After flying back to New York City from Louisville, we drove to Storrs, Connecticut. We stayed there one night before continuing on our trip. We had talked about this part of our journey before we left, figuring out how we wanted to tackle the New England states. We love New England, it’s a beautiful area that we have visited before and will definitely be back. We figured there were two ways to do this … we could do one-night stays in most states, or drive through them all in one day and end up in Maine for 3 nights. We knew we were coming off a busy weekend flying to and from Louisville and opted for a multiple night stay in Maine.

We were in 5 states in one day! So different back here to go from one state to another in a matter of minutes. 🙂 First up, like mentioned above, was Connecticut. We looked around the UConn campus a bit and enjoyed the scenery and, especially after NYC, the light traffic.

Wait, what?!? Louisville is not a state, you’re saying! This was a huge very planned side trip, and here’s the story.

Larry is a huge Elton John fan, and he was playing in Louisville on April 16th, 2022, rescheduled from a 2020 date. I am always up for an Elton John concert as well. Carly and Sam were supposed to be in Louisville for Carly’s yearlong residency. So we thought hey, let’s visit them and go to the concert with them! Only problem was the timing. On our travel spreadsheet, we weren’t going to be in Kentucky for another couple of weeks. Then Carly’s job changed to a remote role. But this is an Elton John concert… and a chance to go with Carly and Sam whom we wouldn’t have seen for over 3 months. So we made it work.

We left the car at the LaGuardia airport and flew to Louisville for the weekend. Carly and Sam wanted to go on a little vacation to Nashville and Louisville, places they had always wanted to explore. Planning it to coincide with Elton and us was easy to do.

We had a great weekend going on tours of the Louisville Slugger bat factory and Churchill Downs. We also did a Bourbon tour and tasting. And of course the Elton John concert. Busy but very fun day!

So this side trip doesn’t count as an official state visit for the blog since the MINI wasn’t there. But don’t worry, like I said, Kentucky is on the spreadsheet. We will go back with the car! But I also wanted to document what we did this weekend.

Again, we have no welcome state sign; this time there was a sign, but it was in the middle of a bridge, and we couldn’t pull over or stop without causing a major traffic situation.

Before we checked in to our first hotel in New York we went in search of Ebbets field where the Dodgers played when they were in Brooklyn. We knew it had been replaced with an apartment building so really we were looking for a plaque documenting where it had been.

After finding it we headed to the TWA hotel which is at JFK airport. When TWA was purchased by American Airlines in 2001, their terminal was set to be demolished. Instead, they brought it back to the glory days of TWA and turned it into a hotel. It was a very fun retro place to stay complete with fun 1960s music and groovy vibe. It was also very fun to watch the planes take off and land.

Next up was Manhattan and Times Square but first we went to Coney Island. We had never been before but of course had seen it in movies and Seinfeld! We also decided on a harbor cruise, thinking it would be a good way to see the skyline and the Statue of Liberty.

Times Square is always a great people watching place! But we also did a little shopping at a few stores, including the M&M’s store. A big highlight of the trip was we went to Hamilton on Broadway. So vibrant, energetic and fun!

I have been surprised that we have been able to find a “welcome to” sign for pretty much every state so far that we have driven into. Some are a little trickier than others, but usually we can pull over next to the sign, Larry hops out to take pictures and I document how many miles we have traveled in the state. Sometimes cars and semis are whizzing by, but I mean, we like to get the sign! Unfortunately, we did not see one for New Jersey. We looked, but there wasn’t a sign on our entry route.

As I mentioned earlier, Tom and Laura had taken us to some vintage Larry sights, but we were in Laura’s car not the MINI. We knew we needed to go back to New Jersey with the car, so we went to some more neat places. When Larry and Tom were talking about their family history, they talked about John Hart, whom they both knew was related to them. He signed the Declaration of Independence. Larry’s mother has roots that go way back! Larry looked up where he is buried, and we went to the cemetery.

We then went to the town of Princeton where William Bainbridge was born. He was a commodore and had a long career in the United States Navy. Captain Charles Wilkes named Bainbridge Island in William Bainbridge’s honor even though he had never been there. His house is currently an art gallery for Princeton University, but the woman working there said there have been others from Bainbridge Island that have come by the house. 🙂

I think I am caught up now! Next up, New York! We are here in New York for a couple more days.

When we started driving in Pennsylvania I had one thing on my mind – getting to Hershey in time to check out the chocolate store! But we do really try to avoid the interstates, preferring the more rural roads. Less trucks and way more interesting scenery. So I had to be a little patient, but I was pretty relieved when Larry looked up the hours and the store was open until 7:00 pm – on a Sunday! Yay!

In Larry’s research he had discovered a road that went through Amish country. There were beautiful rolling hills and amazing scenery, not to mention lots of buggies on the road. I was driving and I was thinking as I drove past the horses that they must be very used to being around cars because they didn’t care at all that I passed them.

We got to Hershey in plenty of time for the store, so we were able to check it all out, including going on a little tour of how the chocolate is made. It reminded me of Disneyland, we sat in a little car and it went around a track with pictures and demonstrations about making chocolate. Yes, at the end we each got a little Hershy’s chocolate bar, too.

The next morning we went to the Chocolate story museum which told how Milton Hershey figured out how to make chocolate taste very good, and inexpensive enough for everyone. We learned a lot about Hershey and he was a pretty great guy. He never had kids but started a school for boys – which is where he left his fortune upon his death. The school, which has both boys and girls now is still thriving. He was known to treat his employees well and encouraged them to be creative, welcoming their ideas on streamlining the chocolate making process, and encouraged new creations and flavors of candy bars.

After the chocolate story we went to Newtown, Pennsylvania where Larry’s cousin and family live. Tom and his daughter Laura picked us up from our hotel and were nice enough to drive around in traffic to let us see the hospital where Larry was born and the house he lived in until he was 4 and moved to California. Those sights are in New Jersey though, so more on that later. 🙂

Tom’s wife Helen was able to join us for dinner, which was a delicious Italian meal! After dinner we were able to visit, with Larry and Tom telling childhood memories and us learning a bit more about their grandparents and family history.

Delaware is a very small state, so this is a very small post! 🙂

We did not spend a lot of time in Delaware, but we did manage to stop and have waffles! We also needed gas for the car – so we were happy to follow our criteria and make Delaware an official state on our trip!

As mentioned previously, we spent the weekend with Mike and Denise! Again, good to know people in strategic places. We had a wonderful weekend full of visiting and eating (and laundry) … and we went to Mount Vernon and toured George Washington’s house. Added bonus that we were able to visit Quinn, Stephen was out of town on business but was able to join us for a bit via facetime. After attending their wedding in Iowa last summer, it was fun to see their apartment and get caught up on their lives.

Here’s another state that we didn’t spend a lot of time in, but we did have lunch in Harpers Ferry which is really picturesque little historical town. It is also the location where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet.

I have a lot catching up to do after spending the weekend with my brother and sister-in-law in Maryland. Lots of visiting and not any computer time – but more on that when we get to Maryland!

After we left Durham, NC we drove to Danieltown, Virginia where Larry’s dad’s ancestors settled generations ago. An “s” was added to the family name in the recent past. It was very cool to look around the small town and talk to the general store owner about changes that had happened since we last visited 20 years ago with the kids. It really makes us want to go collect all the family tree history we do have about the Daniels side of the family when we get home.

We then went to Appomattox where the Civil War ended. It was fascinating to see where General Lee surrendered to General Grant and hear the details about how it all went down. It effectively ended the war, but then still took a few more months for the word to get out and for everyone to stop fighting.

After spending the night in Waynesboro, Virginia we started out the next morning on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. We were on the road fairly early Friday morning so there were very few cars, but that also meant there where quite a few deer running around. I’m sure the trees will be much prettier in a few weeks, but the road was fun to drive and there were some beautiful views of the countryside along the way.

Starting out from Charleston, South Carolina, we arrived in Durham, North Carolina in the late afternoon. It was a beautiful spring 85° afternoon, and with the forecast for rain the next day we did a little sightseeing right away.

We went to where they filmed the movie Bull Durham, it’s a picturesque familiar (if you’ve seen the movie) looking ballpark. Then we found the newer stadium that currently houses the Durham Bulls, AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Duke University baseball team.

We also took a little walk around the Duke University campus, and tried to go into Cameron basketball arena, but unfortunately it was locked up. They were preparing for some event later this week and didn’t want anyone inside. The Duke University Chapel was also already closed for the day, so we went back this morning before we left Durham to head north.

Following up on my booster, I had a very mild reaction – which was kind of perfect. I know I actually got something injected into me, but I just needed a couple of Advil twice to feel fine.