Connecticut and New Jersey

It’s strange to thing that we woke up Tuesday morning on Cape Cod. We had an unremarkable start to the day as we had a leisurely breakfast at the campground in Eastham and began the drive to Middletown, CT. Traffic was easier getting off of Cape Cod than it was getting on. We arrived on a Saturday, and we found out that all of the vacation rentals run from Saturday to Saturday, so that is not an ideal time to be travelling. We made it to our campground just across the Connecticut River from Middletown in Portland. It was a funny campground, which I chose because it is the closest one to Middletown. The main business is as a marina and dry boat storage facility, and it happens to have ten camping spots in the back corner. When we first drove up I was a little confused because I saw far more boats than RVs. In any event, we set up our campground, and headed to Bristol to visit the American Clock & Watch Museum. As it turns out, there are not a lot of kid’s activities in Middletown, other than a children’s museum, which seemed all too logical. I learned that the American Clock & Watch Museum had a special exhibit on art deco watches and the temptation to drag the kids another half an hour in the car to see was just too great. It was a nice museum and I enjoyed the art deco watch exhibit. I may just have found another thing to collect in addition to fountain pens and Dunhill lighters. Anyway, the kids did better than I had expected at the museum and we headed back to Middletown. We walked around Main Street a little bit, stopping in a bakery that advertised donuts made from croissant dough. Unfortunately, they only make them on the weekend. They did have some taster samples, though, and they were delicious. We will be on the hunt for cronuts in NYC. We ended our walk down Main Street when we reached the homeless men on the street next to a police car with its lights flashing. On the way back to the car we ducked into the Emporium and enjoyed some mid-afternoon crepes. Since we had a little time to kill before dinner, we made a run to the grocery store and restocked the RV.

For dinner we met Kristi Overton and Terri Carta at Eli Cannon’s Tap Room, back on Main Street. I know Kristi no longer goes by Kristi, but I cannot help myself. I told Kristi we needed a suggestion for a place where our kids would be able to act like kids and not have other diners looking at us funny. As it turned out, it was a great selection. By the end of the night our waitress gave our kids pieces of chalk and invited them to tag the walls, ceilings, and anything else they could reach. Addie tagged the restaurant with the McLainsontheRoad.com address, so we’ll have to see if that causes a bounce in our web traffic. I have known Kristi for as long as I can remember, as our parents were part of the same neighborhood social group. We attended school together through high school and it was Kristi and her twin sister, Suzie, that first invited me to attend the senior high youth group at Wellshire Presbyterian and encouraged by to attend the confirmation class with them, which I did. We had a great time catching up over dinner and afterwards we retired to the back patio, which is equipped with Adirondack chairs in an oversized sand box. We were therefore able to continue our conversation as the kids made sand castles and dug holes. The night ended far too quickly, but it was nice to be able to catch up.

Yesterday morning we loaded up and left our marina home. We started the day by meeting Jll’s cousin, Mark Zelinsky, for breakfast at Mitchell’s on Main in Cromwell. During our discussion, we talked about the fact that it had been nine or ten years since we’d seen Mark. As with a lot of our visits, it was great to catch up but far too short. Mark did make a recommendation for a show in New York, so now we’re set to see Annie Friday afternoon. On the way out of Connecticut we stopped at the PEZ factory and visitor center. The kids enjoyed it and we are now the proud owners of an assorted set of PEZ dispensers. Mine is the one with the Cubs hat on top. Unfortunately, I think we ran out of PEZ by the time we crossed the state line into New York. For some reason, the PEZ seemed softer here. I don’t know if it is because they were fresher or whether the humidity prevents them from getting rock hard. Either way, they still tasted like compressed sugar with some artificial flavoring.

Driving through Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey yesterday, I was struck by the number of boarded up and dilapidated factories. It made me wonder what this country even makes any more and what it would be like if we had a greater manufacturing base. What happened to the segment of society that used to work in the factories? It was depressing looking at the history of the country’s great manufacturing and industry slowly crumbling down. It made me want to buy an old factory and make something, anything. Unfortunately, it turns out that my skillset lies elsewhere and the chances of me becoming the next manufacturing mogul are slim to none. Sorry kids.

We passed through New York pretty quickly and made our way to our campground in Andover, NJ. We set up camp and headed to Sparta to have dinner at my cousin, Jennifer’s house. We were joined by Jennifer’s husband, Bill, her son, Billy, and her daughter, Brooke. We were also joined by my other cousin, Karen and her two sons, Conner and Parker. My aunt Kathy and Uncle Charlie were also there. Although we had just seen Aunt Kathy and Uncle Charlie in Chicago, I don’t think I’d seen Jennifer or Karen since my sister graduated from grad school in New York nine years ago. Luckily for Jll and me, Jennifer has a pool which kept the kids busy so we were able to catch up with family. Jennifer and Karen’s sister, Missy, comes in today and all of their families are making their annual trek to Nag’s Head. I am sorry that we missed Missy, but hopefully we can catch up with her and her crew when we swing by Dallas on the way home.