Maryland and Massachusestts

Posted on September 20, 2013September 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Maryland is the 2nd “M” state and Massachusetts is the 3rd.

Let’s start with Maryland first.

No… Not really. Maryland is part of what I think of as the political area…It’s close to Washington DC and Annapolis is in Maryland and I can remember going to the Naval Academy with my family to visit my brother.

That’s what I remember the most, that and how impressive it was to see all of the young cadets marching past. I can’t even begin to put into words what I was feeling but I can remember it to this day and it was about 40 years ago, maybe 42. I really don’t remember much else about the visit except seeing my brother and being so proud of him. It was a very emotional visit. So I suppose I could cross it off but I think it needs another visit to be official. 🙂

M is for Massachusetts

Yes..I better say yes. I’ve been living here since 1974. Hard to believe it. I originally came out for company training for 6 months. Once the training ended the only openeing was right here in Malden, MA so I stayed.

Massachusetts has everything you could want; mountains, ocean, cities, rural area, summer sun and winter snow.

We’ve got National Parks and history. My word, we have history galore from Minuteman National Park with it’s Patriots Day Reenactments to Boston’s Freedom Trail. There’s Salem, MA of the historic witch trials, Old Ironsides, Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall.

As if that wasn’t enough we have nature! We have Whale Watches and Deep Sea Fishing, we’ve got seals and zoos and aquariums.

And we’ve got Old Cape Cod with a scenic train and the National Sea Shore and the annual scallop festival. We can even boast great white sharks now!

And we have Lighthouses.

Maine does not have a monopoly there! I believe there are 63 in all.


Annisquam	Baker’s Island	Bass River (West Dennis)
Bird Island	Bishop and Clerks	Borden Flats
Boston Harbor	Brant Point	Brant Point (Old)
Butler Flats	Cape Ann (Thacher Island)	Cape Cod (Highland)
Cape Poge	Chatham	Clark’s Point
Cleveland Ledge	Cuttyhunk	Deer Island
Derby Wharf	Dog Bar Breakwater	Duxbury Pier
East Chop	Eastern Point	Edgartown Harbor
Fort Pickering (Winter Island)	Gay Head	Graves
Great Point	Hospital Point Range Front	Hospital Point Range Rear
Hyannis	Lightship Nantucket I WLV-612	Lightship Nantucket II WLV 613
Lightship Nantucket LV 112/WAL 534	Lightship New Bedford LV 114/WAL 536	Long Island Head
Long Point	Marblehead	Mayo’s Beach
Minot’s Ledge	Monomoy Point	Nantucket Cliff Range
Nauset	Ned’s Point	Newburyport Harbor (Plum Island)
Newburyport Harbor Range Front	Newburyport Harbor Range Rear	Nobska Point
Palmer Island	Plymouth (Gurnet)	Point Gammon
Race Point	Sandy Neck	Sankaty Head
Scituate	Stage Harbor	Straitsmouth Island
Tarpaulin Cove	Ten Pound Island	Three Sisters
West Chop	Wings Neck	Wood End

Head west on RT 90, from Boston and you’ll find Springfield, home to Dr. Seuss and The “Big E” (Eastern States exposition) and the Basket Ball Hall of Fame.

Speaking of sports, Massachusetts is a pro sports kind of place. We have the Boston Bruins, The Red Sox, Fenway Park and Red Sox Nation. Out in Foxboro we have the New England Patriots and we’ve got the Revolution..not the 1776 revolution but the pro soccer team.

We host golf tournaments like the Deutsche Bank PGA tournament.

Heading back to Western Massachusetts Rt 90 rises upward to the Berkshire Mountains. The Appalachia Trail winds it’s way through here and we have Tanglewood and Jacobs Pillow for culture.

There’s still more. Massachusetts loves politics. You can find a political discussion almost anywhere and everyone has an opinion. 🙂 And we have higher education, Colleges and Universities abound.

Harvard Yard

There are too many to list.

Don’t get me wrong, Massachusetts is not all peaches and cream. After all, we had the “Big Dig” too and are still dealing with the consequences.

Talk about a major screw up! Traffic is worse now than ever. And we’re starting to head back to the bad old days of “Taxachusetts”…just when we thought it was safe to take our hands out of our pockets good old Governor Deval Patrick put his hands right in!

But even with all that I still am pretty pleased with my adopted state. It’s a great place to visit and not too bad a place to live.

M is for…

Posted on September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Wow, Did you realize there are 8 states that start with the letter M? I am not going to do all 8 in one post, especially since a couple of them are going to be crossed off as visited. So before I start can you name all 8 states?

Alphabetically Maine is first. So while you’re thinking about the other 7 states I’ll tell you a little bit about my neighbor to the north. I fell in love with Maine last year when I had the chance to take 2 “mini” vacations.

Maine

YES.

First thing that come to mind when I think of Maine is the gorgeous, rugged coastline. And if you have a rugged coast you need lighthouses. More than 60 lighthouses dot the Maine coast from the well known Nubble Light in York to West Quoddy Head, the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. I’ve seen and photographed a bunch of them, Nubble, Spring Ledge, Portland Head, Pemaquid and more but I’m a long way from all 60!+

Maine is for “Lobsta” or lobster if you want to be accurate. Everyone’s either heard of or eaten Maine Lobster, those feisty crustaceans that are so good boiled, fried, rolled, baked, in salad, well just about any way you want to eat them. Did you know that lobster were once so plentiful that they were used as fertilizer! Native Americans used them as bait to catch more appealing fish. They were considered poverty food and fed to servants and prisoners. You’ve come a long way , baby!

Maine is for wildlife.

I saw a big bull moose there while walking a nature trail.

I braved the sea to get a glimpse of puffins, crazy little clowns. I never realized how tiny they are until I saw them riding those crashing waves.

Maine has the first National Park east of the Mississippi, Acadia National Park. The park includes Mount Desert Island and Cadillac Mountain.

I still want to try a train ride from Boston to Portland. It’s called the “Downeaster”. It can be done in 1 day but it might be nicer to stay over in Portland a night to see a bit more.

By the way, I wrote a lot of posts on Maine last year. Here’s a link to just one of the many :https://aroundustyroads.com/2012/08/29/day-is-done-gone-the-sun/

It’s K-K-L Time.

Posted on September 18, 2013September 18, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Please note the dashes. This is not about the KKK. This is about Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana. The next 3 states in the alphabet. There’s no state that starts with J. “Jersey” is a cow. The state is New Jersey. So with that out of the way let’s get to the good stuff…

KANSAS

No, can’t say that I’ve been there but I know a song:

I’m goin’ to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

They got a crazy way of lovin’ there,

and I’m gonna get me some…

Kansas is the start of the west. The 100th Meridian, although an imaginary line on the surface of the earth, has long symbolized the end of the east and the beginning of the west. It’s located at 100 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., Dodge City, KS 67801.

On the subject of Dodge City, The TV show Gunsmoke was filmed there. Plus, who hasn’t heard the expression “Get out of Dodge!”?

So Top picks for Cities in Kansas are : Kansas City, Dodge City and we can’t forget Wichita. The cattle drives of the old west often came to Kansas and there is a Fort from the age of the old west that has been preserved…F troop here we come!

Kentucky

No But when I go I want to see Churchill Downs, preferable for the Kentucky Derby, the Run for the Roses, arguably the most famous horse race in America.

If horses aren’t enough to keep me happy in Kentucky, how about gold? Kentucky is home to Fort Knox. Do they give tours?

What else is Kentucky famous for? Mint Juleps?

Louisiana

No. But what’s the most famous City in Louisiana? Not Baton Rouge. I’d bet it’s New Orleans. Oh yeah, I need to experience Mardi Gras, see the French Quarter, get a look at Lake Pontchartrain.

Is Louisiana the true south, dotted with plantation homes? Do they have air boat rides in the bayou?

Got a lot to learn about Louisiana.

So that’s 3 more states I need to visit. The tally is now 6 visited, 12 still to go and we aren’t even half way yet!

This is what 90 Looks Like

Posted on September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 by Dusty Roads | 6 Comments

Yesterday was my mother’s 90th birthday. She still lives on her own and goes bowling in a league every week. That’s 10 pin, “big balls”. No little wimpy candle pins or duck pins for her.

My Mother lives in New York State so I drove up to join the celebration. Her two brothers and their wives, my youngest brother and his wife and my sister were all there to sing happy birthday. Missing was my other brother and his wife. They live in Virginia and just couldn’t get away this time but it was still a good turn out.

For some reason my mother doesn’t want to acknowledge that she’s 90 but I think it’s an awesome milestone.

Good thing my mother doesn’t go on the internet or she’d be shortening my life for telling and we can’t have that!

Happy Birthday Mom…and many more 🙂

H & I

Posted on September 16, 2013September 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Oh no, the numbers are stacked against me here. I haven’t been to the “Heartland” of America.

H is for Hawaii

YES! With an asterisk of course.Hawaii is still my favorite state. Just thinking about it makes my heart flutter. 2 trips so far and hopefully more in my future. The first trip was to the Big Island. This trip was amazing. It was the first BIG trip I’d ever taken. The first trip where I’d used my time share. The first Luau I’d ever been to…The Island is amazing, half rain forest and half desert. We explored both and I loved Volcano National Park. In Hilo we explored the Tsunami Museum and went to the Zoo. Just north of Hilo was a beautiful botanical garden.

We even got to walk on a black sand beach.

Trip two was to Oahu where we made a visit to Pearl Harbor, beautiful and emotional. This is a must- see stop on anyone’s bucket list. We visited Waikiki and the Polynesian Cultural Center. We climbed Maka Pupu Point and shopped at the International Market Place. We drove up to the crater of Diamondhead but didn’t climb to the top. Maybe another trip. 🙂 Next up is Maui and the road to Hana!

I is for Idaho

No. But it sounds like there’s couple of must do things. Lava Hot Springs for one and Craters of the Moon National Monument, 618 square miles of lava field.

I is for Illinois

NO. Although I did go to Chicago once for a work seminar. It was probably 30 years ago and I don’t recall much about the city at all.

Of course there’s Chicago itself and many travelers get into Illinois via O’Hare International Airport, one of the busiest in the country. I do remember being there. I was stuck on my way to Wisconsin. My plane out of Boston had been delayed so I missed my connecting flight. At the time OJ Simpson was still a football hero and was running through airports in a Hertz Commercial. I remember thinking I felt like that as I raced to my gate only to see the plane taking off as I got there. It’s one of those moments seared into your brain! 🙂

RT 66 is in Illinois. I saw part of the iconic highway when I was in Arizona. I’ll have to look up how many states it crosses or maybe I should say crossed as many parts are closed now.

There seem to be a lot of scenic drives in Illinois and I saw something about a Japanese Garden. So More research needs to be done to plan the visit to this state.

I is for Indiana

No. Once again I have to say I don’t know much about this state. The tourism web site lists National Parks and Monuments, and I know racing is big there; Indianapolis Speedway. It’s the boyhood home of our 16th president so I could certainly include a visit to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

I is for Iowa

No. I am really lost when it comes to Iowa. It’s broken up into so many sections it’s almost like states within states. 10 different sections to research just to decide what I want to visit! This too will requires some digging and reading on my part.

Boy, I didn’t do well in the “I” category at all!. I’d say that breaks the tie. It’s now 6 visited and 9 on the “not seen” side of the ledger. I really need some suggestions of the not to miss places for the “I” states. Have you been there? Or maybe you live in one of those states? What is the most important thing to see/visit?

But on to J, K & L.