Sunday, October 8, 2023
Unfortunately, all things must come to an end and thus today would be the last day of our EPIC East Coast Football Adventure.
We got up fairly early with the simple goal of aiding Jacob in reaching one of his personal goals someday, the visiting of all of the 50 states.
Before this weekend, he had taken trips to the states Hawaii, Nevada and Washington. Of course, he was born and is being raised in California. So, that's a total of four states off his list.
We had already visited New Jersey and New York on this adventure to get his total up to six states.
Instead of heading straight to the Newark, New Jersey airport for our flight home this evening, we opted to detour slightly East to the city of Danbury in the state of Connecticut.
It would be Jacob's seventh state, only 43 to go!
As for me, I've spent time in only 35 states in the past 76 years.
We arrived in Danbury after an easy 40 minute drive from Fishkill, New York through more spectacular countryside vistas.
A typical home in Danbury
Of course, any self-respecting
home owner has a horse hitch
out front, just in case
We made a deal with Jacob, since Michael and I picked the dinner spot last night, the Pizza and Stuff in Fishkill, he got to pick the spot for breakfast today.
SURPRISE!
The Danbury McDonald's it was. Who would have guessed?
It appears that Wheel Chair Wheelies
are encouraged at this McDonald's
We were going to visit the Danbury Railway Museum that bills itself as "New England's Largest Railway Museum."
Jacob likes train museums almost as much as he likes aquariums.
Our only problem was that this museum did not open for another hour.
No problem.
We set sail for Danbury H.S.
Home of the Hatters
Hatters?
In the late 18th-century, Danbury's Zadoc Benedict invented a new method for making hats out of animal pelts. With the abundance of beavers and rabbits in the area, the Danbury hat making boom was off and running!
By 1809, 56 different shops in Danbury were making hats from scratch. In 1880, at the height of the hat boom, Danbury hat stores produced 4.5 million hats.
Then, trends gradually changed and the 1920s saw the end of Danbury's fur hat industry.
We were headed for the school's stadium to let Jacob run around a bit. The burning of his excess energy was a good idea.
When we saw this sign, Michael
commented on the school's emblem
on the right
It simply states that Danbury H.S. was founded in 1868 when the local hat industry was nearing its zenith, thus the school's moniker, the Hatters.
It made perfect sense to me.
Are these Sunday soccer players
dancing on the Hatters logo at midfield?
There should be Hell to pay for this shameful transgression if they are, in my opinion!
Michael and Jacob tossing
a mimi-football around
The kinks were worked out and
the museum opened in 15 minutes
This is the moment that Jacob
realized that our rental car's
license plate contained a 99,
his favorite football number
Free Pepsi-Cola in today's
economic times, EXCELLENT!
I thought that Jacob was tall until
he stood next to this Uncle Sam
which is 38 feet tall
That is exactly what we wanted . . .
. . . to see Danbury's Railway Museum
We still had about five more minutes before the doors opened, so we walked around the perimeter.
Scarecrows at this time of
year made good sense to me
One of these scarecrows partially
blocked this sign about Alfred Hitchcock
The sign states that part of Hitchcock's 1951 thriller, Strangers on a Train, was filmed in this very train station. In the movie though, it is called the "Metcalf Station" not the Danbury Station.
That was a LOT of water
in the famed 1955 flood!
Finally, the museum's doors were opened.
The wonder of a miniature train set
is not lost on Jacob
This construction site featured a
familiar face . . .
. . . isn't that . . .
. . . why, YES, it is!
We came to find out that the Cincinnati Reds logo man lives in Danbury during the off-season.
Who knew?
Cool old hat
As for all of those letters, they stand for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail Road.
Lots and lots of signal lanterns
A good sized train layout
Of course, train stations just had to
have this service available to customers
If the customer needed to send a message,
then Morse Code was the mode of transmission
Jacob trying his hand at
Morse Code
The trains were important in
methods of transportation for
domestic troop movements in WWI
Heavy bags required sturdy
hand carts like this one . . .
. . . and this one
Winters in a train station getting
warm around a pot bellied stove and
sharing the news of the day was common
Jacob was still in awe all the
way to the end of our visit
On to the Newark Airport!
Maybe.
As we drove along the New York highways, we started to see signs with interesting messages, like . . .
. . . Readers Digest Rd
Do they still make a print version of this magazine from back in the day?
While that sign was interesting, the next one was quite provocative.
Sleepy Hollow, as in Washington Irving's
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?
Ichabod Crane? The Headless Horseman?
Now we're talking. We pulled off the highway for a slight detour.
There he is!
Everybody wants a photo op
by the city limits sign
While the village dates from 1640, Washington Irving's short story was written in 1820, perfect for dusting off and retelling each year at Halloween.
Even Sleepy Hollow's Funeral Home
was into the Halloween Spirit
Is that a plastic skeleton or a real one left at the funeral home last year?
Several homes we passed were in
full Halloween mode
Jacob and I were both a bit
afraid of this neighborhood
on a ghostly level
Sleepy Hollow takes their fictional
story as if it were reality
Maybe it is.
We felt somewhat safer as we entered
the downtown area that was having
a fun set of displays sponsored by
the local Fire Department
What is that artwork on this ambulance?
Ichabod Crane being chased by . . .
. . . the Headless Horseman of course
I liked this Fire Department hoodie
Jacob started feeling more
comfortable with the whole
headless person concept
Nice ID badge on the guy that
was sitting with Jacob
The Official Sleepy Hollow
Engine 87 logo
I liked the Salem Fire Department
patch on display in the Sleepy Hollow
Fire Station
They should be Sister Cities, agreed?
Jacob just could not resist trying
on this firemen's helmet
I think that he looked good
even if he wasn't headless
A tribute to fallen firefighters
A partial list of Sleepy Hollow's
World War I fallen heroes
Interesting name
Again with the Headless Horseman
The fire hydrants are Halloween
colors in keeping with the town vibe
From Sleepy Hollow High School
Home of the Horsemen
Sleepy Hollow was a pleasant diversion. I'm glad that we took the time to visit even though it was for a short time.
Before we returned our rental car at the airport, we had to fill the gas tank.
Regular unleaded was $3.59 a gallon
in Newark, New Jersey
The same gasoline in Camarillo goes for $5.79 a gallon.
Damn!
Our flight home on Alaska Airlines was on time.
Jacob likes the views from
his window seat
A smooth five hour flight
and we were back in Los Angeles
A big THANK YOU to Laurie for both dropping us off at LAX last Thursday and picking us back up again on Sunday.
I think that we all had a great time and look forward to our next football adventure weekend in 2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment