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EXIT 71; I-95n To:  FOUR MILE RIVER RD, Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme CT


Ok, listen up kids! Upcoming is a Road Test but first the  Fast Facts:  People living in Eastern Connecticut may not know that eastern coyotes aren’t true coyotes at all. They  are hybrids, or coywolves. Coywolves only emerged over the last century and have since spread successfully over much of eastern North America.


A hundred years ago, as deforestation and poisoning depleted the population numbers of eastern wolves, the last wolves interbred with western coyotes. The hybrid is about 55 pounds heavier than pure coyotes. ​

Coywolves today are one a quarter wolf and one tenth dog. That blend helps make the hybrid so successful that it now numbers in the millions. Wolves hunt large prey in open space in packs. Coyotes hunt alone anywhere for smaller prey. Despite being almost as large as a wolf, Coywolves have borrowed their coyote ancestor’s trait to hunt small prey alone in our suburban patchwork of vegetation. And yes, all too often that prey includes Puss and Fido. So bring your pets inside at night!  Interbreeding has produced an animal skilled at catching prey anywhere. At least 20 now live in New York City.  They even stalk prey of fin, fur, and feather along our eastern beaches. ​

Since coywolves can still breed with wolves and dogs it means it doesn’t quite fit the definition of a new species. But that may change. According to a PBS Special focused on the new canine, Coywolves are telling an "amazing contemporary evolution story that’s happening right underneath our nose but for now coywolves are enjoying the advantages of hybrid vigor.” ​

Now the Road Test: Are eastern coywolves bigger or smaller than western coyotes?


#Coywolves #Coyotes #Wolf #Evolution #Hybrids #Connecticut #Connecticutcoywolves #Preyonpets #Huntalone ​

University of South Carolina economics professor John McDermott says, “They are never coming back. If these jobs are not in China or Mexico they’ll be somewhere else soon. It’s simply an era that is gone for good, so we’ve got to compete in the global marketplace and South Carolina has done a really great job at it.”  Evidence is provided by huge factories and packed employee parking lots all around the state. ​

In 2014 alone, twelve hundred international firms from 42 countries invested five point one billion dollars into the Palmetto State. Another foreign automaker, Volvo selected South Carolina for its first American factory, investing $500 million in a facility in Berkeley County outside of Charleston that will create about 2500 good jobs. ​

This Submission was supplied by Dash VerPlanck, a freshman at Stanford University.   No doubt being a Stanford in the middle of silicon Valley makes any student there acutely aware of the nearby kids who are creating apps and tech that could become the next billion dollar unicorn... kind'a like RoadSpoke. 

Thanks Dash!
 ​

Napster had been called the fastest-growing business of all time. Depending on your perspective, it is credited or demonized with revolutionizing the music industry, and is considered to be a precursor to Apple’s iTunes and Spotify.  Incidentally, Spotify one day would ask the original music Napster for an early investment and later Sean even join Spotify’s Board of Directors. ​

But that is not surprising since Sean has been an early participant in several startups.


Rewind again to the early two thousands.  Trolling his desktop in 2004, Sean Parker saw a site he found interesting. That website showed images, profiles, and shared information and musings of college students.

The website was called "The Facebook".  He contacted the Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg who hired him as President. Sean famously advised Mark to change the name from "The Facebook" to simply "Facebook".  Mark Zuckerberg said "Sean was pivotal in helping Facebook transform from a college project into a real company."   Later in 2014, no less than Justin Timberlake would play the part of Sean Parker in the major motion picture, THE SOCIAL NETWORK. ​

Sean Parker is now fully reformed. He is married to the beautiful artist Alexandra Lenas. They have two kids.  While Sean's tenure as Facebook President ended he is still a major Facebook shareholder.


Sean now busies himself being a big time philanthropist. The former black cat hacker who grew up off the next exit is personally worth over three billion dollars. A husband and father, he travels with his brood in private jets. ​

Ironically,  Sean now hangs out with the same Musicians he used to rip off. He makes the scene with Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg. ​

In fact, Sean has even friended his old nemesis Metallica.  They kissed and made up in a very public way -- onstage and infront of thousands.
​

Giving away  tens of millions, Sean is a major establishment figure in Silicon Valley.  His Sean Parker Foundation’s main targets are eradicating malaria, understanding allergies, and yes, even curing cancer.


Not bad for a former juvenile delinquent from Virginia, right?   


#SeanParker #OaktonHighSchool #ChantillyHighSchool #Facebook #JustinTimberlake #MarkZuckerberg #ShawnFanning #FranconiaVirginia #SpringfieldVirginia   ​#SnoopDogg #Metallica #Spotify #LadyGaga  

Hear this right…. HERE!


On "Yankee Doodle Bridge" approaching EXIT 14 I-95s:  to South Norwalk & Connecticut Ave, Norwalk Connecticut   


Right now, you are driving across the Yankee Doodle Bridge over Norwalk, Connecticut. So Road Trippers, time for a Road Test.


If you get this correct, the person in the driver’s seat will pay you $20. 

Driver, keep your eyes on the road.  Time for the Fast Facts: ​

Reporting for duty, a regiment of poor Norwalk chicken farmers arrived outside Quebec. The smart British cavalry in their bright redcoats, burnished leather bandoliers, and tall thoroughbred horses looked down on this rag-tag crew. 

​They began to ridicule the rag-tag Connecticut troops. ​

These Norwalk famers had used chicken feathers to decorate their tattered uniforms.  No doubt too, these Yankee doodles came to town, riding a single pony.


A British Officer sang a popular melody of the time but he added words―“He stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni.” 

"Macaroni" was London slang at the time for looking like a foppish dandy.  You called something “Macaroni” when it was too chic, too stylish — Italian.  So the British redcoats were making mockery of these dirt poor partners in arms.  The Norwalk Chicken Farmers were humiliated by their own poverty. ​

Twenty Years later, in the American Revolution, these same Norwalk Chicken Farmers sang the same song. They sang it proud. They sang it loud. 

This time, Yankee Doodle Dandy was a victory chorus.  The poor troops of the American Colonies rolled back the fancy Red Coats and kicked them into the sea. ​

Now for the Road Test.  What did Yankee Doodle ride, a horse or a pony?  I'll give you three seconds: Three. And Two. And One.

You said pony!  Correct!

Now Driver pay the winner. You owe twenty dollars.

Cough up friend, and and don’t be a poor sport.


#YankeeDoodleDandy #YankeeDoodleBridge #FrenchandIndianWar #Norwalk #NorwalkConnecticut #AmericanRevolution #Redcoats #BritishArmy #RoadTest #FastFacts #ChickenFarmers #Quebec ​

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Wendy’s Sign on I-95 approaching EXIT 27s in Florida.

“Upcoming is a Wendy’s Restaurant.  New Jersey 10th Grader Ace Kim loves Wendy’s so much he submitted this Road Test to the creators at RoadSpoke.

Thanks Ace Kim!  

Writes Ace...
"In his book "Dave's Way,"  Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas recalls how the family dressed up Melinda Lou, his 8 year old daughter, in a striped dress for the opening of the first location. To make her pigtails stick out, Mom put pipe cleaners in her hair. That's the little red-headed girl in the logo.​

Now time for a Road Test: So turn down the radio and listen up!  This Road Test is not easy.  The winner of this  gets a free Frosty at the upcoming Wendy's.  Here now are the Fast Facts:

  
Fast food outlets are all along Interstates. You are all familiar with Wendy’s, Burger Kings, McDonald’s or my favorite, Jersey Mike's Subs.  Believe it or not though, back in the 1800’s, establishments that sold just food were almost unheard of.  Eating out was rare if largely unheard of. That is because everyone ate at home. Eating out  was only something travelers would do. And so hotels, inns, or taverns may offer meals to their nightly guests but no one else.


Then just before the Civil War,  fine dining became a thing with rich people but mainly in big cities. Delmonico’s in Manhattan is credited with being one of the first eat-only places. ​

All the fashionable and famous in the Big Apple would gather there to see and be seen.

​Then came the Civil War.  Perhaps it was then with vast segments of the population traveling far from the farm did offering meals for pay become an idea. ​

From the Civil War forward, inns, taverns or saloons would offer food to supplement the sale of their profit centers which was liquor or beer. But except for pickled or salted meats and vegetables,  almost all food was cooked to order.  There was no standardization of meals nor were meals pre- fabricated in industrial capacities.


FAST FACT One: In the 1950’s Fast Food rose in tandem with high speed travel along interstates. ​

Upcoming is a Wendy’s.  Founded in 1969 in Ohio by Dave Thomas and named for his daughter, FAST FACT  number Two:  Wendy’s claim to fame is being the home of fresh, never frozen beef. Did you know that?  Not frozen meat!  The chain is also known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries, and the delicious Frosty, which is a form of soft-serve ice cream. ​

​Fast Fact number 3:  Despite being bashful and self effacing Dave Thomas held the record for appearing in his own commercials. He starred in them over 800 times. FAST FACT number 4:  Remarkably his daughter Wendy never did. So while you may be familiar with all types of fast food, eating out, Dave Thomas and even Wendy’s fast food, well you nor anyone in America has ever met Wendy herself.  

Perhaps this was not surprising either.  His family were immigrants from repressive regimes in the Middle East. Civil Rights? Forget about it. In America, his Dad carried a pocket copy of the Constitution everywhere he went.  Also not surprising was that the immigrant child would enroll at UVA — the college created by Jefferson himself.


Muslims have served in every American war since the Revolution. An African American Muslim named Peter Salem was at the Battle of Bunker Hill near Boston.  He is credited with shooting a British Major sending the redcoats into retreat.


Muslims have fought in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War.


At UVA, the Muslim student from Silver Springs signed up to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Upon graduating in 2000, that UVA grad, Humayun Saqib Muazzam Khan, was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Army and was deployed to Iraq. ​

Only 6 years previous, the US military had commissioned its first ever Muslim Chaplain. Military Chaplains are empowered to support all faiths. Still, it took roughly 200 years before a Muslim got ordained to perform the same duties as countless Protestants, Catholics and Jews had before them.


In military modesty the occasion was discreet. And meaningful.  The Frocking Ceremony for the Navy's first Muslim chaplain, was conducted by his colleague Navy Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff.   Chaplain Resnicoff attached shoulder boards with a Muslim crescent insignia to the uniform of Imam Monje Malak Abd al-Muta Noel Jr. ​

​It was 1996, the same year that Monaj Khan graduated from John F Kennedy High. While new Chaplain Monje Noel was a Muslim,  Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff was himself a Rabbi.
 
At that time Imam Noel was just one of 2 Muslims to serve  the military's growing Muslim community which numbers around 10,000.  Noel, a native of Salem, New Jersey, said the unique epaulets on his uniform are a positive sign for Muslims.  ``I think it's good for the Muslim community to be able to see them in the service. It lends an air of legitimacy and credibility. We are represented. We are here.’'


Later, at a reception including military brass and Muslim leaders, Noel tried to shy away from the Limelight. Said he:  ``This is the Navy's night. This is God's night.''  Now new Muslim Soldiers or Chaplains are hardly newsworthy.

Fast forward to 2004. Captain Khan was inspecting a guard post in Iraq when a suspicious vehicle approached.  Ordering his troops to stay back, he stepped forward. The car stopped. Then detonated. Later it was determined to have been carrying more than 200 pounds of explosives. ​

Captain Khan’s father, Khizr Kahn, still carries a miniature of the Constitution in his pocket. He also has a wall dedicated to his son’s service. It’s hung with medals, flags, and photographs.

​Despite or perhaps because he is an immigrant and a Muslim, he knows intimately the sacrifices so many other military families have suffered through our history — and other of his countrymen still take for granted.


#KhazirKhan #CaptainKhan #ImanMonjeNoel #FirstMuslimChaplain #KhizrKan #Muslims #JohnFKennedyHighschool #HumayunKhan        ​

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.

Hear this right... Here!
EXIT 10A I-95 northbound; to 125 Street.  Hialeah, FL


While the Florida Panthers play hockey up north just west of Fort Lauderdale, their home rink runs up against real panther country. Compared to a bunch of toothless be-muscled hockey jocks, the big cat is no less fierce.

The real cat, the Florida Panther is a species of mountain lion that inhabits the swamps and Everglades just a few miles west of I-95. Even with six million neighbors the lurking panther is seldom seen.  The National Park Service writes: "Once common throughout the southeastern United States, fewer than 100 Florida panthers are estimated to live in the wilds today. Florida panthers were heavily hunted after 1832 when a bounty on panthers was created. Perceived as a threat to humans and livestock the species was nearly extinct by the mid-1950s. Today, the primary threats to the remaining panther population are habitat loss and degradation."

​Big kitties indeed, males can weigh up to 160 pounds  and live within a range that includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. This population is currently the only cougar representative in the eastern United States — although some sightings have been recorded in New England of late. In fact, just 25 miles from New York City in suburban Connecticut, a mountain lion was hit and killed by a car along the Merritt Parkway a few years back. Being so elusive, their range and population are not entirely known.

Whether or not it can be said of the Hockey Team, the 100 big cats now represent something of a comeback story. In the 1970s, there were estimated to be only 20 Florida panthers in the wild. An enthusiastic conservation campaign raised awareness. Poaching plummeted. Amateur sightings increased. Rangers used collars to track the animals. 

No wonder the Hockey Team chose the panther to be their team emblem. Any animal that eats alligators is one tough competitor.


#FloridaPanthers #Floridapanthers #Gators #Everglades Park #NationalParkServiceandNationalHockeyLeague #NHL #Extinction #Mountainlions #cougars

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At Exit 106 in GA, I-95s To: Jimmy DeLoach Pkwy No Services near Savannah, GA


You are about to cross the line… a line of march that lives even today in the minds of Georgians.   


On the morning of December 20, 1864, if you were stopped right here, right where you are driving now,   you would encounter tens of thousands of soldiers in Blue.  No doubt there would be smells of breakfast fires and bacon commingled with the sweat of men who had been marching for weeks. You would hear the groans of the suffering, the whinnying of horses and the creak of wagon wheels.   You would also see bedraggled former slaves who camped nearby under the protection of the Union Army. ​

On December 20 in 1864, Union General  William Tecumseh Sherman’s troops arrived outside Savannah.  Sherman’s army had departed Atlanta on November 15 for his so-called March to the Sea. ​

But Sherman had plans for Savannah all the same. It would pose as a propaganda piece. A Christmas gift to the Union.  And even perhaps a premonition that the north could be forgiving of the Rebel South.  In the final five months of the Civil War, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln: his three hundred mile “March to the Sea” was done.  He had split the heart of the South in two.


Sherman’s letter was published in the December 26 edition of The New York Times. It read, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift:  the city of Savannah.”


President Lincoln wrote back to Sherman:


“Many, many thanks for your Christmas-gift, the capture of Savannah. When you were about to leave Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and remembering that ‘nothing risked, nothing gained’ I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours.” ​

From 1855 to 1962 there were Hudson County penal and charitable institutions on Snake Hill, which was essentially a self-contained city in which hundreds of people lived at any given time. The grounds had its own support facilities that included a sewer system, reservoir, electricity plant and incinerator. The on-site institutions included two almshouses, which provided shelter for the poor and elderly, a penitentiary, quarry and a number of medical facilities, all grouped on the north side of Snake Hill.


In an era of wholesale quarantining, the medical facilities included a Contagious Diseases Hospital, a Tuberculosis Sanatorium, and the Hudson County Lunatic Asylum. The Asylum existed from 1873  to 1939. ​

In 2003, more than 4,500 bodies of poor people, prisoners and patients were moved from the grounds to make way for the Turnpike's Exit 15X ramp.  You may take that Exit now. And do not worry about aggravating avenging angels: all the cadavers of the poor unfortunate inmates of the Snake Hill Asylum have been moved.


Or have they?


#SnakeHill #SnakeHillAsylum #PottersField #Insane #InsaneAsylum #Meadowlands #Secaucus #HudsonCounty ​

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

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). ​

​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.

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 Flacco 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.

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 ​

​Hear this Here:


Exit 35 I-278n:  Calvary Cemetery, Maspeth and Woodside, Queens




“As you come up on the Calvary Cemetery, which with about 3 million burials, it has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States. So you may naturally ponder mortality, immortality, death and even birth.

“An immigrant to Queens,  Onika Tanya Maraj was born on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad on December 8 nineteen eighty two. Her father is of Indian descent. He was a financial executive and part-time gospel singer. Her Mom, also a gospel singer, is of African ancestry. Onika's  dad was an alcoholic and had a violent temper. He burned down their house in nineteen eighty seven.  As a small child, Onika and a sibling lived with her grandmother in Saint James, Trinidad."

The population of Trinidad is composed of two large ethnic groups of Africans and Indians from India — both of whom were brought in to work the once vast sugar plantations.

Today, Trinidad is famous for celebrating the biggest and most outrageous Carnival in all the Caribbean. It’s probably bigger than New Orleans Mardi Gras. People in Trinidad, who call themselves Trinis,  work for months to create the most imaginative and beautiful costumes. Then they party for days.  This may have later resonated with little Onika when she finally found her calling.   ​

Seeking opportunity, Onika’s mother moved to New York to attend Monroe College, and later like many immigrants, brought the kids to Queens. No surprise she ran a strict household and her kids had structured times for study every night.  

Still living at home, her mom impressed upon her the need for higher education. But to attend college and to work menial jobs was mutually prohibitive. Plus she wanted to keep the dancing dream alive.  So what’s a curvaceous lady to do? Onika today suggests she began moonlighting as a pole dancer earning large tips from appreciative men as she slithered and writhed in a stripper bar. During the day, she answered audition calls for song n dance while acting in off-broadway theater. 

Meanwhile Onika moonlighted on her moonlighting gig by singing back up vocals in rap videos.  Using her actor chops Onika debuted various accents often conversing between several alter egos. But the debut in the R&B community was not just her songs’ characters but also her own — Onika Tanya Maraj became Nicki Minaj.  


No surprise, that tough attitude, resourceful work ethic,  and frankly her signature backside got Onika noticed by the Hip Hop community.  Rapper Lil Wayne saw her rapping in 2009 and was impressed. That November, she premiered with Gucci Mane and Trina on the remix of "5 Star Bitch" by Yo Gotti.

Late in 2009, Nicki dropped her first solo album, Pink Friday. Pink Friday boasted 375,000 sales in week one and quickly became number 1.  ​

Soon she got a third name. Folks in the R&B community crowned Nicki Minaj “Queen of Rap.”  ​

Now hanging with other young stars like her pal Taylor Swift, Nicki also appeared on "BedRock" and "Roger That" on the compilation album, “We Are Young Money”. Largely due to her recent fame, the singles peaked at numbers two and 56, respectively, on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Other solo songs and albums followed. Her cumulative sales exceeded 100 million. To share some perspective, by comparison fellow New Yorker Billy Joel has sold 150 Million albums in his long career.

Nicki Minaj is now celebrated as one of the all time greatest female rappers ever.  Her rapping is distinctive for its fast flow and the use of alter egos. Early in her career, Minaj was known for her colorful costumes and wigs. Today, she does not need any shtick,unless she wants to!   She has the most Billboard Hot 100 entries for a female artist in the chart's history, while being #9 overall. 

That said, she does love her outrageous outfits and the loud lifestyle. She even honors her Trinidad heritage by dressing for Carnival — whether she is shopping on Fifth Avenue or stopping traffic in Beverly Hills.

Returning to the nearby graveyard theme, such accomplishments  make Nicki Minaj -- not just a rags to riches immigrant -- but nearly immortal!

If you want to claim 20% off  a copy of the Pink Friday Album, you can claim it here by saying "Claim Pink Friday and RoadSpoke sent you."


#NickiMinaj #Onika #HipHop #Stripper #Trindad #YoGotti #TaylorSwift #LilWayne

EXIT of the DAY


EXIT 67 I-95 s: TO SR 17 & Harris Neck Road, Jones Rd in South Newport Georgia


In the South, churches are big business.  Except here. Quick. Look over to the left.  Did you see it? White with a little bitty steeple?  Nope? Well that is because you just passed the smallest church in America.  Actually I was joking. You cannot see it from the Highway. But the smallest church is off the next exit. ​

Being the smallest church in America is the claim of South Newport’s Memory Park Christ Chapel.  Incidentally that is the same claim of  churches in Upstate New York, in West Virginia, in Washington State, in New Hampshire and even 2 chapels in Iowa.  Strikes me that all you need to do is measure to determine the winner.  And being small, well it would not take too long.  Anyhow I digress.


Built in 1950, the still active Memory Park Christ Chapel was constructed by local grocer, Agnes  Harper. ​

The tiny house of worship is indeed God’s House.  In fact, Agnes wrote out the Deed in the name of one “Jesus Christ”.  Talk about having the best “landlord”! 


Anyhow, the building measures just 10 feet by 15 feet. The interior has enough room  for a shrimpy pulpit,  a few chairs, and space for 13 people.  Presumably that comes to a dozen worshipers, 1 minister, and of course, Jesus.   ​​

The tiny Memory Park Chapel is very inclusive.  Truly Christian.  It is non-denominational and open 24/7  — so all are welcome. Why not get off the upcoming Exit and check it out.  Say a prayer even.  Prayer is always good.


Happy Sunday!


#MemoryParkChurch #SouthNewport #AgnesHarper #JesusChrist #DeedinChristsName #SouthNewportGeorgia #GodsHouse ​