The plan is to drive through six states in one day. Leaving Massachusetts, into Rhode Isalnd, across Connecticut, north of New York City, cut a diagonal across northern New Jersey and into Allentown, Pennsylvania. You can do that sort of thing if you start in New England.
Breakfast at Margots Restaurant (no apostrophe), an old-fashioned diner in the middle of a modern strip mall. Good thing she got large billing on the sign. No air conditioning, but about 17 fans. Poached eggs on hash-browns with linguica (soft c, I learned), a spicy sausage that I'd never heard of. But it was good. Too bad the coffee was a little burnt.
It took a while, but we made it. A leisurely ride: father and daughter in their Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes walk up the drive to the First Presbyterian Church, lady in a black dress walking a black dog, men drinking coffee reading the Boston Globe or some other major paper. Weekenders driving back from the Hamptons with kayaks and bicycles strapped to the hoods causing all sorts of backups on the highways.
Our ultimate destination is Allentown, Pennsylvania, to see the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (that's right, they are the Iron Pigs. I don't know what that is.) Ryne Sandburg, former Cub great, is their manager. Our ride is so leisurely, in fact, that we don't arrive at the ballpark untill the fifth inning. I wanted to know what an Iron Pig was, but I was afraid to ask the locals. I decided to seek out the mascot. His name is Ferris (get it? ferrous: iron), but I couldn't find him anywhere. So I did the next best thing: I found his woman. That's right, he has a mate: Fifi. I've noticed that most minor league ballclubs provide their mascots with a female counterpart. Here is a picture of Fifi and me that some nice people took for me:
Fifi, the female Iron Pig.
She looks totally disinterested in me.
Random observation from Randy:
"She has a look as if to say, Why did I take this job?"
But there you have it. I think mascots are creepy and evil, and most of them look tranquilized.
Anyway, here's the ballpark:
Coca-Cola Ballpark in Allentown, PA.
Next stop, Erie, Pennsylvania.
Favorite Town Names:
Woonsocket, RI
Foul Rift, NJ
Southeast, NY
Random observation from Randy about Southeast:
"I think the founding fathers were tired when they named the town."
Favorite signs:
Beer Event Tomorrow!
Space Farmers Camp and Zoo
Visit the Havershaw Brick Museum
Hey -- Iron Pigs --- named after "pig" iron, a step in the steel-making process. A nod to the Bethlehem and PA steel industry of the past. Glad to hear you had a good time!!! P.S. It is very difficult to find linguicia down here, so I'm glad you were able to have some up north!
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