EXIT of the DAY:
Exit 30 I-278s: near Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn Queens Expy, Brooklyn, New York




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​Ok Road Trippers, as you drive past the old Brooklyn Navy Yard which was right beside the Brooklyn Bridge, let me take you back to the beaches of Normandy on June 6 1944, D-Day. Despite months of planning, for Americans in the first waves to get past the Nazi’s rain of death, a number one trait which gave Americans the edge was the individual soldier’s own ability to take the initiative and to innovate.


In so-called “after-action” reports, military analysts and later historians credit the natural tendency for citizens raised in a free democracy to think outside the box — to try things that soldiers from more dictatorial societies would simply not consider. In general, Nazis and other soldiers from dictatorships are taught to just follow orders.  Americans are taught to take the initiative and to improvise.   One example was that Americans used their chewing gum to adhere mirrors to gun barrels to see around corners. A broader example was to encounter an unanticipated obstacle away from the chain of command, and then to take the initiative to continue over or around it.  On the Nazi side, such obstacles would have left the common foot soldier awaiting his superiors’ orders. ​ 

In the era of COVID, Americans needed to re-think everything. Faced with the Federal Government playing a supporting role, governors and municipalities created interstate supply chains to trade ventilators, and medical supplies.  When the coronavirus ebbs in one state, that state would send resources to the next state facing a swell of illness. ​

Small innovators in Logistics and Supply Chain stepped up to the task of marshaling resources.  Small entrepreneurs repurpose their businesses to bring support to the frontline.  In  Manhattan’s trendy Garment District, Stephanie Benedetto’s company, Queen of Raw, has the catchy logo of “Turning Pollution into Profit”.  As featured on GOOD MORNING AMERICA and NPR,  Queen Of Raw created a virtual market to take unused fabric from the garment trade and re-sell it instead of discard it as waste.  Now Queen of Raw sources scraps and remnants of fabric from fashion brands to make Protective Personal Equipment(PPE) and life-saving masks. ​

Meanwhile in San Diego, former Naval Aviator Jaden Risner created a company called Family Proud. Imagine being alone but having all your friends and caregivers on one platform, on your iPhone, in your pocket?  According to the website, "Family Proud" is an internet platform “Created by Patients and Advocates for Patients and Advocates”.  Ranging from cancer patients to PTSD victims, the app creates a hub to connect caregivers, patients, friends, and family into a community of support.  In the era of Corona Lockdown, this community app became more essential than ever.    ​

In the midst of an unprecedented  pandemic, while the broader news may seem grim, in small ways and with huge hearts, America’s innovators conceived new ways to fight the battle.  It was true on the beaches of Normandy, just as it is true on the streets of our greatest cities and smallest towns.  And like 1944, the battles may rage today — but the war will be won.


#supplychain #Supplychainandlogistics #QueenofRaw #FamilyProud #DDay #CoronaVirus #CoronavirusandDDay #Pandemic #PandemicandSupplyChain #Roadtripper #afteractionreports   
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​When John Wesley set sail from England to the Debtor’s Colony of Georgia, the future Evangelical was a man of quiet faith. Prior to Georgia, Wesley’s sermons were weary affairs, eliciting little more than yawns.

​But then he got here  and he fell in love. And that passion — un-sated it turns out -- may have impassioned him for inspiring speeches later in life.


Much of his New World troubles occurred on Saint Simons Island. There the Anglican minister wound up in the wrong corner of a love triangle.

As in Georgia, a key aspect of Wesley's ministry was to preach outdoors. He recognized the open-air services were successful in reaching poor folks. They were uncomfortable entering the middle class tidiness of most Anglican churches.  Wesley travelled ceaselessly throughout the British Isles.  His message resonated with the lower rungs of society. ​

Soon the poor gathered in the thousands at large outdoor venues to hear the rejuvenated preacher spread his passionate message.  “He was the Billy Graham of his day,” Hanson says. ​

All in all, despite his movement’s huge success in today’s United States, the man who would lay the foundation for Evangelicals was all too happy to leave America far behind.


So why not get off the next exit and check out the nation’s smallest church?  It may not be Evangelical, but it is non-denominational. So like John Wesley,  it welcomes everyone!          


#JohnWesley #Methodist #Evangelicals #BillyGraham #Easter #OutdoorMass ​

Hear this …. right....HERE!

EXIT of the DAY: I-95n Exit 4 To: Route 4, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and White Mountains


“Hey Road Crew! Off upcoming Exit 4 is the University of New Hampshire. So that means it’s a time for a Test... a Road Test, of course!”   

“The winner of this Road Test wins 10% off an IKON Ski Pass. The Ikon Pass allows you to ski or snowboard at many mountain resorts all over North America.  Some of Ikon’s mountains are Aspen and Deer Valley out west and Loon and Killington here in New England.  The savings offered here represent between $200 to $2000 depending on where you ski and how often.  

The evolution of multi mountain ski passes is quite smart business-wise.  According to an article in Penske Media Corporation’s Digital Magazine, SPORTICO, written by John Wallstreet, “Vail Resorts and Aspen Skiing Company have led an industry wide consolidation that has dawned an era of multi-resort seasonal passes providing skier discounts on lift tickets, a hedge against warm winters, and incentives to visit different mountains.”   ​

Fabulous Loon Mountain is maybe 90 minutes up approaching Route 4 which cuts over to Interstate 93. ​

I-93 north drives right up the middle of New Hampshire. A beautiful drive, the highway slices through farmlands and foothills before giving way to serious mountains.  In fact, Loon Mountain is just 2 hours from Boston. So world class skiing is just a commute away.

​Now, please pay attention, cause here are the Fast Facts:

New Hampshire is nicknamed the “Switzerland of America” because of the beautiful scenery. It is  even more famous as the Granite State.​

The rugged terrain is reflected in the independent character of its inhabitants. After all, the state motto on license plates proudly proclaims, “Live Free or Die”. ​

Speaking of liberty or death, winter sports are a great reason to come to New Hampshire. The Granite State boasts the largest nordic cross country ski trail network in the Northeast.  As for alpine sports, well it’s all in the name. The New Hampshire section of the Appalachian Mountains are named the White Mountains.  The White Mountains are usually covered with snow from late November to May.
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The highest mountain in the New England is Mount Washington — also known for its wild weather.  Mount Washington is not a ski Mountain but that’s okay by me. ​

Being over 6000 feet high, it looms almost two thousand feet over neighboring ski resorts like Loon Mountain.  In the warmer months, you can drive or even take an antique train up and relax or get a meal at the Summit House. ​

But if it’s winter, forget about it. It seems as if Mount Washington breaks its own records for wind speeds and frosty temperatures every few years. For 76 years, Mount Washington held the record for fastest surface wind gust in the world. That blast clocked in at 231 miles per hour. ​

Washington is the highest of a line of summits, the Presidential Range, that are named after presidents and famous freedom fighters like Revolutionary War General Lafayette.
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Speaking of Mountains and Freedom Fighters, world famous Olympic Skier, Bode Miller,  should get a mountain named after him. ​

Bode is a Franconia, New Hampshire native. Known for his go-for-broke ski style, he is equally famous as being an iconoclast who does everything his way.  In one memorable interview after he tore down the mountain with skis just barely holding the trail, he revealed that he may have had a little too much to drink! ​

Regardless, the Granite State local is one of the greatest World Cup racers of all time with 33 victories. In 2008, Bode and fellow American Lindsey Vonn won the overall World Cup titles for the first U.S. sweep in 25 years. ​

​An Olympic Gold Medalist, Bode is  just one of 5 skiers to have won Olympic medals in 4 different ski- disciplines — downhill, super- G, slalom, grand slalom, and combined.  So if Bode tipples a little, you cannot fault his discipline in skiing!  Bad pun, I know.

But maybe for someone in your household, skiing or snowboarding isn’t your winter thing. Well there are beautiful trails for snowmobiling. Fast Fact: the first snowmobile was invented in Ossipee, New Hampshire. ​

New Hampshire prides itself on being a state concerned with personal liberties and freedoms so get ready to voice your right to win an Ikon Pass!

New Hampshire's state motto is, without a doubt, one of the most well-known of the 50 states. And it makes sense! It represents the American spirit and is said to have been the words spoken by a dying revolutionary soldier from the Granite State.  Incidentally, that is the road test. And no peeking at the New Hampshire License plates on cars next to you.  Eyes up! 
 
So what is the state motto of New Hampshire?  If you answer correctly, you can claim the deal on Deal Radar by saying you want the Ikon Pass Spoken Road discount.

You have 3 seconds to answer or you lose the Ikon Pass. Three… and two and  one… what is it?

That’s right: Live Free or Die. Now go for broke like Bode Miller. Claim that Ikon Pass. Just remember, you gotta tell ‘em,  “RoadSpoke and Bode Miller sent you!”
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#IkonPass #BodeMiller #Olympics #WorldCup #Skiing #Snowboarding #GraniteState #NewHampshire #LoonMountain #LindseyVonn ​

Hear this Here!
EXIT of the Day: I-95 EXIT 11 To: Garden State Parkway to Woodbridge, New Jersey


"As we now drive south into the more typical suburban woodlands,  you are now leaving the salt marshes of north Jersey.  In the last few Exits we have explored the Statue of Liberty, Jewish Immigrants, lady poets, striking refinery workers, pro football teams, Bald Eagles, and even New Jersey Mobsters.  Quite a snapshot of the American tapestry spread across five miles of swamp, right?  

​Oh and I forgot: we discussed how these salt marshes were once home to massive garbage dumps,  so-called lunatic asylums, and the world’s largest hog farm which together helped to tarnish New Jersey’s image as the bucolic Garden State.    ​

Buried in asphalt and suburban sprawl is New Jersey's ancient heritage. In the early 1600s, this area was first settled by the Dutch and it was called  New Holland.  Then shortly thereafter, came the Brits. Most relocated from New England.   

Nearby is the colonial era home of the ancestors of a recent President.  This President's family came to America not long after the Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving. And no, it was not a Roosevelt, a Clinton, a Bush or a Trump. 


President Barak Obama's American Roots run deep.

While his Dad was from Kenya, Obama's mom's side can trace roots directly to English immigrants arriving at the time of the Pilgrims.  In fact, maybe his ancient American heritage might have something to do with his interest in law, morals as well as politics. His direct ancestors were leaders in the Anglican Church in North America and -- not surprisingly --  in colonial era politics.
 

Way back in 1640, Jonathan Singletary Dunham, Obama’s first America-born ancestor was born up in Massachusetts.  John moved to Woodbridge, New Jersey where by 1670 he started a grist mill. It was the first grist mill in New Jersey.  And like his presidential descendant, he was a politician. Elected as a Member of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, John Dunham is President Barack Obama’s direct ancestor; he is the president's 8th great-grandfather.  ​

​Nearly 400 years ago, John Dunham thrived in Woodbridge. The house the Dunhams built in 1671, the Jonathan Singletary Dunham House, still stands and currently serves as the Rectory of the Trinity Episcopal Church.  That's because Obama's 7th great grandfather, Benjamin Dunham, generously built the first of three church buildings at that location.  Ben personally paid for that building and donated it to the congregation.

As is the case with many Americans, members of the Dunham family then drifted out West.  Generations passed. Ultimately Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas.  After high school in Wichita, Ann moved to Hawaii, enrolled in the University of Hawaii and studied to become an anthropologist.

Here in Woodbury, the oldest portions of the building are still in use today as the rectory where the presiding minister lives.  She spoke to the webpage, mycentraljersey.com.


Said the Reverend Angela Cipolla, the head priest at Woodbridge's Trinity Episcopal Church. “The connection with the president is absolutely something that the parish is incredibly proud of.”

Not surprising, the Rector extends a warm invitation to the President's family to come visit Woodbury, New Jersey.  In effect it's  an invitation for President Obama to come home.


#PresidentObama #ObamaAncestry #AngelaCipolla #WoodbridgeTrinityChurch #JohnathonSingletaryDunham #WoodbridgeNewJersey

The fish inhabit ponds as small as large puddles and lakes as big as small states. Their range is from Canada to South Florida. Personally I can attest: even from muddy ponds, they taste good!


Because they and their even more feisty fast water cousins, the Small Mouth Bass are tough little fighters, they are pursued by hundreds of thousands of American Sportsmen and Sportswomen. And little kids too. ​

Likely you have passed Bass Pro Shops along I-95. These mega stores service the great American Angler.  Founded by a sports man Johnny Morris, this chain of Recreation shops are themselves an 8 billion dollar business. They made a guy from Missouri who sold fishing gear from the back of a truck into a billionaire.  Mister Johnny Morris today is worth around 6 Billion bucks.   ​​

Starting from a single shop along a well travelled Missouri road, Johnny Morris now not only owns Bass Pro but he recently bought the hunting fishing superstore chain, Cabela’s. ​

On top of being a sportsman the  Springfield Missouri father of 4 is also a conservationist, which only makes sense when you consider there is no sportsmen if the eco systems are depleted. In fact in February 2019, no less than the Audubon Society honored Johnny Morris with its Audubon Medal for Conservation.      ​

Why is that? Well, consider the joy fishing brings.  I quote here a David verses Goliath Story from famed Fishing Guide Jim Porter…


…about a kid and his first fishing adventure. ​

Hear this right… HERE!


I-95 South EXT 49B to 695 and I-70 West, near Baltimore, Maryland


Quick! Look Up.  See the exit sign?  Upcoming Exit 49 b is an innocuous number for a major crossroads.  Imagine that from this point in the highway you can pretty much go ANYWHERE in North America. You can drive to California, to Florida to Alaska or to steamy Mexico.  Brazil or Peru even!

The road promises infinite possibilities. Starting right HERE on I-95, Interstate 70 goes from here — near Baltimore in the mid-Atlantic States— transecting the continent through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and ending all the way out in tiny Cove Fort, Utah. 

I-70 and I-95 are Cross Roads just above the Mason Dixon line.  Cross roads is the theme here where cultures cross and mix.  I-70 goes over the highest point on the Interstate in the Colorado Rockies.  The road goes   through some serious country, right? Well, even more than you can imagine.  


Not a lot of music investigates the trials of Life’s long road like Country Music.  Do you get crazy when you hear certain Country and Western songs?  No?   Not really a Country Western fan? Or do you love it?   Well that does not matter because with Patsy Cline,  let’s just say her music transcended the boundaries of musical genre.  Songs which have become world wide classics resonated with all Americans and are today recognized all over the globe. One of those songs, named “Crazy” should immediately come to mind.   
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There are not a lot of musicians who crossover from Country and Western to pop.  Most recently, the brightest star in this rarified firmament is none other than Taylor Swift. 

Born in 1989, Taylor shot to the top of the charts when she was just a teenager.  For her, the road to fame was relatively easy. Her  hit "Our Song", made Taylor the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.  Swift's second album, “Fearless”  explored country pop fusion and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.  At the age of 18, her singles “You Belong to Me”  and “Love Story” became crossover hits garnering huge audiences in both the Pop and Country Western audiences.

However, Taylor owes a lot to a person who had dropped out of high school to help support the family, worked in a Virginia slaughter house plucking and gutting chickens, and was a victim of parental child abuse. This happened all before little Patsy Cline turned 17.

While Patsy Cline had to wait to her mid twenties to achieve her success in the late 1950’s and early ’60's,  she was the very first Country artist anywhere who became a major artist on both the Pop and Country Western charts.   ​

No doubt Patsy’s struggles expanded the emotional resonance of her songs.  Her limpid clear voice had universal appeal.   In fact, she credits a sickness that almost killed her with expanding her vocal range.  Abandoned by her father and born to a 16 year old mother at the height of the Great Depression in 1932 east of here in the Blue Ridge community of Windsor, Virginia,  Patsy Cline found stability and started her ascent to stardom at the Moose Lodge  in nearby Brunswick, Maryland. There she met her first husband who provided some sort of stability for the 16 year old itinerate singer.

If you take the next exit west on Interstate 70,  you will be encounter Brunswick in a few miles.  But in an interview in 1957, Patsy claimed that her hospitalization and near death at age 13 for rheumatic fever actually improved her voice. Said Patsy, “"I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered I had this booming voice.”


Booming is hardly the adjective to describe Patsy’s hits. Soulful. Melodic.  Haunting even. Patsy is best remembered for “Walkin’ After Midnight”, “I Fall to Pieces”, “She’s Got You,” and “Crazy”.  Fast Fact: “Crazy” was an early single written by a little known Nashville songwriter  named Willie Nelson. Willie originally called the song “Stupid”. No doubt even as “Stupid”, the great Patsy Cline would still have made it a number one hit — in both genres.

As a pioneer for women in Country Music, Patsy was among the first to sell records and headline concerts.  Still her career was cut short one night in a storm somewhere over Tennessee.

Returning to Nashville from a concert in Kansas City, Patsy’s plane crashed. She was just 31.


Since her tragic death in that 1963 plane crash, Patsy’s fame has just grown.  Patsy Cline has been cited as one of the most influential singers of the 20th Century.  Her music has influenced musicians of various styles and genres. But ultimately Patsy Cline’s roots were pure country.  No surprise: in 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.


Rest in peace, Patsy Cline. Enjoy your success, Taylor Swift.  Across a universe of time and space the road leads directly from Patsy to Taylor. You both owe each other and have much to be thankful for.  But Taylor Swift would not have happened without Patsy Cline...  and there is nothing crazy about that.




#PatsyCline #CountryMusic #CountryandWestern #TaylorSwift #Crazy #Walkinaftermidnight #WillieNelson #

​Hear this here!


EXIT 188n off I-95 to Patrick AFB, Satellite Beach in Brevard County Florida


No doubt  it’s good to get where you are going in good time. But sometimes a detour is well worth the circuitous route since you encounter people and things that make a voyage even better. The next exit offers that kind of detour.

Two generations later, those bullet holes remain visible amid rust-red corrosion on a 4-by-5-foot steel section of the doomed warship's superstructure that has arrived on the Space Coast.  Brevard Veterans Memorial Center officials publicly unveiled the World War II relic and accompanying museum exhibit during a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony. ​

Florida resident Joseph Iscovitz was 103-year-old when he died in 2020.  Young Joseph Iscovitz was a supply sergeant that sunny Sunday morning in 1941 in Pearl Harbor. He oversaw a weapons depot. ​

Speaking to the Associated press on the occasion of his  father’s passing, Doug Iscovitz said his father could see the faces of the Japanese pilots as they dropped bombs around the naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1941. His son says they were woefully unprepared for the attack and feared an amphibious assault later that day. He said his father helped string barbed wire along Waikiki Beach in anticipation of the invasion than thankfully never came. ​

If you want to see the bullet ridden relic from the Arizona and other museum displays, like Huey Attack Helicopters from Vietnam or even a Marine Harrier Jump Jet or just things brought back by our veterans from their tours of duty, get right to exit off upcoming Exit 188.  Since the museum is located in an active Veteran’s Post, aside from museum pieces, no doubt you will meet the real thing —some real heroes. Now that’s worth a little detour isn’t it?  After all, it can be said that America’s Veterans made a little detour in life for their fellow Americans. Now did’t they?


That’s right, nice and slow, now get over… and don’t forget your blinker….


#PealrHarborDay #PearlHarbor #Vets #Arizona #BattleshipArizona #MelbourneFlorida ​#MerritIsland #BrevardVeteransMemorialCenter

EXIT of the Day.

EXIT 141 I-95n to Gold Rock and Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Hear this... right... um ... HERE!

"Certain comments are sky high soccer lobs that are meant to be blasted like a “bend it like Beckham” line drive.


This lady's male coach once snootily told her,  "You run like a girl." Without missing a beat, she replied, "If you could run faster, you could too!"

Talk about retorting with a line drive after getting a lob, right?​

Considered the Pele of her generation, Mia Hamm played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and helped the team win four consecutive NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship titles. ​

One of the key players and stars of the 1999 United States National Team which won the title at the 1999 World Cup, she scored the key penalty kick in the United States' double overtime victory over the Chinese in the championship game.  Named in 1997 by People Magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, in 1994 she was the recipient of the Honda Broderick Cup, given to the Most Outstanding Female Athlete in all of college sports.  ​

During that time, Mia set the UNC record for single-season assists with 33 in 1992. She set the NCAA record for single-season scoring with 97 points in 1992. She still holds NCAA Tournament career records for scoring (41 points) and goals (16). Then, while still a college undergrad, Mia started for Team USA when it won America's first-ever FIFA World Championship, played in China in 1991. ​

​After that, Mia graduated from upcoming UNC Chapel Hill and received her degree in political science.  Even now — years into her retirement and shortly after the Team USA Ladies won another FIFA world Cup — Mia Hamm is arguably the most famous women's soccer player in the world today.


So yeah Dude, learn to run like a woman!


#MiaHamm #NCAA #UNCChapelHill #FIFAWorldCup #Recordbreaking #Soccer #Football #TeamUSA #AllAmerican

​Speaking of transportation, Delawarean Oliver Evans built the first automobile in America, though it would be hardly recognizable as an automobile by today’s standards.  More like a horseless carriage. Or a small locomotive from a train. Does anyone know what a locomotive looks like anymore? I wonder.   

​In certain parts of Delaware, it’s illegal to serve alcohol in an establishment if there’s dancing going on at the same time. Obviously that would not be popular on Tik Tok. No dancing or silly stuff -- which may make sense because Delaware is very serious. Delaware has the highest percentage of Ph. D.'s in the country…

If you had the Road Spoke app and were driving northbound on I-95 , you would …Hear this here!


EXIT 93 I-95n: Smithfield Brogden Road


Upcoming is a cross road on which if you head north, you get to Durham and if you head south you get to Goldsboro.   Speaking of  gold, when this woman died in 2012,  Duke University’s Chapel was filled to capacity.  Overflow mourners had to watch the proceedings on a screen in an adjacent auditorium. The pews were filled with people from all walks of life and by all creeds and colors. ​

As soon as the program ended, Mary walked directly through this crowd of powerful people to the back of the tent to thank and compliment us for our good work and spent a few minutes chatting with us. That will always be my impression of her – a woman who sought out and appreciated the invisible people. That night, every member of the crew would have moved heaven and earth for her.” ​

Little Mary Duke Biddle was born in 1920 in New York City to Mary Lillian Duke and Anthony Drexel Biddle, Jr..  No doubt she lived a privileged life yet it was by no means all roses.  What she did with her privilege was what we can only be called class.  In fact, she was inspired by her innovative parents:  Mary’s Mom was an aspiring opera singer and her father a foreign service officer and ambassador. Her dad served with valor in the trenches of World War One as an Army Captain. 

​At the age of fourteen, her parents divorced and she moved to Durham, North Carolina to live with her grandmother.  In 1935 she enrolled in Duke's Women’s College.​. ​  

There she met and married Josiah Charles Trent, a talented medical student who eventually became the chief of Duke Hospital’s Division of Thoracic Surgery. Despite getting her degree in Art History, her husband exposed her to the exciting promises of modern science.  Then in 1948, Trent died of lymphoma, leaving Mary alone to raise four little girls.


Enrolling again at Duke to get an advanced degree, Mary met and married Doctor James Semans, a surgeon. Together they had three more children. ​ If you are counting, yes that meant seven kids!

On the professional front,  the couple became full time community activists.  In 1953 Mary was the one of the 2 first women ever elected to Durham’s City Council and for 2 years she served as mayor pro tem of the city. While in office, she advocated against voter suppression of African Americans and focused on civil rights, cultural enrichment, and affordable housing. ​

Mary was always passionate about her namesake university. Her ambition was to make the institution as good as any Ivy League college up north.    Mary financially supported many projects at her alma mater. ​

At the end of her life in 2012, when asked for a reflection on her work, she replied that she “sees that word ‘philanthropy’ all the time,” but never thought it applied to her.  She was simply “giving at times when someone needed it”.  Indeed Mary was a giver. The state you are driving through was her greatest beneficiary.


#MaryDukeBiddle #DukeFoundation #DukeEndowment #DukeEnergy #BiddleDuke #MaryDukeTrentSemans ​

All Right Road Crew,  now it is time for a deal and a very charitable deal at that. Do you love pasta?  I mean who does not love pasta?  Every kitchen cabinet is stocked with pasta and pasta sauce.   If you tap the Deal Radar button on your smart phone... ​

You all know Newman's Own, right?  The Famous Movie Star, Paul Newman who starred in such great movies as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting" donates all profits to charity. This socially conscious product line is in every supermarket. So stock up on "Newman's Own" because no other company gives its profits to kids in need. And that is what Newman's Own does.  ​

During World War Two back in the spring of 1945, shortly before the Battle of Okinawa, as an aerial gunner on a torpedo dive bomber, the young Paul Newman was ordered aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. But his pilot was sick. The pilot's ear infection kept their two man plane grounded at base while the rest of their squadron continued onto the aircraft carrier. Days later a kamikaze blasted the ship. All their unit died.  No doubt Paul Newman's story would have died that day as well. 

​​In the 1950’s Paul became a major movie star co-starring opposite such greats as Jackie Gleason and Elizabeth Taylor.  

Another major milestone was that he met then married actress Joanne Woodward. As movie stars, their's was a union unique in its breadth and depth. They shared 3 daughters and 50 plus years together. Once when asked about the secret to his marriage’s success, Newman famously answered, “Why would I go out for hamburger when I have steak at home?” ​

In 1982, along with author AE Hotchner and wife actress Joanne Woodward, Paul founded Newman's Own, a food company from which Newman donates all post-tax profits and royalties to charity.  These donations totaled  about five hundred million dollars by 2016. ​

​​Paul was also a co-founder of Safe Water Network and the SeriousFun Children's Network, a global family of camps and programs for children with serious illness. The camps are seriously altruistic:  it has served over three hundred thousand kids. 

The Westport Country Playhouse is a world famous theater in Westport.  Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman's wife, was artistic director from 2000-2006.  Liza Minnelli, Eartha Kitt, Gene Wilder, James Earl Jones, Jane Curtin, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Olivia de Havilland, Eva Gabor, Jane Fonda, and of course both Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman are among the actors having performed there. ​

​Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Alfred Joyce was the son of Doctor Frederick Kilmer a physician employed by the Johnson and Johnson Company. Doctor Kilmer is notable in his own right as the inventor of the iconic Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder.


His son, Joyce Kilmer was a poet/ soldier best known for his 1913 poem “Trees”.

He was married to Aline Murray, also an accomplished poet, with whom he had five children. Later he is also credited with naming the 69th Infantry of the New York National Guard;  he called his 69th Regiment from New York City,  "The Fighting Irish".  Or rather, Kilmer re-named the unit since in the Civil War, Robert E Lee, admiringly named this Union unit largely composed even then of tough Irish immigrants, "The Fighting 69th".    ​

As converts to Roman Catholicism from Episcopalianism. the young poets were received in the Catholic church in 1913.  Kilmer writes that he "wanted something not intellectual, some conviction not mental – in fact I wanted Faith."  He claimed that when "faith did come, it came, I think, by way of my little paralyzed daughter. Her lifeless hands led me. I think her tiny feet know beautiful paths. You understand this.  And it gives me a selfish pleasure to write it down.”


When the Great War began, seeking a higher calling, Kilmer enlisted and was deployed to France with his famous "Fighting Irish" in 1917. Then he received sad news.  Little Rose had died.   


In France, fighting the Germans, Kilmer sought increasingly  hazardous duty. He was transferred to the military intelligence section where his coolness under fire was admired. One day his Commanding Officer, Wild Bill Donovan -- who would later go on to be the founder of the Central Intelligence Agency (the CIA) -- had Kilmer scout out a German machine gun nest. ​

​Hear this here!
EXIT of the DAY:  EXIT 48 I-95 To I-91n to Hartford CT, Springfield Mass in New Haven
  
  
If you bear right here up the onramp of Interstate 91 it’s a long road up to Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.  But that road is nothing compared to the road of so many of the women that went there before 1919.   The long road is a breeze when compared to the struggle of women to claim the honest rights that all Americans should share.   It took almost 130 years for women to get the right to vote in 1919. 

​
Dorothy Kenyon liked losers. And good thing for them. Dorothy was a feminist lawyer and an inspiration for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

​Despite being raised in a cabin with no plumbing or electricity,  he had graduated as salutatorian of his segregated Hattiesburg high school, where he met his future wife, Daisy Pearl Nix.
 
After, he got his degree from Ohio State University, he signed up for Reserve Officer Training and joined the Navy.  Both Ohio State and The Navy were largely segregated at the time. That meant Jesse LeRoy Brown was only one of 2 African Americans enlisted in ROTC and only one of seven blacks to graduate that year from Ohio State. It was 1946.


After Ohio, Jesse continued flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station. The only African American in the program, Jesse  anticipated antagonism. But he was pleasantly surprised. White cadets were welcoming. Ironically,  he found it was the black janitors and mess hall staff who were hostile to him.

             
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​Because naval cadets were not allowed to marry, Jesse Brown and Daisy Nix married in secret. If caught it would mean immediate dismissal. But Daisy moved discreetly to Pensacola and lived off-base with Jesse rushing to her on his free weekends.


In October 1948,  Jessie became the first Black to graduate from Navy Flight School which means he became the first African American to earn the Navy’s coveted Wings Of Gold.

Fast Forward to a freezing December day in 1950 over snowbound Korea. Approximately 100,000 Chinese troops had surrounded 15,000 U.S. Marines beside the Chosin Reservoir. ​

Jessie Brown was now wingman to the Andover grad whose name was Tommy Hudner. The two pilots flew dozens of close support missions. They rolled in and strafed the Red Army to prevent them from overrunning the vastly outnumbered Americans.


At some point, Tommy Hudner noticed that Jesse Brown’s plane was trailing fuel. ​

Lieutenant Tom Hudner got out that day and Jesse became the first Naval Officer to die in the Korean War.


As for Tommy Hudner, he won the Medal Of Honor for his bravery. However, it was thereafter prohibited to crash your own aircraft in an attempt to save your comrade. Turns out Tommy did not need to do that again. He lived long enough to speak at the commissioning of the first Navy Ship named for an African American Sailor. It was a frigate named for his wingman,  The Jesse L. Brown. ​

EXIT of the DAY: I-95s Exit 22 in FL To: FL 848, Stirling Rd, to Cooper City, Florida


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In November 1969, midway through a game and just after he had scored his second career touchdown,  Piccolo removed himself from the field. It turned out he could not breath.  He was spitting up blood.  Tests showed it was lung cancer.


After the season, Gayle Sayers was nominated  that year for The George Halas Trophy for most Courageous Player.  But he declined the honor. He said the honor belonged to his best friend. ​

Brian Piccolo died from cancer in 1970.  A movie, “Brian's Song”, was made recalling his life.  Major Movie Star, James Caan played the part of Brian Piccolo.  The movie was rightfully a real tear jerker.  And Brian Piccolo was rightfully a real star.


No wonder they honor him here.


#KobeBryant #GigiBryant #SuperBowl #NFL #Football #BriansSong #GayleSayers #BrianPiccolo #FortLauderdale #WakeForest #ChicagoBears ​

Krispy Kreme Doughnut was indeed founded here, in Winston-Salem. That’s true! The first mini golf course was built here, in Fayetteville. That is also a fact. You know what else happened in Fayetteville? Babe Ruth hit his first home run! On March 7 in 1914. ​

Which means that if you guessed Coke wasn’t invented here, you’re correct!  But in this case, the lie is not too far from the truth. Because even though Coke wasn’t invented here, Pepsi was!


Pepsi was first introduced as a product called "Brad's Drink" in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1893 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his drugstore where the drink was sold. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898. ​

In 1931 at the depth of the Great Depression the Pepsi-Cola Company entered bankruptcy. Eventually Pepsi's assets were purchased by Charles Guth, who was the president of a candy manufacturing company with retail stores that contained soda fountains. He was interested in Pepsi because he wanted to replace Coca-Cola at his stores' fountains after Coke refused to give him a discount on syrup. Think about it, if Coke had just given that discount way back when, there would be no Pepsi to rival them! And even after Pepsi took off, the Coca Cola company was offered the opportunity to purchase the Pepsi-Cola company not just once but on three separate occasions between 1922 and 1933. But they declined on each occasion and the rivalry has just kept growing.


Time to play another game. I’ll give you four Pepsi slogans from the past sixty years or so. Three will be true and one will be false. Can you guess the false one? Here we go. The first slogan is "Any Weather is Pepsi Weather.” The second slogan is “More Bounce to the Ounce.” Here’s your third option: “Born in the Carolinas.” And finally the fourth option is “If you’re peppy, get Pepsi.”


Are you ready to answer? Do you think it was the slogan that said “born In the Carolinas”? Well you’re wrong, that’s a real Pepsi slogan from 2011! The false slogan was “if you’re peppy, get Pepsi.”


Why not get right and take the next exit to Fairmount.  I know I am thirsty, and you are likely too. Let’s get a soda at the local 7/11. And when in Carolina do what the locals do. Make it a Pepsi!


#Pepsi #KrispyKreme #NorthCarolina #BradsDrink #NewBern #BabeRuth #CocaCola ​

Hear this... right... (wait for it...)... HERE!​

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


"Despite inspiration being everywhere, sometimes we at The SpokenRode need to dig to find material… by that, we mean we need to dig to find material 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!   ​