6.22.18. Friday. Springfield, Virginia to Portsmouth, New Hampshire (via Maine), United States.
We departed from North Springfield, Virginia in the early morning, bound for our first night’s stop just across the New Hampshire border in Kittery, Maine. While this was mostly intended to be a day of hard riding, we broke it up with bonus hunting for the Tour of Honor and the Team Strange Melting Pot rallies plus some geocaching.
The geocaching challenge that Jeff set out for us was to find geocaches in each of 10 different states or territories (i.e., District of Columbia) on the same day. So, we started with a bit of DC history: a rain pipe marked “Alexandria DC” in Alexandria VA (formerly Alexandria DC under the original boundaries of DC), and the eastern most boundary stone for DC. We proceeded north via Maryland (nice historic markers and memorials at the rest areas, including one to women in the military), Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, geocaching along the way, to Connecticut, for its state liberty bell (a Melting Pot bonus). We had a fun unscheduled geocache at a Hudson River overlook. Jeff stopped for the view and I assumed it was for a cache, since there was one showing on the map; appropriately named “Love is a Wild Ride.” Jeff didn’t know there was a geocache there but enjoyed taking photos of me doing the limbo under low hanging tree limbs as I scrambled to get it.
We stopped for a very quirky virtual geocache in Manchester CT commemorating 9-11 victims. The site was a jumbled collection of memorial markers for fire and rescue people, with a variety of bells, call boxes, fire hydrants, stone markers, bushes, railings, and flags -- more memorials per square foot than a cemetery, commemorating heroic events and people, living and dead, plus dogs. Very odd. Touching and moving. But odd.
We hit rain very early in the trip, and then terrible traffic in Connecticut. Connecticut’s Liberty Bell replica is in the Connecticut State Capitol and we arrived only 5 minutes before closing. We whizzed into the restricted parking area reserved for the state representatives, which was closest to the entrance and otherwise almost empty except for a news team using the Capitol building as a backdrop. The guards were quite friendly, and notwithstanding the late hour, they let us in and directed us to the bell.
We had recently realized that we had erred on all our prior attempts to complete liberty bell bonuses by failing to get a receipt from the town where the bell was located, as required by the rules. (The bells are replicas, so you can’t easily tell them apart; hence the receipt as proof of the location.) So, this time we found a local Dunkin Donuts and got our receipt. Many miles later and far too late to turn back, (after I reread the rules yet again) we realized that Liberty Bell bonuses required (1) a photo of the bell with the flag in it; (2) a photo of the bike and the flag, if the bike wasn’t in the first picture; and (3) a receipt from the town where the bell was located in order to verify the visit. We had only the photo of the bell and flag, taken inside the Capitol, and the receipt! So, Connecticut became the FIFTH state (preceded by Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Kentucky) where we visited a bell but failed to complete all the requirements to claim it for Melting Pot points.
Mass Pike traffic was also terrible, so we took a round-about way to New Hampshire. Jeff pointed out that one of Massachusetts’ virtues is that it’s not a big state, especially, north to south. Having received 7 of my approximately 7.5 to 8 years of higher education in Massachusetts, I can attest that Massachusetts has other virtues too, plus a number of not so wonderful features.
We headed to Concord NH for its Liberty Bell and a nearby virtual geocache (John Gilbert Winnant memorial). It was hard to reach the right location because of a street festival that caused us to be routed in circles for a bit. The bell was on the state house grounds, but it was pitch black, so we criss-crossed the lawn until we practically stumbled on it in the dark. But, we got our picture of the bell with the flag and then a picture of the bike with the flag and then the virtual geocache. On the way out of town we noted there was a movie playing in the middle of the main street, as part of the festival, with people seated on cushions in the road. What a great idea to do it in the street instead of the lawn – no (or few) mosquitos! Happily chatting, we left Concord.
Were you paying attention to what we did? We obviously weren’t. We left without a Concord receipt! Fortunately, we were just across the city border when I gasped, realizing we had just blown our sixth state Liberty Bell attempt. Jeff slammed into a U-turn so fast that I nearly got whiplash. Receipt secured. The first bell that we completed correctly! (Fortunately, we happened to have bike photos at the location in Connecticut, and we were able to use one of our two allowed “alibis” to claim Connecticut. Later in the year we returned to the West Virginia and Kentucky bells and did those correctly on the second attempt. We also got Ohio, and on this trip, Maine, Vermont and New York.)
Earlier, our hotel in Kittery ME called to say it had a plumbing leak and it was moving us to the Days’ Inn (a 1.5-star Yelp-rated Days Inn) down the road. Then the clerk called back to say that – since the same company owned it – we had been relocated to the Hampton Inn in Portsmouth. All complementary. Win! We like Hamptons but had by-passed this one because it was expensive.
We got to Portsmouth late at night, but still needed to cross into Maine to get the last of our 10 geocaches before midnight. Found one at the Maine welcome center, just over the border. Done! 10 jurisdictions in one day!
Then back to New Hampshire for some late night grub at IHOP and the Hampton Inn. It was a perfectly normal Hampton Inn, which is to say, totally satisfactory, except for the slow, late night check-in service. The only night clerk was off getting a crib when we arrived, and the door was locked, but another guest let us in. Eventually we got to our room and collapsed after a long day of riding.
We departed from North Springfield, Virginia in the early morning, bound for our first night’s stop just across the New Hampshire border in Kittery, Maine. While this was mostly intended to be a day of hard riding, we broke it up with bonus hunting for the Tour of Honor and the Team Strange Melting Pot rallies plus some geocaching.
The geocaching challenge that Jeff set out for us was to find geocaches in each of 10 different states or territories (i.e., District of Columbia) on the same day. So, we started with a bit of DC history: a rain pipe marked “Alexandria DC” in Alexandria VA (formerly Alexandria DC under the original boundaries of DC), and the eastern most boundary stone for DC. We proceeded north via Maryland (nice historic markers and memorials at the rest areas, including one to women in the military), Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, geocaching along the way, to Connecticut, for its state liberty bell (a Melting Pot bonus). We had a fun unscheduled geocache at a Hudson River overlook. Jeff stopped for the view and I assumed it was for a cache, since there was one showing on the map; appropriately named “Love is a Wild Ride.” Jeff didn’t know there was a geocache there but enjoyed taking photos of me doing the limbo under low hanging tree limbs as I scrambled to get it.
We hit rain very early in the trip, and then terrible traffic in Connecticut. Connecticut’s Liberty Bell replica is in the Connecticut State Capitol and we arrived only 5 minutes before closing. We whizzed into the restricted parking area reserved for the state representatives, which was closest to the entrance and otherwise almost empty except for a news team using the Capitol building as a backdrop. The guards were quite friendly, and notwithstanding the late hour, they let us in and directed us to the bell.
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| Connecticut State Capitol |
Mass Pike traffic was also terrible, so we took a round-about way to New Hampshire. Jeff pointed out that one of Massachusetts’ virtues is that it’s not a big state, especially, north to south. Having received 7 of my approximately 7.5 to 8 years of higher education in Massachusetts, I can attest that Massachusetts has other virtues too, plus a number of not so wonderful features.
Were you paying attention to what we did? We obviously weren’t. We left without a Concord receipt! Fortunately, we were just across the city border when I gasped, realizing we had just blown our sixth state Liberty Bell attempt. Jeff slammed into a U-turn so fast that I nearly got whiplash. Receipt secured. The first bell that we completed correctly! (Fortunately, we happened to have bike photos at the location in Connecticut, and we were able to use one of our two allowed “alibis” to claim Connecticut. Later in the year we returned to the West Virginia and Kentucky bells and did those correctly on the second attempt. We also got Ohio, and on this trip, Maine, Vermont and New York.)
Earlier, our hotel in Kittery ME called to say it had a plumbing leak and it was moving us to the Days’ Inn (a 1.5-star Yelp-rated Days Inn) down the road. Then the clerk called back to say that – since the same company owned it – we had been relocated to the Hampton Inn in Portsmouth. All complementary. Win! We like Hamptons but had by-passed this one because it was expensive.
We got to Portsmouth late at night, but still needed to cross into Maine to get the last of our 10 geocaches before midnight. Found one at the Maine welcome center, just over the border. Done! 10 jurisdictions in one day!
Then back to New Hampshire for some late night grub at IHOP and the Hampton Inn. It was a perfectly normal Hampton Inn, which is to say, totally satisfactory, except for the slow, late night check-in service. The only night clerk was off getting a crib when we arrived, and the door was locked, but another guest let us in. Eventually we got to our room and collapsed after a long day of riding.
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