New England Fall Foliage Tour -- Part 3

 October 12 - 17, 2024

From Portland, we headed south on I-95 for a day of adventure.  Our first stop was in Salem, Massachusetts.  Having never been there, we thought we’d spend a couple of hours checking out the city notorious for its witch trials.  What we didn’t realize is that this city takes full advantage of its notoriety and, for the entire month of October, they hold a giant festival called “Haunted Happenings”.  Of course, the day we wandered into Salem was a sunny Saturday morning and it appeared the rest of the world was headed to the same destination.  The closer we got to the city center, the heavier traffic became. An impressive number of pedestrians, many of whom were dressed up with witch hats and capes were also crowding the sidewalks and intersections.  As we saw residents advertising parking in their yards for $50, we really wondered what we had gotten ourselves into!

Looking for a parking spot became quite the challenge.  At one point I turned into a small, side street parking lot on the off chance there was an open space.  Once it became obvious there wasn’t a spot open, I did a U-turn and waited for a young family pulling a wagon to cross in front of me.  Suddenly, the woman stopped and began looking around.  She then motioned for me to stop, ran up to our car and motioned with a horrified look on her face for me to back up.  I couldn’t imagine what had happened until she stood up with her cell phone in hand.  I did see her take a photo of our car, so I figured her phone at least still worked.  A week later, I actually got a call from the Salem police asking me questions about the “accident”.  It doesn’t sound like anything is going to come of it, but I’m just putting it out there…  be on the lookout for dropped cell phones when you are driving through parking lots!

Just after exiting the parking lot, we managed to snag an on-street parking spot at a whopping 50¢ per hour.  Funny how a day has its ups and downs!  With the car finally parked, we headed to the visitor center.  There we learned there was going to be a Howl-o-ween Costume parade for dogs with Senator Elizabeth Warren and her dog, Bailey (dressed as the tooth fairy).  Salam had snagged quite the name to be their Grand Marshal of the parade!  Although we’re not huge fans of hers, we did find it interesting enough to check it out.  Besides, the location of the parade was right on the route to the actual house made famous in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The House of Seven Gables.

The House of Seven Gables, where they put back the two gables previously removed!  Not much of a tourist attraction with only five gables, I guess.

The other noteworthy thing we happened upon during our time in Salem was the memorial left for the 20 victims that were sentenced to death and killed during the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692.  Particularly noteworthy are the “Words of the Innocent” etched into the stone as you take your first step into the memorial.  These etchings, unless you are purposely looking for them, go unnoticed, representing the chilling indifference these people suffered.  What you can’t miss are the 20 stone benches, each personalized with their name along with the means and date of their death.  Most of the victims were hanged.  One was pressed to death.  “Oh Lord, help me.  I am wholly innocent of such wickedness.  God knows I am innocent,” are a few of the innocent pleas that went unheard and unnoticed.  

On that somber note, we fought our way through the crowds and traffic and back to the interstate where we headed to Lexington and Concord for the “shot heard ‘round the world”.

Fallen leaves clutter the reflection, but still beautiful!

Early on April 19th, 1775 there had been shots fired from the British killing seven colonists in Lexington, Massachusetts.  It wasn’t until later that morning that shots from the colonists were fired upon the British.  It had been a crazy night.  Paul Revere had learned the British Army was making preparations to cross the Charles River and march to Concord with the intent of capturing weapons the colonists were hiding there.  Two lanterns were hung in The Old North Church and the infamous ride began.  Revere was captured some distance outside of Lexington, detained for several hours and released, on foot, as the British retained his horse.  Riding with Revere was William Dawes and Samuel Prescott who managed to go uncaptured.  Dawes was thrown from his horse and returned to Lexington; however, it was Prescott who continued spreading the word to Concord and the surrounding area.  

The site where Paul Revere was captured and detained.

At Concord, minute men and militia mustered and began preparations for defending the town. Seeing smoke rising from the town, they approached the British at the North Bridge, with the orders not to fire unless fired upon. The smoke they had seen was actually all a big misunderstanding.  The minute men and militia assumed the British were burning the town down.  What had actually happened was, in burning the seized ammunition and weapons, the British accidentally caught a building on fire and were actively trying to put it out.  The steam from attempting to extinguish the fire is what the militia and minute men saw.  Regardless, it was at the bridge where the British fired and killed two colonists, prompting the colonists to return fire.  This “shot heard ‘round the world” was an act of treason and signaled the official start of the revolution.  During our visit, the park was busy preparing for the 250th anniversary of this significant event, so we weren’t able to get down to the bridge.  However, we were able to view it from above, where the militia gathered and began their march down.  Imagining all of the emotions those men felt as they saw the smoke, gathered in formation and listened to their orders was pretty powerful.  In the museum, we saw one of the four brass cannons that had been smuggled out of Boston and hidden in Concord.  This was one of the major items the British were searching for that night.  Pretty amazing!

North Bridge, where our battle for independence officially began.

One of the hidden brass canons the British came to Concord in search of.

Concerd Hymm
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

   And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;

   Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept

   Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

   We set today a votive stone;

That memory may their deed redeem,

   When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare

   To die, and leave their children free,

Bid Time and Nature gently spare

   The shaft we raise to them and thee

With an ever-increased appreciation for sacrifices made for the freedoms we have, we once again headed a little farther south on I-95.  This time, our destination was Benson’s Pond in Middleborough, Massachusetts.  Months ago, we began looking for a cranberry farm to tour.  To our surprise, many of the farm tours fill up a year in advance!  With due diligence, we eventually found Benson’s Pond, which did not disappoint.  They offer a “Brews and Crews” where we could chat with the crew harvesting the berries, listen to live music, grab dinner from the food truck and enjoy a soda, beer, or glass of wine.  It was really a lot of fun learning a little about both the wet and dry harvesting of this fall crop.  This farm currently uses the wet harvesting method.  In the past, they dry harvested, but finding workers to pick the berries has become difficult.

With wet harvesting, when the berries are ripe, they flood the bogs.  Once flooded, they drive a water reel, nicknamed an “eggbeater”, to gently dislodge the berries from the vine.  Since cranberries float, they next gather them up with an oil boom and pump them into a container which is then sold to Ocean Spray.  We resisted putting on waders to walk around in the bog.  This “add-on feature” was a bit pricy, and did I mention I’m a tight wad?  In all seriousness, earlier in the season with more cranberries left to harvest, this would have been a great photo opportunity and a fun memory.  I did see a man who had stepped into a low spot and lost his balance.  Let me tell you, the waders do absolutely no good at this point!  Hopefully, he had a change of clothes with him. 

Only a 20-minute drive from Benson’s Pond was New Bedford, Massachusetts, our home for the next couple of nights.  After a full day of adventure, we were content to settle in and relax for the evening.  This day had to be at the top of my list of favorite days for this trip.  Throughout the day, we not only had stunning fall foliage, but learned and saw so very much!

After a good night’s sleep, we were refreshed and ready for more adventure.  Our day began with Mass at Our Lady of Assumption – only a few blocks' walk from our hotel.  This is a very Portuguese community, which made for such a delightful Mass.  Words cannot express the warm welcome we received!  Typically, once you are inside the nave of the church, everyone is quiet.  Not here!  Full conversations, smiles and laughter filled the air.  During Mass, the dancing and lively music of the choir had the entire congregation swaying to the beat of the music.  At the sign of peace, people didn’t simply turn and greet those immediately around them.  This was a time to mingle with those throughout the church!  Clearly, this was a congregation that loved one another.  

Inspired by the Portuguese Mass, we headed to The Nook for coffee and to try a Portuguese delight, the linguica cheese roll. The Nook was more of a take-out spot, so we bought our treats and headed to our hotel dining area to enjoy it.  I’m telling you, this meat-and-cheese-stuffed pastry was both delicious and filling!  

Loaded with calories to burn off, we began exploring New Bedford’s historic neighborhood.  Walking down the street, you couldn’t help but notice a giant rooster made entirely of trash, perched by the side of the road.  It took some talking to a Portuguese couple (who were also admiring this 15’ tall artwork) and research to fully understand what was behind this giant rooster.

Bonus points of you can find the traffic barrels used in this amazing pile of rubbish.

The artist who created it is Artur Bordalo, a Portuguese street artist who is known for creating large animals out of rubbish.  Highlighting waste and overconsumption, his current project is called “Big Trash Animals”.  He has large animals made out of trash on display throughout the world.  He chose a rooster to be on display in the historic neighborhood of New Bedford due to the large Portuguese community residing there and the well-known (if you are Portuguese) Legend of the Cockerel of Barcelos.   

Walking around, we also found the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center (that's a mouthfull!) that took us on a guided tour of the harbor.  Currently the #1 commercial fishing port in the US, New Bedford was the top whaling port in the US during the 19th century!  Once again, we learned so much – not only about the history of whaling, but also about the current fishing industry.  It was amazing to see a huge dredge, used to harvest scallops, sitting on the deck of a fishing boat.

Herman Melville’s name came up several times during our visit of New Bedford.  When Melville was 21 years old, he signed on to the whaling crew of the whaleship, Acushnet. Four days later, he sailed out of New Bedford on an 18-month whaling adventure.  Ten years later, he wrote the well-known novel, Moby Dick, which was inspired by the true story of The Essex, which sailed from Nantucket. 

Dinner for our final night in New Bedford was at Moby Dick Brewing Company, again only a few blocks from our hotel.  I’m a little reluctant to admit I’ve never read Moby Dick or watched the movie, but I am certainly inspired to do so now!  I hear New Bedford is even talked about in his book.  

Although we had taken full advantage of having great access to New England’s Clam Chowder, fresh lobster, and all of the other fresh seafood offerings, it was with a bit of a heavy heart that we left the coast and began our trek west.  Our first day took us through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.  Fall foliage was absolutely stunning the entire drive, but was especially beautiful in Pennsylvania.  Driving through the Pocono Mountains and Allegheny Mountains was breathtaking!

In the late 1970’s, I attended Iowa State University, but when I was home in Eldridge, Iowa for breaks and the summer, I would work at Central Trust and Savings Bank.  It was at the bank I met Paulette.  Paulette and her husband, Ed, were from Altoona, PA, but living in Eldridge while Ed attended Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport.  Paulette and Ed had a young daughter, Wendy, that I would occasionally babysit for.  Following Ed’s graduation, Paulette, Ed and Wendy returned to their home in Altoona.  Part of the fun on trips is getting together with friends who live near and far, and this seemed like a good opportunity to catch up with these two dear friends.  What fun it was!  Their hospitality was amazing, as they opened up their home to us.  Paulette even had the bedroom we slept in decorated with Christmas card photos we had sent them over the years!  

We enjoyed an authentic Italian dinner at Lena’s Café, a family-owned local favorite, followed by a tour of Altoona.  Ed’s father had a career as an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and took trains  through the world-famous Horseshoe Curve on a daily basis.  In the early 1850’s, Irish immigrants spent three grueling years laboring to create what is known as one of the eight engineering marvels of the world.  Today, trains continue to pass through this engineering marvel about every 30 minutes.

Paulette’s father worked in the coal mines.  He started at a young age, never admitting to anyone how old he was when he first went into the mines.  At too young of an age, he was diagnosed with black lung and lived out the rest of his life with only one lung.  What a tough life. 

And Wendy… She now has her own day care center, Acorn Academy.  I love the name!  Out of the tiny acorn grows the sturdy oak!

 

As we prepared to leave the next morning, the four of us couldn’t help wondering how long it would be before we saw each other again.  It had been 1996 since the last time we had gotten together.  Hopefully it won’t be too long!  

A little over an hour southwest of Altoona is the Flight 93 Memorial, which was our first stop of the day.  We had been to the crash site in 2002 where only a temporary memorial of straw bales was built.  We wanted to stop and visit it again as we had heard this memorial was really well done.  We had heard right.  The team who designed this did so with such great reflection and thoughtfulness.  It seemed like every detail including shapes, colors, placements… was done to reflect some aspect of the tragedy.  The walkway on the lower level was black, reflecting it was a strip coal mine the plane crashed into.  On the upper level near the visitor center, black was used to reflect the charred and burned hemlock trees at the crash site.  The entire design, beginning with Approach Road as you drive to the museum, followed the path the plane took during its final seconds of flight.  As you walk toward the end of the flight path, there are white marble panels forming a wall.  Each panel bears the name of one of the 40 passengers and crew members who lost their life that day.  A particularly touching panel was that of passenger Lauren Grandcola.  Lauren’s engraved name is followed by “and her unborn child”.  Grief upon grief.  At the end of the wall, there is a gate made out of hemlock. Only family members are able to pass through this gate to reach the large boulder that is placed where Flight 93 took its final resting place.  The benches along the walk are designed to resemble the plane's passenger seats.  I could go on and on.

The visitor center documents and preserves so much about the day.  Listening to the voice recordings left from passenger members to their loved ones is almost more than you can bear.  Tears flooded our eyes. One voice was very stoic.  Another voice was filled with tears as she provided details regarding her security box’s location and code. It was heart-wrenching listening to these voices asking to make sure their families knew how much they loved them. 

The boulder resting in front of the tree line marks the final resting spot for Flight 93, its crew and passengers.

The Tower of Voices is the final stop inside the park. It is set aside from the somber crash site and serves as a living sound memorial for the 40 courageous individuals whose final resting spot is just a short distance away. The tower is 93’ tall and contains 40 wind chimes. Each chime is a unique size and produces a unique tone designed to harmonize with each of the other chimes. The day we were there they were doing maintenance on the tower, so we didn’t get to hear the chimes ring. Despite this, we were incredibly impressed with the thoughtfulness of this well-designed memorial.  The Tower of Voices proves to be such a peaceful element to an otherwise heart-wrenching visit. 

Having seen for ourselves the meaningful memorial left for the victims of Flight 93 and knowing that those brave souls are memorialized in such a loving way, we left the park and headed to Cuyahoga Valley National Park outside of Cleveland, Ohio.  We had been there a couple of years ago and promised ourselves time on the trails for our next visit.  

The drive that day was not a particularly long drive, but it was a day of driving through rain on curvy hillside roads with lots of semi-trucks.  We were both glad to be off the road and to the park; however, the rain had made many of the trails in the park muddy.  Our promise to ourselves didn’t include hikes in the mud! Fortunately, the park ranger at the visitor center suggested we hike the Oak Hill trail out to Sylvan Lake.  This trail did not disappoint!  No mud, blue sky and full fall colors to boot!  We gave it a five-star rating.

Sylvan Lake

I had hoped to see a friend I have known since I was a preschooler while we were passing through Chicago, but sadly that didn’t work out.  When life gives you lemons…  

I had also planned on stopping for lunch at The Machine Shed the next day with my brother (Ron) and his wife (Rhea) as we passed through the Quad Cities. Being how we were getting a little anxious to get home, we skipped our stop in Chicago, moved our gathering with Ron and Rhea up a day and switched it to dinner.  Talk about flexibility!  This was a super good move, as now my sister (Cheryl) and her husband (Steve) were also able to join us!  We don’t have many opportunities to get together, so this was a wonderful gathering.

Just missing our youngest sister, Patti and her husband, Jim.  

We got to the Quad Cities a little ahead of time, which gave us time to visit the gravesites of both my parents and my paternal grandparents at Memorial Park in Davenport.  It’s hard to believe Mom and Dad have been gone for almost ten years now.  Dad’s battle with Parkinson’s disease ended six months after Mom’s battle with ovarian cancer ended.  We wondered if we would be able to find their gravesites or not, but we did so with minimal searching.  Just to be sure we would be able to locate them the next time we are in the area, Dick made note of their GPS coordinates.  When the technology exists, we might as well make use of it!

Our final day on the road for this trip had only one stop planned.  We were going right past the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum – a perfect opportunity to learn a little bit about the only US president from Iowa!  The Museum itself was somewhat unimpressive; however, the National Park Visitor Center in West Branch was a little more updated.

I had no idea Hoover was orphaned at the age ten and was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Oregon.  He made this train trip alone, armed with a basket of goodies and two dimes sewn into his pocket.  I’m not sure in today’s world if I would even send a ten-year-old to the grocery store on their own!

I also enjoyed seeing a replica of Hoover’s Brown House, which is located in what is now Shenandoah National Park.  The fall of '22, we had visited his beloved summer White House retreat, which included several small cabins where he would host foreign dignitaries.  His love of fishing was a main draw, as Rapidan camp was built right next to Rapidan stream. giving him easy access to trout.

Many Presidential Libraries have a section of the Berlin Wall, symbolizing governments that squelch one's freedom don't endure.

What stood out to me most was the museum was located about halfway between the tiny, two-room home Herbert Hoover was born in and the gravesite of both Hoover and his wife, Lou.  His birth home, museum and gravesite are within easy sight of each other.  To my knowledge, the Eisenhower Museum is the only other Presidential Museum that has his boyhood home, gravesite and museum on the same property.

If you look closely, you can see a flag in the far back of the photo flying above Hoover's gravesite.

Having taken way too many photos and eaten way too many meals out, it was officially time to finish the last leg of the trip and get home.  As much as we love to travel, it does feel good to get back to home sweet home!  

Next up:  Salt Lake City!