Kim's journey

Wed 15/8    8747 steps

We had a very nice campsite, but the wifi was useless, as well as the mobile signal, even though they upgraded us to a ‘better’ site. David went for a cycle and guess what I did!
When he returned, we discovered that the campground was very far from the 3 “nearby” beaches and an Uber to Falmouth town was $23! Not at all what was advertised! Still, we could not sit in our RV and mope about bad choices, so we headed off to Falmouth, which has a quaint main street. We shopped a bit at all the shops selling “beachy” things. Some really nice stuff and some good ideas for Kei Mouth. We found an Irish pub with live music, which was a bit dreary actually. At 8pm they had a pub quiz, but we were pretty clueless. The food and wine, however, were excellent and we enjoyed people watching.

Chuckle of the day:

What I learnt: The houses I have seen in Cape Cod look nothing like the pictures of “Cape Cod” style houses that you seen in our home magazines. But maybe I wasn’t in that specific part of Cape Cod.

Tues 14/8 – 5754 steps
Song: Hymn from school days – To be a Pilgrim

From the KOA it was a short drive to our next stop, so we woke up late and went via Plymouth. It was a grey, misty day when we arrived and we found parking along the road and walked along the sea front. We found a seafood diner called Woods and I finally had a lobster roll. It was delicious. David had fish which was fresh and not drowning in batter. The lobster belongs to the table next to us.
The sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. We walked down to see Plymouth Rock, just to say we’ve seen it and browsed in a few of the shops, which are all geared up for tourist trade. I found Boston bread in a tin, which I will share with folk at home.

We then set off for Cape Cod RV Resort for 4 nights. David was excited by the idea of not driving for a couple of days.
Chuckle of the day:

What I learnt: Plymouth Rock became very famous after its identification as the supposed landing site of the Pilgrims. This identification was apparently made by a 94-year-old, whose father had arrived in Plymouth in 1623, three years after the arrival of the Mayflower. The rock was subsequently moved to a location in Plymouth Center and during the process, the rock split in two.  It was finally moved back to its original location along the town’s waterfront in 1921, where it now sits under the historic Plymouth Rock Portico. Yet another example of how actual facts can be ignored to suit the tourist trade.

Mon 13/8  – 13430 steps
Song: Theme from Cheers

We decided to do a Hop on hop off bus, and learnt more about the city. We drove through much of what we had already walked, but the commentary was good and we went to outskirts and also to Cambridge. You had to walk a couple of blocks to get to Harvard, so we skipped that as we were short of time. We did, however, drive past MIT and I tried to absorb as much brain power as possible.
We got off at the Cheers bar and walked back to the hotel, fetched our bag and headed off to the station. I tried to buy Boston bread, but to no avail. While waiting for the train to Salem, we had coffee and a croissant from Dunkin Donuts which David enjoyed. Luckily I can choose to never repeat that experience.

When we got to Salem, the rain had thankfully stopped and we could walk to the museum. It was a good presentation, first about the witch trials and then about perceptions of witches from healers, to hags as portrayed in Macbeth and the green faced witch of Wizard of Oz and finally modern day followers of Wicca. Also the famous witch trials did not actually happen in modern day Salem, but actually in modern day Danvers. That city changed its name and I am sure misses out on all the tourist trade.

Chuckle of the day. At the station in Boston I saw 2 ladies and guessed (correctly) that they were on there way to Salem. David went up and took a photo of them outside the witche’s house.
What I learnt: I really enjoy the art, parks and flowers I have seen in all American cities and towns. No matter how big or small a place is, money is spent to beautify it. I believe it has an uplifting effect on the community, a bit like the Broken Window Theory. I wish we could learn from this in SA, instead of removing statues, add new ones.

Sun 12/8 – 18711 steps, almost 13km – must be a record
Song: Massachusetts by Bee Gees and More than a feeling by Boston

We drove to Salem, with a plan to have brunch, see the witch museums and then take a train to Boston. It was pouring with rain and we struggled to find a parking for the RV, so we decided to skip Salem and go straight to Boston. We drove to the station and parked in the vacant municipal parking (empty because it was Sunday) and updated the overnight bag.  We paid the parking up till midnight and took a chance that we would not have a hefty fine or a wheel clamp when we returned. It was an hour till the next train and there was nowhere to sit or eat and I was so very tired of the rain, so we splashed out and took an Uber to Boston.  I found a hotel on the way. The trip took forever as there was so much traffic due to the rain and flooded roads. About 7 blocks from the hotel, the Uber was stationery and I saw that it was a 7 minute walk, so we hopped out and set off hoping to find a cafe for coffee and lunch. We were starving! We followed Google maps and found a club which served a Sunday buffet brunch. We went in. We were so hungry, it was only after the first bite that I noticed we were the only mixed couple there. The bearded lady and other artists in a drag show in the adjoining room should have given it away. There was nothing uncomfortable about being there and there were both breakfast and lunch dishes available on the buffet. The food was good enough to overeat, so much so that we were still full at supper when we should have been having Lobster rolls or other Boston treats.  We staggered out and around the corner were 2 coffee shops that would have been perfect for lunch.

We found our Hotel 140, which was in a very old building, I think it was a YWCA in its day. The rooms inside were modern and comfortable. From our window we looked out onto a modern glass skyscraper. After checking in, we decided to walk off our meal. We walked and walked.

Finally, at about 8pm, on our way home we passed an Irish pub, with a trio singing Irish music, so we stopped for drinks there. Such a beautiful voices and haunting penny whistles.
Chuckle of the day: Some Americans welcome immigrants and the first place I have seen that does not welcome dogs.

What I learnt: Boston is beautiful, a city full of art and beautiful parks. It is also full of tourists and maybe that is why the locals seem a little uptight and less friendly, especially compared to those on the West coast.

Sat 11/8 – 5629 steps
Songs: All CCR songs I could remember.

David found some trails for a bit more of a training ride.

I looked for a campsite near Boston. Boston has a lot of very narrow roads and low bridges and strongly recommends you do not drive an RV there. I had already booked for 3 nights at the Boston KOA, but I discovered it  was almost 2 hours to the south of Boston. Luckily, they agreed to cancel 2 nights and use my deposit for the third night only.
While searching for a closer venue, I found a place north of Boston called Beverley and they were advertising a “Live Album” show with music of CCR. So I found a hotel, the Wylie Inn, that had parking which could accommodate our RV and booked. It was a good call. It was raining heavily and I started getting warnings on my phone about flash floods in our vicinity. Driving was hectic in the traffic as many roads were closed.
While we were packing our overnight bag a lot of cars were parking and we saw men dressed in suits. I am sure this was a first since we got to USA. The ladies were dressed up too. Clearly our hotel was attached to a wedding venue.
We dressed up too, ie, wore jeans not shorts. It was the first time David had worn long pants the whole holiday. We took an Uber into town, walked down the main street, admired the many churches, (I think I counted 5 in about 3 blocks), had a bottle of wine and delicious seafood for supper and then went to The Cabot for the show. A real date night!

The Cabot is an historic vaudeville/movie palaces built in 1920.  It has survived,  been restored and is now used for live shows. The Classic Albums Live group are from Canada and they play the music off a chosen LP, track for track, as if you were listening to the record. They do not talk to the audience, and some of them have music sheets in front of them. They call themselves a modern orchestra. They choose singers who sound most like the original. Tonight they did CCR’s Chronicles, all tracks of the double LP, note for note. They were excellent and so were the audience. We were among the youngest there, but they danced and cheered and gave standing ovations. It was a lovely evening.

Chuckle of the day:

What I learnt: Sometimes you need a holiday from your holiday.

 

Fri 10/8 – 3722 steps &  a long, long cycle, more than 50 km with lots of hills (44 flights)
Song: 19th Nervous Breakdown by Rolling Stones

We went on a very long cycle from the campsite into Saugerties. It started off being very stressful for me, as we had to ride on busy roads with little or no shoulder. I get a wobble everytime a car comes past. David does not always hear the oncoming cars and he veers slightly when he turns around to see if I am behind him. I have visions of him being taken out in front of my eyes. It may be ridiculous, but I find it stressful. David does not fully understand this. I sing “here comes my 19th nervous breakdown” as I am peddling along.
We both have bike trail apps, some better than others, but you still have to find a route to the trail. There are roads with bike paths or pavements, but google doesn’t always show them. We generally have a dispute of varying intensity about which way to go.
Today, we decided to have lunch in Saugerties, however, getting there took a bit longer than expected. Thus both of us ended up a little hangry. David wanted to go the shortest route and I wanted to go out of our way to avoid traffic. Not the happiest lunch, even though the food and the coffee were excellent. However, after the blood sugar was normalized and we fetched a map from the visitor’s centre, we found the bike paths and the quiet roads. Life was good again, in spite of the rain.  Saugerties has a quaint main road, with interesting shops, but we did not do much sightseeing or shopping as it was getting late.
We rode home through a lovely forest and saw a lot of deer and a lot of interesting houses. Most of the forest is on private land and there are notices posted stating trespassers will be prosecuted, so we stuck to the roads. There were some hectic hills and I could not keep up with David, in spite of my battery assist. At the end, we had a short way to go with traffic, but I kept my head down and chanted my travel mantra.  We arrived home safely. I always feel great after the ride and resolve to ride more often.

Chuckle of the day: not sure if there were any
What I learnt: Always put a snack into your cycle bag

Thurs 9/8 – 3654 steps
Song: Woodstock by Joni Mitchell. It was covered by Matthews Southern Comfort which was one of the first seven singles I ever owned.

We woke up early for David to cycle, but it was raining, so we went back to sleep.  We had brunch at a diner in White Haven. I did some more research for the chefs at home and had something called Scrapple. It is a Pennyslvania Dutch dish also known as Pannhaas. It is made from pork scraps which are combined with cornmeal and flour and then fried. I was expecting something like a croquette, but it was a bit like a slice of fried pate, very tasty but not sure if I enjoy the texture.

We went via Scranton to the Houdini museum, about an hour North. We had tickets to see a presentation at 1pm. The museum is in an old house in Scranton and is in desperate need of some work. It is jammed packed with memorabilia that needs to be better displayed. We learnt about the life of Houdini and his remarkable achievements. The museum is run by 2 magicians, Bravo the Great and Dorothy Dietrichs. After the tour, they do a magic show. He is long past his prime, but she is still good and has a wonderful sense of humour. She was one of the few female magicians who made it to the top and achieved fame by the ‘magic’ of catching a bullet in her mouth. We were shown videos of this feat. The presentations were a little drawn out and we were there for longer than expected. All in all it was entertaining, but also little bit sad. I was quite surprised by the number of people there. Not sure if it would warrant a greater detour.

We headed off to New York state to the Woodstock/Saugerties KOA, which as I should have learnt by now is far from Saugerties and very far from Woodstock. There are so many trees all along the route. I am sure that some people in this part of the world cannot begin to understand the concern about deforestation. I also learnt that the festival did not take place in Woodstock, but actually in Bethel. I was not too perturbed by not going to the real place as I think I have read up enough about that era and that festival. Also, this way I wasn’t disillusioned as in Haight-Ashbury.

I cooked our pies in the airfryer. The pastry was very good, but there was not much meat in the filling. More like Cornish pasties, potato and vegetables.

Chuckle of the day: A guest asked where the rest room was and Dorothy, with a straight face, launched into a lengthy description starting with go into the carpark. When the confused lady politely asked if was indoor one, Dorothy replied “Oh, do want the inside one, Right behind you.” The lady didn’t get it. It was very funny, but I guess you had to be there.
What I learnt: The doves and rabbits in hats and scarves etc have always worried me. Dorothy even managed to bring out a poodle and even though the dog did not bark, the doves did not fly and the bunny did not hop, they all looked pretty real to me.  In the USA, apparently, the animals have to be registered and their living conditions inspected annually, which makes me feel better.  However, I was told that by a magician, and considering that they are open about the fact that they are simply deceiving you, maybe it is not true.