Fleeter Logs: November 2005

Fleeter Log #12

Pennsylvannia & NYC

2005 November 11-14

Time to get on the road and show Flat Hannah some more sites.

The route: We headed north on I95 through Washington, DC and continued through Maryland and on to Delaware. We made it into Pennsylvania just before dark. Stopped in Philadelphia for supper, crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge into New Jersey and drove up to Trenton. We crossed back into Pennsylvania north of Trenton at Washington Crossing and spent the night. The next morning we made our way back to the site of Washington's crossing of the Delaware River. Late that afternoon, we crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey at Lambertville. We decided that there wasn't much reason not to drive into New York City that night...it was Saturday night after all. We crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan by 7:30pm. We spent the next few hours seeing some of the highlights of Manhattan Island in NYC; such as...site of the World Trade Center Towers, City Hall Park Fountain, Battery Park, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Madison Square Garden, Empire State Building, Times Square, etc. After Times Square it took us a while to find our way out of the City. Seems that it is easier to find your way into the Big Apple than to find a way out. Eventually, we made it back into New Jersey for the night. The next morning we decided there wasn't much else to see in New Jersey, so we headed back to Pennsylvania. We visited the Crayola Factory in Easton, saw the old steel mills and covered bridges in and around Allentown. The next day we saw the railroads when passing through Reading and then made our way to Hershey to learn about the local chocolate Empire that went worldwide. Sometime after dark we were crossing the Mason-Dixon Line heading back south into Maryland. We swung westward on the way home and caught the corner of West Virginia on our way back into Virginia at the Winchester area.

Disclosure: We were "fleetering" about without Fleeter. Technically this shouldn't be a Fleeter Log since I wasn't riding Fleeter, but we'll stick with the format and provide full disclosure that Fleeter was safe at home in the motorcycle garage.

We didn't take much time to sight see on our first day. We just kept crossing one state line after another. They can come at you pretty fast in this part of the country!

Couldn't resist slowing our progress long enough to snap a quick drive-by picture of this tree. It was an extraordinary example of many others that we admired without slowing down.

It was well after dark when we arrived in Philadelphia so picture taking was limited. We saw a sign that said, "On this site stood the house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence." The photo didn't come out very well, but we were there!

We saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell from afar -- security guards were plentiful. Of course while we were in Philly, I thought it appropriate to have a philly sandwich for supper. We found this place a couple doors down from Betsy Ross' house.

We accidentally crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge and found ourselves in New Jersey, so we stayed with that for a while and headed toward Trenton. We watched the Amazing Race this past season and remembered the segment where they raced to paddle across the Delaware River - George Washington style. Since we felt like we had to be nearby that spot, we followed our senses...and the signs...until we found it. But it was too dark to see anything so we decided to spend the night on the Pennsylvania side and try again the next morning. The next morning we took a quick detour to Tyler State Park near Newton, PA to see a covered bridge before going back to Washington's Crossing.

This is where George Washington crossed the Delaware River by boat on Christmas night in 1776.

But we used the bridge behind this boathouse...it just seemed easier.

Not far away from Washington's Crossing, we visited Bowman's Hill Tower!

Take the stairs up to some fantastic views!
A very narrow stairwell it is!

And the views are worth the trip to the top!

The bridge you can barely see at the last bend will be the one we cross over to go back into New Jersey.

Another covered bridge before we cross the Delaware back into New Jersey.

Just some barns down the road from the last covered bridge.

Lambertville, New Jersey is a busy little tourist town!

But you wouldn't have known it by looking down the little path along the canal.

We leave Lambertville and decide... Why not? We'll drive on into New York City. See what's happening in the Big Apple! We cross the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan from Staten Island and our first stop in the site of the World Trade Center Towers.

Around the corner and block or so away is the fountain in City Hall Park. That's City Hall in the left background. This fountain has found its way into several movies.

We see a variety of sights, but it's hard to outshine Times Square!

Flat Hannah was in awe!

Crayola Factory in Easton, PA

My first time in New York City and I'm driving around Manhattan on a Saturday night. Pretty good for a kid from a little town in south Texas, wouldn't you say?! Good thing Sylvia was navigating or I would have been so lost! After driving around in Manhattan for a few hours, we drove back across the Hudson River to New Jersey. Then the next morning we headed back to Pennsylvania. We still had a place in mind to visit before we ran out of time. Couldn't resist stopping in Easton, PA to visit the Crayola Factory.

Did you know the largest Crayola weighs 1,500 lbs., is 15 ft. long and is BLUE?

Downtown Easton has some nice old buildings.

Older homes just near downtown Easton.

I think there's time to squeeze in one more covered bridge in Allentown, PA before dark!

What happens when you take a picture of a bridge in low light then try to lighten it and manually bring out the contrast! Kinda odd looking...

Hershey, PA

We stop for the night in Allentown, PA. Next morning we head for Reading, PA. Still heading to our next target ... the land of chocolate! The smoke stacks of the place where all that goodness comes from!

That's a full day at the end of a full weekend. Time to head south...past the Mason-Dixon, though Maryland, West Virginia and back home.

Fleeter Log # 11

Fredericksburg Battlefield

2005 November 7

Since Fleeter had been left behind on the last couple trips, I decided to take a short fleetering afternoon and ride around Fredericksburg. I found myself in the battlefield area.

Notice any new additions? Larger saddle bags & deflector shield.

One of the largest battles of the Civil War took place in Fredericksburg. General Lee and the Confederate Army controlled Marye's Heights. General Burnsides and the Union forces had crossed the Rappahannock River moving south, looted Fredericksburg and now were trying to continue south to Richmond.

If you notice to the left of the picture below is a trench. It is part of the remaining trenches left after the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 1862.

The Confederate Army entrenched themselves on this hill facing northeast toward downtown Fredericksburg while the Union looted and burned their way through downtown Fredericksburg. The next day they attempted to take the ridge at Marye's Heights, but withdrew after massive losses. It was during this battle that Lee is reported to have remarked: "It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." Reported Stats Union Casualties: 12,653 Confederate Casualties: 4,201

This is Prospect Hill. You can see what is left of the trench down the center of the picture, even this many years later! The Union troops were storming up from the left side of this photo to find the Confederates commanding control of the hill.

Looking down from Prospect Hill, you can see the Confederate Memorial Pyramid that was built in 1903 out of Virginia Granite. It was placed near the railroad tracks to be visible to train travelers.