Editor's Comment: This is an extremely long Blog. It was a trip I recall taking with my first wife, Sharon and my best frien and his wife. It may not mean anything to you as a reader but it shows how an event can be a large part of a life history
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Our trip to The East Coast
I just wanted to pass this story on threw my LILAGCS Blog because I remembered how interesting it was at the time.....probably only to those involved....mainly Terry and Betty Penniman and myself.
I just finished reading an article in my "Guideposts" folder about a story that someone wrote about going to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It reminded me of an event that Sharon and I had before she got sick. We were visiting our friends Terry and Betty Penniman who lived in Des Moines, Iowa close to the Merle Hay Mall. I can’t recall it was any special occasion; we just were visiting them and their dog Hawka. Hawka was a white boxer and pretty good sized.
Terry and Betty had a very nice home and we had decided to stay overnight with them. A few months earlier we had made the decision to take a trip together. It came after a visit about what a bad experience they had had the previous year with another couple. We agreed that we would get along much better if we were to go on a trip together.
Where we would go was the next thing we needed to determine. The previous year they had traveled to the Western United States and toured California and states out West. We were at a loss where to go so we decided to toss a dart at a wall map that Terry had. We drew straws and Sharon won so she got to throw the dart at the US map.
She threw the dart and it stuck in the map at a location close to Cap Cod, Massachusetts. Betty was the tour guide expert so we ask her to route out our plan of travel and scenic stops on the trip. Betty and I enjoyed camping and Terry and Sharon wanted to stay in motels. We compromised and decided that we would stay in motels if it rained and if we were in a place not suitable for camping like Washington D.C.
We had determined a departure date and that we would be gone for two weeks. Betty selected Boston, Cape Cod, Washington D.C., and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as our main stopping points that we would cover.
We made the decision to depart early morning from Terry and Betty’s home in Des Moines. This then takes us back to our overnight visit to their place. We were to sleep ing the bedroom previously occupied by their dog, Hawka. He was placed in his kennel as we settled down that evening.
During the night I had to get up and go to the bathroom. Little di I know that Hakka’s kennel door was not completely locked and while I was gone, he got out. When U finished and returned to the bed I discovered that Hawka was in my place beside Sharon and Sharon was sound asleep. I had a tought time getting Hawka to move back to his kennel, but I was finally successful. 4 o’clock came and we were up and ready to go. My memory fails me as what Terry and Betty did with Hawka but I’m sure he was well provided for.
Terry had just purchased a new car a few week before. It was a two door Oldsmobile Cutlass. I was very nice plus it had one of the first tape decks that came in automobiles at that time. I remember Terry told us that he only had enough extra money left after getting the car with the tape deck to buy one tape to play. Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass . (It is important to remember this for later in this story)
We decided that we would take turns driving every few hours so those not driving could rest. Our first destination was Kokomo, Indiana. The weather was beautiful and Betty had located a nice camp site for us to stay that first night. It was interesting to note that getting to Indiana took use along a southern route of Chicago. There was a lot of traffic but Sharon didn’t bat an eye. She just maintained 75 miles an hour over the course of the entire southern route.
..First Stop.Kokomo, Indiana
We arrived at the campsite near Kokomo and proceeded to pitch our tents. I remember what we had for dinner that first evening, We called them potatoe-chewies. They were made of a large hamburger patty, onions, a couple of slices of green pepper, fresh mushrooms, carrots and salt and pepper wrapped in tin foil and placed on the hot coals of the fire we had built. They were excellent and I can still taste them!
We slept well as I recall and in the morning had breakfast, (don’t recall what) Packed up and were on our way again on our way to Boston.
Niagara Falls and rain!
The route that Betty planned took us to Buffalo, New York and to Niagara Falls, an unplanned site that was along the way. We were able to find a camp site and pitch our tent. (Incidentally we were using the tent my parents had given us after they purchased their first camping trailer.)
We toured Niagara Falls and interesting the American Falls were blocked off for dredging out at the bottom of the falls This made for a very interesting view of the river bed where the water traveled before going over the falls. We spent a brief time in the Souvenir shop before returning to our campsite.
During the night it rained hard and when we got up in the morning it was still raining, but not so hard. We had to take down our tent and pack it away while it ws still wet. I was then the decision to stay in a motel the next night was made. And we all agreed it was the best thing to do. One thing to also remember is that Terry and I both had 35 mm cameras and were taking photos all the time for a record of the trip.
Next stop.....Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Our next stop was in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. where we found a motel for that night. I don’t remember, but somewhere during this part of the trip we set up the tent to dry it out from the rain we experienced at Niagara Falls. As I recall Sturbridge was an old village reconstructed from the past. We spent time touring the different stores and shops plus a rope-making business where ship ropes were made. After a short trip to Boston we arrived to find it very difficult getting from one place to another.
Old Ironsides Ship Tour
We had wanted to tour the old ship "The Constitution" or "Old Ironsides" as we knew it . Asking directions from policemen was fruitless until we discovered that they spoke differently with strange accents to us Midwesterners. We finally found our way to the Boston Harbor and "Old Ironsides". We had a good tour of the ship and as we were leaving we were informed that we better hurry because the Boston Harbor dock hours were over and all of the employees would be leaving .
This we were told would create a very difficult exit for us. Well we were caught in the middle of the rush hour traffic and we did have a very difficult getting where we wanted to go . It was then that we decided to find the Interstate highway out of Boston.
Plymouth Rock
After we found the road out of Boston we headed toward Cape Cod. We hadn’t gone far when we saw a road sign with an arrow. It read Plymouth Rock. Well we had to stop just to say that we saw where the Pilgrims had landed on the Mayflower in 1620. We spent a short time looking at the rock and viewing the Pilgrims homes that had been constructed to exemplify the time. We took a lot of photos to remember the place.
The Dunes Edge Campground
We were, of course looking for a campground to pitch our tent as close as possible to the Ocean Beach. We found one called "The Dunes Edge Campground" and in a short time we located an ideal spot to put the tent. The name of the site was very accurate because the Atlantic ocean was not far at all from the campsite. We visited it as soon as we could and enjoyed roasting hotdogs over an open fire. And watching the sea gulls fly around us.
Provincetown, Massachusetts
The Pilgrim Monument.
The Pilgrim Monument in
Provincetown, Massachusetts was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landfall of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the signing in Provincetown of the Mayflower Compact. This 252-foot (76,80 m) tall campanile is the tallest all-granite
Danial Webster Inn
Right here the memory gets a little foggy but I know that we were headed for Washington D.C. as our next stop. I remember on traveling back from the tip of Cape Cod we stopped to camp close to Sandwich, Massechuttes. Terry and Betty wanted to grill steaks at the campsite and I wanted to have a real Lobster dinner. Sharon and I went to a place called the Danial Webster Inn that was advertised as a place that served Lobster. I only remember I was served a large whole Lobster, fitted with a lobster bib and given a pair of claw crackers that resembled the nut crackers we had back in Iowa. Boy it was good. We toured the Inn and learned about it's history while we were there. We then returned to our campsite where We stayed.
The Last Ferry Ride
The next day we got up and returned to our travels to Washington D.C. We were approching Rhode Istand when we got in a long line of traffic as we were approching Provenstown, Rhode Island. We needed to cross a bay or body of water. After doing some asking we discovered that the long line of cars were waiting to cross the body of water on the one and only ferry that took the passengers from where we were to Provencetown rather than going around the body of water on the highway. It was a shortcut and we also learned that this was the last day that the ferry was running. Everyone wanted to have a "last ride" on the ferry.
Our Experience in New York City
Our next big encounter ws New York City. Rather than going around the city, we decided to go through the city. We started to enter the outter suburbs of New York when the heat light on Terry's car came on. We quickly decided we needed to stop and have it checked. We assumed that the car was overheating. It was very warm outside so we stopped at a place where they could check to see what was wrong. As I recall they flushed out our radiator and replaced the fluids. We then confidently started off again toward New York City. It was a Saturday as I recall and just as we started into the main part of the city, the heat light came on again. I remember our feelings just like it was yesterday. We slowed down and fortunately we were close to a gas station where we pulled into. We then got a good taste of the uncourtace attitude we had heard about with New Yorkers. This attentant came out, lifted up the hood of the car and said "Sorry Mac we don't work on cars on Saturdays...we just pump gas. Well gosh, what were we to do? We did the only thing we could think to do. We lifted the hood and let the car cool down. We then drove til the light came on again then stopped again and did the same thing......over and over all the way through the main part of New York City. We had not been on an interstate highway but as we slowly reached the highway leading South out of the city we spotted another gas station and decided to give it a try.
Solving Our Overheating Problem
This time a great big blackman came out and very pleasantly said "What can I do for you?" We told him our delemia. He then opened the hood and took off the radiator cap and stuck his finger down in the radiator. He called out to Terry, "Is your red heat light on now?" Terry answered affirmatively. The man said, "The only problem you have is a defective heat light bulb. He then gave us directions to a place where we could get a new blub. It required backtracking and getting on the toll express interstate. I was driving and I am not sure what happened except I went through the same toll booth 3 times because I didn't get on the right road. The last time I went through the toll booth, the girl attendant in the toll booth said...."Go ahead...this one id on the house!"
Finally we got to the auto parts place where we purchased a 35 cent blub, had it installed and we were back on the road again headed toward Washingto D.C.
Finally we arrived in Washington D.C. and went directly to a Holiday Inn where we checked in and decided that we would find a Grayline Tour Bus to take a tour of the city. We had attempted to drive but got more frustrated that it was worth. We then continued on towar our next destination.
Trip to Gettysburg, PA and the Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg was our last stop before returning to Iowa. We encountered a very interesting event as we spent time in Gettysburg. We went to a place that gave us information about tours of Gettysburg.
An older man got into our car and said he would give us the tour. So we decided to let him be our guide. As we followed his directions he began reliving the Battle of Gettysburg as if he were there, It was extremely interesting and we got a very good idea of what it was like during the battle.
Well we then headed back to Iowa after the tour was finished. This has been a long article, but I tried to give you an idea of a cool trip we took together,
