Though our 4 nights in Washington DC is not really part of the “Moppin’ It Up Tour”, we thought we would include just a few of its highlights if nothing else but to act as a memory for us in the years ahead.

On Saturday we travelled by Metro over to Arlington and took the trolley tour around the Military Cemetery. While this may seem a rather strange “tourist attraction” it is nevertheless an important part of US history.  The cemetery is one of the largest military Cemeteries in the US with around 430,000 graves and between 25 to 30 burials a day. We visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and observed the changing of the guard there. We also saw JFK’s final resting place; it was chosen by Jackie Kennedy as JFK had visited about 8 months before his assassination and he’d been touched by the peace there, saying he could stay for the rest of his life there. Also, the guides suggest you stop at another location for the spectacular views over the city, they’re right.

Yesterday we enjoyed a Father’s Day breakfast of Eggs Chesapeake (an eggs benedict made with crab cakes rather than ham – and really good it is too) at The Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest saloon in Washington DC. Then we walked down to the White House and subsequently into Georgetown, a suburb to the west of the city. Truth be told, there wasn’t too much to view there, although there was a nice river walk along the Potomac, with views across to the suburb of Roslyn. No Cold Stone Creamery, so had to make do with an ice cream from Hagen-Daz.

Today has been spent in three of the Smithsonian museums. Bill wanted to revisit the Air and Space Museum, to properly see the original Wright Flyer, in which the Wright brothers made the first successful powered flight. When we were here with the kids, he and Andrew just had a sneak preview, as the exhibit was being built at the time. Our second museum was the Natural history museum. The usual dinosaurs, giant sharks, etc. Our final stop was the Museum Of American History. In some ways we were left wanting here. Although the exhibits were more about the cultural history of the country than its ‘history’, to us it didn’t capture this in sufficient depth, seeming sadly superficial.

On a final note, it has been quite a trip visiting so many “new” states. We tried hard to choose the highlights but have come to the conclusion that no individual attraction or place should be placed higher than any other. It is very much the sum of all its parts.  It’s sad to say goodbye to this chapter of our lives that has taken 7 years of planning and execution, and over 20,000 miles of travel through 46 States – we had visited Florida (numerous times) and Maine (in 2010) with the kids .

Truth be told it’s been one hell of an enjoyable and interesting ride!

Hurrah, 6089 miles done and car returned to Avis. We’ve reached Washington DC for three full days of rest and taking it easy before flying home. 

First stop on our final leg was in Wilmington, Delaware, our 48th and last new State (ironic as Delaware was the first state of the modern USA). Dawn missed taking a photo of the “Welcome to Delaware” sign as we were trying to work out which lane to take at the toll booths. Went for a short walk alongside the Delaware River, but it was overcast and a bit breezy, so we stopped for a coffee and then made our way back to the car. 

Our second stop was another graveyard; to see the grave of John Wilkes Booth, the actor who murdered Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865. This was in Baltimore, the city in which Booth spent his boyhood. Although his grave is only marked by a small, unmarked headstone, it is easy to spot in the family plot (and the cemetery’s office hands out maps too!). People leave pennies (cents to you and us) on the top of the gravestone – as if to give Lincoln (whose face is on the coin) the final word.  Sounds strange, maybe, but for us it completes our journey through the story of Lincoln.

A final 18 miles, which took much longer than we anticipated due to a couple of stopped cars on the hard-shoulder which people seemed to be ogling, resulting in unnecessary queues. Strange, as we’d not met much of that in the prior 6000 miles; we were asking ourselves why the Baltimore Washington Parkway was so different? However, we managed to return the car by the due time. 

Spent this afternoon enjoying the sunshine and renewing our acquaintance with the sights of Washington. 

Our penultimate day of driving, all within the State of New Jersey. Our first stop this morning was in Westfield, the birthplace of the cartoonist Charles Addams, creator of the Addams Family. The house on Elm Street inspired his cartoon drawing of the Addams Family home.

Then off to the site of Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park labs. You may recall that Henry Ford moved the surviving buildings to Greenfield Village, Dearborn, so they are no longer there. But the world’s largest lightbulb, atop the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower, is. And within that tower we noticed that there was a lightbulb on a pedestal in the bottom of the tower. From what we read it would seem this bulb was lit on 21 October 1929, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Edison’s perfection of the light bulb, and is still burning.

Then off to Princeton University. We couldn’t find an organised tour, so took ourselves for a wander around the older part of the University buildings, after a delicious crepe lunch at Jammin’ Crepes a place Bill had seen on Diner’s, Dine-ins and Dives. The uni was established in 1756, and once again, some beautiful buildings. 

We then headed for Grover’s Mill (in West Windsor Township) the real town where the fictional aliens in Orson Welles “War Of The Worlds” landed. A bronze monument to the event was erected about 20 years ago, but we couldn’t spot it. Turns out it was just a bit further along the road from the address we’d found for it – but without internet access we didn’t find that out until we got to our hotel. ☹️

It’s strange, for five weeks we have been fortunate to dodge the worst of the weather with just the occasional shower; but tonight, as we sit writing this blog, the TV programme has been interrupted to broadcast a Tornado warning for Burlington where we are currently staying – go figure.

Earliest start we’ve had this holiday today, to ensure we got to West Point to sign in before 9am as stipulated in our booking information. Duly arrived with 20 minutes to spare; spent 10 of those trying to fathom exactly where we needed to go to check in, to work out it was the Visitor Centre itself which didn’t open until 9 anyhow. Could have had an extra 1/4 hour in bed!

We were taken on a tour of the university; yes West Point is one, the candidates come out with a degree as well as army leadership skills. They have to agree to stay in the services for a minimum of 5 years and then another 3 years in the reserves. They also cannot have any family commitments- partner or kids – as they work too hard. That includes the MacArthur hour each evening, where they must play a team sport. General MacArthur instigated this as he felt that students would appreciate and be more willing to work as a team to achieve whatever is needed. Their physical tests seemed pretty light to us, tested every 6 months they must run 2 miles, and do 2 minutes each of press ups and sit ups. After all they are officer cadets!

As usual with US universities and the like, some beautiful buildings and grounds. The views were pretty spectacular too, as the base was originally set up at a strategic point on the Hudson River, to prevent the Brits from passing upriver and joining with forces and supplies from Canada. West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the US. 

Then off on an hours’ drive to reach the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. This is the site of Edison’s second lab complex, where he worked on the development of the phonograph, the kinetograph (motion picture camera) and the kinetoscope (viewing device). We saw a demonstration of an early phonograph, where the guide played a recording made over 100 years ago. We also saw a reconstructed ‘Black Maria’ the world’s first motion picture studio in 1893. In 1894 Edison copyrighted the first motion picture, a record of a sneeze! Have to say Edison and his muckers (the team of men and women he worked with on his inventions) were responsible for a lot more than the development of a practical incandescent electric light. 

Full day today. Started off in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University, a short video followed by a student led tour. It was good to learn that Yale positively mix up their students, by subject matter and cultural mix, to ensure diversity throughout the university. One of our guides is on the lacrosse team (lacrosse is a surprisingly big thing over here – it’s regularly on TV), and he said the team was split up so that there was only one of them in each of the halls. They also try to ensure that anyone can afford to come to the uni, with students whose family earns less than $65,000 not needing any parental contribution. 

It’s much more a city campus than Harvard, but the original buildings are constructed around a quadrangle with other, earlier buildings built around it. Many of the main buildings were designed by architect James Gamble Rogers. Rogers was keen to make the buildings look older than they actually are.  One building looks as if it has been scorched by fire – it was. Rogers hung bales of hay around it and burned them so that the brickwork became blackened, making it look even older! The uni is also secular; so when Rogers submitted his designs for a huge gothic cathedral on the campus he was turned down. So he went away and thought about it, then changed the engraving on the cathedral to say library and resubmitted the plans. That’s why Yale’s Library looks remarkably like a Cathedral! 

Then to Hyde Park, New York to visit the Franklin D Roosevelt museum and library, and home. We saw an introductory video, then took a ranger led tour of Franklin and Eleanor’s home. Unfortunately we got there a bit later than planned, due to some hold-ups along the way, so had only an hour in the Presidential Museum itself. It is the first museum built by a sitting president, and he actually used his home and his office in the library as President. We were aware Roosevelt had suffered from polio, but it was eye opening to understand that he was paralysed from the waist down, although he worked really hard to disguise this fact from the public at large. 

A short drive to our first curb side stop to look at the Big Blue Bug (Nibbles Woodaway). But the info Bill had found on it didn’t tell you that you can’t really see it from street level for all the street furniture, so we weren’t able to view it in all its glory. 

Then into Connecticut for a tour of Mark Twain’s home. Well, technically it was his wife’s, and they did only live in it for 17 years. We’re not greatly au fait with his works, but Samuel Clements (his real name), was a successful journalist before becoming an author. Learning about his family life and what led to his works was interesting and the home was beautiful. The couple were monied and had built and decorated an elegant home. Samuel wrote 7 books while resident there including Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and the Prince and the Pauper. It was also interesting to understand their views on non-discrimination many years before the Civil Rights movement and learn that they treated their black and white servants equally. Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and an equal rights activist herself) was his neighbour, but the tour there would have involved discussions with fellow tourers of matters of inequality today, and we didn’t feel comfortable with that, so gave it a miss. Just down the road was also an abandoned diner – of the iconic chrome and steel design. It’s been empty for a while, but looks as if someone was doing something inside possibly to restart it?

Then we headed for New Haven. We had intended to visit Yale University and possibly also the lighthouse. But it was raining fairly heavily by the time we reached the town, so we had to give these a miss for today. Hope to catch a guided tour of Yale tomorrow morning instead. 

Interesting fact.  On the way here we passed Manchester and Bolton. There are days I question the accuracy of my TomTom!

First stop today was Plymouth, the landing place of the Mayflower in 1620. Parked up just in time to catch the parade celebrating the centenary of the American Legion. 

Took a little bit of a look around this very pleasant seaside town – not much like Blackpool, please be assured. We stumbled across a sign noting a guided walk around the area. So we joined this Ranger led tour: it only covered about half a mile, and our guide said it would take 30-35 minutes. Well our guide certainly knew his stuff (he had studied American history to an advanced level) and he told a very good story, but it did take him the best part of an hour. We finished our tour at the top of Cole’s Hill (apparently not related to the UK’s towns nor Dawn’s maiden name of Coleshill). Our guide pointed out a blur on the horizon which is the monument placed where the Pilgrims actually first made landfall in what is now called Provincetown at the northern end of Cape Cod. Then took a close look at the actual Plymouth Rock, which was somewhat smaller than we’d anticipated. 

For lunch we sought out the Guy Fueri Triple D recommendation Blue Eyed Crab.  We chose the two dishes he reviewed on the program – Banana Garlic Chicken Wings and a Plantain burrito. We weren’t particularly impressed with the burrito but both of us really enjoyed the wings.  Who knew wings and banana could possibly work!

By this time it was clear that getting to the Lizzie Borden house in time for the last tour was no longer possible so we decided to just enjoy the local vibe and the sun.

So our second stop was Falmouth; we’d just picked a spot from the map from where we thought we’d be able to see Martha’s Vineyard. Lovely beach in a quiet part of town with a view across the bay to the island. Been there, seen it!!

As we said, we had hoped to take tour of the house in which Lizzie Borden is believed to have murdered her parents (the childhood rhyme “Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks, When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one”).  We passed by and got the photo but didn’t manage to see inside.

After booking into our hotel, we drove to Brown University (2014 graduate Emma Watson). As usual with these long established American universities, some lovely old academic buildings and grounds. But the Untitled (Lamp/Bear) sculpture seemed somewhat out of place. We had to respect the Slavery Memorial and it’s honest recognition of how the university benefited from that trade. 

A short update today. We’d planned a few stops on today’s journey, but when planning the detailed route last night found that two of them no longer existed! Then, this morning we went to pick up sandwiches from a deli near the hotel with a good reputation, to discover they don’t make any on a Saturday. So the day didn’t get off to an auspicious start. 

However, we drove from Syracuse, New York to Milford, Massachusetts today, just over 300 miles without mishap. Massachusetts is quite green and much more undulating than we’ve been used to of late – there was even a sign noting that at 1724 feet we were at the highest pint since Oacoma, South Dakota. 

We made one short stop in Troy, NY to visit the grave of Uncle Sam. Sam Wilson made his living as a meat packer in Troy; during the war of 1812, Sam (who was well known to, and well liked by, locals) was contracted with supplying meat to troops for New York and New Jersey. The barrels of meat were stamped “US” before being sent to the soldiers. Thanks, in part, to the soldiers from Troy who knew him, many soldiers equated their meat rations with “ US” – “Uncle” Sam Wilson. The legend grew and evolved into the image of the white-bearded man wearing Stars and Stripes we know today. Sam was originally buried elsewhere, but has been reburied in Oakwood Cemetery, and was made the official Uncle Sam by Congress in 1961. 

Nice Thai meal tonight, a refreshing change from all the American food we have encountered. 

Remember “I love Lucy” or the other Lucille Ball series? Having visited the Luci-Desi Museum this morning, there’s more to that lady than you think. For instance, she supported the production of Star Trek when one of the main studios turned it down – and look what a phenomenon that became. Their production company was also responsible for Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, The Dick Van Dyke Show amongst others. The museum covered the family lives of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, their marriage and the subsequent very successful production company they set up. We also visited Lucy’s grave as the cemetery was near our hotel.

The recently opened National Comedy Museum was our second stop. Opened last August, it covers the history of American comedy from Charlie Chaplin to today’s comedians, from vaudeville to Twitter. There weren’t just exhibits such as Charlie Chaplin’s cane, but interactive presentations to identify visitors humour preferences; both of us were analysed as enjoying observational comedy the most. An absorbing few hours, to the extent that we were somewhat later leaving Jamestown than we’d planned. We did leave with smiles on our faces though, as when you leave they give you a Joke to go:

“I have an Epipen. 

                 My friend gave it to me when he was dying, it seemed very important to him that I have it.”

“You know why you never see elephants hiding in a tree?

                Because they’re really good at it.”

Then a 217 mile journey to Syracuse. It’s basically just a stop along the way back to the East Coast of the US. We’re staying at the hotel we visited on our Freedom and Fall tour in 2014, an historical hotel, which gives us the opportunity to revisit Pastabilities, which we enjoyed last time and has recently reappeared on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. 

Fifteen miles outside of Syracuse we notched up our 5,000th mile of this trip!

Another long drive today, over 300 miles, starting in Michigan, passing through Ohio and Pennsylvania and finishing in New York State.

Our first stop turned out to be within a few hundred yards of the hotel, and we hadn’t realised it was there. It is the worlds biggest tyre, originally a Ferris wheel at the 1964 New York World’s Fair during the height of America’s love affair with the car. The giant Uniroyal Tire held 24 gondolas each carrying four people around the tire, all powered by a 100hp motor. The interior of the tyre is some 120,576 feet and were the tire to actually fit on a car, the car would be over 200 feet high. Pretty impressive.

Not sure how many of you will recall Corporal Klinger of M*A*S*H fame, but I’m reliably informed that he regularly referred to a hot-dog café called Tony Packo’s in Toledo, Ohio. It’s famous for the stale buns signed by celebrities that line its walls; such a shame it wasn’t open when we passed by.

Then on to the town of Erie, Pennsylvania on the shores of Lake Erie. Despite the fact we were following the Lake Erie Circle Tour/ the Coastal Ohio Trail, we didn’t see the lake itself until we stopped to take a look at the USS Niagara, which was built and used to protect the shores of Lake Erie against the British. Originally sunk in 1820, partially refurbished after around 100 years and almost completely rebuilt in 1988, its unsure exactly how much of the original ship actually exists. But it’s still sailed during the summer months across the Great Lakes. Whilst here we also came across a 9/11 Memorial, containing a piece of the structure from the Twin Towers. 

Our final fleeting stop was at a quirky collection of outside art displayed on the roadside in rural Erie. It’s called Schaefer’s Auto Art, and consists of some unconventional statues made from bits of old cars and trucks. Unfortunately Bill didn’t see much of it, as there’s just a bit of graveled roadside parking and there was a fair flow of traffic, so he couldn’t get out of the car!