Concrete, Tomatoes, Twisted Steel and Giants

Today is the first day of our 2 week journey out to St. Louis then north to Sault Ste Marie back to Flint, Michigan and then home. This trip will be about 3,000 miles give or take some. We hit the road right around 7:30am, which is probably the only day we leave on time. I will say as I loaded the car with our gear, I felt a bit under prepared. What site did I miss waypointing, what am I forgetting to pack, and just a something is missing feeling. In the end, I missed nothing and probably planned too many visit sites in a day in general, maybe more miles than should of been in a day, but all in all the trip went without a hitch.

Our first stop is in Scranton, PA and we essentially traveled I-84 to get there. Once we hit Scranton it was all secondary roads to today's final destination, Altoona PA.

In Scranton the only planned stop was Terrence Powderly House, a National Historic Landmark. Terrence was a labor leader of Jeffersonian idealism and dominated the American labor movement in the 1880's. It was here I meet a gentlemen walking up the street and we had a conversation that went on some 20 minutes about him moving from New Jersey to Scranton and a battle he was having with a women that lived in some apartment up the street. My only regret is I did not get a picture of him.




Scranton is home to Steamtown USA, a National Park about the railroad industry. We have been here multiple times and did not stop to take picture. Steamtown is worth the visit. As we headed out of Scranton I did stop to take some additional pictures for Waymarking purposes. (this is exactly why my planned itinerary gets behind schedule)

Central Railroad of New Jersey Freight Station - Built in 1891 in a Romanesque Revival style, it was at first an unusual instance of a freight terminal being more visually striking than its corresponding passenger terminal.



Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Station - built during the years 1907-1908 at a cost of $ 601,780.96 in the Neo-Classical Revival style.



Next up is the Tomato Capital of the World Statue in Pittston PA, a bright red sculpted tribute to the Quality Tomato Capital of the World. The town holds an annual festival, featuring a tomato pageant and a tomato fight. So whey did we go here?? I used Roadside America to help me shape the route and have some fun places to find along the way.



Concrete City was an early example of International Style architecture in the United States, built as company housing in 1911 for select employees of the Delaware, Lackawana and Western Railroad's coal division in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. It was eventually taken over by the Glen Alden Coal Company who, uninterested in paying for required improvements and unable to demolish it due to its robust construction, abandoned the property in 1924. It stands to this day, albeit in extreme disrepair.





While we were walking around I noticed a couple of other people also viewing the site. The first were a couple of girls in their 20's exploring the place, looking for ghosts. Then 2 tattooed guys, with gauges in their ears and one carrying a bat. MeAsWe (Crystal) asked if they were expecting some wildlife, to which they responded, yeah the 2 legged kind. Of course they explained their response, that this area was ripe for drug addicts to frequent and he carried the large stick just in case.

Hadany Arch is the work of internationally renowned sculptor Israel Hadany and sits as at the entrance of Lycoming Mall in Williamsport, PA.

Doing the Whispering Giant Tour, being in Williamsport I just had to grab the Whispering Giant in Town.

What I did not realize was Williamsport was the birthplace of Little League Baseball. At the intersection of Market and West 3rd St is the Little League Memorial called Bases Loaded where 10 life sized statues depict Little League through the years.





Along the Susquehanna River in Northumberland PA lies the home of the discoverer of oxygen, Joseph Priestly. I figure oxygen didn't really need to be discovered because it was already there to begin with, right in front of our noses. Maybe Priestly defined, catalogued, and wrote stuff about it, but he I think it is a bit of a stretch saying he discovered it. It's not like he had to travel very far or experiment to bring it out of the shadows, it was just there. Any ways a picture of his house, enveloped in Oxygen.



We were suppose to go to Pulpit Rocks. One of my preparation tasks is for the National Landmarks I download photos and store them in my phone so we can see if we arrived at the right place. The picture of Pulpit Rocks was a painting which sent up some red signals. MeAsWe looked up Pulpit Rocks and as soon as she started reading I realized we were going to blow past this one. It talked about a 8 mile hike to get there. This one is off the agenda. Maybe another day, maybe another life time, maybe never.

We arrived in Altoona pretty late and it was dark out, but we still went looking for Leap-The-Dips Roller Coaster. Leap-The-Dips is the world's oldest operating roller coaster and North America's last surviving side friction roller coaster and a National Historic Landmark. Well we didn't find it after driving around for 1/2 hour and headed for dinner at Marzoni's. I did ask our waitress and she said it was right near there and we might be able to see it from the street. I ordered a Smokin Turkey Egler and MeAsWe had some kind of Mac N'Cheese dish. Both were quite good.

The days route, some 530+ miles

Meddlin' Around Mid Mass

Did my usual visit over at Giff's this morning. Practicing with my new camera. Inspections are starting to pick up over there, but if Bill does as many as last year, he is going to get hammered at the end of the month. It will look like Sturgis in Whitinsville is my prediction. Maybe a hot dog cart is in order and make it an annual event. They will come from all over the US. Hmmmm a dream but isn't that where all this stuff starts.

After lunch and after hmm hawing about going out this afternoon the twin FJR's took off from Uxbridge, heading for Charlton MA. Now I have to warn you this is a pretty boring write up and the ride itself was about grabbing some towns before we head for St Louis.

Not a lot of history about Charlton other than it separated from Oxford in 1755 so it is kinda of old for US standards. About a year ago I walked Main Street documenting the Charlton Center Historic District. My way of getting some exercise, get out doors, avoid work around the house/yard, and take some photos. Of course we took the long way to get there.

EXTRA EXTRA Read All About It... one of my readers let me know that John "Grizzly" Adams is buried in Bay Path Cemetery, which is right down the street from the Library. It is believed P.T. Barnum commissioned the creation of his tombstone.

Next up are the Warren's (Warren and West Warren). Impressive, Warren was settled in 1664 and originally named Western. On March 13, 1834, the town was renamed Warren in honor of General Joseph Warren, who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War. When I first started chasing stuff, OSJ had his own form of Treasure Hunts. I got into the chase on that one late. He had this cryptic clue which included phrases like foggy bottom, and other stuff. When you put all the clues together one concluded it was Warren G Harding. The objective was to capture all the Warrens in New England, first one to do it got a bunch of points. I hit them all in one day, which was just shy of 1,000 miles. When I got home I realized I grabbed the West Warren Post Office and had to head back out to Warren, MA to get a pic of Warren. I wasn't about to be disqualified for getting the wrong town.






While at the Warren Package Store took a couple of shots of more stately buildings there.






Ware, named after a town in Hertforshire, England. Ware came to be known nation-wide as "The Town That Can’t Be Licked." when it's cotton mills were folding. During the American Revolution there were at least eight taverns and several inns in the area. Two of the most famous were Ebenezer Nye’s tavern and John Downing’s. This place is one of their relatives. (ok I am taking some literary license here)

In 1762, General Timothy Ruggles, one of the leading Tories of New England, introduced the Hardwick Fair, now the oldest annual fair in the United States. The fair wasn't open, but there is an AR in Hardwick.



The Barre's. Sounds like a TV show competing against the Partridge Family, Mod Squad and All in the Family in the 70's. Had to come up with that one because I could not find anything about the Barre's that was particularly interesting. Oh oh there is a Revere Bell in the old town hall.



In South Barre sits this old mill partly up, partly torn down. Not sure which direction it is headed ~ restoration or razing.



I love general stores.



Figured it was time to throw in a scenic shot to not make this blog entry a total bore.



Hubbardston. I have been here a couple times for Grand Tours, Double Down, Tons and Burgs, From Wiki Hubbardston is described by historians as a poor town, sparsely settled and almost wholly agricultural, but having sawmills, potash works, and cottage industries such as the making of palm-leaf hats. But they did corner the market on palm-leaf hats. I wonder where they got the palm leaves.



Last stop is Gardner. This was grab the first place and go. Gardner's big chair was a bonus location in one of the IBA Big Dance, you know the one 14,000 miles in 10 days grueling rally. Gardner is known as the "Chair City" and "The Furniture Capital of New England", due to its long history in furniture production. By 1910 it had 20 chair factories which produced 4 million chairs per year. It was also noted for silversmithing.

Remnants of the Winter of 2015 and to think they even make the stuff.



Water is so peaceful



Well Gardner was the last stop for Pirate Towns. There was the Tag I got hooked into from GLMC Find a man on a horse statue. There were 2 that came to mind, one in Worcester right by the old courthouse and the other in Milford, MA. Opted for the Milford one. Got home, went to post my horse and guy and was BRUCED !! All part of the game.


Update
One reader, Bettye-Jean Roy told me that this statute was sculpted by Daniel Chester French. Daniel also did Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Mr. French also has a house (Chesterwood) out in the western part of Massachusetts.

Quick 135 miles for 10 towns today. Not bad for an afternoon ride.

Arrr!! "settin' sail t' Cape Cod"

Since this is a Pirate Theme Grand Tour it is appropiate that a Pirate picture is pictured promptly and purposely...wicked pissa...arrrrr

Pirates Cove South Yarmouth MA on RT 28

Woke up around 5am, which is a good thing. I have a decision to make so early. Ride with Giff and 2 other riders or be off to some distant land by me self. (trying to talk like a pirate). Bring up my master 2015 GLMC Mapsource file to choose the direction I might go. It's April, nice day, but the Cape should be not too touristy and begin the plan. With my Master 2015 GLMC towns and Mapsource indicating where to go, I use Google to find a place with the town name in it, using street view to confirm there is some kind of sign, mark it in Google and copy the coordinates into Mapsource, creating a waypoint. A lot of tedious work, but I have been doing this for years and generally very successful in the process. It really bugs me when Google changes how their mapping program works, which they did this year. Other choice is to arrive at the town and wander around looking for a sign. Some of the towns are off the beaten path, leaving this to chance, which  is not how I like to treasure hunt.

Finished the targets around 8am and decided to relax a bit, letting the day warm up abit.

As a side story, went to Walmart yesterday to buy some frames and bought a wicking long sleeve shirt (highly recommended even in the summer, especially under mesh) and saw they had some long wicking pants (I think women call these leggings) (I prefer to refer to them as cold compression under armor) (gives it that knightly sound). When I got to the register the pants must of been on sale because they only cost $5. I already have a drawer full of this stuff, but some how they all seemed to shrink over the winter, go figa. These we a perfect accompaniment under my mesh riding suit. So what is the point to this sidebar. It was actually friggin chilly on the Cape and glad to have them.

Left right around 10:30 or so and headed east and immediately the GPS sounds off Recalculating. I forgot it is taking be thru RI and then heading East to the Chartley General Store. This store is suppose to be the cats meow for meat. It makes me think of the butcher/grocer I use to go to with my mother. It was a narrow store with high shelves and the owner would use that stick with springed claw on the end to grab stuff off the shelves that you couldn't reach. I remember her buying Corn Flakes, which I hated. I liked my Dad's favorite, Grape Nuts, which makes me think of Euell Giggons who said "reminds me of eating wild hickory nuts". 

That stop was for the clean up from last weekend. It just kind of hung out there and it was sort of on the way. Full court press on I-495 south (man it's cool at 70+mph)to West Wareham. This stop is abit iffy. I saw the school in Google street view and guessed it had writing over the door. My guess did not disappoint, especially with this being the only place I could locate. There was a pizza joint, but it was OUT OF BUSINESS.

Tough handing the flag, getting the bike in the pic and being able to read the writing over the door. You would think they could of taken the time to paint the letters a different color. All part of the journey thou.





I was betting on this school would be on the National Register of Historic Places, but it isn't.

Grabbed another West Wareham sign. Either I forgot where I just was or thought it would be a better sign, but I got West Wareham 2 times. It only counts once in the Grand Tour.

Out of the way, looking like an sticking out elbow on the route in Mapsoure is Marion, MA. I thought about getting this when I went for Barrington, but it was just a little out of the way. Nothing special about the shot for Marion. Marion was known for its sea captains and sailors. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (designed of the Double Eagle gold coin, actually his sculptures were more noteworthy), Grover Cleaveland, Gerldo Rivera and James Spader were summer residents of Marion. Maybe we can expect a Blacklist episode taking place in Marion.



Actually it is quite boring but the letters are big. Right down the street was this place. Think summer.



While I was on line, Mannie indicated he lived by a diner, which makes my eyes widen and ears perk up. (well maybe only the eyes). I love old diners and have a collection of T-shirts and coffee mugs for the places I have visited.

The Mill Pond Diner has quite the interesting history, at least for us Diner lovers. The original diner was a 1930's Worcester Lunch Car No 816, built in Worcester. The WLC No 816 was brought back to Worcester, becomeing Charlies Diner, which was moved again to Spencer (the food there is pretty good). This was replaced with a used Jerry O'Mahoney that was located in Fall River called Earnshaw's Diner. In 1974 the Jerry O,Mahoney diner was moved again to it's present location. All this time retaining the Mill Pond Diner name.



Since I didn't eat today, what better place to try out than this place. Sat down, ordered a cup of coffee and a bacon, sausage and cheese omelet. Walked around and took some pictures of the place.

Breakfast arrived, so while I eat have a look around.



While I was there (how else would I be able to tell you this) a guys pulls up in a (I'm guessing) 1950 4 door Caddy with original paint, lots of patina. The guy that got out of the car had a beard like the one in the Coca Cola Santa Claus pictures, with a rubber band holding in a wrapped fashion, about 2 inches below his chin. Then another older guy came in with a beard and rubber band (or do you guys call it an elastic band). He sat down in the stool next to me and is pictured below. It became quite apparent that all of us guys in the diner had beards.

The guy next to me, at first glance didn't appear to be so friendly. (don't judge a book by its cover). As I was eating, he struck up a conversation that lasted a good 30 minutes or so. He graduated in 1959, has been a bachelor his whole life (my guess he is a millionaire), his family were bar room brawlers (I asked if he was Irish, wrong again, Polish and French), worked in Stop N Shop, was a cook, drove a canteen truck, knew the owners of the diner, and a bunch of other stuff. Each one of those comma separated subjects was a separate conversation. Diners are so GREAT in many respects. Food, people and atmosphere make for a great experience.



I noticed in the rack of washed cups, there were some with a logo on it. I asked my waitress (the tall one in motion) if they were for sale. She said "all we have are used ones and they are $5", to which I said "I'll take it"

Right around the corner is the next stop. Wareham Barber Shop. What struck me about this place is the 3 Barbers sign. That stirs some more memories about going to the barber shop with my Dad. What I remember is a place with a tile floor with probably 8 to 10 chairs, had shoe shine seats like you see in the old movies in the train station. Then there was the bottle of green hair tonic, talc powder and the tall circular glass container with the blue stuff in it for the combs. They still have the same stuff today !!



East Wareham is up next with a totally uninspiring picture. Not even gonna post it. I am right at the Bourne Bridge, but the GPS has me toot along RT 6 to the Sagamore Bridge. I don't question the GPS anymore because it is generally right.



This next shop I try to frame the picture of the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge within a frame (the posts and bottom of the billboard), being cutesy. When I got home realized the picture of the billboard was more far more important than the bridge.

Buzzards Bay has been covered by the last 3 tours. ZZ for the Double Down, Bay for the Affair with Water and this one. Having researched this a couple times looking for a target I remembered that there was the Buzzards Bay National Bank.



Now for the mandatory picture of the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge. Remember the guy in the diner, we had a discussion on how much it costs to raise and lower the bridge. He watched a show this week. It is so well designed it cost $1.00 in electricity to move the bridge up and down.



Off to Marston Mills. I using a different picture for the Grand Tour, but I found this sign striking, with its Royal Purple background and Gold lettering. A real eye catcher. For some reason it makes me think of the emperors for the Roman Empire.

The picture I am going to use.



Marston Mills was settled in 1653 by Roger Goodspeed. Steve Bernard, founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips was a resident here. So was Siobhan Magnus of American Idol fame.

The roads now become the part of the Cape ride that is such a chore, RT 28. The traffic is pretty light for the Cape, so I get to look at all of the stores and shops, which is an array of colors, semi interesting trinkets, like elephants, crashed planes, waterfalls, neon signs and other crap. Make a loop west on 28 and back to RT 6A which includes (you ready), West Yarmouth, South Yarmouth, West Harwich, Harwich, Harwich Port, South Harwich, East Harwich, Yarmouth and Yarmouthport. Phew.



With that out of the way and in Yarmouthport I get to ride along RT6A. Today I own the road, there is almost no on it. RT6A meanders on the bay side of the Cape and actually pretty scenic. Stop in Barnstable for the Unitarian Church.

The first church built on this site was in 1717, later replaced with another building in 1835. Because of theological differences between traditional Congregationalists and the new Unitarian movement, the congregation separated into 2 different factions. In 1876 another church was built by the Unitarians, subsequently burning down in 1907. The pictured church was built to replace this one in 1907.

Right across the street from the Unitarian Church is the United States Customs House and Carriage House. In 1776, the Revolutionary Massachusetts Legislature placed armed privateers under the command of the "Naval Officers". Their mission was to harass the British shipping, intercept slave ships, seize crews, ships and cargo and collect import fees. As an outgrowth of this activity the Custom House was built in 1855. The Port of Barnstable was one of the busiest ports in Massachusetts until the Cape Cod Canal was opened in 1913. The Custom House was active until 1913 and the Post Office until 1958.



Leaving Barnstable, on the way out of Barnstable picked up West Barnstable.

This was the last scheduled stop on the Cape and was heading for the bridge when I came across the West Barnstable train depot. I got a thing for these places, they make good Waymarking.com hits as well. Pulled in a fired off some shots.





Over the bridge and up RT 3 heading for Plymouth and see Cedarville sign, a town that I had missed in my research. Off 3 onto 3A and make a hit right off the exit. Back on, heading north.



Last neat stop of the day. (notice I qualified the last stop) A Whispering Giant called Enisketomp. This one is located at the Tourist Information Center Exit 5. Finally broke down and put my Frogg Togg rain jacket on as windbreak and pulled out some warmer gloves for the ride home.

Three more stops and we can call it a day. South Carver, Carver and North Carver. I knew the South and North ones would be iffy, but I still wandered around the area a bit looking for something I could use, but NADA.

Pulled in right around 6:30pm or so after a full day of riding covering some 250+ miles, not a lot but enough. Today I collected 19 Pirate Towns and 1 Whispering Giant. I have met 2/3's of the minimum requirements for Team Strange and have qualified for a T-Shirt for the GLMC Talk Like a Pirate Tour.