Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too

We aren’t able to describe all the places and things we saw today including: the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from the Staten Island Ferry, Ground Zero, sensational Highline Park, Grand Central Station, the UN Plaza, and Rockefeller Center. Our advice is that you must see it for yourself, hopefully on such a beautiful, sunny day as this and be prepared to be awed. When we finally make it back to the hotel we have to soak our feet and give one another foot massages so we can walk again tomorrow! We chose the Salisbury Hotel for its proximity to Central Park, however, we only manage a short evening stroll before taking our weary bodies to bed. Although we were married 35 years ago, this entire day has been a celebration of the love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity that has characterized all our journeys together. We are grateful we can celebrate is such a memorable city!

New York, New York

We take our first trip on an Amtrak train from Boston’s South Station to New York’s Penn Station and enjoy the scenic route along the Eastern Seaboard very much. Train travel is a novelty for most North Americans like us and it seems such a leisurely way to travel. When we arrive in the Big Apple the sun is shining and we’re so excited we elect to walk to our hotel, the Salisbury, on 57th street (about 20 blocks).
By now we have mastered traveling light and our one small backpack is light as we slowly make our way through Times Square and up Broadway. We are dazzled, delighted, and determined to see as much as we can in the short time we are here. When we finally arrive at the Salisbury we are thrilled with our suite on the 15th floor. This is a very comfortable older hotel, well located and directly across the street from Carnegie Hall. This is a bit of a splurge for us but we are celebrating a significant anniversary, not to mention our first visit to New York!

Boston Deluge

It has poured rain all night and as there are no signs of it letting up we decide to do some sightseeing in spite of the wet! We haven’t been in Boston for 32 years and want to reacquaint ourselves with this gracious historic city that is buzzing with today’s funeral of Senator Edward Kennedy. We are soaked to the skin by noon as the wind keeps turning our borrowed umbrellas inside out so we head back to the house for dry clothing. We are so grateful not to be riding in rain that walking in rain seems quite pleasant! In the afternoon our nephew, who is doing research at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), takes us on an exclusive tour of the campus. We are delighted that all of the buildings at MIT are connected by tunnels or covered walkways right from the subways stations, which enables us to walk freely regardless of the weather.
Our visit to MIT includes a few very enjoyable hours at the MIT Museum, two floors of galleries with fascinating exhibits. The museum documents what an MIT education involves past and present, in addition to stimulating an understanding and appreciation of the meanings of scientific and technological innovation in the modern world. We were dazzled by the eye-popping holography collection, amused by the robotic devices (including Kismet), and intrigued by the kinetic sculptures of Arthur Ganson.
As we freshen up before dinner the rain begins to ease but we still take the car the short distance to “Not Just Your Average Joe” restaurant for an excellent dinner. We are leaving the motorcycle in our nephew’s cozy garage and taking off to New York in the morning. We regret that we haven’t more time to visit with our nephew and his family in Boston but Marlene’s portion of this adventure is quickly coming to a close and we’ve got to go, as we’ve planned to spend our 35th wedding anniversary in New York!

Disappointment

Our disappointment with Kittery and the Rodeway Inn in particular set the tone for our ride today. We’re feeling a bit bummed out - perhaps the size of our dream was unrealistic, perhaps we’re getting tired of this journey, or perhaps our second approaching Atlantic hurricane is simply depressing our spirits. Although we haven’t far to travel on the very congested Hwy1 to the Harley dealer in North Hampton, NH we are not only a little late arriving, but also the bike service takes longer than we expect and is wickedly expensive. We’re never sure what to expect from HD service centers that we are unfamiliar with, as the level of service and the cost of service varies greatly from location to location. We do not see many motorcycles on Hwy 1, which parallels the Turnpike all the way to Boston, certainly North America offers much better riding opportunities than these busy roads on the eastern Seaboard.
The online directions we downloaded to our nephew’s home in Arlington (part of metro Boston) prove correct and despite the traffic, the threat of rain, and some disappointments in sights and stops, we arrive safely. We don’t have a GPS on the motorcycle and usually don’t miss it because we rarely ride in large cities such as Boston. Our chief joy riding in North America is the many wide-open spaces and roads so we try to maximize our pleasure by riding the open road and traveling the crowded city places by public transit or car. We don’t arrive a minute too soon because just as Barry parks the bike in the garage the rain from the second Atlantic hurricane of the trip begins to fall.

Singing The Blues

It is wonderful to wake to a blue sky and although the air has a cold edge we get an earlier than usual start as we’ve gained an hour (Atlantic to Eastern Time). We’re riding Hwy 1 down the coast of Maine enjoying the shoreline whenever it’s visible and the ambiance of New England. There are many beautiful old houses and it is much more populated than our Maritimes but the beautiful scenery is similar.
With true New England economy every other town has incorporated the word “port” into its place name. The highway is more of a commercial strip than a thoroughfare as the majority of the homes are also businesses providing every service or product imaginable. We decide if we ever decide to open a home-occupation business we will come back here for ideas. Needless to say this is a road for leisure travel only, Barry is practicing his slow riding techniques and being ever so vigilant for all the drivers who are making left-hand turns across double solid lines! The Maine Turnpike, I-95, parallels the coast highway and we concede that the toll would be well worth it if we were intent on reaching a destination quickly.
We particularly enjoy the awesome new bridge over the Penobscot River at Verona and the area around Belfast. As we get closer to Camden the traffic thickens and we crawl through the town. The next town, Rockport, also has a traffic snarl and Hwy 1 winds through a number of very poorly signed one-way streets. We get all turned around and end up on the wrong highway, a harbinger of what is to come!
The further south we travel the worse the traffic gets and after we crawl through places like Wiscasset we ride the by-pass around Portland. We encounter the inevitable roadwork and are shunted onto a detour around Biddleford that not only takes us miles from Hwy 1 but then confuses us so badly we end up inland 15 miles from the coast! We’re grateful we had a great fish/shrimp lunch earlier and we’ve allowed lots of time for this sight-seeing trip.
As we approach Kittery, Marlene starts to get excited as this town is known for its expansive outlet mall. A brief glimpse is all she gets, however, as this community is a motorist’s nightmare, so crisscrossed by turnpikes, etc. that it has lost all its integrity as a community. We stop not once but twice for directions to augment our maps and still barely find our motel. Interestingly our second stop is at Kittery Town Hall where even they have no idea where our motel is and have to get out their huge detailed community maps to help us.
To make matters worse, when we finally arrive at this very poorly-signed Rodeway Inn, across the street from the new Fire Station, we wish we hadn’t found it! It should not be operating as it is undergoing renovations. In addition to being dangerous, it is the worst motel we’ve encountered on this trip and definitely a black-eye for the Choice Hotel chain. Our decision to stay reflects how defeated we’re feeling and that we’ve missed the cancellation time. A further dismay is that we have to get back on the bike and ride to find something to eat. It’s ironic how a day that began with such blue skies and promise has just left us singing the blues.

Ugh! Fog Again!

There must be some endearing qualities of fog but we’ve yet to find them. We have a reservation with Bay Ferries at 8:30 to make the three hour crossing from Digby NS to St. John NB but for some nefarious reason we have to be at the terminal an hour ahead. We’ve heard this ferry could use some improvements so you can imagine our mood as we stand on the asphalt beside the bike in the cold fog and count down 60 minutes, recalling that we prepaid $120 for this experience! You’re not allowed access to the vehicle deck during the voyage and we can well see why, as it has no windows, a dreadful smell, a wet uneven deck with huge puddles, and rusty condensation drips everywhere (we pity anyone with a pet aboard).
We’re grateful the upper decks are quite pleasant with all the amenities of our older BC Ferries, including one we don‘t have, and that is a young employee from the New Brunswick Museum who does small interpretation sessions in the lounge for interested travelers. Once again we remind ourselves that we’ll have more tolerance for the BC Ferries after our experiences with even less value-for-money ferries this summer.
Interestingly the Atlantic newspapers carried an editorial (covering-his-ass letter) by the CEO of Marine Atlantic (NFLD ferries) explaining all the difficulties the company’s encountered this summer and asking for the public’s understanding. The East Coast sincerely promises outstanding natural and historical attractions year round but weather, even in summer, is unpredictable so like many places that rely on tourism to shore up faltering local economies, access and affordability to and from play a huge part.
There are a number of homeward bound Americans on the ferry who are disappointed they didn’t see any moose but still hopeful they’ll see a whale in the Bay of Fundy. They remain disappointed as the damnable fog intensifies. We are content in this regard as we have seen many whales from a distance and no moose at any distance! St. John is obliterated by fog and our first hour of riding on HWY 1 is miserable and cold.
By the time we reach St. Stephen which shares the border crossing with Calais, Maine the fog has lifted to a high overcast and it is much warmer. Carmen’s Diner beckons as we’re trying to forget our breakfast on the ferry. Carmen’s is busy with locals, always a good sign, and Marlene is particularly pleased with her Hot Pork sandwich. A good road meal always improves the trip and we wait patiently at the border until we can happily set off on Hwy 9 to Beddington. The coast is still fogged in so Hwy 1 which offers sporadic views of the ocean at best is not a good choice yet.
By the time we reach Cherryfield, the blueberry capital of North America, the coast highway is sufficiently clear enough to ride. We’ve never seen fields of low bush blueberries (only high bush) and we watch the harvesters with their long scoops speedily picking. We are disappointed to see that the migrant workers’ accommodation here is about as dismal as that in California.
This northeast corner of Maine is mostly wooded, rolling country, good for hunting, and very much like our Maritimes. Hwy 1 follows a serpentine bumpy alignment that we hope will be offset by the view of the coast. It looks like it may rain by the time we pull in to the Comfort Inn in Ellsworth. We are all smiles, however, as Barry is back in the country of cheap Miller beer and Ellsworth has a L.L. Bean outlet right beside the motel - wonder who planned that?

Fundy Shore and Annapolis Valley

Fog again, the only thing that keeps us from total discouragement is the forecast that promises the fog will lift by noon. We’ve so many places we want to see today that we set out regardless. Our first destination is Bear River a small village nestled in a deep valley that have some waterfront buildings on stilts to keep above the high tides. The rivers here on the Bay of Fundy are tidal, wide, high-banked and muddy ugly when the tide is out but quite pretty when the tide is in. The entire Bay of Fundy area has dramatic 9’ or more tide changes.
We ride Hwy 1 (the old coast highway) to our second stop, the riverside town of Annapolis Royal which is busy with tourists. The fog has lifted so we head to the impressive Annapolis river Causeway & Tidal Generating Station. It is the only saltwater generating station in North America and the visitor centre offers displays and scenic views of both the tidal flow and the surrounding area.
We continue on Hwy 1 to the Port Royal National Historic Site, one of the most important in North America. In the 17th century, a European country could claim a territory in the New World if it had a year-round settlement there. To do this for France, fur trader Pierre Du Gua de Monts and explorer Samuel de Champlain set up camp in 1604 on Île Ste. Croix, a tiny island on the current Maine-New Brunswick border. But snow came in October, and food and firewood ran short. Of 79 colonists, 35 died of scurvy during that winter.
The next year, the colony moved across the Bay of Fundy to a sheltered bay, Port Royal. Champlain built Habitation, a compound of log houses protected by a stockade. It flourished until 1613 when English raiders from Virginia looted and burned it. The Habitation stands again at Port Royal, reconstructed in 1940 from Champlain's drawings. The colonists today are actor/guides in linen blouses and wooden clogs.
When the settlement was rebuilt a few years after the raids it was built at Annapolis Royal. When Acadia (the French settlers called their country after the mythical land of plenty, Arcadia) was ceded to Britain, Annapolis Royal became Canada's first seat of power, peopled by a few hundred Scottish soldiers and a few thousand French farmers, who created arable land, building dikes with locks that drained the coastal marshes and kept out the saltwater tides. As tensions rose before the outbreak of the Seven Years War (1756-1763), the British, who had gained the region from French, demanded that Acadians take an oath of allegiance to the Crown. When they didn't, declaring themselves neutral, the British, starting in 1755, rounded up as many as 10,000 people, confiscated their property, and deported them. Years later when the Acadians were finally allowed to return, some of them came back to the southwest shores of Nova Scotia.
We ride to the end of the road which faces the ferry port at Digby across the Digby Gut. Then it’s back to Annapolis Royal for a last look. There are many attractions in this picturesque town that we miss, hope we’ll get back some day.
Our final ride of the day is the Digby Neck. We’re riding Hwy 217, the Islands Scenic drive along the very long narrow peninsula known as the Digby Neck. The road winds through small coastal villages nestled into coves complete with fishing weirs and fishing boats. Our road ends at East Ferry where we could take ferries, first to Long Island and then to Brier Island but our time is up.
We end our visit to Digby by walking down to the bustling wharf area to O’Neill’s for a scallop and seafood dinner, with fresh blueberry pie for dessert. Digby is the home port to a large scallop fleet and a fascinating place if like us, you like to watch a working fishing port.