I-95s, Overpass of State Route 17, in Fredericksburg VA

Quick!  Glance over to your right.  You are passing a lovely manicured campus. The Big Man on that campus is in fact a lizard.  That’s because you are passing the corporate campus of GEICO Insurance. ​

In fact, the big lizard on GEICO's Corporate campus is no ordinary lizard but rather a gecko. And no doubt you have heard,  The GEICO Gecko, that most uncommon of creatures, is uniquely adapted to help people save money on car insurance. 

FAST FACT Number #1:  If you tap the Deal Radar logo on your device right now and say, "Claim my Geico Gecko RoadSpoke Deal!" you can save up to 15 % on your current car insurance by switching to Geico.   

​Of course, you do not need to do the homework now but can check into that discount once you get in front of your laptop and go to Geico website. You have 60 days in fact to claim the deal online. You could save hundreds maybe even thousands of dollars!​

FAST FACT #2:  The cockney lizard has captivated audiences of all ages.  GEICO is now the second largest writer of private auto insurance in the United States. This 40 acre campus is home to several company operations including our favorite, the GEICO auto insurance division. 


The idea for the Gecko grew from a creative session at GEICO's ad agency, the Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia. The name "GEICO" was often mispronounced “Gecko." As the brainstorming began, a quick doodle of a gecko appeared. Ad campaigns from the past have proven animals create a strong connection between customers and companies. Think Lassie, Morris the Cat, Smokey Bear, or the MGM Lion.  But a lizard?  Any how, with this in mind the Gecko came to life and made his debut in the 1999 television season.


But the Gecko is not alone. GEICO has launched concurrent ads with equally humorous characters.  There’s camels yelling “Hump Day!” and silent manatees in T shirts. There’s even a walrus playing hockey. ​

The GEICO Cavemen promote commercials claiming to use their GEICO website is "so easy, even a caveman could do it”. Of course the sophisticated cavemen are deeply offended by this stereotype — and well should they be! ​

But the biggest threat to the Gecko’s job security came from a pork chop.  Maxwell, the GEICO "Piggy" gave the Gecko a brief run for his money. If you can recall, Maxwell shouts a long "Whee" and appears in both radio and TV commercials. ​

Between the piggy, the caveman, the gecko, and 2,800 employees, GEICO is the largest private employer in Fredericksburg.  This should make another character supremely happy — and that would be the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffet, who himself kinda plays a character, that of America’s richest granduncle!  Turns out Warren Buffet's company, Berkshire Hathaway is the majority owner of  GEICO Insurance. ​

According to the National Interest Magazine, the Ohio Class of nuclear powered submarines is the sole class of ballistic missile submarines currently in service with the United States Navy. Fourteen of the eighteen boats are configured to carry nuclear  missiles, which, along with United States Air Force strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, constitute the so called nuclear deterrent triad of the United States. The remaining four subs have been converted to cruise missile submarines. 


Why do Russia and China Fear America's Ohio-Class Submarines? Well it is not complicated. ​

Built in the nineteen eighties these boomers might be old, but they could wipe out an entire country in less than an hour.  Prowling the oceans today , the fourteen Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines carry onboard upwards of half of the United States’ nuclear arsenal.  If you do the math, the Ohio-class boats may be the most destructive weapon system created by humankind.


Each of the four hundred and fifty foot or one hundred fifty meter long vessels can carry twenty four Trident Two submarine launched ballistic missiles. Depending on the load, these babies can be fired from underwater to strike at targets more than seven thousand miles away. As a Trident Two re-enters the atmosphere at speeds of up to Mach 24, it splits into up to eight independent reentry vehicles, each with a 100  or 475 kiloton nuclear warhead. In short, a full salvo from an Ohio-class submarine—which can be launched in less than one minute—could unleash up to 192 nuclear warheads to wipe twenty-four cities off the map. Sweet huh? ​

Running silent and running deep, the sub’s nuclear reactor gives it virtually unlimited underwater endurance and the ability to maintain cruising speeds of twenty knots (twenty-three miles per hour). All the while these boomers produce very little noise. While other branches of the military may be deployed in reaction to the crisis of the day,  all over the globe the nuclear submarines maintain a steady routine of patrols and communicate infrequently so as to remain as silent as possible. This makes them very tough to track. ​

Luckily, the closest competitor to the Ohio class submarine is the Russia’s sole remaining Typhoon-class submarine, a larger vessel with twenty ballistic missile launch tubes. ​American Squids are confident their Ohio ships are superior, but if they told you why they would have to kill you. 

The logic of nuclear deterrence is simple. While a first strike might wipe out a country’s land based missiles and nuclear bombers, it’s very difficult to track a ballistic-missile submarine lurking in the depths of the ocean—and there’s little hope of taking them all out in a first strike. ​ In fact, they rarely contact any other craft or command unit for weeks on end so once they go down they are invisible to track and/or hear.  Their Captains do however enjoy exhibiting their speed, power, and acrobatics on the surface! 

Thus, ironically ballistic missile submarines promise the unstoppable hand of nuclear retribution—and should deter any sane adversary from attempting a first strike or resorting to nuclear  weapons at all.


At least that’s the theory!


#KingsBay #OhioClass #Tridentmissiles #Georgia #NationalINterestMagazine ​

And despite it being New York City, yes Alan from Newnan Georgia wore his signature ten gallon hat... which was no less weird than AeroSmith's Steven Tyler wearing spectacles! ​

​She supported the family as a flight attendant back in the days when the penniless Star struggled to break out. When asked about his evolution as a song writer, and whether he wrote poetry or short stories back in school Alan replied simply, “It must just be a gift from heaven. I don’t know where it came from. I never wrote a song in my life until I was in my early 20s.”


But no doubt the marriage and daughters with Denise is a recurring theme. And a country singer’s dream. It embodied the very themes of the singer’s own hits—a rags-to-riches story of high-school sweethearts who find superstardom without sacrificing true love.

In the days leading up to his induction into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame the keeper of 35 “Number #1” Country Hits is still sharing his stories — cowboy hat and all."  


We at RoadSpoke look forward to many more hits to come.    


#9/11 #AlanJackson #DeniseandAlanJackson #Countrywestern #NewnanGeorgia #RagstoRiches #SongwritersHallofFame #Billboard100 #BillboardMagazine​

Growing seafood, or aquaculture,  is booming business in New England. Aqua-cultured shellfish in Rhode Island include various oyster, mussel, and clam species. These bivalves are filter feeders. This means they rely on what’s called  “ambient primary production” rather than feeding on inputs of fish, or meal, or other feed. In other words, they filter water for tiny food like plankton and organic material. ​

As such, shellfish aquaculture is generally perceived as benign or even beneficial. On top of creating great seafood, this type of Aquaculture actually cleans the water. Pretty cool huh? ​

​Depending on the species and local conditions, bivalve molluscs are either grown on the beach, on longlines, or suspended from rafts and harvested by hand.  Here in Rhode Island most are grown in salt ponds where tides flush the estuaries twice a day.

If you have a time for a meal, why not get off I-95 at the next exit and drop by some of the local clam shacks on Route 4 and Scenic Route 1.  You will not find fresher or more delicious seafood anywhere in the world! 


#aquaculture #RhodeIslandAquaculture #oysters #Oysterfarms #Oysterfarming #Greenwich #EastGreenwichRhodeIsland #Bivalves #Seafood #JacquesCousteau ​

...The Knights of Columbus, The U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Hat City, Sybil Ludington and her horse Star, Rothberg Institute for Childhood Diseases, Eli Yale,  The Connecticut River, Wilbur Cross, John Cabot Lodge, The Lady Huskies, PT Barnum, Tom Thumb, whaling, sealing, harbor seals, aquaculture, Jewish War Veterans, Catholic Charities, Venture Smith...

…coywolves, submarines, Eugene O'Neill,  Pilgrims, Pequots,  Mohegans, and the biggest Movie Star Katharine Hepburn who lived in the littlest town, Fenwick, Connecticut. ​

And that was just 20 minutes in New Haven County!​

#Connecticut #StillRevolutionary #Yale #TheCoastGuardAcademy #Pequots #FenwickConnecticut #KnightsofColumbus

“Even for summer in central New Jersey, the weather was hot — over 100 degrees.  Still the British kept coming.  On the American side, those who manned the canon were firing non-stop. Women ran back and forth from a local spring providing life-saving water. ​

​Molly Pitcher was a mythic name given to a woman said to have fought in the Battle of Monmouth  It is generally believed to have been Mary Ludwig Hays. Since various Molly Pitcher tales grew in the telling, many historians regard Molly Pitcher as folklore rather than history, or suggest that Molly Pitcher may be a persona inspired by the actions of a number of women.


The name itself originated as a nickname given to women who carried water to men on the battlefield during the war.  Molly was a common nickname for women named Mary in the Revolutionary time period.


What we do know is this: at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, Mary Hays found a spring just before the battle. (Today two places on the battlefield are currently marked as the "Molly Pitcher Spring.")  Mary then spent much of the forenoon carrying water to soldiers - often under heavy fire from British troops. ​

​After the battle when the British withdrew, General Washington asked about the woman whom he had seen loading cannon under fire.  In commemoration of her courage, he issued Mary Hays a warrant as a non-commissioned officer.

Hear the here: EXIT of the DAY
EXIT 284 I-95n to State Road 100,  Route 1, Bunnell & Flagler Beach, near Crescent Lake, FL


“Upcoming and off to the left in that tangle of Cypress swamp is a sunlit span of water known as Crescent Lake. A large deep lake, it is famous as a prolific fishing hole — especially for Large Mouth Bass.  Large Mouth Bass are little fish that mean big business.  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. ​

As if Bass Pro Shops was not enough, Johnnie recently bought Cabela's!  So the deal works there too!  ​ ​

On top of being a sportsman billionaire, 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 hear a David verses Goliath Story from famed Fishing Guide Jim Porter… ​

​…about a kid and his first fishing adventure.  Writes Mister Porter, “Well, so his name is Andrew and not 'David'. I still think the title above fits pretty good!!


He's 4-1/2 years old and weighs in at  35 pounds. And, Andrew Morrissette recently accomplished what most grown-up anglers have never done - he landed a 9-pound largemouth bass. On top of that, he got his trophy from a northeastern State where bass of that size are extremely rare.


On the 1st of June, Andrew and his Dad, Gary, took a trip to Darrah Pond in New Hampshire.  Armed with a yellow grub, they proceeded to catch some small fish. Andrew had no trouble with that and proudly displayed his first fish for the camera.


After a short period with no strikes, Dad switched Andrew over to the Rapala minnow. In a few casts, Andrew called out that he was hung up. But, then, the snag started to SWIM. Suddenly, all dickens broke loose and the big bass busted the surface trying to rid itself of the Rapala. Andrew hung right in there and, with a little help from Dad to keep from being pulled into the water, eventually dragged the giant fish up on the sandy shore.


This time, Andrew said he was afraid of the fish because it was so big, and Gary could not coax him close enough to be in the picture with it. So, all we see in the photo is a giant bass and Andrew Morrissette's boots.


But, all ended well for everyone. The big sow bass was released and Andrew got his pictorial proof of the catch of a lifetime. Who knows - maybe he and the bass will meet again when BOTH are older and bigger!!!”

Hear this here! EXIT of the DAY:
EXIT 37a I-95s aka Yankee Division Highway to I-93s to Summerville, Cambridge and Boston, MA​

“On TV during the Coronavirus Pandemic in May 2020, MSNBC News anchor Ali Velshi spoke with Dr Jim Yong Kim.   Having served in numerous illustrious positions, Dr Kim had a well balanced perspective on the Pandemic. He recommended various best ways to stop the Pandemic.


Dr Kim perceives the crisis from a medical, social, financial, as well as political perspective. Said he on MSNBC, “We are doing well from the point of view of the Fed pouring money into the economy. The United States is using a bazooka for the economy.   But socially as well as medically, we are using a squirt gun. We need contact tracing. We will not stop this pandemic if our responses are not led by data.  So long as we do not know who has the virus and where they spread the disease, then COVID will continue to grow regardless of how many people go back to work. So the economy will fail.  We need a balanced multi-prong attack that is coordinated.”


Who is this talking head? ​

Well, Dr Kim’s credentials are as impressive as they are broad. By training, the good doctor is an anthropologist as well as a medical doctor.  Born in South Korea in 1959, at the age of 5, his family immigrated to Heartland America.  His Dad taught dentistry  at the University of Iowa and his Mom pursued her Ph D in philosophy.  Meanwhile young Jimmy not just excelled in class but starred as quarterback on the Muscatine Iowa High School Football team.  He also must have been popular. He got elected class president as well.


Having attended the University of Iowa, Brown University, and Harvard, at the age of 27, Dr Kim started a non-profit called Partners in Health.  Headquartered in Boston, Partners in Health launched in Haiti to fight infectious diseases. ​

​The organization also achieved economies of scale by ordering bulk nationwide quantities for cheaper drugs.   


Finally, Dr Kim also insisted patients self quarantine.   He and local doctors would cure super contagious patients in their own homes.  By the early 1990s, the program in Haiti was serving more than 100,000 people.


Battling AIDS and tuberculosis in Haiti’s most impoverished conditions, the success of Partners in Health catapulted Dr Kim to being a leader in pandemic healthcare.   Back in Boston,  he accepted the chairmanship of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School before being selected as the President of Dartmouth College from 2009 to 2012. This made him the first Asian American president of any Ivy League institution.

Then President Obama came calling.  President Obama nominated Kim to become the President of the  World Bank.  On April 16, 2012, the World Bank officially elected Kim as its next president.  He is the first World Bank leader whose background is not in the political or financial sectors.  Most notably, Dr Kim is also the first Bank leader to have previous experience personally and intimately battling infectious viruses on a national scale.  Positioned at 41 in Forbes' Power People 2018 list, Mr Kim has presided over the dispersal of billions of dollars of World Bank funding. In 2018 alone, Dr Kim oversaw financial loans worth $67 billion. ​

Now a virus is threatening countries and now Dr Kim seeks to institute the lessons he learned in Haiti.  Starting with Massachusetts, Dr Kim hopes to institute cheap but effective nationwide contact tracking — just as he did in Haiti.


So we ask again, who is this Talking Head?   


The answer may well be: this Talking Head may be the best credited authority to lead the battle against Coronavirus.  After all, he wants to blast away with  bazookas where now we only use squirt guns.  And what nation wants to battle a mortal foe with a squirt gun?”    


#AliVelshi #WorldBank #JimYongKim #PIH #PartnersinHealth #DartmouthCollege #Harvard #FirstAsianPresidentofIvyLeagueInstitution #UniversityofIowa #MuscatineIowa #GlobalHealth #Haiti #Pandemic  ​

RoadSpoke’s app seeks to discover America. It turns drives into explorations by uncovering — at almost every exit and looming landmark — what happened… HERE.

On a bleak 4, 6,  or 8 eight lane tabla rasa, we add context to everything you see.  This roadside reveal illuminates our common heritage and unravels our collective DNA. It’s absolutely fascinating how much occurred in our own backyards — to hear where T Rex trod or why Washington strode and which Union or Rebel soldier died.

But does RoadSpoke succeed?


Annually lots of folks go out to search for America — to find her secrets and OUR essence.  In fact, every year 212 million Americans take a road trip for pleasure.

​
All of them follow asphalt trails to uncover America’s promise. “On the Road” promises boundless horizons and fruitful plains. Beat writer Jack Kerouac did it.

His joyful stream-of-consciousness novel “On the Road” is credited with being the 1950’s opus that “turned on” a generation.  It propelled rebellious ’60's kids to forfeit middle America. Hundreds of Thousand hit the road with nothing but a dream and a thumb to hitch hike by. ​

Before Kerouac, during the Depression, Nobel Literati John Steinbeck sent his Okies rolling west along Route 66, the Mother Road. Like Americans every day, the hopeful Joad family manifestly searched for a brighter future. ​

In 1967, CBS  Reporter Charles Kuralt started a series  called "On the Road”.  It became a regular feature on "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite". Kuralt wandered “America The Beautiful” in a motor home in search of her people and their stories. The show lasted almost 40 years and he wore out 6 RV’s before he was through.

When discussing the show’s popularity, Kuralt said,  “The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”


Kuralt famously avoided the interstates ​in favor of the nation's side streets. He also said,  “Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything...”

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 >… Here!


EXIT 18, I-95n to Ridgeland; in Ridgeland, South Carolina


Over to your right you can see the walls and gun towers of a large prison. Welcome to the town of  Ridgeland!


Ridgeland was formerly known as Gopher Hill.  Years before now, job opportunities were slim in Jasper County so the state government would provide such gems as prisons to provide good jobs for Jasper county  locals. Since 1995, Ridgeland is home to the Ridgeland Correctional Institution — and its 1100 inmates. ​

They even changed the names of towns like this here Ridgeland to be more attractive to settlers. Apparently Ridgeland's former name was Gopher Hill.  But Gopher Hill was not deemed alluring enough when the railroad came through.  Railroads wanted settlement along their lines and no one wanted to live in a town called Gopher Hill. So they changed Gopher Hill to Ridgeland. This despite the fact Gopher Hill was named not for the pesky rodent but supposedly for the much more alluring Gopher Tortoise. ​

At the northern edge of its range, the gopher tortoise was once common in the area.


Gopher tortoises tend to  be quite feisty as tortoises go and dig burrows which other animals like to inhabit. Like tiny bulldozers, they use those stumpy legs to scoop out tunnels up to 40 feet long and 10 feet deep. It's these burrows that make gopher tortoises so special.  Rodents, reptiles, skunks, even foxes and coyotes use tortoise dens to seek shelter.  As such they are considered a keystone species especially in sandy pine barrens. ​

​Known to use its head to butt other tortoises, The reptile's feisty personality makes her a good representative for her species, which has declined due to habitat loss, disease, poaching, and over development.  Now restoration and captive breeding programs have been instrumental in increasing the reptile’s populations.


However,  the tortoises loss hereabouts is Jasper county's gain.  Because of their threatened status, please do brake for tortoises.  On the other hand, do not stop for burly hitchhikers in fashionably understated jump suits.


Business wise,  things have taken a change for the better. For several decades, in contrast to upcoming Beaufort County, Jasper was one of the poorest counties in the state. Recent development from two thousand onwards has given the county new residents, expanded business opportunities, and improved the tax base. Since 2010, Jasper County is the second-fastest-growing county by population in South Carolina.


Good for Jasper County. Bad for Gopher Tortoises.   


#Gophertortoises #Ridgeland #RidgelandCorrectionalInstitute #Prison #Gophers #Tortoises

Hear this Here…
EXIT 90 I-95n in North Carolina: To Newton Grove (Near Devil’s Racetrack Road)


If you had the Road Spoke app this is what you would hear.




“Upcoming a little beyond Exit 90 is Devil’s Racetrack Road… ​

“…This road has a lot of history.  During the Civil War,  General Sherman’s Union troops used the route to march on Raleigh Durham coming up from Georgia.   Later it was a venue for many houses of ill repute and seamy gambling parlors. No doubt, folks may have gathered outside to watch fast cars race down the relatively straight road.  There may even have been some wagering and liquor involved.​

The origins of NASCAR are a working man’s sport.   


Back in the 1930’s, folks would gather here to watch souped up cars race.  North Carolina claims this as part of their heritage. The Museum of NASCAR is located in Charlotte, North Carolina and well worth the visit. ​

Cops had no authority except in their own small jurisdictions.  Can you imagine that? An Interstate free of State Troopers?  Well let’s be honest:  until the late 1950’s there were no Interstates either. But I digress.  Cross County jurisdictions tells you why today only State Troopers patrol Interstates and not local cops. ​

Just watch out for Smokey as you transverse these parts. No Kidding. Troopers are often lurking hereabouts.   ​

Possibly the greatest race car driver ever, North Carolina’s own  Richard Petty was a Seven-time Daytona 500 champion. He tops NASCAR in wins with 200 poles and 127 wins in a season —27 in 1967 alone. ​

Known in NASCAR as the King, or King Richard, Richard Petty is a Tar Heel from the town of Randelman, just west of the Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill Triangle.  Like a proper king, Richard is part of a dynasty. ​

He is a second generation champion.  His father, Lee Petty, won the very first Daytona 500 in 1959.  Lee was himself a three-time NASCAR champion. Meanwhile, Richard’s son Kyle is also a respected NASCAR driver. SADLY, Richard’s grandson, Adam was killed in a practice RUN crash.  Adam represented a fourth generation of Pettys at the top of the sport. ​

EXIT of the DAY:  EXIT 5 on New Jersey Turnpike I-295 To: Burlington, New Jersey, and Mount Holly,New Jersey


Ok Road Crew, what do you do on a typical Christmas night? Gather around a fire and digest the over-served remains of the day? Pack up the wrapping paper and play with the new toys? Kinda anti-climatic right?


Well on the night of Christmas 1776, our future President, General George Washington was rowing across the turbulent, wide and freezing Delaware River in pitch darkness. Ahead of him lay the British Army and a battle to determine the future of the United States. ​

Mount Holly, New Jersey played a seminal role in securing Washington's first major victory against the British at the Battle of Trenton.  The year of 1776 was about to end badly since Washington had lost both the morale of his troops as well as lost every battle since the British had landed at Long Island and had chased him across New Jersey to the Delaware River near Trenton. Christmas was approaching and typically, armies reduced their hostilities during the winter. Marching troops was not easy so over the course of centuries, most European Armies camped and waited out the long winters.


The Hessians under the British stopped pursuing Washington and set up their winter quarters. Meanwhile Washington made it look like his army was camping in Pennsylvania. The broad Delaware River would provide a moat between the two armies preventing any easy attacks. ​

On December 17, 1776, Colonel Samuel Griffin of the Continental  American Army slipped across the Delaware River with 600 untrained boys. He marched to Mount Holly, where he set up a few "3-pounder" artillery pieces on Iron Works Hill. Moving up and down the line, they blasted away making more noise than damage. This was a decoy to draw away a portion of the main enemy army from their camp at Trenton.


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 ​

​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

Hear this right… HERE!


Exit 41 I-278 Brooklyn Queens Expressway, to Northern Boulevard (IND Queens Boulevard Line), Jackson Heights, Queens ​

​Can you imagine, spending $50 on a radio advertisement and generating a return of $150,000?  That's a return on investment of three thousand percent!  Wow.
 
​Well it happened right here in Jackson Heights.  That’s because from the printing press to Facebook, new media SERIOUSLY impacts the way people live.

​After the American Revolution, newspapers were the primary way people got their news. They often would be distributed by the Town Crier who would walk around villages and loudly proclaim the latest news often augmenting this with the sale of pamphlets: “Hear ye, Hear ye… Queens Man put to death for killing his neighbor. Read all about it.”

​The tech of journalism was different too and it impacted how the papers were treated. Before 1900, newspapers were printed on  cotton which was sturdier than paper. Cotton lasted months.  Newspapers were expected to be handed around. So most folks got "second hand news.”  No surprise, newspapers from this era are still in good shape.

By World War One, however, cotton was replaced by cheap paper — which meant the newspaper was less resilient and more disposable. News Papers after this period eroded in weeks.

Yet newspaper circulation became more targeted. In one household, Dad might read one Newspaper while Mom would read another.


The adaptation of media to modern lifestyles was essential for success.  It conformed with how people lived.  With the advent of subway commuting around 1900, publishers began to make more money with single sheet paper tabloids instead of fold out newspapers. Jam-packed strap-hangers preferred to peruse the thin copy, large images, and single leaf tabloids of say the Illustrated Daily News — today’s Daily News — over the unwieldy erudite New York Times.

Predictably these dailies targeted the masses with sordid stories about millionaires and immoral ladies -- preferably both. And more eyeballs meant more money from ads. These cheap paper tabloids quickly faded and grew jaundice -- but so-called Yellow Journalism boomed.


According to the Ric Burns and James Sanders companion book to Ken Burns' PBS Series, NEW YORK, AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, the impact of the new media of radio was even more staggering.


While papers reached thousands, radio could reach millions.

Although first broadcast commercially in 1920, it was not for 2 more years that the first radio advertisement was transmitted.


On August 22, 1922 on NYC Radio Station WEAF ran a 10 minute advertisement for an apartment complex right here in Jackson Heights, Queens.  The response was overwhelming. The advertiser who had paid just $50 for the airtime quickly sold $150,000 worth of apartments.


Driven by the vast new scale of radio, not just media but also the advertising industry in New York exploded.

That’s because, for the first time a single product could be sold to the entire nation at once.  Already the nation’s leader in culture, fashion, and publishing, no surprise New York City excelled in the new art of heightening the power of advertising.


And so what "Wall Street" was to Finance, "Madison Avenue" became for media and advertising... and both were headquartered  in the Big Apple.


#RicBurns #NewYork #NEWYORKANILLUSTRATEDHISTORY #JamesSanders  #NewYorkTimes #DailyNews #Radio #newmedia #JamesSanders #PBS #PBSNEWYORK

If you had the RoadSpoke app… hear this here:


EXIT of the Day: EXIT 22 I-95s Delaware Expressway to I-676, SR 30 to Wayne PA, in Philadelphia PA


“The subject of this EXIT has an amazing resume. He is a former Army Ranger, a Decorated Combat Veteran, the current Robin Hood Charity CEO, a Best Selling Author, and Best Friend Forever of none other than Miss Oprah Winfrey. ​

As for the EXIT of the Day, we chose an offramp that takes you to Wayne, Pennsylvania which is the home of Valley Forge Military School, a dormitory prep school which marked the bottom of our Wes Moore’s plunge and from which he rose to succeed in so many things. ​

You see, as a 3 year old child,  little Wes witnessed his father's death from a rare virus.  Moore's mother then took him to live in The Bronx with his grandparents. His grandfather, Dr. James Thomas, was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. His grandmother was a retired school teacher from Trelawny Parish, Jamaica.


A smart kid, Wes got financial assistance to attend the elite Riverdale Country School.  When Moore's grades fell, he got into trouble with the law.  His mom yanked him and  enrolled him in Valley Forge Military Academy off the approaching EXIT.  It was here that he learned discipline and he began to rise.


It was here too that he first parachuted which gave him the desire later to lead combat troops with the 82nd Airborne. ​

Wes is married to Dawn Moore with two young daughters.  He lives in suburban Connecticut, many many Exits from the Other Wes Moore — who is still his friend.


So it only seems appropriate that we credit EXIT 22 with being the right road for Wes Moore.  Down this Exit, Wes Moore drove to the Valley Forge Military Academy that changed his direction in life.  So it is the correct choice for our EXIT of the DAY.”   


#WesMoore #TheOtherWesMoore #ValleyForgeMilitaryAcademy #RobinHoodFoundation #RiverdaleCountrySchool #82ndAirborne #Army #TrelawnyParish   #TedTalks #Oprah
​

​Hear this right…. HERE!
EXIT OF THE DAY:  EXIT 100B  I-95 southbound Maryland Border




"Ok now, At-ten-tion!  Listen up Road Crew. And that means you — the one with the hair. Watching Charli D'Amelio on TikTok... "

Welcome to the Oriole State!  Speaking of Orioles, on September 6, 1995, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. aka The Iron Man  breaks the record of Yankee great Lou Gehrig aka The Iron Horse for consecutive games played: 2,131.

Cal Ripken, Junior might as well be a god to Marylanders.   He’s played in 19 MLB All Star Games, and he has won two MVP awards. He’s no slacker. Strange coincidence, like that other work horse and legend Lou Gehrig who was born in New York City's  Upper East Side and played for the hometown New York Yankees, Cal was born in Maryland and played his career with the hometown Baltimore Orioles.

Even now in retirement, Cal is not taking it easy.  He’s basically, like, the most charitable man in Maryland and is super active in establishing youth programs in baseball. In fact, you will pass his Cal Ripken, Junior Youth Baseball Camp in 1 minute coming up on the right. Keep your eye out to see Cal’s sports stadium.

​Speaking of local sports, Lacrosse is Maryland's unofficial state sport. Lacrosse was first played by Native Americans and entire villages essentially killed each other with sticks and rocks and used it to settle arguments.

Since that time, nothing has changed. Maryland uses lacrosse to settle many disputes especially between colleges and high schools. In Baltimore, Maryland  everyone loves the professional home teams like the Orioles and the Ravens. But the city splits into 2 vicious camps when local colleges Johns Hopkins University plays cross town rival Loyola University Maryland.

But if you get into an argument you can always settle it by finding common ground. Just say you love Cal Ripken. No one in Maryland argues with that!


Now for the Road Test: who is the sponsor for the Million Dollar Milepost?
If you said 7-Eleven you are correct!

​But to qualify you need to get right to Exit and take part in the RoadSpoke offer by filling up your tank at the upcoming  7-Eleven. You qualify with a purchase of at least $25 in fuel and claiming a free Slurpy or beverage.  And of course you cannot qualify unless you tell them Cal Ripken and RoadSpoke sent you!


Oh Yeah.  And about the Hershey’s or Mars brand candy bar including M&M’s.

"If you Tweet, Snap or post a selfie at the 7-Eleven, show the cashier and you will get a bonus prize. You can choose a regular size candy.    


Just remember, somewhere out there is a Million Dollar Milepost! But like the great Cal Ripken Jr,  you got to play!  Carry on Road Crew. Over and Out!"




#CalRipkenJunior #BaltimoreOrioles #Lacrosse #JohnsHopkins #LoyolaUniversityMaryland #MLBBaseball #LouGehrig #IronHorse #IronMan

"Ok Road Crew, now we play a game called "Name that recording artist."  The winner gets to claim a free month of Pandora app but they got to Claim the deal by tapping the Deal Radar button on this smart device during this narration.  Tap it now, go ahead. It's blinking!  ​

...having summers off,  beginning in 1953, the family spent summers on Martha's Vineyard. Regardless of his privileged upbringing, our hero suffered from depression so much so that between his prep school and college year, he committed himself to a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts.  Between the meds and the organized schedule he started to achieve structure which he credits for saving his life and influencing his music.  Still he lived chaotically and despite getting signed by the Beatles Apple Records he wound up becoming addicted to heroin.  However he continued to be productive. He wrote songs, including "Carolina on My Mind”. Paul McCartney and an uncredited George Harrison guest sang on "Carolina on My Mind", whose lyric "holy host of others standing around me" referred to the anonymous Beatle pals.

​Once he recovered, our hero moved to California, and there he produced his second album. Titled "Sweet Baby James", and featuring the participation of Carole King, the album was a  triumph.  Memorably, it included the single "Fire and Rain," a song about experiences in rehab and the suicide of his friend, Suzanne Schnerr.  In 1970, the album and the single reached #3 on the Billboard charts, with Sweet Baby James selling more than 3 million in the United States alone.

​The entire album was received as a folk-rock masterpiece, marking a direction he would take in following years. In following years there were many more triumphs than personal slips including a ten year marriage to singer Carly Simon.  Quick aside: Carly Simon likely appreciated her husband's literary chops because her dad was the founder of Book Publisher "Simon & Schuster."

So now can you name that artist?  You have 3 seconds to guess. Three, two... and one.  

EXIT of the DAY: EXIT 35 I-95n to : Thurgood Marshall International Airport, Savage Mills, North Laurel in Maryland. 


You are approaching Baltimore Washington International Airport aka The Thurgood Marshall Airport. It is named for a man whose roots were in Baltimore... his career was in Washington... and his influence was International. ​

The grandson of slaves, Marshall attended Frederick Douglass High School. He then went to Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, a primarily African American college.  His remarkable class of 1930 included Big Band leader Cab Calloway and writer Langston Hughes.​

Seeking the first black Supreme Court Justice, Marshall was appointed.  President Lyndon Johnson said, "this was "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place." ​

Marshall once described his philosophy as this: "You do what you think is right -- and let the law catch up."   Folks argue that this was judicial activism. Marshall did not deny it.


When he died in 1993, his legacy was simple: to uphold the constitutional rights of EVERY American.


#BWI #ThurgoodMarshall #HarrietTubman #LyndonJohnson #BaltimoreWashingtonInternationalAirport #CivilRights #SupremeCourt #Slavery #escapefromslavery #HowardUniversity #UniversityofMaryland #CabCalloway #LangstonHughes   ​