GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
Dan, like me, is a retired NYS superintendent of schools. He has been working at the University of NC, Greensboro for the past 7 years. With him, I toured the campus which was decorated by nature with gorgeous spring blooms.
Dan, me and spring at UNCG
I met Dan's family, including his precious grandsons. In addition to being a great cook (thanks again, Carmen, for the delicious meals!), Carmen is a fellow teddy bear collector. Below Penny meets several of Carmen's teddies.
After a wonderful few days with Dan and Carmen, I took Rte 40/85 to I-85 back onto I-95 to Fredericksburg, Virgina, where I spent the night.
The next day I drove to Maryland to see two friends I hadn't seen in many years. First, I had lunch in Elkton with Dexter, who is a friend from my Penn State days. The last time I saw Dexter, I went to Wooster, Ohio (where just coincidentally I went to college) to visit him while he was crop dusting, earning money for law school. Now, as well as practicing law in Maryland, he has served as a circuit court judge there for many years. We had a great reunion, reminiscing about several of our PSU escapades!
In the late afternoon, I headed south on Rte 213 to a restaurant on the Sassafras river for dinner with a family friend, Karl, who is retired from a Trenton State administrative position. For many years my Dad's family had an annual pig roast in Bowdoinham, Maine. Karl joined us each year and served as the official "pig carver"--great food and fun, great songs by the campfire, great memories still shared today!
Then back onto I-95 N across the Goethals bridge and Staten Island to Bay Ridge, where this magical journey began.
BACK IN BROOKLYN
Penny sat on a bench on the Shore Promenade while I wondered about constants and change in life. The tug boats were still "tugging" and the Verrazano still spanned 2 islands. Yet, instead of snow, Penny and I found tulips and forsythia in bloom. I wondered why I didn't see any gulls on the shore fence like I did in January. Penny wondered if the pigeons we saw instead of the gulls were relatives of Uncle Roy's pigeons in Florida. I wondered at how different I feel as a result of my trip experiences, and yet how much feels the same.
We checked on Grandma D who is recovering well from her broken hip and then, finally, wandered back upstate to our home.
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EPILOGUE
So . . . 9,029.1 miles later. In the last 3 months, I've been lost 17.1 times (the Garmin definitely helped reduce that final number); I listened to the last of my 2,520 IPOD songs on the 38th day of the trip; I took 1,133 pictures. I did not do well with my French and Italian language learning goals. I'm almost done with one French novel and completed 13 lessons in one of my Italian grammar books, 5 lessons in the other--I'll be revisiting and revising these language goals now that I'm home.
I came home to the glory of daffodils and spring trees in bloom. To the natural beauty, I added summer flowers in my cat planter that I got in Mexico. How quickly I've added some memories of my trip into my home life!
Spring on Bald Hill
Thank you, my friends across America, for the hospitality, the fun, the laughs and our wonderful adventures together as I explored the beauty of this great country over the past several months.
I've been asked if I'll go back and do my trip a second time. While there are places I'd like to revisit with more time to explore, I know I won't try to recapture the magic of my adventures by retracing this voyage--the constant of change in our lives insures that we can never relive an experience a second time. Enriching our lives with memories of our past, we need to be open to new adventures and new relationships--to find and experience the brilliance of a new color among the colors that are familiar to us.
What I do know is that I will continue to journey, to connect with old and new friends, to create new memories to add to these very special ones of my trip experiences.
And then, as I contemplate the rainbows, the waterfalls, the mountains and deserts, and the roses of tomorrow . . . I wonder where I'll wander next. . .
ON THE ROAD UPDATE
I reluctantly left New Port Richey, having had such a wonderful time with Susie and Chuck. I also think part of my reluctance was the realization that heading north meant going home--I wasn't sure I was ready to go home yet. I really must have some gypsy ancestry.
Nevertheless, north I went. I took Rte. 54 east to I-75 N to 40 W to I-95N--my destination, St. Augustine, one of my favorite places to visit.
Answers to the last adventure's questions:
The type of cooking associated with southern Louisiana is creole/cajun, frequently hot and spicy. Ponce De Leon landed in Florida at St. Augustine. Scientists are not sure what the homing mechanism is that pigeons use. Research has looked at sight, smell and a magnetism located in their bills. It may be a combination of those three things, or something that scientists have not yet identified.
ST. AUGUSTINE
Well, since sticking my foot in the Ponce De Leon springs in the national park in western Florida didn't work any "younger" magic on me, I decided to go to St. Augustine to see if the original Fountain of Youth would work. (Actually, I went to St. Augustine because it is such a fascinating historical place--
I wasn't putting much hope in a Fountain of Youth experience.)
My first stop was St. Augustine beach. Thanks to some great college kids I met on the beach, I have a picture of me in the Atlantic Ocean similar to the one of me in the Pacific, so I can say that I truly travelled across America from "sea to shining sea".
Atlantic Ocean
My next stop was to see the famous St. Augustine light house, then on to the center of St. Augustine to walk through some of it's marvelous history.
St. Augustine Light house
As you know already, St. Augustine is where Ponce de Leon landed in search of the Fountain of Youth. I saw his imposing statue in his downtown memorial square.
St. Augustine's history is packed with stories of pirates and ghosts. Yes, in addition to my new found belief in extra-terrestrials from Roswell, New Mexico, I developed a new appreciation for the existence of spirits from my tour in St. Augustine. Below is a picture of the St. Augustine jail, where certain ghosts have been witnessed by many over time.
Ponce De Leon St. Augustine pirate
St. Augustine jail
My last stop in St. Augustine, of course, was the Fountain of Youth. I was dumfounded to find it closed! For the record, if you want to recapture some youth at the Fountain of Youth, you have to do it before 6 pm on a Sunday!
Fountain of Youth
Well, no younger and definitely older, albeit wiser, I drove north to Greensboro, North Carolina to visit my friend, Danny and his wife, Carmella.
Travelling north on I-95 through Georgia, I took a northwest turn on Rte. 24/87 to Rte. 421 onto Danny and Carmella's house.
