Year of First Visit – 1999
Point of Entry – Great Smokey Mountains National Park
After our hike we got into the car and drove across the state line just to be sure. All indicators said that we'd crossed into North Carolina while hiking in Great Smokey Mountains National Park but there were no "Welcome to North Carolina" signs along the trails.
Since then I've been to North Carolina many times, mostly traveling I-95 on the way to and from Florida. I've also crossed the state on I-85 and via Amtrak. I've as had a couple of layovers at Charlotte-Douglas as well.
On one of those trips we were headed north on January 2 after a Christmas break in South Florida. We pulled into the outlet center in Smithfield to stretch our legs. We ended up stretching our wallet, too, as we stuffed our rented Prius with bargains on some necessary wardrobe updates. We were back on the road in under 90 minutes.
For many years we've collected refrigerator magnets of the touristy places we visit. Some friends visited the Outer Banks and brought us a magnet featuring the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Therefore, North Carolina has the distinction of being the only state featured on our fridge with a picture of a site we haven't seen. I guess we'll need to drive back across the state line just to be sure to we see what's there.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
New York
Year of First Visit – 1998
Point of Entry – George Washington Memorial Bridge
Wow! Some people actually get to live here!
That's what I was surprised to hear coming out of my mouth one time when crossing the bridge from New Jersey to NYC. That's part of my feeling toward much of the entire state of New York.
New York City, especially Manhattan, is one of my favorite places on the planet. Memories of family vacations, business trips, and community development training all melt together into a wonderful collage of ----
--The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
--Touring city parks in preparation for redevelopment of our own Olmsted-designed green space.
--Subways the way they're meant to be.
--The best meal I've ever eaten (Thanksgiving 1998 at Carmines on Amsterdam).
--Seeing the Today Show live.
--The view of and from the Statue of Liberty both before and after 911.
--My toddler's temper tantrum atop the Empire State Building.
--Our friend's apartment which featured 2 full inches of kitchen counter top.
--My daughter hiding from the performers at Ellen's Stardust.
And the UN. And Roosevelt Island. And the Top of the Rock. And going backstage at NBC. And Aida on Broadway. And. And. And. And. And.
Yes, New York City has more memories per square inch than any place I've been or could even imagine. But New York certainly isn't limited to the city.
From Niagara Falls to the Hudson River Valley I have memories spread across the state.
Of those, my favorites are probably found in Hyde Park. The summer homes of the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts, along with the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, hold a special place in my heart. In fact, my long-term readers might recall that visiting Elenore Roosevelt's home there is what led to my starting to blog.
I still haven't made it to Cooperstown but it's on my "A" list of place to see. Of course, you don't have to ask me twice to go back to New York City, either.
So I hope and plan to return to New York again and again and again and create more memories with the people who actually get to live there.
Point of Entry – George Washington Memorial Bridge
Wow! Some people actually get to live here!
That's what I was surprised to hear coming out of my mouth one time when crossing the bridge from New Jersey to NYC. That's part of my feeling toward much of the entire state of New York.
New York City, especially Manhattan, is one of my favorite places on the planet. Memories of family vacations, business trips, and community development training all melt together into a wonderful collage of ----
--The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
--Touring city parks in preparation for redevelopment of our own Olmsted-designed green space.
--Subways the way they're meant to be.
--The best meal I've ever eaten (Thanksgiving 1998 at Carmines on Amsterdam).
--Seeing the Today Show live.
--The view of and from the Statue of Liberty both before and after 911.
--My toddler's temper tantrum atop the Empire State Building.
--Our friend's apartment which featured 2 full inches of kitchen counter top.
--My daughter hiding from the performers at Ellen's Stardust.
And the UN. And Roosevelt Island. And the Top of the Rock. And going backstage at NBC. And Aida on Broadway. And. And. And. And. And.
Yes, New York City has more memories per square inch than any place I've been or could even imagine. But New York certainly isn't limited to the city.
From Niagara Falls to the Hudson River Valley I have memories spread across the state.
Of those, my favorites are probably found in Hyde Park. The summer homes of the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts, along with the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, hold a special place in my heart. In fact, my long-term readers might recall that visiting Elenore Roosevelt's home there is what led to my starting to blog.
I still haven't made it to Cooperstown but it's on my "A" list of place to see. Of course, you don't have to ask me twice to go back to New York City, either.
So I hope and plan to return to New York again and again and again and create more memories with the people who actually get to live there.
Friday, May 11, 2012
New Mexico
Year of First Visit – 1995
Point of Entry – I-10 near LasCruces
I remember New Mexico not looking like the pictures. Not better than the pix. Not worse than the pix. Just different.
Of course, I didn't get to the places I'd like to visit. We traveled through both the north and the south paths through the state (I-10 and I-40) with several stops along the way. That just didn't take me to the places I wanted to go.
Carlsbad Caverns
White Sands
Santa Fe
Four Corners
And I'd like to go to Truth or Consequences. My grandmother's brother settled there for health reasons after WWII so I have family in the area who I never met.
So for for now most of my New Mexico memories are yet to be written. And I know they'll look different from the pix in my mind.
Point of Entry – I-10 near LasCruces
I remember New Mexico not looking like the pictures. Not better than the pix. Not worse than the pix. Just different.
Of course, I didn't get to the places I'd like to visit. We traveled through both the north and the south paths through the state (I-10 and I-40) with several stops along the way. That just didn't take me to the places I wanted to go.
Carlsbad Caverns
White Sands
Santa Fe
Four Corners
And I'd like to go to Truth or Consequences. My grandmother's brother settled there for health reasons after WWII so I have family in the area who I never met.
So for for now most of my New Mexico memories are yet to be written. And I know they'll look different from the pix in my mind.
Friday, May 4, 2012
New Jersey
Year of First Visit – 1993
Point of Entry – Bridge near Washington’s Crossing
I first arrived in New Jersey by surprise.
Our flight was late into Philadelphia on our way to Deer Park Campgrounds in New Hope, Pennsylvania. A friend was driving the van with us plus travelers from Missouri and Florida to the campgrounds. Because our flight was delayed we’d all missed the camp's dinner that night. The driver hung a right by Washington’s Crossing and took a very narrow bridge into New Jersey to go to a diner there.
I found other surprises in New Jersey as well. On our first drive to New York City, we took the Turnpike and found ourselves on the “double double” north of exit 8. I wasn’t quite ready for where the highway shifts in Newark and found opposing lanes on both my left and right.
I was surprised when I found the Princeton area to be quite beautiful. Many of the other places in the state I've visited were rather bland looking, but when I went up to spend a day with a friend who was there for a few weeks of training I was most pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the area.
I even surprised myself when the family and I ended up in Atlantic City. Who knew that someplace could be vibrantly tackier and spiritually darker than Las Vegas? It was good to get on the Cape May/Lewes ferry and head home.
I’m hoping to have some additional New Jersey memories to add to the list. Most notably, I want to take the kids up to Edison’s historic site. Don’t be surprised to see me there again soon.
Point of Entry – Bridge near Washington’s Crossing
I first arrived in New Jersey by surprise.
Our flight was late into Philadelphia on our way to Deer Park Campgrounds in New Hope, Pennsylvania. A friend was driving the van with us plus travelers from Missouri and Florida to the campgrounds. Because our flight was delayed we’d all missed the camp's dinner that night. The driver hung a right by Washington’s Crossing and took a very narrow bridge into New Jersey to go to a diner there.
I found other surprises in New Jersey as well. On our first drive to New York City, we took the Turnpike and found ourselves on the “double double” north of exit 8. I wasn’t quite ready for where the highway shifts in Newark and found opposing lanes on both my left and right.
I was surprised when I found the Princeton area to be quite beautiful. Many of the other places in the state I've visited were rather bland looking, but when I went up to spend a day with a friend who was there for a few weeks of training I was most pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the area.
I even surprised myself when the family and I ended up in Atlantic City. Who knew that someplace could be vibrantly tackier and spiritually darker than Las Vegas? It was good to get on the Cape May/Lewes ferry and head home.
I’m hoping to have some additional New Jersey memories to add to the list. Most notably, I want to take the kids up to Edison’s historic site. Don’t be surprised to see me there again soon.
Friday, April 27, 2012
New Hampshire
Year of First Visit – 2011
Point of Entry – I-95 near Seabrook
New Hampshire currently stands as the only state I've been to without actually stopping in it. My first trip there was on a drive from Boston to Maine. My second trip there, ten days later, was on a drive from New Brunswick to Boston. Though we planned to stop in New Hampshire for a break in our drive, we were out of the state before we had a chance to.
My son missed his first trip to New Hampshire. He nodded off in the car around Salem, Massachusetts, and woke up near Kennebunkport. On the trip back he made it a point to stay away through the Granite State.
Now, some might judge and scoff me for counting these quick drives through as having "been to" this state. I figure I was there long enough to live the irony of my EZPass to taking my money for the privilege of being in the state whose motto is Live Free or Die, then it more than counts.
Point of Entry – I-95 near Seabrook
New Hampshire currently stands as the only state I've been to without actually stopping in it. My first trip there was on a drive from Boston to Maine. My second trip there, ten days later, was on a drive from New Brunswick to Boston. Though we planned to stop in New Hampshire for a break in our drive, we were out of the state before we had a chance to.
My son missed his first trip to New Hampshire. He nodded off in the car around Salem, Massachusetts, and woke up near Kennebunkport. On the trip back he made it a point to stay away through the Granite State.
Now, some might judge and scoff me for counting these quick drives through as having "been to" this state. I figure I was there long enough to live the irony of my EZPass to taking my money for the privilege of being in the state whose motto is Live Free or Die, then it more than counts.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Nevada
Year of First Visit – 1995
Point of Entry – Hoover Dam
A white Lincoln with a navy blue faux soft top.
That was how I arrived in Nevada the first time I traveled there. And each entrance into Nevada seems to be packed with visual memories.
Like approaching the state line from California in I-15. There in the middle of the Mojave with the rental car's thermostat reading 121, we saw a green hew in the distance. Yes, the grass is greener (actually, it's the only place with even a little grass) when you cross into Nevada with golf courses and resort-style hotels and casinos marking the state line.
Crossing into Nevada from Death Valley in California made me feel like I was in the movies. The long, straight, stunningly desolate road radiating heat at sunset with the full moon rising ahead of me was made for Hollywood.
And what can compare with landing at McCarran on a crystal clear desert night? The neon of the strip is at its most iridescent with the hundreds of miles of pitch-black desolation surrounding it.
Of course, those entrances weren't exactly what they appeared to be. It was my in-law's Lincoln and my wife and I had been riding with them in it since Houston. The green burst along I-15 melts quickly into the desert sands. The movie set is actually a long, long drive back to someplace with a restaurant and hotel. And the landing in Vegas is but the start of a long layover in a crowded airport.
Yes, Nevada has been a great place to make an entrance. And it's been a place where reality, lurking just below the surface, cuts through a bit of its grandness. A harsh desert and its tempting mirages define my Nevada memories.
Point of Entry – Hoover Dam
A white Lincoln with a navy blue faux soft top.
That was how I arrived in Nevada the first time I traveled there. And each entrance into Nevada seems to be packed with visual memories.
Like approaching the state line from California in I-15. There in the middle of the Mojave with the rental car's thermostat reading 121, we saw a green hew in the distance. Yes, the grass is greener (actually, it's the only place with even a little grass) when you cross into Nevada with golf courses and resort-style hotels and casinos marking the state line.
Crossing into Nevada from Death Valley in California made me feel like I was in the movies. The long, straight, stunningly desolate road radiating heat at sunset with the full moon rising ahead of me was made for Hollywood.
And what can compare with landing at McCarran on a crystal clear desert night? The neon of the strip is at its most iridescent with the hundreds of miles of pitch-black desolation surrounding it.
Of course, those entrances weren't exactly what they appeared to be. It was my in-law's Lincoln and my wife and I had been riding with them in it since Houston. The green burst along I-15 melts quickly into the desert sands. The movie set is actually a long, long drive back to someplace with a restaurant and hotel. And the landing in Vegas is but the start of a long layover in a crowded airport.
Yes, Nevada has been a great place to make an entrance. And it's been a place where reality, lurking just below the surface, cuts through a bit of its grandness. A harsh desert and its tempting mirages define my Nevada memories.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Nebraska
Year of First Visit – 1979
Point of Entry – I-80 near Omaha
It's perhaps a testament to my small-town upbringing that my formative memories of Nebraska are urban and cosmopolitan.
I've always been attracted to big cities. By the time I was nine I'd been around Detroit and Kansas City a couple of times. We'd driven through a few others, though mostly via the outer freeways through the surrounding sprawl.
But my brother started graduate school at UNO and that meant going to Omaha for a visit. We drove through downtown. His apartment was near the city center so we actually stayed in the city.
We took Dodge Street out to Westroads Mall. I had never experienced anything like either of them.
Yes, for me Nebraska was cutting edge urban life. Had I written the Broadway musical, the song would have been Everything's Up To Date in East Nebraska!
A couple years later my brother took a job nearly half way across the state in Ord. I remember pulling off the main road (which had corn growing right up to the white line marking the shoulder)and walking into a restaurant for lunch on our way there. We could tell everyone was looking at us a little funny while we read the menus. Few minutes later a woman at the table next to us leaned over and said, "No one else here will ask, but we're all wondering who you are and where you're headed."
We were in Ord for its festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding. Included was an Antique Car Show at which my parents saw a car just like the one they used to have. We're all glad they're now called "classic" car shows rather than labeling the vehicles as "antique."
My wife and I went to Bellevue for a job interview and we later had an interview in central Kansas which meant a drive back through Nebraska to our apartment in Iowa. Other than that, I didn't return to Nebraska for nearly 20 years.
On that trip we were driving from the South Dakota Badlands to Denver. We had a leisurely Sunday drive through the western part of the state that day, including a stopover at Scotts Bluff.
Urban or rural, recent or distant, all my memories of Nebraska are pleasant. Pleasant people. Pleasant places. Pleasant times. I can see how someone could lead a most contented life there.
Point of Entry – I-80 near Omaha
It's perhaps a testament to my small-town upbringing that my formative memories of Nebraska are urban and cosmopolitan.
I've always been attracted to big cities. By the time I was nine I'd been around Detroit and Kansas City a couple of times. We'd driven through a few others, though mostly via the outer freeways through the surrounding sprawl.
But my brother started graduate school at UNO and that meant going to Omaha for a visit. We drove through downtown. His apartment was near the city center so we actually stayed in the city.
We took Dodge Street out to Westroads Mall. I had never experienced anything like either of them.
Yes, for me Nebraska was cutting edge urban life. Had I written the Broadway musical, the song would have been Everything's Up To Date in East Nebraska!
A couple years later my brother took a job nearly half way across the state in Ord. I remember pulling off the main road (which had corn growing right up to the white line marking the shoulder)and walking into a restaurant for lunch on our way there. We could tell everyone was looking at us a little funny while we read the menus. Few minutes later a woman at the table next to us leaned over and said, "No one else here will ask, but we're all wondering who you are and where you're headed."
We were in Ord for its festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding. Included was an Antique Car Show at which my parents saw a car just like the one they used to have. We're all glad they're now called "classic" car shows rather than labeling the vehicles as "antique."
My wife and I went to Bellevue for a job interview and we later had an interview in central Kansas which meant a drive back through Nebraska to our apartment in Iowa. Other than that, I didn't return to Nebraska for nearly 20 years.
On that trip we were driving from the South Dakota Badlands to Denver. We had a leisurely Sunday drive through the western part of the state that day, including a stopover at Scotts Bluff.
Urban or rural, recent or distant, all my memories of Nebraska are pleasant. Pleasant people. Pleasant places. Pleasant times. I can see how someone could lead a most contented life there.
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