​Hear this Here… EXIT 40 To Ft Bragg & Air Force Base Pope


You are going under the underpass to Exit 40 to Fort Bragg, the largest military community by population in the United States. 

Talk about road trips, as almost any Military Brat can attest, you live in a lot of places when your parents are in the military.  New schools. New friends. Never the same home. Most Army brats live far and wide.  For them it is an up and down life. But not too many military brats have lived as high as Fayetteville native Julianne Moore.   With five Oscar nominations, Julianne has been as high as you can get in Hollywood. But her military heritage is revealed in her discipline.

Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith at the Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg on December 3, 1960, the daughter of Anne, a social worker, and Peter Moore Smith, a paratrooper, colonel, and later military judge. 

Fast forward ten years. She co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Then an unknown director, Paul Thomas Anderson asked Julianne to appear in his movie, Boogie Nights .

Despite her misgivings about playing a porn star mother figure, her decision to take the conflicted role proved to be a wise one. She received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Since then she has been up for 4 more Academy Awards and won the Best Actress Oscar for  Still Alice in 2014, a role about a woman suffering from dementia.

​Despite her transient lifestyle or maybe because of it, Julianne has managed to balance her career and her family seamlessly. Like her friend Meryl Streep, she alternates commercial and arthouse roles.

​Well beyond her her 50th birthday, Julianne is a model and spokesperson for Bulgari Watches and L'Oreal skin care. Even more impressive, She is still married to the same man of over 20 years.


Now if that doesn't require military discipline, what does?


#Julianne Moore #Oscarwinner #AcademyAwards #Oscars #ArmyBrat #BoogieNights #AstheWorldTurns #StillAlice #PaulThomasAnderson #Bulgari #LOreal #LostWorld #JurassicPark

I-95 Delaware Northbound Exit 1b To: DE 896, to Newark, Middletown, near Newark, DE


Ok now it’s time for a Road Test so get ready to hear the Fast Facts.


Folks you are now in Delaware. Congratulations. Really.  Nearby is the home of the University of Delaware.  Famous alumni of U.D. include President Joe Biden, teacher Doctor Jill Biden, Baseball Legend Cal Ripken, Figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, actor Dilshad Vadsaria, All Pro Quarterback Joe Flacco, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and baseball great Mike Trout.   ​

Originally surrounded by farmland nearby Newark, Delaware is now surrounded by housing developments -- although farmland plays an important part in locally based University of Delaware's creation. Both forward thinking and internationally oriented, U Delaware boasts one of the highest number of students from foreign countries as well as ranks in top tiers for chemical engineering and bio-engineering as well as International Business.

Perhaps that is because of the presence of locally headquartered chemical giant, Du Pont Corporation.  Beginning in 1802, not long after the American Revolution, globally oriented DuPont was originally a manufacturer of gun powder. Today the industrial behemoth is the creator of such famed products as teflon, velcro, kevlar and even nylon — amongst about a million other things!

U.D. is a so-called “land-grant”  university. Land grant colleges began after 1862 in a program whereby government land would be converted into college property.   Before land grant colleges existed, most Private Universities only served the nation’s rich and elite. Think the Ivy League with its sky high tuitions.


Land Grant colleges specifically focused on teaching useful trades, like farming and engineering, mostly to poor citizens.  This heritage is likely why the mascot of University of Delaware is a farm animal: The University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens. And since hens are quite nasty when provoked, they also fit the fighting spirit of the student body at sports games. Right?

Speaking of useful trades like engineering and farming, one former Fighting Blue Hen has the useful trade of throwing touchdowns for millions of dollars. How many millions of dollars? Say about one hundred and twenty millions of dollars.


University of Delaware grad Joe Flacco is one of the best post season quarterbacks to play football. He has tied Hall Of Famer, Joe Montana for most points in Post Season Games and having won the Super Bowl in 2012 with the nearby Baltimore Ravens over Joe Montana’s former team, The San Francisco Forty Niners, I’d say Flacco has won the bragging rights.

​No chicken wing he — Joe is alleged to have the strongest arm in the league. They say this empowers Joe Flacco to have an aggressive deep downfield game which is a high risk threat to the defending squad.


If birds are not Mr Flacco’s animal of choice, they should be. This Blue hen turned Raven was born in nearby Audubon, New Jersey and attended Audubon High School.  But given his arm strength I will not call Joe “Bird brained” — at least not to his face. I say this not just because he can cold cock me with some serious fists, I say that because Joe Flacco is a real class act.

Joe dearly loves the University of Delaware.In an occupation of great wealth and generous college alums, Joe broke another record. In 2018, the university touted "a significant gift to the future of UD Athletics" made by the alumnus and his wife, Dana, as the largest gift from a UD football alumnus in all the NFL. The exact amount has not been disclosed.

Finally, another Joe is a University of Delaware alumnus who also wins with the long game. That Joe is the President, Joe Biden. President Joe Biden graduated from University of Delaware in 1965.


Also an enthusiastic alumnus, Biden has a school there named for him: the “Biden Institute of Public Policy and Administration.”

Now for the Road Test: who is the college's fine feathered mascot?  You have three seconds. Three…. and two….and One. If you said Fighting Blue Hens, then go to the head of your class.  And if you are already attending University of Delaware, that means you are amongst a lot of very smart kids. So great job!


#UniversityofDelaware #FightingBlueHens #NewarkDelaware #Delaware #UD #engineering #StudyAbroad #DuPont #JoeFlacco ​

​In the 1800’s, society women bound themselves into rib cracking corsets to look beautiful.  By the turn of the 20th century, women longed to abandon the “it hurts to be beautiful” mentality. ​

They dreamed of  comfort.


According to Women's Wear Daily magazine, by 1910 New Rochelle's own 19 year old socialite Mary Phelps Jacob had had enough. The prick of inspiration occurred from exactly that -  a painful prick.


One evening, as she was dressing for yet another debutante party, she noticed that whale bone and metal were sticking out of her corset and showing through the sheer fabric of her gown. It cramped her waist and pricked her body. She asked her maid for silk handkerchiefs and some ribbon and crafted an undergarment that was not only comfortable, it also separated her big breasts and gave her the silhouette of a woman instead of the body of a cello.


Mary's new undergarment complemented the new fashions of the time. ​

She was mobbed after the debutante dance by other girls who wanted to know how she moved so freely. When she showed her new garment to friends the next day, they all wanted one. ​

Always precocious, Mary filed for a patent for her invention in February 1914 and in November the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted her a patent for the 'Backless Brassiere'. ​

Later Caresse and her husband Harry Crosby moved to Paris and would become leading evangelicals of  the 1920’s Lost Generation and were pals with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway with whom, in Pamplona, they would run with the bulls… ​

… but that story awaits another EXIT.
  
Unlike the usual stiff armor, the modern bra was  lightweight, soft, and feminine. It was the first  bra to gain widespread acceptance, though it didn’t become really popular until the United States entered World War One in 1917. That was when American Women were asked to stop buying corsets in order to help conserve metal.


So thanks to rationing and World War 1, women never went back to corsets. Who would think the success of the bra was linked to the country's world war? ​

#NewRochelle #Covid19 #Rationing #BlackSun #CarresseCrosby #Bras

This week in Seattle, Kaiser Permanente was first to develop and test-vaccinate  44 volunteers to immunize against the Coronavirus. The first human guinea pig to be vaccinated was Jennifer Haller, a tech worker and mother of two.    Americans owe all involved a debt of gratitude. 


Since World War 2, companies created by the late Henry Kaiser have been in the forefront of many industries. So today we explore a prominent landmark which drivers can see from Interstate 95 and which — like the COVID-19 Vaccine — is the legacy of an American Immigrant…


EXIT OF THE DAY: EXIT 67A I-95s to: Bellwood, Virginia


Off to the left you can see a factory. It is a Kaiser Aluminum Plant. The founder of Kaiser Aluminum was an immigrant who rose from very humble beginnings. Born in 1882 to German immigrants, Henry’s mom was a homemaker and his father was a shoemaker.  Although in time he would become one of America’s wealthiest citizens, he did not forget his impoverished origins.


From the high seas to Healthcare, Henry Kaiser pioneered many firsts. An inveterate tinkerer and a stickler for efficiencies, Kaiser became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. On the west coast, he established the Kaiser Shipyards, which during World War Two built Liberty Ships launching almost one freighter a day. ​

Liberty Ships were essential as merchant ships to supply the far flung war efforts and which kept beleaguered allies like Britain and Russia supplied with weapons and food.


After getting a contract to provide ships to the US military during World War two, he began to worry about his workers lack of health care.  To provide affordable care and economies of scale for his thousands of ship-builders Kaiser took over the local Permanente Hospital in Oakland, California. ​

Therefore, Kaiser Permanente (now Kaiser Permanente Thrive) became the first voluntary group plan in the country to feature group medical practice, prepayment, and comprehensive medical facilities on a large scale. Kaiser's Healthcare became a forerunner to company health plans and pioneered today's HMO's. ​

​After the war, Kaiser founded Kaiser Aluminum by leasing and later purchasing surplus aluminum facilities in Washington state from the United States government.  Buying huge factories cheap and running them lean made him a wealthy man.  With his wealth, he established the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, non-partisan, charitable organization which focused on health care issues.


While the man, Henry Kaiser, died in 1967, his intrepid legacy lives on in this trail blazing Foundation which is not associated with Kaiser Permanente nor Kaiser Industries.


In fact, the Kaiser Family Foundation operates independently as a think tank; it makes facts and analysis available to policymakers, health care groups, and the media.  A leading authority on many issues, The Foundation echoes its founder’s nature. Both valued independent thinking and innovation. So apart from hulking factories, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser’s various medical companies continue to be the best legacy in Henry Kaiser's life.


#HenryKaiser #KaiserHealthCare #KaiserShipBuilding #KaiserAluminum #KaiserFamilyFoundation #LibertyShips #WWII #Industrialist #Philanthropist #COVID19VACCINE #FirstCOVID19Vaccines #Coronavirus

EXIT of the Day: Hear this here…
I-4, EXIT 108s onramp I-4S: To Valdez, Deltona FL




“Ok Road Trippers, as we approach Deltona, it is time for a Road Test. This Road Test is brought to you by Joe’s Gas and Convenience Store 1 minute off upcoming Exit 108.  If you get the answer correct, you can get a "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" deal of any Pepsi or Dorito Product with a fill up of fuel above $15. So get right to exit. Now listen to the Fast Facts! ​

It's illegal there.  Not sure about the rest of the state, but they have a problem with torpedoes in Destin. Must be a lot of large alligators or something. 


Also Good to know: in all of Florida, men are not allowed in public wearing a strapless dress. As long as you've got straps of some sort, you're cool.  ​

Also, in Destin, it is illegal for an ice-cream man to sell ice cream in a cemetery.  But what’s really weird, in Hialeah, strolling or ambling is a misdemeanor.


Still all that’s nothing compared to selling certain fruits in Miami.  In Miami, you could face up to 30 days in jail for selling oranges on the sidewalk.  And don't even think about showering naked!  It's an actionable offense. ​

Maybe the cops perp walk you with your handcuffs in front.... Raincoats must be popular round here.  And as if people do not have enough outdoor activities to entertain them, in Daytona Beach, you're banned from molesting trash cans.  In Key West, don't molest the chickens. They're a protected species. But they need to hear that in Key West… 


Finally, here is one that does make sense.    In the state of Florida, it's illegal to have physical relations with a porcupine. Ouch! ​

But maybe you can have relations with a chicken outside of Key West. The State Law is not clear on that issue. And finally, in case you are riding down the interstate on Jumbo, know this: When you tie it to a parking meter, your elephant gets charged just the same as your car would. ​

Oh and go get your "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" Deal of Pepsi or Doritos at Joe’s. Just tell em RoadSpoke’s Silly Laws sent you!”


#sillyFloridalaws #Roadtrippers #FastFacts #Jumbo #ParkingElephants #Florida #Snowbirds ​

This is the story of a girl of sixteen who rode 40 miles to New York warning towns and minute men all along the way. But who beyond local school kids have heard of her? Typical right? The man gets all the press. Anyways, on a dark and rainy night in April 1777, the British invaded Fairfield County landing on beaches from ships off Westport. ​

Sybil Ludington mounted her horse, Star, and galloped into sorta history.


During the Revolutionary War, Connecticut's agricultural output led to it being known as "the Provisions State”.  In 1777, the British Commander-in-Chief, General William Howe in New York City ordered  an officer, William Tryon to interrupt the flow of supplies from Connecticut that were reaching the Continental Army around British New York City. Tryon led a fleet of 26 ships carrying 2,000 men to Westport's Compo Beach to raid Continental Army supply depots 20 miles north up in Danbury. That’s when Sybil galloped to New York to alert the militia. ​

Though they arrived too late to save Danbury from burning,  the New York militia later dislodged the British at the Battle of Ridgefield. ​

Most importantly, Sybil’s ride and the British incursion galvanized neutral citizens to join the American cause.  In the days after Tryon sailed away from Compo Beach, approximately 3,000 Connecticut Citizens joined Washington’s Continental Army. ​

Now for the Road Test: how many miles did Sybil gallop?  And how many did Paul Revere gallop? If you said 40 and 16 — congrats. You would be correct! And Sybill deserves more credit!


#SybilLudington #PaulRevere #WestPort #CampoBeach #RevolutionaryWar #WilliamHowe ​

A third of the children died; the surviving children, many critically injured, awaited rescue.


Even though many of these kids were orphaned by parents who had died fighting for the United States, the US Government announced that it would not have rescue resources available for at least 10 days.   Meanwhile North Vietnamese troops were sure to exterminate them. 

When a Connecticut Businessman, Robert Macauley, learned about the situation he personally decided to respond.  Macauley and his wife, Leila, mortgaged their home here in Darien to charter a Boeing 747 and rescue the orphans.  Within 48 hours, the orphans arrived safely in California. ​

Since its founding in 1979, Americares has delivered more than $12 billion in humanitarian aid to 164 countries in need. ​

The fact is, Bram Stoker was inspired in 1897 to write his classic horror novel, "Dracula" by the incidents right here in tiny Exeter.  The real life horror story became known as the “Mercy Brown Vampire Incident.” ​

Back in Victorian times, tuberculosis was called “consumption".  Until there was a cure, TB was a much-feared disease which wiped out entire families. ​

Edwin struggled to survive. Neighbors of the Brown family believed that one of the dead was a vampire and had caused Edwin's illness. ​

The Dad, George Brown, was persuaded to go to the grave yard and to dig up the bodies.  Over the years, both Mother and daughters’ cadavers had undergone significant decomposition.  But the more recently deceased Mercy was still relatively unchanged.  She had semi viscous blood in her heart.   This was taken as a sign that the young woman was undead. Undead meant Mercy Brown was the dreaded Vampire. ​

After much argument as to whether poor Mercy should be re-buried in the Christian Graveyard, the father prevailed and she was re-interred beside her Mom and sister. ​

​As to Mercy’s unfortunate brother who had to drink her blood, sadly his story ends badly as well. Edwin Brown died two months later.


Ghoulish right?  No wonder Bram Stoker had a best seller!




#tuberculosis #MercyBrown #Dracula #BramStoker #ExeterRhodeIsland #WestGreenwichRhodeIsland #TB #TBPandemic

EXIT 46;  I-95n To: Long Wharf Drive, Sargent Ave, in New Haven, CT


Despite inspiration being everywhere, sometimes we at The SpokenRode Corp need to dig to find material… by that, we mean we need to dig to find material to post relevant to a landmark, factory, or Exit when it connects to something that is relevant today — not just by place (where we excel) but by that old fashioned arbiter of relevance — time.  After all, aside from coming upon a new “place” nothing is "News" unless it is new.    


For example, let’s just say we want to talk about a person, place, or thing that has to do with the current internet phenomena relevant to the Getty Museum Challenge.  In the COVID Pandemic, The Getty Museum Challenge has gone viral BIG time!   


It challenges families in lockdown to replicate the world’s great art. ​

The problem of course is that the Getty Museum is in Los Angeles and the art is all around the world. So how do we tie the challenge that suddenly has millions of followers to a location along I-95? ​

​Well, that’s easy actually.  We just get on the internet and dig.


The first thing we dug into is who invented this challenge that asks quarantined folks to re-create famous pieces of art using just a few household items that suggest the age of COVID.  For example, recreations of Vincent van Gogh self Portrait (he of the missing ear) must replicate his stance exactly in his self portrait.  Or how about Frida Kahlo posing with parrots? Here the self portrait replaces colorful parrots with brilliant household cleaning products.

Another portrait replaces a massive Renaissance collar with rolls of much in-demand toilet paper.


Absurd right? But genius!   ​

EXIT 4 I-95s To: Arcadia Management Area, Richmond RI


Here this here!


“Ok, Folks, time for a RoadSpoke Road Test… and now the Fast Facts.


FAST FACT numero uno….In Rhode Island, there are some very famous summer residents .


Fast Fact numero duo….Rhode Islanders also have a peculiar accent.


Fast Fact numero tres...  in Rhode Island, they enforce some peculiar laws. For instance, it is considered a legal offense to throw pickle juice on a trolley. ​

That seems reasonable enough right?…Just slightly absurd… ​

Fast Fact numero quatro….You may not sell toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same customer on a Sunday.


Fast Fact numero cinquo…You cannot smoke a pipe after sunset. And, of course, it is illegal to wear transparent clothing. ​

Rhode Islanders think they are well travelled. On the other hand, The state is so small, they consider any drive that takes more than 10 minutes a "Road Trip".


Final Fast Fact: If you mix a Boston accent with Italian-American slang you pretty much get the jumble of confusion that is the Rhode Island accent. So don’t be alarmed if you’re an outsider and someone calls a water fountain a “bubblah.”  Plus, Rhode Islanders make up for the omission of Rs by adding Rs on the end of words they technically don’t belong in: “Hey, why don’t you drink from that bubblah? It’s a wicked good idear…”


One name that may resonate well with a Rhode Island accent is Taylah Swift. ​

​Yup, you hoid right. The beautiful and talented singah songwritah has a huge summa home in Rhode Island. Get off at the upcoming Westerly Exit if you want to seer it. It’s in the exclusive summah resort of Watch Hill.


Now for the Test. In Rhode Island, can you throw pickle juice on a trolley?  Well?  If you said no, you’d be correct. Go to the head of the cah.”


#TaylorSwift #RhodeIsland #RichmondRhodeIsland #Sillylaws #BostonAccent #LittleRhodey

EXIT 92 on I-4, to Altamonte Springs and Casselberry FL

Hear this here:

"Casselberry is the retirement home and death place of a fascinating cast of characters.


What does the Jewish wife of Hitler’s Arms producer, a major Hollywood Starlet, Howard Hughes girlfriend, and the creator of the original tech that created both wifi and bluetooth have in common? ​

​The answer is, drum roll please, they were all one woman.  That woman was Austrian immigrant and Hollywood golden girl Hedy Lamarr.


Best remembered perhaps for playing Delilah to Victor Mature’s Samson in the 1949 classic Samson and Delilah, Hedy was a European beauty queen who before World War Two, fled her Nazi husband because he was enthusiastically underwriting Hitler's hateful war machine.

The fact that the beauty queen was isolated in her husband’s castle did not prohibit her from accompanying him on business trips to meet arms engineers and scientists.  A  rank amateur, still science fascinated her.


Already a rising star in European Film, her husband disapproved of his 19 year old wife playing sexy ingenues. So she fled the gilded birdcage, jumped the pond, and ended up with a man immensely more wealthy.  Hedy landed in Hollywood and soon was the girl friend of aeronautical pioneer and billionaire Howard Hughes. ​

In the 1930’s Howard owned quite a few businesses including TWA Airlines, RKO Movie Studios, and his two cash cows, Hughes Tool and Hughes Aerospace. Hughes Tool had a patent on drill bits for oil rigs. But Hughes Aerospace made things that fly.  Unlike Hedy’s ex husband, during Hedy’s downtimes between films, Howard arranged consultations with his engineers and scientists.  A student of life, it is rumored that Hedy encouraged Howard to emulate the streamline aspects of birds, insects, even rain drops to make his planes fly faster.  No surprise, Howard won many world speed records in the 1930’s.


Then World War Two broke out. Hedy felt useless.  She loathed the fascists.  So she started to apply her creativity to make tools which would be helpful for the allies.  In her spare time, Hedy created a frequency hopping technology that aided radio controlled torpedoes from being jammed. ​

Later frequency hopping tech became the basis of tech in blue tooth and wifi.


Reviewing the documentary of Hedy entitled Bombshell, Forbes Magazine writer, Shivaune Field, wrote an article entitled: “Hedy Lamarr: The Incredible Mind Behind Secure WiFi, GPS And Bluetooth.” Ms Fields asserts that, “The striking movie star may be most well-known for her roles in the 1940s Oscar-nominated films ‘Algiers’ and ‘Sampson and Delilah.’ But it is her technical mind that is her greatest legacy.” ​

​Hedy’s musings were patented and became the basis for much of the internet some 50 years later.   “The brains of people are more interesting than the looks I think,” Hedy admitted in 1990, 10 years before she passed here in Casselberry, Florida.

EXIT of the DAY:
I-95n Exit 26 in FL To: I-595 , FL 736, Davie Blvd


After graduating from Yale and Harvard Law School,  self proclaimed "Man of the people" and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis served as a Navy officer and attorney in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Yes, Judge Advocate General stands for JAG, and JAG is the subject of the popular CBS TV series now in syndication.  But a JAG officer’s life  is not half as exciting as shown on TV.  While the original TV series was pitched in 1995 as “Top Gun” meets “A Few Good Men”  actual JAG work is legal work by attorneys — albeit lawyers in spotless Navy uniforms. ​

At age 41, DeSantis is today the youngest governor of any state.  While being a a vocal supporter of President Trump, he has supported locally enlightened policies. An apt snapshot for Ron DeSantis’ policies is his hosting a Python Super Bowl. Hunters were invited to the Everglades to hunt the invasive Burmese Python species which are wiping out local wildlife on an unprecedented level. In doing so, he appeals to conservative hunters as well as aligns himself with left leaning conservation groups.   The Governor posed for photographs in front of a huge snake. He hoisted a python skin football.   ​

​Following his inauguration, DeSantis increased bipartisanship with State Democrats. In stark contrast to Trump policy, he even started progressive reforms to environment and drug policies.  DeSantis allocated $2.5 billion for water resource projects including $360 million for the Everglades National Park. He also supported legislation to support marijuana legalization not to mention, appointed several Democrats to positions in his cabinet — moves that drew praise from liberal pundits.   DeSantis casually  told the Tampa Bay Times that he was "basically doing what I said I was going to do.”


Still DeSantis usually defers to President Trump’s base.  DeSantis attacked Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia’s support in the 2016 election. He urged Trump to shut down the investigation. This keeps him tops in the Trump sphere even while he creates a workable environment to do horse trading on a local level.

​Never one to be easily pigeonholed, back in 2007, DeSantis was assigned to SEAL Team One and deployed to Iraq .


Did that mean he was a SEAL?… Well not Really but…


During the so-called Surge, according to the Miami Herald,  DeSantis served as a senior legal advisor to the SEAL Commander of Special Operations in Task Force-West in Fallujah.  DeSantis helped ensure that the missions of both Navy SEALs as well as Army Special Forces were planned according to the rule of law.  At the time, a lot of prisoners were picked up and transferred to Iraqi Authorities. Lawyer DeSantis was responsible for overseeing that this process was done legally.


Given his role, it is quite — well — interesting why he later touted photographs of himself tricked out in combat gear and hoisting serious firepower — when he really was dressed far more often as a Navy orderly who did paper work.  In other words, Governor DeSantis was a paper pusher not a soldier. DeSantis later made his association with SEALS a pillar of his campaign.  Mailers featuring that one photo of him in uniform and holding a gun were sent statewide.

In World War 1, a young front line healthcare worker from a Chicago Suburb survived his wounds and went on to become a world famous author.  Two years before America got involved in the conflict, Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway volunteered to drive ambulances for the Italian Army.  In Hospital, the young volunteer fell in love with a nurse.  His experiences there ultimately were fictionalized into one of his most famous Novels, A FAREWELL TO ARMS. ​

​EXIT of the DAY: Exit 1a on I-95n to Key Biscayne Causeway, in Miami, Florida


About 120 miles southwest of this first northbound EXIT on Interstate 95 is the funky enclave of Key West. Key West is connected by culture and history to many, many cultures.


Back in 1939, just before the Nazis invaded Poland to start World War Two,  the Spanish Civil War ended and for many American volunteers it was a sad day since Fascism defeated Democracy.   One American sympathizer for the defeated side was the famous author Ernest Hemingway.


Papa Hemingway had been a long time lover of all things Spanish. He annually would travel to Spain to follow the Bullfight circuit, he often went to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls, and he vacationed often in Spain’s Pyrenee Mountains fly fishing for trout.  Papa also owned homes on either side of the Gulf Stream  in both Key West, Florida​ and in Havana, Cuba​.   There he immersed himself in writing, marlin fishing, and hanging out at the birthplace of the daiquiri, Bar Floridita, La Habana, cuna del Daiquirí​, with his Cuban amigos speaking Spanish fluently.

So when Spanish General, Francisco Franco sought to overthrow the left-leaning popularly elected government in Madrid, Hemingway took the threat to democracy personally. He got involved the best way he knew how.


Hemingway wrote.   


As per Hemingway Historian and University of Idaho Professor Dale Graden :


"This brutal war lasted for nearly three years (July 1936-March 1939), claiming at least one-half million lives and sending another one-half million refugees into exile. For Ernest Hemingway, the fight against General Francisco Franco became a cause of utmost importance. In March 1937, he traveled to Madrid to observe conditions firsthand. Reporting on the war for the North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA), Hemingway penned 31 dispatches from Spain. "​

"He also helped to produce a pro-Republican film, "The Spanish Earth." His experiences during the civil war provided the material for what many consider to be Hemingway’s most famous novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940). ​

EXIT of the Day: Hear this here!


EXIT 81 I-95s To I-40:  to Wilmington, NC


Ok road Team listen up.  Michael Jordan is widely considered the GOAT of basketball… translation: Michael Jordan is the GREATEST OF ALL TIME... The GOAT.  To go visit his modest beginnings, you should get right to exit.

Interestingly, the EXIT sign also points to Michael’s current home. Michael Jordan now lives in Charlotte North Carolina where he owns the Charlotte Hornets basketball team

Wilmington was where Michael grew up. And given that he is so famous, we will take any opportunity to trumpet his North Carolina roots even so slim as to notify you about the upcoming intersection that leads you back to his childhood and adolescence.

We all know that during his pro career, Michael Jordan surpassed greatness. He scored 32,292 points, earned six NBA championships and five NBA MVP titles, and made 14 All-Star Game appearances.  He is, by acclamation, the greatest basketball player to ever live.

But back in 1978, Michael Jordan was just another kid in the gym, along with 50 or so of his classmates, trying out for the Emsley A. Laney High School varsity basketball team.  According to Newsweek Magazine, there were 15 roster spots. Jordan—then a 15-year-old sophomore — was only 5’ 10”.  The Future Air Jordan could not yet dunk. So he did NOT get a spot on Varsity. He was cut.

“It was embarrassing not making the team,” Jordan later said. He went home, locked himself in his room and cried. Then he picked himself up and turned the cut into motivation. “Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan would explain. “That usually got me going again.”


Michael starred that year on the Junior Varsity. He perfected his skills. He was ready when a growth spurt grew him to his final 6’6”.  After that, he went to his beloved University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he led them to the National College Championships… with a final second jumper over fellow Future Hall of Famer,  Patrick Ewing and his Georgetown team!

But let that be a lesson to all of us who think of quitting. From adversity we can find greatness.  For Michael Jordan, the Hall of Fame Career  would never have happened if he was not cut from Varsity at high school in Wilmington North Carolina.


#KobeBryant #GianaBryant #MichaelJordan #EmsleyALaneyHighSchool #Newsweek #HallofFame #NBA #WilmingtonNC

Hear this here... driving northbound:
EXIT 4, I-95 N to Indian Field Road, Cos Cob & Riverside in Greenwich CT

I-95 on Mianus Bridge, Cos Cob to Old Greenwich, Connecticut


"Ok Road Trippers, upcoming is a Road Test, so pay attention. We will discuss local born presidents and pot holes. Here are the Fast Facts:

"The Interstate Highway system was the brainchild  of President Dwight Eisenhower.  Correction: It was the brainchild of General Dwight Eisenhower who as one of the Supreme Generals in World War 2 was aghast that it took troops almost 10 days to get from one coast to the other...   ​

​You are now driving across the Mianus River Bridge. Beneath your vehicle are several commercial buildings alongside the river in Old Greenwich and Cos Cob.


Nowadays NOT investing in America's infrastructure is a hall mark of our Congress.  In 1983, the Bridge on which you drive, collapsed.  Yup, the entire northbound side fell in.

Three people were killed and three others were seriously injured.  Casualties from the collapse were so few only because the disaster occurred at one thirty in the morning when traffic was low. Perhaps in some kind of Karmic revenge the one car that drove off the bridge was a recently stolen BMW containing the 3 car thieves.  All the occupants died in the fall.

In the nineteen fifties, investing in Connecticut’s infrastructure meant short term costs for smart long term gains. So while Connecticut lost many wartime factories following the end of hostilities, by investing in Highways, the state shared in a general post-war expansion that resulted in solid growth in suburban areas.


One strong supporter of Long-term Infrastructure improvements was Greenwich native, Senator Prescott Bush. In conjunction with Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, Senator Bush, also a Republican,  saw the need to invest in a coast to coast Interstate Highway system.

​Senator Bush represented Connecticut in the United States Senate from 1952 to 1963; his son George Herbert Walker Bush and grandson George Bush both would become Presidents. Another Grandson, Jeb Bush became the governor of Florida.


Now for the road test: What was Senator Bush's first name?    


#MianusBridge #InfrastructureInvestments #PrescottBush #PresidentBush #Old Greenwich #Connecticut #CosCob #OldGreenwich

Hear this... right... exactly... here!
EXIT of the DAY:


Exit 71 I-95n To Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme CT


"Ok, listen up kids! Upcoming is a Road Test but first the  Fast Facts: Oh and yeah, there is a howling good reward. The winner of this gets a 12 ounce free fountain drink at any of the Connecticut I-95 Alltown Service Plazas with a $20 fill up of fuel. The Fuel is brought to you by Mobil and the free fountain drink is brought to you by Alltown. Just tell the cashier that RoadSpoke sent you. Now listen closely my dogged Road Crew, cause here are the Fast Facts: ​

Surprisingly, most people here living in Eastern Connecticut may not know that eastern coyotes aren’t true coyotes at all. Coy wolves are hybrids of several species, three in fact.


According to the New York Times, coy wolves only emerged in the last century.  Genetic research actually tracked the first coy wolves to a location in Canada above the Great Lakes. Pretty cool huh? That was the first place that a lonely wolf and a cute little coyote first got together.  Somehow there was also a friendly domestic doggy involved. So it was no doubt a scandalous canine love triangle — but more on that in a minute… ​

Over a few decades, coy wolves have spread successfully over much of eastern North America.  In essence they moved into a niche previously occupied by a competing carnivore. The wily coy wolf outcompeted the burly wolf. ​

​Despite being almost as large as a wolf, coy wolves have inherited their coyote ancestral trait to hunt alone in our suburban patchwork of vegetation.  Still being so much bigger than coyotes their menus go from appetizers like mice all the way up to a main course of Deer.   And yes, all too often that prey includes Puss and Fido. So bring your pets inside at night.   


Interbreeding has produced a pup skilled at hunting anything -- anywhere!

And I mean anywhere.  At least 20 now live in New York City on Manhattan Island.  ​

Nothing if not versatile, they even stalk prey of  fur, feather, and even fin along our east coach beaches.  Because of the open terrain, they are often seen on beaches at dawn or dusk. ​

​

​EXIT of the Day: EXIT 13N in CT I-95n to; Post Road, Norwalk, Darien in CT


Once a trail for Native Americans, The Boston Post Road is part of ancient mail-delivery route between New York City north to Boston, Massachusetts.  While intermittently called the King’s Highway, the current Route 1 is signed predominantly as the Post Road and it runs along and at times under Interstate 95.  The Post Road was for 200 years the first major road in the United States — but its roots go back to a time many thousands of years ago.

Even in pre-colonial times 400 years ago, speed of correspondence was an important priority.  Many Native Americans' Trails which tended to be the straightest line between two points,  laid the way for huge Interstates like the I-95 North from Florida to Maine or the I-80 West from the George Washington Bridge in Jersey all the way out to  San Francisco, California.


Between New York City and  Boston there are actually 3 Post Roads. The so-called Lower Boston Post Road  runs along the coast from New York to Boston via Providence.   Some portions were originally called the Pequot Indians’ Path.

The trail had been in use by Native Americans long before Europeans arrived. Some of these important native trails were in many places as narrow as two feet.  Even more telling, due to the popularity of its pre-European use, it was single rutted at places to a depth of 2 feet or more.   ​

​Prior to being used by Native Americans,  many trails were game paths.  Such game trails go back to times before history. So very likely, long extinct animals like Ice Age Mammoths and Saber-tooth tigers walked here along the edge of a glacier literally one thousand feet high.

Quick "Fast Fact":  with all the seawater frozen up in glaciers the coastline of Connecticut was about 150 miles further east along what today fishermen know as the drop or the continental shelf. So you would not see Long Island Sound along I-95 as it is today. We would be well inland.

​

​Fast Forward to July 1775. The usual old saw about “George Washington slept here” is true all along the Old Post Road. He galloped up it to aid the Bostonians fight off the British and then galloped back south to do the same at New York City and Trenton New Jersey.  In fact Washington crossed and re-crossed your path maybe 100 times between here and Boston or New York! Talk about crossing paths with history!

​The Post Road is famous for carved rock milestones that date from 1734. Many of these mile distant milestones survive to this day.  There are several in the neighboring towns of Darien, Westport, and upcoming Fairfield.  Ben Franklin was said to originate the idea for these stone carvings set precisely one mile apart.  Milestones were measured from the intersection of Broadway, NYC and Wall Street, New York  (one block west of Federal Hall) and from the old Boston city-line on Washington Street, near the present-day Massachusetts Turnpike.

Ben Franklin was the first Postmaster General. Franklin who lived from 1706 to 1790, created many aspects of today’s mail system. Some of Old Ben's contributions were to standardize postage rates as well as to promote regular service to civilians. More urgently, he created relays of correspondence to the Continental Army from the Congress during the Revolutionary War -- perhaps the first Priority Mail Express Service.

Building onto the existing King's Roads, Franklin set up new, more efficient routes including creating Post Roads which cut delivery time in half between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York. Like the Pony Express 90 years later, his mail wagons travelled both day and night via relay teams. Finally, until Franklin came along, there were no post offices nor home delivery. Mail was typically left at your local tavern!


Final thought:  given the historical importance of taverns in mail delivery, maybe if the mailman today delivered booze along with our bills, we would use the U.S. Mail more often!

#Benfranklin #PostRoadTavern #GeorgeWashington #Darien #Fairfield #OldPostRoad #Pequots #PequotTrail

EXIT OF THE DAY
​Hear this right …. here!


EXIT 15  I-95n to:  US 7,  Norwalk and Danbury, CT

​New York Times Best Selling Author and Emmy Award-winning Historian, Rick Shenkman, is on the Board of Advisors of RoadSpoke.


Mister Shenkman can be seen regularly on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.  A historical pundit and author of 7 books  including Political Animals, as well as  Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of American History,  Mister Shenkman recently retired as publisher of George Washington University's History News Network. The HNN website attracts 1.55 Million Page Views and 300,000 Unique Visitors per month.  The majority of HNN’s audience is composed of students, college professors, and media writers.


No doubt Mr Shenkman will appreciate this bit of trivia which is relevant to Norwalk Connecticut’s next Exit.

In October 1801,  Mister Nehemiah Dodge, a Norwalk resident wrote a letter to President Thomas Jefferson expressing concern that — as a Baptist — he and his congregation in Danbury may not be able to express full religious liberty in Connecticut whose constitution was adopted before the establishment of the Baptist church.

At that time in America, Baptists were a fringe religious group. The majority of Americans were one of three religions.  Like the second president,   John Adams, they were either Congregationalists, ,  who were the spiritual descendants of Pilgrims...

​Or they were Deists who believed in Christian morals but rejected that Christ was the only Son of God.  Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were members of this faith.

​Most Americans were Episcopalians. Episcopalians were former Church of England members.  But since the Church of England requires its followers to believe the king or queen of England was their spiritual leader, and the United States had just fought England for its freedom, all those Anglicans in the United States could not rightly worship a British tyrant as their leader.


After the Revolution, those former Anglicans had formed a new religious sect which had no single leader.  Their leaders were an Episcopate of bishops.  Episcopate of Bishops is a fancy way of saying “a group of bishops.”  That protestant sect was now called Episcopalians. 

Conversely, Baptists have 50 million members in America. One in seven Americans identifies as a Baptist.    ​

​

But back then, Episcopalians were the vast majority.  Many so-called Founding Fathers, like George Washington, were Episcopalians.    ​

Given the Founding Fathers’ recent rebellion against dictators of religion and law,  it is not surprising that the First Amendment in the United States Constitution states:


“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
  
In 1801, President Jefferson replied to that Baptist’s letter with his own epistle. It is famously known as the “Danbury Letter”.  President Jefferson wrote that there was "a wall of separation between church and State" that protected a person's right to worship whatever he wanted wherever he wanted.


This well-known phrase, “a wall between church and state” occurs in Jefferson's letter and not in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as is commonly believed.


#FirstAmendment #Constitution #Religion #Episcopal #Baptist #Congregationalist #Deist #DanburyLetter #Dodge

So other than buying an RV, how do you make a little investment in this trend? Well, listen to the voice in your phone.  That’s me Einstein…. Buy stocks in road tripper industries.  Buy stock in Winnebago - the RV and camper company.  Buy Thor Industries stock which is a conglomerate that owns Jayco, and Airstream Campers among others. ​

Or better yet, you can buy a COVID camper itself and just profit by the ride.  That’s because demand for RV’s is skyrocketing as road trips will be the preferred form of travel in the foreseeable future. ​

​Says CEO Bob Martin:  ”It's a way for us to really just enjoy the United States and in Europe, it's the same thing. They are enjoying more of their homeland and we seem to fit the need right now."

The customers rushing into RV dealerships fall into three groups, Regan said: Those who wanted to come during the shutdown and couldn't; the annual spring customer enticed by the promise of summer; and finally, a new group: people considering an RV for the first time because of the pandemic.  Also, the RV crowd is becoming younger and more diverse.

​
In fact RV’s dare we say it, are becoming cool! Or maybe the term is “sweet”… or ...whatever…

Those customers are probably most responsible for the jump in business, he said.
​
Still, folks who would ordinarily travel abroad are switching plans.  Mike Rhoades, is a 73-year-old resident of Kyle, Texas, said he and his wife Carol cancelled scheduled trips to Germany, South America, New Zealand and Australia.  Instead, the former transportation industry executive bought a 30-foot travel trailer-and a used Toyota pickup to pull it.​

​The U.S. has about 13,000 private RV parks and an estimated 1.23 million individual trailer campsites, according to estimates from the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (and that doesn't even count campsites in state and national parks).

Prior to the pandemic, it was estimated that 60,000 new trailer camping spots would become available.
​
It's not just purchases that are climbing, said Jen Young, co-founder of Outdoorsy, which matches 40,000 RV owners with people who want to rent one. Think "RV Airbnb."  Though bookings fell during the early stages of the pandemic, they have since skyrocketed, she said.  Customers are booking trips just days ahead of time instead of months before, Young said.  Outdoorsy rival RVshare also reported a surge in reservations.

For those of a certain age, it won't be surprising that RVs peaked back when Richard Nixon was president. Until 2020, the best year for sales was 1972.

And yet, what exactly is missing in this RV lifestyle?  The Ultimate Exploration of America is supported with many assets.   They have campgrounds, equipment, maps, and hookups.   All good stuff for when you are parked. ​

​But what about informing the RV community about what they are seeing WHEN they see it?  What about uncovering the stories along the Spoken Road?

What about an app... that turns drives into discovery?  An app... that turns the "Open Road" into the "Spoken Road"?

I guess you could say the tiny seabird is the ultimate road tripper. It leaves Massachusetts in August to fly across the Atlantic and down across the equator  to spend the southern Hemisphere's summer off Antarctica near South Africa. Then it may go to the Scandinavian Arctic or even across the Pacific up to Siberia and Alaska to spend the following season.   ​

For rare animals, natural land is required in its natural state.  There’s a big state park here and a big wildlife sanctuary.  Funny thing about this town… remember Paul Revere?  Well, he made bells in this little town so it has a little American history. ​

It worked. Hessian commander Carl von Donop, was told that there were 3,000 American troops at Mount Holly.  Two days before Christmas, December 23, 2,000 Hessians grudgingly decamped to Mount Holly. There they engaged in an artillery exchange, known as the Battle of Mount Holly.


Late Christmas Eve, the American boys slipped away having successfully divided the enemy's forces.


On Christmas Night,in the dead of night  with the Hessians celebrating the holiday, George Washington crossed the Delaware in a daring surprise attack.  After George Washington crossed, the fact that thousands of Hessian troops had been drawn to Mount Holly aided his success in the Battle of Trenton at dawn December 26.   


A total surprise, the hung-over Hessians were caught asleep in their tents. ​

Washington's victory sparked America's fading morale.  Arguably without the success of Trenton, Washington's Army would have lost the financial support of the Colonial Congress in Philadelphia as well as the moral support to fight from his bedraggled troops. Facing mass desertions,  it would not have lasted the winter.


But without the heroism of some young patriots at Mount Holly, Freedom for America could have been lost forever.




#MountHolly #AmericanRevolution #WashingtonCrossingtheDelaware #ColonialCongress #Trenton #BattleofTrenton #BattleofMountHolly ​