The Traveling Philosopher, Or: Where is John Galt?: The First States - Day 1

"When something is too easy to do, you never do it."

8/15/15, “Nearby New Jersey”

Dover, Delaware

There something to be said about travelling the way I do yet failing to properly explore my own city. My island (Manhattan) alone has 87 National Historic Landmarks, another 26 accessible freely or for a nominal fee by public transportation. One is literally a block away from my cleaners. Why then did I not visit it until last summer? Any other trip, to any other city, a chance for an extra NHL would be an easy sell, subject to time. I’ve lived in my building for seven years, and there have been plenty of evenings where I had nothing to do. I think that is the answer to the question. I always assume there will be time, that I can always visit the site at some other time, yet I never do.

Last summer, I made that happen and visited every single NHL in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I was going to do the other boroughs either later that summer or this summer. Never happened. The summer is almost over. Unless I do it in two weeks, it will have to wait until next summer, when I am in full Olympic mode. Will it really happen then? Today, during day in nearby New Jersey, I did the opposite. I made it happen.

Princeton has seven NHLs. We went to each one, along with two in Paterson. In fact, this entire trip could be summed up along those lines. It is the easiest possible weekend trip I would want to make. For fuck’s sake, I have never Officially been to Delaware. The one time I went was just to stop at a rest stop on the way to DC. Technically, I still have not been able to consider Delaware Official, since I am yet to have an Official meal. That’s the problem something being too easy to do. You never do it. This weekend, we’re doing it. We had a hectic, albeit extremely enjoyable day, so I will get down to recording it.

I suppose it began yesterday when I got a text from my grandfather that I would not be able to see him in New Jersey, as his dog got sick and was in the hospital (the dog). I knew something was going to happen, some reason why I couldn’t see him. I have not seen him for over a year. Each time it has been something, and while each reason he has had for cancelling has been believable, the regularity with which the cancellations have occurred borders on unbelievable. Even my brother’s wedding he could not attend for health reasons. I wanted to make an effort to see him, to make as easy as possible for him, but even this attempt fell through. I called him this morning to confirm. There was no way to see him. Well, that fucked up our plans, but it also gave us a huge chunk of unplanned time.

I got ready, threw some clothes in my computer bag, not even bothering to worry about packing my computer bag, trusting that I would have whatever gear I would bring to Scarsdale and Delaware requiring nothing more, and biked over to Penn Station, where my friends were waiting. I picked up breakfast at McDonald’s, as I always do when I’m in the city on a weekend, and met my friends at the ticket machine. We got our tickets and headed to the train. The plan was this. We’d take the train to Newark Airport, pick up the car, head up to Paterson Great Falls, back down to Newark for lunch and then make our way to Dover, where we’d spend the night, hopefully arriving before sunset.

I will also add that there is something unique about this trip, in that I am travelling with new travelling companions. Unlike my other travelling companions (other than my family and my best friends), these are two people about whom I deeply care, one of whom I very dearly love This was not a trip where I spent hours a day for weeks negotiating an itinerary with someone who was footing/splitting the bill or a trip where I was planning by fiat since I was footing the bill.

No, this time, we just came to a consensus to make a trip that we would all enjoy. I had my list of things I wanted to do, but this was nearby New Jersey and exciting Delaware, so it was more important that we just had fun. I had an itinerary, which quickly fell to shit, and we didn’t even follow a set plan. It was like nothing mattered other than enjoying the trip. If we missed a site, so be it. This was nearby New Jersey.

So far, everything has gone fine, but it could have gone the other direction just as easily, which wouldn’t have mattered. I told my friends that, without fail, every time I tried taking the train to Newark Airport, something went wrong. This was to be no exception. The train was stalled and got in 20 minutes late. I was glad I was not trying to make a flight. Then, they couldn’t find my reservation at Hertz. I made it for Newark Airport train station, not the location at the airport itself. It all got sorted, and we were soon on the road, heading to Paterson Great Falls NHP. Remember, nearby New Jersey. I still did not have a stamped brochure from this NPS.

I went a few years ago with my parents, but the place with the brochures was locked. They have since renovated, but it took me this long to come back. Alright, I am dead tired, so I will wrap up as quickly as possible, probably even waiting until the morning to publish. We were also planning to go to an abandoned psychiatric hospital, which my friend’s favorite thing to do. Unfortunately, the hospital was demolished. I lit up my Davidoff Escurio, and we were soon at the NHP. It was wonderful. We even found an abandoned trail, which led to a house or some type of building that had been demolished, just the wall along the river still standing. There was still a window without glass. I am sure my reader can figure out what I did out that window.

There was another NHL nearby, an abandoned baseball stadium. They love abandoned stuff. I love NHLs. I had enough cigar to make it to the stadium, Hinchliffe Stadium, which was part of the Negro League. We took our ceremonial pictures and were all starving and extremely thirsty at that point, so we just wanted to go straight to lunch, which was to be at Top’s Diner, New Jersey’s “most iconic” restaurant, the ninth such one I have been to since I started this quest 3 months ago. At this rate, I’d be done with the quest in 12 months. Right, tired, need to finish.

There was a bit of wait, which made us even more starving. I indulged myself, and we shared an appetizer platter. For my main course, I got their famous short rib burger, which was delicious, along with a milkshake. The meal was phenomenal. It always is. I also got some red velvet cookies to go. I know, I shouldn’t. What to do now? We opted on Princeton. It was on the way. It had a bunch of NHLs, along with a cemetery and a battlefield, perfect. I messaged my cousin who lived there. Maybe we could meet up. The plan was to go Albert Einstein’s house, the cemetery, and the battlefield, which is also an NHL. Well, it turned out that there are seven NHLs in Princeton, all within five minutes of each other. Long story short. We went to each one (pictures of each to be found at the bottom of this post).

Albert Einstein House

I lit up a Padron, and we were on our way to Princeton. When we got to Albert Einstein’s house, which had no sign but was clearly it, I lit up my Cabaiguan, figuring it would be the perfect cigar for an NHL run. We took our ceremonial pictures at Einstein’s house, and I decided we could go to three more famous, historic houses, since they were all within five minutes of each other or so. We’d skip the sites at Princeton University and then go to the cemetery. If we were tight on time, I’d be okay skipping the battlefield. Hell, maybe I’ve even already been there. I know I’ve been to Princeton University. I was supposed to go to school there. Life had other plans in mind. When my friend asked if I was happy how everything worked out, I could not honestly answer that I was.

Morven

The next stop was Morven, a mansion that served as the governor’s mansion for 40 years, along with housing Robert Stockton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Next was Grover Cleveland’s House, which was recently sold, and we walked around the grounds, wondering how long it would be before we got chased away. Then came Maybury Hill, they boyhood home of another signer, Joseph Hewey, and it occupied. Surprisingly, no one came out to chase us away. Interesting, this different way of visiting NHLs, actually enjoying them instead of just taking ceremonial pictures was so novel, and I only did it because I was following my friends’ leads. I was done and ready to go to the cemetery. The address my friend found was inside the University.

We found the church but no cemetery. Wait, the three NHLs inside the University were all about a three-minute walk away. I just took my ceremonial pictures at each site: Nassau Hall, the President’s House, and the Joseph Henry House. The battlefield was not happening. We’d be lucky to Dover by dark. We found the cemetery, and I realized that we’d be lucky to get to the “Welcome to Delaware” sign by dark. We took too long finding President Cleveland’s grave, along with both Aaron Burrs, and my friends lingered. I lit up a Jericho Hill, and we headed to Delaware. I calculated we’d get to the border just after sunset. There was a land crossing and a bridge.

Google Maps advised the land crossing, which was on I-95, and I knew would have a great sign. My GPS took me across the bridge, iconic Delaware Memorial Bridge, which was probably for the best, but I realized too late, and it was almost dark by the time we crossed the bridge. The sign was between the bridge and the toll plaza, and it was too tricky to get to it. I could have managed, probably, but I didn’t really try. We stopped immediately over the border for drinks (non-alcoholic) and smokes (for them, not me). I lit up a Camacho along the way, and we were soon in Dover.

I had somehow gotten in my head the merit of ordering Chinese food to the hotel. That was what we did. We had to order before 10 PM, and I think it was 9:57 PM when we called. I knew what I wanted. My friends each wanted something that was not on the menu. One wanted scallion pancakes, the other chicken with mushrooms and brown rice. They had none. The first friend quickly substituted hot and sour soup for the scallion pancakes. The other friend did have a backup plan.

The woman on the other end of the food told me to hurry, and she was about to hang up. Finally, my friend blurted out something that sounded like Moo Shu Pan Fried. It was actually Moo Goo Gai Pan. Okay, that was something. We knew it was a chicken dish, but we didn’t know what it was. I was going to look it up and let her be surprised when it came. I saw what it was and just started cracking up. I knew I had to tell her. Reader, recall that she wanted chicken with mushrooms, and they said they didn’t have it? Well, Moo Goo Gai Pan is chicken with mushrooms. My friend had no idea. It was just too funny, and we all started cracking up.

I went downstairs to finish my Camacho and call my mother to find out what was happening on the home front. I finished the cigar and hung up to find out I had four messages from my friend. They didn’t have enough cash on them for the meal, and they didn’t know where I was. We soon found each other, and I gave the guy the rest of the cash and his tip. The meal was pretty good, but it was touted as Dover’s best Chinese food. Any Chinese spot in Manhattan has better food. I enjoyed my chicken well enough.

We then went downstairs to smoke and drink. I had brought some of the bourbon from the wedding, which paired perfectly with my Ardor pipe. They went upstairs, and I proceeded to write my entry, as I smoked and drank, which I will now close so that I can crash. It’s been a long and busy day.