA

Place: Salem, MA

Weather: Partly Cloudy developing showers, 66/82F

Route: From Boston 25 miles NE on I-93 N and I-95 N.

Population: 43,226 (2019)

Nickname: The City of Witches

Significance: I was going to write some deep screed about The Salem Witch Trials and what that showed about the culture and how women were treated etc.  But, I just spent a few hours going down that rabbit hole - and let's just say it's complex.  And there are a lot of disagreements about why it happened. So, I'll leave it to you to delve into that if you are interested.  

Places to visit: The House of the Seven Gables, Peabody Essex Museum, Old Burying Point Cemetery, Salem Witch Museum.  

Image:

Aerial view of downtown (from vogue.com)

One Place Boston, MA - The Freedom Trail

Ok, I cheated.  The Freedom Trail isn't one place, it's a collection of places. But there isn't really any large city in America that has such a collection of 18th century buildings.  And they work together as a collection more than singling out any one in particular.

Here are some of the highlights: 

1) Granary Burying Ground - Where John Hancock, Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and Benjamin Franklin's parents - among many more - are buried. I really love an old cemetery. It makes history come alive - since it gives some insight as to how they wanted to be remembered.

2) Old South Meeting House - Where many of the most important meetings of the revolution took place - including where people met before heading over to throw all that tea in the harbor.

3) Old State House - The seat of government during the colonial days - it was just outside this building where the Boston Massacre happened in 1770. One of the major events that started America towards independence.

4) Faneuil Hall - Another place where many of the revolutionaries met before and during the Revolutionary War.

5) Paul Revere House - I like this one because it's so old (1680) and it gives us an idea how some people lived back then as it's the only house on the trail.

6) Old North Church - Where Paul Revere started his ride.

7) Bunker Hill Monument - Site of the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill.

There are more sites - but I'll stop there.

Website: The Freedom Trail

Images:

Granary Burying Ground (from thefreedomtrail.org)

The Old State House (from nps.gov)

Boston, MA

Place: Boston, MA

Weather: Partly Cloudy 71/90F

Route: From Plymouth 43 miles NNW on MA-3 N and I-93 N.

Population: 692,600 (2019)

Nicknames: Beantown, The City on the Hill, The Cradle of Liberty

Places to Visit: Freedom Trail, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Museum of Science.

Images:

Downtown Boston (from bu.edu)

Fauneil Hall on right (from efexploreamerica.com)

Plymouth, MA

Place: Plymouth, MA

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 66/82F

Route: From Newport 56 miles NNE on RI-24 N, US-44 E.

Population: 58,271 (2010)

Nickname: America's Hometown

History: When you're a child the landing of the Mayflower is taught as somehow the beginning of America - even though it wasn't even the first English settlement - Jamestown was settled in 1607 - 13 years before the Mayflower landed.  The Mayflower Compact is seen as a predecessor of the constitution - the first "Thanksgiving" supposedly happened here etc.  The pilgrims are seen as enjoying some kind of relationship with the Native Americans that benefited both sides. The truth was that a plague killed off close to 90% if the Native Americans in the area in the decade before the Mayflower landed - so those who remained couldn't put up much of a fight - and luckily for the puritans there was plenty of farm land that was going unused.  Even the "Rock" is a little disappointing if you visit. As a child I imagined Plymouth Rock as some impressive piece of granite jutting out into the bay.  Instead it's a small boulder that you can put your arms around. Of course real histories are always more complicated than what we learn in grade school - but it is interesting how this one has stuck so deeply in our subconscious.

Story from Smithsonian magazine about Plymouth Rock

Image:

The Rock (from tripsavvy.com)

Newport, RI

Place: Newport, RI

Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 64/76F

Route: From New Haven 101 miles ENE on I-95 N, RI-138 E, RI-238 S.

Population: 24,672 (2010)

Nicknames: City by the Sea, Sailing Capital of the World, Queen of Summer Resorts, America's Society Capital

History: The history of Newport and Rhode Island generally is an interesting one. In the early colonial period Rhode Island was founded by the outcasts from Massachusetts Bay Colony including Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. They were basically trouble makers who didn't play well with others. Which made Rhode Island a place that was more free religiously. Many Quakers came to the area, in fact there is a meeting house still standing that was built in 1699. In the 1650's Jews came from Spain and Portugal - fleeing the inquisition. The Touro Synagogue, built in 1763, is the oldest in the United States.

However, Newport was not a symbol of freedom for all people. It was an important part of the Atlantic Slave Trade.  Rum was produced here from the sugar grown in central and south America, which was then sent to Africa to be traded for slaves.

In the 19th and 20th century Newport became the place for the elite of the elite to spend their summers. The Vanderbilts, the Astors and others built what they called (tongue-in-cheek) their summer "cottages."  It became a center of sailing and America's Cup was held here from 1930-1983. It is also home to one of the best annual Jazz festivals in the world.  Both Kennedy and Eisenhower had "summer white houses" here during their administrations.

Places to Visit: The Breakers, Tuoro Synagogue, Naval War College Museum, Museum of Newport History.

Images:

The Breakers (from newportmansions.org)

Downtown historic district (from legendsofamerica.com)

New Haven, CT

Place: New Haven, CT

Weather: Isolated Thunderstorms, 65/84F

Route: From Albany 151 miles SSE on I-90 E and I-91 S.

Population: 130,250 (2019)

Genealogy: As I wrote in my Newark post - learning that I have any relatives who emigrated to America in the 1600's was news to me when I started researching my ancestry.  This was where the Ward's emigrated to prior to moving to Newark, NJ.  The New Haven colony was relatively strict - even by Puritan standards.  One thing to keep in mind that it's not like the Puritans just fled England - there were many Puritans who remained in England. And their ideas weren't just felt in the colonies - there were major changes happening in England's politics that wouldn't have been possible without the influence of the Puritans.  For example, Charles I was in many ways a typical King. He might have gone a little long calling parliament (11 years), but he wasn't any more tyrannical than most kings.  However, his rule came at a time when the ideas of the Puritans were calling all things into question - even whether the King was God ordained.  The result was the English Civil War - that pitted the Royalists vs. Parliament.  The outcome was that Parliament and Oliver Cromwell won and Charles I was actually beheaded in 1649 - the same year my ancestors came to America.  At his trial there were 59 judges who would eventually sign his death warrant - they were known as the regicides.

Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector for 5 years from 1653-1658, when he died at the age of 59. His son was installed as ruler, but only lasted about 18 months.  Charles I's son Charles II eventually was reinstalled as King in 1660. Among many things on his mind, the first was revenge. He wanted justice for his father, which meant finding those 59 regicides and making them very sorry that they had signed that warrant.  He didn't let the fact that some of them had died get in the way of their punishment. He even dug up Cromwell and put his head on a pole outside Westminster Hall.

Three of these regicides fled to the American colonies - and two of them were actually hidden in New Haven at a place now called Judges Cave.  This hiding of the judges caused the England to not give the New Haven colony the same rights as other colonies. They forced the New Haven colony to merge with the less holy (as the New Haven folks saw it) Connecticut colony. Which then led a group, including my ancestors, to go start over in what became Newark, NJ.

And yes, I guess I should mention New Haven is probably best known for being home to Yale University.

Image:

Judges Cave (from astlasobscura.com)

Yale campus (from news.yale.edu)

Albany, NY

Place: Albany, NY

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 68/92F

Route: From Seneca Falls 186 miles east on I-90 E.

Population: 96,460 (2019)

Places to Visit: The New York State Museum, Albany Institute of History and Art, New York State Capitol, Washington Park, Schuyler Mansion.

Images:

New York State Capitol (from cityandstateny.com)

New York State Museum (from discoverupstateny.com)

Seneca Falls, NY

Place: Seneca Falls, NY

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 66/89F

Route: From Picton 335km south (around eastern Lake Ontario) on ON-401 E, I-81 S, I-90 W, NY-414 S.

Population: 8,846 (2016)

Significance: In July 1848 many women's rights leaders met here in one of the first conferences in the United States to discuss women's rights.  It was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.  Among those in attendance included Frederick Douglass. It was this conference which led to the movement (although only one attendee would live to see it) that resulted in women's suffrage. Many of the attendees also fought for the abolition of slavery and prohibition of alcohol. The town is situated in the finger lakes region of New York and is next to the Erie Canal.  Some say that it was the town that inspired "Bedford Falls" in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life."

Website: Women's Rights National Historic Park

Picton, ON

Place: Picton, ON

Weather: Sunny, 63/82F

Route: From Toronto 212km east on ON-401 E, County Rd 40, Prince Edward County Rd 1.

Genealogy: This is the birthplace of my maternal grandfather's maternal grandfather - Orville Weese, who was born there in 1866.  Picton was originally founded by loyalists in the 1780's after the end of the American Revolution.  Being on the losing end - Britain compensated those who had stuck with them a fought against the revolution by giving them some land in Canada - among other compensation.  So, it's possible that I have some Benedict Arnolds in my family. Although, the furthest this part of my tree goes back is Orville's grandfather Benjamin, who was born in Canada in 1800.  So, I don't have any definitive proof that they came from the United States - rather than directly from across the pond - but it's likely given the percentage of people in the surrounding area whose families were loyalists.

To give Orville a break - he was born almost 100 years after the revolution and he was a good grandpa to my grandpa.  So, here's a picture of him and my great-great grandma Anna.  I have stopped by Picton - it's a pretty place with a small picturesque harbor.

Images:

Anna and Orville Weese

Aerial view of Picton Harbor (from pictongazette.ca)

Toronto, ON

Place: Toronto, ON

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 61/74F

Route: From North Buxton 297 km on ON-401 E and ON-403 E.

Population: 2,731,571 (2018)

Nicknames: Hogtown, The Queen City, The Big Smoke.

Places to Visit: Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, CN Tower, St. Lawrence Market, Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Edwards Gardens, Kensington Market.

Images:

The Skyline (from lonelyplanet.com)

Toronto Botanical Gardens (from toronto.com)

North Buxton, ON

Place: North Buxton, ON

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 57/75F

Route: From Buffalo 210 miles on I-190 N, ON-403 N, ON-401 W.

Significance: The goal for many fugitive enslaved people on the Underground Railroad was Canada, as there were no fugitive slave laws there.  In 1849, William King a former slave owner turned abolitionist in Louisiana, bought 9,000 acres in southwest Ontario and worked with the Governor General of Canada Lord Elgin to make it a haven for African Americans from the United States.  

Although Canada was the goal for many enslaved people, they didn't always find open arms on the northern side of the border. Canada may have been the first country to make slavery illegal in 1793, but there was still widespread racism - which in many places in Canada was codified in laws which made it difficult for Black people to make a living.  In North Buxton Black people were free to make a community on their own, without many of the restrictions they found in other places in Canada. The result was a successful farming community. There are still many descendants of the original settlers living in the area - although many people moved to larger cities in the early 20th century for better jobs just as happened in rural areas throughout North America.

Website: Buxton National Historic Site and Museum

Buffalo, NY

Place: Buffalo, NY

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 54/66F

Route: From Bedford 244 miles on US-220 N, I-99 N, PA-350 N, I-80 W, US-219 N.

Population: 255,284 (2019)

Nicknames: The Queen City, The City of Good Neighbors, The City of No Illusions, Queen City of the Lakes.

Places to Visit: Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, Buffalo Museum of Science.

Image:

Lighthouse and skyline (from visitbuffaloniagra.com)

Japanese Garden - part of the Frederick Olmsted designed Buffalo Park System

Bedford, PA

Place: Bedford, PA

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 52/74F

Route: From Cleveland 234 miles on I-77 S, I-76 E

Significance: Bedford was in the middle of one of the United States first crises.  The Whiskey Rebellion occurred between 1791 and 1794.  The basic upshot is the the U.S. government needed away to pay what it owed from the Revolutionary War - among several new taxes they decided to start taxing distilled spirits, of which whiskey was the most popular.  All taxes on products had been up to that point on foreign goods - this was the first tax by the U.S. government on a product made by Americans that was sold to Americans. 

This tax wasn't popular anywhere, but it was least popular in the western part of the United States.  Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia were the furthest western states at the time - and apparently were treated as a lost cause in terms of realistically collecting the tax.  But as Philadelphia was the capital of the United States and the constitution was less than a decade old, the government, especially Alexander Hamilton thought that allowing citizens of Pennsylvania to get away with not paying the tax would make the government look weak.  

The Whiskey Rebellion was actually somewhat organized. Up until 1794 their activities included tarring a feathering tax collectors, threatening farmers who were actually paying the tax, and in some cases even burning the barns of those who paid the tax.  In July 1794, 500 hundred militia men attacked the house of General John Neville, a well known tax collector who was actually originally against the tax. 

The rebels felt that in fighting against unfair taxation that they were continuing the spirit of the American Revolutionary War. They even recruited a former Revolutionary War General, James McFarlane to their cause.  McFarlane led the 500 men against Neville, his slaves, and about 10 U.S. soldiers.  McFarlane was killed in the battle, according to the rebels after raising a white flag and calling for a cease fire.  McFarlane became a martyr for the cause and in August there was a gathering of 7,000 western Pennsylvanians who discussed going so far as to march to Pittsburgh - burn down the town and then secede from the United States.

The U.S. government decided that action was warranted. While they sent a group to negotiate, they organized a draft and marched 13,000 men under the command of President Washington (the only U.S. President to ever lead an army while he was President) to Western Pennsylvania.  Washington stayed at a house in Bedford, PA (the Espy house), which still exists.  So, that's where we are today. The site of a large federal military response to a group of people who refused to abide by the laws of the United States.

Washington and the Army's presence led to the end of organized rebellion in western Pennsylvania, however the rebels would have the last laugh as the Whiskey tax was repealed in 1801 when Thomas Jefferson became President.

I don't mean to suggest that the Whiskey rebels have anywhere close to the moral authority of the current Black Lives Matter protests which I firmly support - and the current protests have actually been much less violent than what the rebels did.  However I think it is important to remember that from the very beginning our history is filled with stories of people who organized and at times violently protested what they believed were unfair circumstances or laws.  We have already visited sites related to five other uprisings - Harpers Ferry, Prospect Bluff, Osawatomie, Wounded Knee and Matewan.  It's hard to make any blanket statements about these insurrections - other than that no real changes happened without strong political movements that backed up the energy expressed by these actions.  And that history is never boring and always relevant.

Image:

The Espy House in Bedford - where Washington stayed during the rebellion (from bedfordconnections.org)

Cleveland, OH

Place: Cleveland, OH

Weather: Showers 58/70F

Route: From Detroit 170 miles on I-75 S and I-90 E.

Population: 381,009 (2018)

Nickname: The Forest City

Places to visit: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Images: 

Skyline and bridge (from tripsavvy.com)

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (from cleveland19.com)

Detroit, MI

Place: Detroit, MI

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 59/79F

Route: From Mackinaw City 289 miles south on I-75 S.

Population: 670,031 (2018)

Nicknames: Motown, The Motor City

Places to Visit: Detroit Institute of Arts, Motown Museum, Eastern Market, Belle Isle Park.

Images:

The Detroit skyline (from Forbes.com)

Motown Museum (from motownmuseum.org)

Mackinac Island, MI

Place: Mackinac Island, MI

Weather: Showers, 54/64F

Route: From Traverse City 102 miles NNE on US-31 N and Mackinaw Highway to Mackinaw City - then ferry to the island.

Population: 492

Significance: A small island between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan - Mackinac Island (we know you're not from Michigan if you pronounce it with a hard "c" - pretend the "c" is a "w") is a slice of the 19th century. Most of the buildings were built before 1900 and no cars are allowed on the island. You've got to either walk, ride a bike, or get on a horse (or in a horse drawn carriage). And then get some fudge!

Things to do: Fort Mackinac, Grand Hotel, bike around the island.

Images: 

Fort Mackinac (from mightymac.org)

The Grand Hotel (from grandhotel.com)