Nine States in One Day

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

We left York, Maine, this morning. It had quit raining there after raining the two previous days. The sun seemed to want to peek out from behind the clouds and it was in the 50’s. We got on I-95 S which was our route almost all day. We drove into New Hampshire, whose state motto is “Live free or die”, within the first few minutes of the trip and crossed the Piscataqua River. New Hampshire is called the Granite State which is an appropriate name since we saw lots of granite! Within an hour we had gotten to Massachusetts. We decided to exit on Route 2 to see the Minute Man Statue and the national park there. What a great multimedia presentation of the events leading up to and after April 19, 1775 when the Revolutionary War was started. The heroism of those early men and women is remarkable and made me proud to be an American with that kind of history. We drove on to the site of the statute which is at the site of the North Bridge where the actual first shot was fired. To imagine how the soldiers maneuvered the river and the swampy land without getting terribly wet and muddy. A lot of the pictures drawn of the events don’t take that into consideration. To picture Paul Revere riding that old road shouting out to all about the British being on the way was certainly sobering. It was worth the hour’s delay to see that part of our nation’s history.

We continued to the border of Massachusetts and entered Rhode Island. The first town there is Pawtucket and seemed to be a nice town with a blend of the old buildings and new construction. Speaking of construction, it caused us several delays along the way on I-95 from Maine to Maryland. We caught a glimpse of the capitol building in Providence from the highway but didn’t have time to stop there. By the time we got to Warwick, RI, it was a little past noon and time for lunch at the first Cracker Barrel that we had seen since leaving Kentucky more than a week ago. We decided to stop there even though we feared that the wait for a table might be long. It was a pleasant surprise to be seated immediately. The server that we had was very friendly and she smiled when we ordered, smoked ham, pinto beans and turnip greens with corn bread. She later told us that she knew we were from the south because of our order. She said that the people there in Rhode Island don’t eat many turnip greens and pinto beans!

We were back on the highway before one and soon were in Connecticut and drove across the lower section of the state with marvelous views of the harbors and Long Island Sound. There were ships, barges, etc. Traffic was almost bumper to bumper in New Haven so it took a while to get around that city. We entered New York at 3:07 and it took us 30 minutes to arrive at the George Washington Bridge that crosses the Hudson River which we had already seen in Albany where the Erie Canal begins. I-95 S goes through the Bronx, a first-time experience for us. There are tall buildings and lots of narrow streets, traffic and, of course, people.

A little after 3:30 we were on the New Jersey Turnpike, a toll road that ends at the Delaware Memorial Bridge ($6.45 fee). We did stop at a service center in New Jersey but otherwise just drove the highway, sometimes at the speed limit and other times much slower due to the heavy traffic. New Jersey is the Garden State but we really didn’t get to enjoy that part of it. It was a little after five when we got to the toll booth before entering Delaware. It was the first time for Clayton to drive in Delaware but I was there in 1997 for a missions conference. Delaware is the “First State” and proud of that as they should be. The blue hen is their state bird, if I recall correctly.

We were in Maryland after six and got off at the first exit to arrive at Elkton where our hotel room was waiting. We got checked in and unpacked the car once again. There was a Taco Bell close by so we walked there for a taco!

Now it is time to rest before we head out tomorrow for the Historical Society of Cecil County so Clayton can do some family research. There is a connection there with the Rocks. I know he is looking forward to finding the links there at the library.