Journey's End - Campobello Island

As of September 5, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Steps: 4,842,494
Miles: 2035.00

Totals To Date (starting July 1, 2005) as of September 5, 2008 at 7:30 PM
Steps: 18,900,993
Miles: 8099.72



Measuring 9 miles long and about 3 miles wide, Campobello Island is a Canadian island located at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, and within the Bay of Fundy. The island is part of New Brunswick but is physically connected by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge with Lubec, Maine - the eastern-most tip of the continental United States.

In addition to the Lubec bridge, the island is accessible in the summer months by an automobile ferry from nearby Deer Island and from there via another ferry to mainland New Brunswick. The island's permanent population in 2001 was 1,195.

The island was originally settled by the Passamaquoddy Nation who called it Ebaghuit. Can you say, "Ebaghuit"?

Years ago, Campobello Island became the exclusive home to several private American investors. A luxurious resort hotel was built and the island became a popular summer colony for wealthy Canadians and Americans, many of whom built grand estates there.



Included in this group was Sara Delano and her husband James Roosevelt Sr. from New York. Sara Delano had a number of Delano cousins living in Maine and Campobello offered a beautiful summer retreat where their family-members could easily visit. From 1883 onward, the Roosevelt family made Campobello Island their summer home.

Their son, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, future President of the United States, would spend his summers on Campobello from the age of one until, as an adult, he acquired a larger property - a 34 room "cottage" - which he would use as a summer retreat until 1939.

It was at Campobello, in August 1921, that Roosevelt fell ill with polio.

Got to run, errr.. walk! I got a job as a personal delivery courier and have a plane to catch! Tori's waiting for her stuff!

Mile 2006 - Machias, Maine

The word Machias is Passamaquoddy (native american indian) for "bad little falls." Located on the Machias River, the town was settled in 1763 by settlers from Scarborough, England.

Machias is best known as the site of the first naval battle of the American Revolution. This battle, which occurred in June 1775 took place after the townspeople refused to provide the British with lumber for building 'occupation' barracks, led to the capture of the armed schooner HMS Margaretta by settlers under Captain Jeremiah O'Brien and Capt. Benjamin Foster.

Later, in the 19th century, Machias developed into a major railroad center for northern lumber operations. It was this lumber that was used to build many sailing ships. The one nearest and dearest to me was the Lucy Evelyn.



The building of the schooner Lucy Evelyn was the realization of a lifelong dream of Captain Everett C. Lindsey of Machias, Maine. At sea since he was a boy of fourteen, his youthful ambition was to build a ship of his own. When the ship Edna, of which he was in command, was sold, the long awaited opportunity presented itself. Through the backing of a group of friends and the Machias Lumber Company, the building of his ship was made possible. Her keel was laid early in 1917 near the Captain’s home in Machias.

This ship was launched on Thanksgiving Day. Her hull, then painted a gleaming white, was a familiar sight in the ports of Nova Scotia, Havana, Puerto Rico, the Barbadoes, Philadelphia, South Carolina, and the Virgin Islands. She had a long and colorful career that lasted until the end of World War II.

On April 12, 1948 Captain Costa brought her limping into New Bedford, Massachusetts without a saleable cargo - where she was tossed by the stormy waters of litigation. Her seamen sued for back wages, alleging near starvation, and the lack of housing them ashore, as well as scurvy and the lack of medicine. The inevitable announcement appeared in the press as the Lucy Evelyn was put on the block to pay wages. The Federal Court in Boston appraised her at $4500 in the condition she was then in but the auction, conducted in Boston, brought only a meager $1550.

Alas, the Lucy Evelyn had made her last voyage under sail. The vessel was ignobly towed to Beach Haven, New Jersey, where she was beached and turned into a gift shop, to be remembered by thousands of people who have visited her - like me, my brothers and parents, and especially by my Grandmother who loved to see the changing displays of merchandise.

More pictures and information



The top-sail schooner Lucy Evelyn was 140 feet long, had a 32 foot beam, and took 10 feet of water to float. She caught fire on a cold rainy winter night and sadly burned to the ground in 1972. She is still remembered with the utmost fondness by the residents of Beach Haven.



This postcard, printed a few years before the Lucy Evelyn burned - also evokes strong "sailing" memories for me. Fortunately, the Beach Haven Yatch Club building is still standing and still used daily during the summer months for aspiring young sailors learning how to sail like the commodore. Occasionally there are parties there where Thirstin and Lovey Howell III-types attend - ever mindful to keep their pinkies held high as they drink their tea.

Source of the Lucy Evelyn History

Mile 1864 - Augusta, Maine

As of August 15, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 4,477,874
Miles: 1880.60
Miles to Canada: 155.40


Augusta, Maine - The turrented building in the center of the picture is the Post Office building built in 1890.

Augusta is the capital of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population is about 18,560. Located on the Kennebec River at the head of tide, it is home to the University of Maine at Augusta.

The area was first explored by members of the ill-fated Popham Colony in September 1607 who abandoned the area by early 1609.

The Popham Colony was a project of the Plymouth Company, which was one of the two competing parts of the proprietary Virginia Company that King James I set up in 1606 to raise private funds from investors in order to settle Virginia. At the time, the name "Virginia" applied to the entire northeast coast of North America from the Carolinas to Quebec in modern-day Canada.

The first ship built by the English in the New World was completed 1607/1608 and was sailed back across the Atlantic Ocean to England. The pinnace, named Virginia of Sagadahoc, was apparently quite seaworthy, and crossed the Atlantic again successfully in 1609 as part of Sir Christopher Newport's "rescue" mission to Jamestown, Virginia.

The Augusta, Maine area was first inhabited by English settlers from the Plymouth Colony (not to be confused with the Plymouth Company) in 1629 as a trading post on the Kennebec River. The settlement was known by its Indian name -- Cushnoc, meaning "head of tide."

The Plymouth Colony holds a special role in American history. Rather than being entrepreneurs like many of the settlers of Jamestown, the citizens of the Plymouth Colony were fleeing religious persecution and searching for a place to worship God as they saw fit. The social and legal systems of the colony were thus closely tied to their religious beliefs. These people, of course, were known as the Pilgrims.

The Plymouth Colony abandoned the Kennebec area in 1661.


The Kalmar Nyckel - This ship is a replica of a pinnace, constructed in about 1625, that carried Swedish settlers to establish the colony of New Sweden in 1628, an area that is now Wilmington, Delaware. It is open for tours and takes frequent cruises in the summer months.

The Facts of Life

As of August 8, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Steps: 4,349,576
Miles: 1826.07

I know Blogger is a "free" service so I don't have any real complaints about it - I'll joke about its quirks at times but - hey you get what you pay for - and in this case, I'm getting far more than I'm paying for...

As with anything in life, things go wrong from time to time - I get this error when attempting to "Edit Posts":



So I can't edit my previous entries - and the annoying typos and grammatical mistakes in the previous entry really bother me :)

Moreover, I drafted a couple Virtual Walker entries and cannot get in there to post them - today the Virtual Walker is strolling the aisles of L. L. Bean in Freeport, Maine. If you never been there... its quite an experience and Old Leon Leonwood would be proud.

However, I can post new entries but I'll keep them really short, simple and sweet until I can edit them once more.

Update: Saturday, August 9, 2008. Thank you all for you comments and suggestions. I cleared out the electronic debris on my computer (I do so fairly regularly) and rebooted to no avail. I then tried the refresh route and had no luck. I went to the Blogger help forum and found many other people having the same trouble and a link to a blogger problem report page where I added my "me too". When Blogger was restarted Friday evening after an outage - my problem was fixed. Thank you all - and thank you Blogger help folks.

Mile 1786 - Milton Mills, NH

As of August 2, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 4,260,341
Miles: 1788.09

I certainly wouldn't want anyone to think that New Hampshire only has three-eyed fish floating upside down in the inlets around the nuclear power plant (insert the deadest of deadpan voices here) as much as an attraction that they are. Nor would I want anyone thinking that the natives all go to the town dumps to watch the bears amble along (end deadpan voice here). In fact, I want very much to get to Lake Winnipesaukee some day soon.


Located along the Maine border, the village of Milton Mills was once called "Shapleigh Mills" and during the 19th century had 4 shoe factories, 2 woolen mills, 1 felt mill, 1 carriage shop and many sawmills that used water power from the Salmon Falls River.

When my mom's parents retired, they moved out of the City of Boston into the "boonies" of New Hampshire. My grandfather wanted to get away from it all, and needed only a place to buy a cigar, the daily newspaper, some gas for the car, and occasional groceries.

Milton Mills just barely had (and still just barely has) those "essentials" of life. Grandma was dismayed, having never learned how to drive, and always having a street car right out the right door that would take her anywhere she wanted to go. And having lived in the shadow of Fenway Park, everything she could possibly wanted was within a few blocks - including the famous Filene's department store where she could join in the pushing and shoving with the other ladies during the big sales at Downtown Crossing. When the bruising Filene's crowd was too much, she could go to across the street to the more regal Jordan Marsh, which is now Macy's department store.

Taken from the everyday convenience of urban living and plunked in Milton Mills must of been a bit of a shock.

The lived in an old farmhouse a couple miles out of the town itself - not that there was much distinction - the town consisted of a couple cross streets and a back alley.

My Grandmother made the best of it, making do with a hand crank wringer washer and picking the wild strawberries in the big field out back - there was a neat wall made of piled stones near the edge of the woods where the berries grew - and making the most delicious jelly from them; and spending many a chilly evening sitting by the fire in the old stone mantled fireplace just watching the pine logs snap and pop.

(Insert totally innocent and earnest voice here) I can only wonder if she and Grandpa went to the town dump to watch the bears amble, if she did, she never took any pictures of them (end innocent and earnest voice here).


The Mill Pond at Milton Mills
- which stored the water that powered the mills

In 1872, Henry H. Townsend established The Miltonia Mills, which manufactured fine wool blankets used by Admiral Robert E. Peary on his expedition to the North Pole, and Admiral Richard E. Byrd at the Antarctic. The company went bankrupt in 1950. The building then became Greene Tanning, a leather tannery where the employees of the mill made raw leather into leather.


The Ruins of the Old Mill

In 1893 Jonas Spaulding opened a leather board mill, organizing the business as J. Spaulding and Sons which made lunch boxes and violin cases using leather board. So when you see an old gangster movie where they pull a machine gun out of a black violin case, the case might be a spaulding! The old adage in those days was, violin cases don't kill people, people with violin cases kill people.

The mills at Milton Mills have since largely fallen into ruins.

Belated Welcome to Maine

The territory that is now Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820. Maine is the northernmost portion of New England and is the easternmost state in the contiguous United States. It is known for its scenery — its jagged, mostly rocky coastline; its low, rolling mountains; and its heavily forested interior — as well as for its seafood cuisine, especially lobsters and clams.

My first visit to Maine included all the things for which Maine is known plus the huge tidal differences! I recall the change from low to high tide being easily ten feet - even in the southern part of Maine.


State Flag

The state motto that appears on the flag is "Dirigo" which means "I lead" or "I direct".

Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, as a component of the Missouri Compromise (which dealt with the extension of Slavery into new states.)


Portland Head Light

Trivia Question / Answer: Acadia National Park located in Maine is the only national park in New England.



State Symbols
State berry: Wild Blueberry
State bird: Black-capped Chickadee
State cat: Maine Coon
State fish: Land-locked salmon
State flower: White Pinecone and Tassel
State gemstone: Tourmaline
State herb: Wintergreen
State insect: European honey bee
State animal: Moose
State beverage: Moxie
State tree: Eastern White Pine

Here's a question for you - do you think our state lawmakers should have spent all the time they did dreaming up resolutions to make this and that the official state "whatzamacallit"?

Mile 1768 - Ogunquit, ME

I was going to write about the village of Ogunquit, Maine, a place the Abenaki Indians aptly named, "Beautiful Place By The Sea," but while some of my earliest memories (being 5 or 6 years old at the time) of Maine are of the beach here, I just couldn't get "into it."

Instead, I have been kind of lost in thought this morning. As a little boy, I would often be down the shore in the late autumn months - a time when the air has a chill in it, the breeze is unpredictable, and the sea birds are making the best of their last chances before winter comes. The sky is usually brilliant blue and for the first time in many months, without humid haze, letting you see as far as you can see.



I would sit on a blanket high on the beach on the sand dune - the cool sand contrasting with the warmth of the sun in my face while wearing a sweatshirt and shorts and just look out into the water. The gulls would wheel about in the sky calling to each other and on occasion, a person or two perhaps with their dog, would walk by down in the sand made firm and wet by the waves - the wind blowing up at irregular intervals would momentarily upset the birds in flight and tug at the hats the people wore.

The sound of the surf at low tide would be gentle, the crash of the water muted, and the gurgle of the water running up and down the beach soft and soothing. Migrating sandpipers would scamper along the edge of the water, trying to keep from getting wet.

The sun would shine on the water, and its rippling brilliance would be too intense to look at for long, so the eye would wander away from that and perhaps see sailboats, late season fishing boats, and ships making their way to and from where ever they were going. As I sat there growing more and more sleepy, I would look to the horizon and think to myself, what would I see if I could see all the way across to the other side?

Later, I would learn from my Dad that the country of Spain was directly across the ocean, with England and Ireland off to the left, and Iceland even further to the left. The Rock of Gibraltar would be just to the right, and the wide expanses of the Sahara Desert (filled with camels in my imagination at the time) with tribes of Pygmies in the forests a little further to the right. Africa also had Elephants, Rhinos and the stray Lion or too.

I would usually fall into a sound untroubled sleep after looking across the ocean and seeing that everything that was supposed to be there (as I imagined it) was in its proper place. Sometimes a pygmy bearing a shield and spear would be looking back at me - and wave.



While walking yesterday I was thinking about the stars overhead at night. I've often been in places blessed with nearly complete darkness, the Florida Keys for one, and have laid on my back looking up at them - just drinking in their splendor. I would note the brightest stars as they seem to seek out attention, but let them go into the whole of the sky.

I almost always marvel at how many of them their are and how many I can be looking at - but cannot see. The vast dome of the night sky makes me feel most insignificant. The huge number of stars separated by the huge distances staggers my mind and my feeble ability to hold them in place and examine them. Unlike the beach, where I can imagine what I would see, if I could but see far enough - I cannot do this with the evening sky. My thoughts usually tumble into fragments and I end up wondering why I am here - what is my insignificant role in all of this?

I end up thinking I often look without seeing - but settle myself with knowing, looking without seeing is an everyday thing for me. I can look at a person and not truly see them - the sense of sight does not let me know what thoughts are running through their minds - and the variety of such thoughts might well be as numerous as the stars, ranging from, "does my dog really like the brand of pet food I get them?", "should I dye my hair?", "this traffic really sucks today", to the more elegant ones such as "Oh! 2003 was a good year for this wine" to "the Cubs won again and that will make someone happy."

I apologize to those of you that wanted to "go" to Maine - and for the length of this stream of semi-conscious babble.

'Old' Hampshire - H.M.S. Victory

As of July 30, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 4,207,286
Miles: 1765.49
Miles to Finish Line: 280.51

The Virtual Walker decided to turn "sailor" for the day, and take a side trip to "Old" Hampshire, England.


This is the ship that could rightly claim to be the pride of Britain's Naval forces. She is Nelson's flagship, H.M.S. Victory, the World's oldest commissioned warship, which remains more or less as it was at the Battle of Trafalgar. After seeing almost 220 years of continuous service, the Victory remains at Portsmouth's Royal Naval Dockyard, she is still manned by Officers and Ratings, and fulfils both practical and ceremonial roles for the Royal Navy.

H.M.S. Victory is beautifully preserved, retaining the gracefulness of a well-built sailing ship and still having the artillery that made her the ship that ruled the high seas and gave Admiral Lord Nelson his triumphant, final victory. Her fighting prowess is the stuff legends are made of, at Trafalgar she had 100 guns and a crew of 800 men. Victory was one of the largest warships the Royal Navy sent into battle.


The ship took over six years to build, during this time the wood from over 6,000 trees was used of which 90% was oak. She was launched in 1765 at Chatham Dockyard and was commissioned in 1778. In terms of today's value, the estimated building cost of Victory would be a staggering fifty million pounds (roughly $100 million US!) - at the time she was built costs amounted to £63,175.00 / $125,000 US.

Victory is now famous as a floating museum, visitors can see relics of Admiral Nelson and his navy as well as model ships and magnificent figure-heads. The ship combines her role as museum with that of the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of Naval Home Command.


This historic ship offers everyone an interesting visit, one can explore at close quarters how it was that Nelson's tactics won the Battle of Trafalgar, thus making Victory and the British Navy the envy of the world.

After a visit, one can go up the road a ways and find a place to sit and enjoy both some refreshment and the natives penchant for lovely flower baskets and pots - you may even see a dandelion and a chicken or three somewhere.

Live free or die!

As of July 28, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 4,171,970
Miles: 1750.46
Miles to Maine: 4.51

Welcome to New Hampshire



The state flag is of the following color and design: The body or field is blue and bears upon its center in suitable proportion and colors a representation of the state seal. The seal is surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves with nine stars interspersed.

Capital City: Concord
Highest Point: Mt. Washington; 6,288 feet, 18th



The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, more commonly known as Seabrook Station, is a nuclear power plant located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, approximately 40 mi north of Boston and 10 mi (16 km) south of Portsmouth, NH. Initially two units (reactors) were planned, but the second unit was never completed due to construction delays, cost overruns and troubles obtaining financing. The construction permit for the plant was granted in 1976 and construction on Unit 1 was completed in 1986. Full power operation of Unit 1 began in 1990. Unit 2 has been cancelled and most of its major components sold to other plants.

The 1976 controversy involved the Clamshell Alliance, an anti-nuclear organization formed to protest the construction of the plant. Several small demonstrations at the site occurred in the lead-up to a massive occupation of Seabrook. More than 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance occupied the site in April, 1977. 1,414 of the activists were arrested and held for two weeks refusing bail.

New Hampshire activist Guy Chichester sawed down a Seabrook Station emergency warning siren pole, resulting in charges of "criminal mischief", a Class B felony. Although there was no doubt that he had cut down the pole, Chichester was acquitted.

In his appeal Chichester's lawyer Patrick Fleming argued that according to article 10 of the N.H. state constitution, any citizen has a right to act to protect his or herself when the state fails to do so, which is known as the Right of Revolution:

Article 10. Right of Revolution. - Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

Of Swans and Ducks...

Of Swans and Ducks... Boats that is...

As of July 21, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 4,068,105
Miles: 1706.23
Miles to New Hampshire: 38.77

The Virtual Walker is leaving Boston today and will be in New Hampshire before the week is over weather permitting. The Real World Walker has been struggling with tired legs, the heat and the humidity. I've enjoyed my "stay" in Boston - its my favorite city on the east coast.


Alix Porras' Impressionistic Swan Boat - Source

The Swan Boats are as much a part of Boston as the bean and the cod. They are the harbinger of Spring to native Bostonians. The Swan Boats are the only boats of their kind in the world. To the delight of the young and old each April for over 120 years, the Swan Boats have appeared in the Public Garden Lagoon. Pedal powered by their driver, they were "green" long before being green was "in".

The Public Garden, established in 1837, was the first public botanical garden in the United States. Today, with plants chosen for "ornamental excellence as well as its botanical diversity", it forms a green and flowering oasis in the heart of Boston. No visit to Boston would be complete without a relaxing stroll in the Garden and a ride on a Swan Boat.

The gardens, consisting of 24 acres, were developed from what was once marsh land, by George V. Meacham. Through the years, modifications to accommodate increasing traffic and availability of new plants have been made. Flower beds provide "glorious color from early April until the frosts of October," and thousands of plants are grown in city greenhouses are used to maintain a continuous ever-refreshing variety on display.

In 1859, by an Act of the Massachusetts Legislature, the Public Garden was preserved forever as an open space for the citizens of Boston.

Source



Boston Duck Tours operates a fleet of restored World War II era DUKWs. These amphibious vehicles played an important role in both the European and Pacific theaters during World War II. General Motors built 21,000 DUKWs during the war.



...the fun begins as soon as you board your "DUCK", a W.W.II style amphibious landing vehicle. First, you'll be greeted by one of their legendary ConDUCKtors, who'll be narrating your tour and be given quacking lessons so you can quack at passers-by to say "hello!" in the finest of style.



The tour route includes a loop around the Boston Public Gardens and Lagoon, Boston Commons, Faneuil Hall (and City Hall), a ride up to the north end (along the Freedom Trail) past the USS Constitution and around Breed's Hill (often confused with Bunker Hill), the Museum of Science and a ride in the Charles River under the Longfellow Bridge.

It will quack you up.

Source

Faneuil Hall

Faneuil Hall Marketplace is actually four places in one location — Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, North Market and South Market, all set around a cobblestone promenade where jugglers, magicians and musicians entertain the passers-by.



In 1742, Boston’s wealthiest merchant, Peter Faneuil, as a gift to the city, built Faneuil Hall. The edifice was home to merchants, fishermen, and meat and produce sellers, and provided a platform for the country's most famous orators. It is where colonists first protested the Sugar Act in 1764 and established the doctrine of "no taxation without representation." Firebrand Samuel Adams rallied the citizens of Boston to the cause of independence from Great Britain in the hallowed Hall, and George Washington toasted the nation there on its first birthday.



Through the years, Faneuil Hall has played host to many impassioned speakers, from Oliver Wendall Holmes and Susan B. Anthony to Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, always living up to its nickname, "The Cradle of Liberty."



To better accommodate the merchants and shoppers, Faneuil Hall was expanded in 1826 to include Quincy Market, which was designed in the then-popular Greek Revival style and later dubbed for Boston Mayor Josiah Quincy. The market remained a vital business hub throughout the 1800's; but by the mid-1900's, the buildings had fallen into disrepair and many stood empty.



The once-thriving marketplace was tagged for demolition until a committed group of Bostonians sought to preserve it in the early 1970's. The 1976 renovation was the first urban renewal project of its kind.



Today, what is known as Faneuil Hall Marketplace is Boston's central meeting place, offering visitors and residents alike an unparalleled urban marketplace. The unique array of shops, restaurants and outdoor entertainment have made it a premiere urban destination that attracts more than 18 million visitors annually.

Source

The Liberty Tree

While it was many years ago that I saw the Disney film called "Johnny Tremain" I can still hear the rousing march beat of the Sons Of Liberty song saluting the Liberty Tree.

Plant the seed in our homeland, boys. Let it grow where all can see.
Feed it with our devotion, boys. Call it the Liberty Tree.

It’s a tall old Tree
And a strong old Tree
And we are the Sons
Yes, we are the Sons
The Sons of Liberty.

Save it from the storm, boys. Water down its roots with tea.
And the sun will always shine on the ole’ Liberty Tree.

[Chorus]

March along with the piper, boys. We were born forever free.
Let’s go pay the piper, boys, beneath the Liberty Tree.

[Chorus]

Pay the price they’re asking, boys. Always pay the tyrant’s fee.
Never give up the struggle, boys. Fight for the Liberty Tree.

[Chorus]

Stand for the rights of man, boys. Stand against all tyranny.
Hang the lamps of freedom, boys, high on the Liberty Tree.

[Chorus]

The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous elm tree that stood in Boston, near Boston Common, in the days before the American Revolution. The tree was a rallying point for the growing resistance to the rule of England over the American colonies.

In 1765 the British government imposed a Stamp Act on the American colonies. It required all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards in the American colonies to carry a tax stamp.

The summer of 1765 in Boston was marked by militant citizens demonstrating against the Stamp Act. On August 14, 1765, a group of men calling themselves the Sons of Liberty gathered in Boston under a large elm tree to protest the hated Stamp Act. The Sons of Liberty concluded their protest by hanging two tax collectors in effigy from the tree. From that day forward, the tree became known as the "Liberty Tree."

When the news of the Liberty Tree spread throughout the colonies, local patriots in each of the 13 colonies formed a Sons of Liberty group and identified a large tree to be used as a meeting place. In those times, holding an unauthorized assembly was dangerous business that carried threats of imprisonment or death. The casual appearance of a group chatting beneath a tree was much safer.



During the siege of Boston, about the last day of August 1775, a party of Loyalists led by Job Williams defiantly cut the liberty tree down in an act of spite, and used the tree for firewood. This act only further enraged the colonists. As resistance to the British grew, flags bearing a representation of the Liberty Tree were flown to symbolize the unwavering spirit of liberty.

Fenway Park - a Cultural Icon

As of July 18, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 4,023,458
Miles: 1687.23


Fenway park is not far from "Mr. Smoot's Bridge"
- shown circled in Red Sox red

Fenway Park is the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club. The park, the oldest of all current Major League Baseball stadiums, opened in 1912. The name Fenway Park comes from the stadium being located in the Fenway (swamp) district of Boston. Because of its age and constrained location in an urban neighborhood, the park has some unique features, most notably the famous Green Monster in left field.



Being the oldest ballpark in the country, it's stories and legends are legion. I would do a disservice to them trying to summarize them - and my Grandfather, in his own "Oh be that way!" manner of his, was a Boston Braves fan even though he lived only blocks from Fenway Park.

That club was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1871 as the Boston Red Stockings. (What is with this fetish with footwear anyway?) That team moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1953 and became the Milwaukee Braves. In 1966, that team moved to Atlanta. That team's tenure in Atlanta is famous for Hank Aaron's breaking of the career home run record in 1974; the new record stood until 2007.

The original Boston Red Stockings (Braves) team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. The only other team that has been organized as long are the Chicago Cubs.

But I digress... My grandfather's offspring, my mom, and my cousins that were born and raised in the shadow of Fenway Park, all say they have their priorities right, and wear and bleed Red Sox red.



Who could ever forget Carlton Fisk's homer in the 6th game of the World Series in 1975?

Or Baseball Hall of Famer Ted "the Splendid Splinter" Williams with his career batting average of .344, hitting .409 in 1941 and being overshadowed by (that *$@*! Yankee) Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak that very same year?

Or Carl Yastrzemski, Freddy Lynn, Jimmy Rice, Roger Clemens, or Wade Boggs?



The Curse of the Bambino was one of the storied legends surrounding the Beantown Red Sox. The curse was cited as a reason for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 until 2004.

The curse was said to have begun after the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth, sometimes called The Bambino, to the New York Yankees in the off-season of 1919-1920. Before that year, the Boston Red Sox had been one of the most successful professional baseball franchises, winning the first World Series in 1903 and amassing five World Series titles. After the sale, the once-lackluster Yankees became one of the most successful franchises in North American professional sports.



The curse was put to rest in 2004 when oddball Manny Ramirez (MVP) and his teammates pulverized the Saint Louis Cardinals in four games.

I hope I've not blotched this entry too badly for those Red Sox fans.

How far is that in Smoots?

As of July 17, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Iggy-Steps: 4,006,333
Smoots: 1,588,649.95
Currently virtually in Walpole, MA


Map of Boston showing the Harvard Bridge
- in red and circled in green

The smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 was used by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts.


Oliver R. Smoot

One smoot is equal to his height (five feet and seven inches ~1.70 m), and the bridge's length was measured to be 364.4 smoots (620.1 m) plus or minus one ear.

Smoot repeatedly lay down on the bridge, let his companions mark his new position in chalk or paint, and then got up again. Eventually, he tired from all this exercise and was thereafter carried by the fraternity brothers to each new position.

Everyone walking across the bridge today sees painted markings indicating how many smoots there are from where the sidewalk begins on the Boston river bank. The marks are repainted each year by the incoming associate member class of Lambda Chi Alpha.


The 250 Smoot Mark

Markings typically appear every 10 smoots, but additional marks appear at other numbers in between. For example, the 70-smoot mark is omitted in favor of a mark for 69. The 182.2-smoot mark is accompanied by the words "Halfway to Hell" and an arrow pointing towards MIT. Each class also paints a special mark for their graduating year.

The markings have become well-accepted by the public, to the point that during the bridge renovations that occurred in the 1980s, the Cambridge Police department requested that the markings be maintained, since they had become useful for identifying the location of accidents on the bridge. The renovations went one better, by scoring the concrete surface of the sidewalk on the bridge at 5 feet and 7 inch intervals, instead of the conventional six feet.

In case you are wondering, Mr. Smoot went on to have a sucessful career in technical standards and measurements in Washington DC working for the Information Technology Industry Council and served for two years as the President of the International Organization for Standardization (I kid you not) and has just recently retired.

Mile 1654 - Welcome to the Bay State!

As of July 14, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 3,952,366
Miles: 1656.95
Miles to New Hampshire: 88.05


Massachusetts was named for an Algonquian Indian word that means "a big hill place" - I wish those Indians could have found something little simpler to spell. :)


Massachusetts' flag depicts a Native American carrying a bow and arrow on a blue shield (all on a white background). A white star on the shield represents Massachusetts, one of the original 13 states. The state motto (in Latin and written in yellow on a blue ribbon) reads "Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem," meaning "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty." Above the shield is a arm wielding a sword demonstrating the state motto.

You may be pleased to know the following:

The State Beverage is Cranberry Juice
The State Muffin is Corn Muffin
The State Dessert is Boston Cream Pie (what else?) and
The State Cookie is the Chocolate Chip Cookie!

There is lots to see and do in this Commonwealth, so the Virtual Walker will be pretty busy!

Oh, by the way, while we are here, its best not to wear any New York Yankee apparel or to cheer for them in any way shape or form - its a form of suicide in this state.

Welcome to Rhode Island

As of July 11, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Steps: 3,898,836
Miles: 1634.16
Miles to Massachusetts: 19.84



In 1524, the Italian navigator Giovanni Verrazano made the first visit to Rhode Island by a European adventurer. It is from Verrazano’s descriptions of the Rhode Island coastline and islands that the state derives the first part of its name. Verrazano made his famous trip, searching for an all-water route through North America to China. After landfall at Cape Fear, North Carolina, about March 1, 1524, he proceeded up the coast to the present site of New York City to anchor in the Narrows, now spanned by the giant bridge which bears his name.

From there, according to his own account, he sailed in an easterly direction until he "discovered an island in the form of a triangle, distant from the mainland ten leagues, about the bigness of the Island of Rhodes" which he named Luisa after the Queen Mother of France. This was Block Island, but Roger Williams and other early settlers mistakenly thought that Verrazano had been referring to Aquidneck Island. Thus they changed that Indian name to Rhode Island, and Verrazano inadvertently and indirectly gave the state its name.

It was either that or it was named "Roode Eylandt" by Adriaen Block (for whom Block Island is named), Dutch explorer, because of its red clay. I personally like this explanation better myself.


The State Flag of Rhode Island

Placed on a white field is a circle of thirteen gold stars representing the first thirteen states. The stars surround a gold ship's anchor. The state's motto "Hope" is on a blue ribbon below the anchor.

The Rhode Island Red Hen, a chicken, became Rhode Island’s official state bird on May 3, 1954 - Rumor has it, the lawmakers celebrated this feat by going to the (one and only) local KFC.

Mile 1604 - Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea, is a living history maritime museum situated along the banks of the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut, USA. It is notable both for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of crafts and fabric of an entire 19th century seafaring village. It consists of more than 60 original historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the museum and meticulously restored.


The museum was established in 1929 as the "Marine Historical Association". Its first fame came with the acquisition in 1941 of the Charles W. Morgan, the only surviving wooden sailing whaler. The seaport was one of the first living history museums in the United States, with a collection of buildings and craftsmen to show how work was done.


The Charles W. Morgan at berth at Mystic Seaport