Tuesday, July 10, 2012, would mark the seventh day of the road trip through New England that Bob and I had been undertaking, effectively bringing the first week of the trip to close. After this day, we’d still have another full week ahead. But as of this day, we were still in the southern half of the New England states, specifically in Waterbury, Connecticut at the American Motor Lodge. This location put us just a quick drive from our first stop of the day (besides Bob’s quick run-in to one of the many Dunkin’ Donuts in the region).
But the first ‘official’ stop of the day was at the Yale-New Haven hospital. No, Bob didn’t get a bad donut nor did he try and slit my throat with his own caricature that had been floating around. We simply stopped her to get some exterior photos of the hospital in which George W. Bush had been born in 1946. Bush’s dad, the other President Bush had been attending Yale at the time of his first son’s birth. They would bring him back to their home, which had been converted to an apartment -making it the first dwelling of George W. You can see both of these locations at my Bush posting found here. We also took photos in front of the former home of the various college presidents in case they were anything special. Turns out, they weren’t.
At the unmarked location of George W. Bush’s birth
Also in New Haven are the Taft Apartments. President William Howard Taft resided her for eight years after his Presidency as he taught law at Yale University. You can see photos of these apartments at my Taft posting found here. Outside of the Presidential connection, it also served as a temporary residence of celebrities who were making appearances at the next-door Shubert Theatre. It was also used as a film location in All About Eve and Splendor in the Grass.
It was about 9:30am when we began a bit of grave-hopping elsewhere in New Haven. We started at the Grove Cemetery, which was a larger one housing some high-caliber notables. Among the most important to me was Roger Sherman. He had been a former mayor of New Haven, the first one no less, and went on to be the only founding father to sign all four of the great state papers of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and the Continental Association.
The grave of Roger Sherman, man of many signatures
Among the other biggies at this cemetery were inventors Eli Whitney and Charles Goodyear, as well as Dictionary icon Noah Webster. Ultra-famous bandleader Glenn Miller’s monument is also in this cemetery. Since his plane disappeared while flying over the English Channel in 1944, his body is not in this location. Bob also stopped by the grave of Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote, a noted Civil War Navy officer.
The grave of Eli Whitney, who, as everybody who passed fourth grade knows, invented the cotton gin
The grave of Charles Goodyear. It was not made of rubber.
Webster’s monument at the necropolis. I had to look that word up.
We decided to visit the cenotaph of Glenn Miller during daylight hours instead of giving him a Moonlight Serenade
Bob and I then scooted over to the Evergreen Cemetery, where he started our visit by planting a Medal of Honor flag at the graves of Allen Tucker and Andrew Henry Embler, both recipients who had received the Medal for services in the Civil War.
Bob plants one of his Medal of Honor flags at the grave of Allen Tucker
Being a fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, I was interested in visiting the grave of Teresa Wright. She was also an Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in Mrs. Miniver. Ms. Wright had passed away in 2005 and donated her body to the Yale University School of Medicine. She didn’t have her own monument unfortunately, but her ashes had been scattered among the trees near a monument for the School of Medicine. Yeek!
The location where Teresa Wright’s ashes were scattered
The final cemetery in New Haven was the Beverdale Cemetery Memorial Park. Here was located the grave of Raymond Massey, who had portrayed Abraham Lincoln on stage and screen no less than four times, including in How the West Was Won. Also in this cemetery was James Verinis, a co-pilot of the Memphis Belle, whom Bob wanted to pay respects to.
The grave of Raymond Massey, not quite as prestigious as the real Lincoln’s
We had finished up the three cemeteries a little bit after 11am, so that put us close enough to lunchtime for us to make our final stop in New Haven at Louis’ Lunch. The hamburgers here were quite tasty, but what was most notable about this joint (besides being one of the smallest restaurants I’ve ever seen) was that it claims to be the inventor of the hamburger. Yes, apparently one fine day in 1900 a man walked into Louis’ Lunch and asked for something he could eat on the run, and the proprietor Louis Lassen put some steak trimmings between two pieces of toast… and the rest is history.
Bob and I were crammed at one large table with a bunch of strangers, and the wait for our burgers was rather long, but it was still a fun experience. And the burger, still being served on toast, was quite good.
Louis’ Lunch, Est. 1895 – purportedly home of the first hamburger
My first hamburger… of the day
Bob and I were crammed in for our burgers in the crowded little restaurant shack
It didn’t take too long to head to our next town, about seven miles west of New Haven, the city of Orange. Located here is one of the primary manufacturing plants of Pez candy. I love Pez. And attached to the plant, is a little museum of Pez dispensers, free Pez samples, and dispensers for sale. It was a modern facility with various rare and unusual dispensers displayed behind glass. It was cute but something we could easily see in about 20 minutes. The most amazing thing to see a book of eBay product listings, showcasing how much some of the dispensers had went for in auctions, some near $1000. I bought a Superman Pez dispenser as a souvenire and crunched on the samples that I took for the next couple of days.
PEZ!!
What the museum looked like
The Disney display of Pez dispensers
Coming soon: KISS Pez
Bob and his purchase, a set of Presidential Pez
I stuck with the tried-and-true Superman dispenser, faster than a speeding Pez
With the cutesiness behind us, it was now back to the graveyards – and on to Stratford, another ten miles west. At the Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery was the grave of William Samuel Johnson, a statesman who represented Connecticut in the United States Senate. He was most notable for being a signer of the United States Constitution.
The grave of William Samuel Johnson, signer of the U.S. Constitution
This tree was planted from a seedling of the famous Charter Oak in Hartford in 1939 to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution by William Samuel Johnson. It sits near his grave.
Then it was on to the Mount Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, where we swung by the grave of Medal of Honor recipient William B. Hincks, who had been awarded for his services in the Civil War. Also in the cemetery were the graves of circus impresario P.T. Barnum and General Tom Thumb (real name: Charles Sherwood Stratton), who achieved stardom as one of Barnum’s attractions. It is said that the statue at the top of his grave is life-size. Not far from the cemetery is the P.T. Barnum museum, but alas – as fun as this looked like it would be – it was closed for renovation during our visit.
Giant grave of the legendary P.T. Barnum
The little Tom Thumb statue stands life-size at the top of the grave of Charles Stratton. He still is taller than me.
The interesting looking Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, unfortunately has been closed since a tornado struck the city in 2010 and caused severe daamge inside.
It was close to 2pm when we moved on to the neighboring town of Fairfield. It hadn’t been too long since our (first) lunch of the day, but I really had no choice to partake in the delightful foodstuff at Super Duper Weene, a cute restaurant that had been featured on the All Kinds of Fast Food episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. As the name of the eatery suggests, they are best known for their hotdogs. I had to bite the bullet and try two of their specialties, the New Englander Dog (with sauerkraut, bacon, mustard, sweet relish, and raw onion) and the New Yorker Dog (with sauerkraut, onion sauce, mustard, and their homemade hot relish). Obviously, they were both incredibly good.
DD&D #40: Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield, Connecticut
Two super duper weenies – coming up!
That is certainly one giant weenie
I seem to have more weenie than Bob
Full of food, we had a bit of time to let it digest as we headed from Fairfield to Danbury about an hour north. Our purpose here was to check out the Danbury Railway Museum… or at least the outside of it. I went in to use the restroom, so I got to peek at some of the exhibits at this one-time functioning railroad depot. At one point in 1951 while it was functioning, Alfred Hitchcock filmed scenes from his classic film Strangers on a Train here. I hadn’t really been looking forward to trying to match up the film with what was left – until I found that someone online had already done much of the work. I was able to capture some screen grabs and match up a few locations at the railway station quite perfectly.
Strangers on a Train screen capture #1
Me at the same spot at the former Danbury Railway Station
Strangers on a Train screen capture #2
The background buildings have changed drastically but the railway station is still almost identical
Strangers on a Train screen capture #3
The former station is now a Railway Museum
Hitchcock had also filmed the record store scenes in Danbury, and a statue that can be seen through the window of the shop, was still standing intact today. I think matching up Hitchcock sites is only second to matching up locations from the Laurel and Hardy films.
Through the front window of the record store
The same statue today
We departed Danbury – and Connecticut in fact – and headed toward the far eastern side of New York state. We were racing against the clock to get to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor, New York, which was right near the New Windsor Cantonment, the site of George Washington’s last encampment before the end of the Revolutionary War. This closed at 5pm, and although we were tracking to get there twenty minutes before closing, our GPS led us astray and we sailed off in the wrong direction. I felt quite bad about this because Bob had really wanted to see this one.
Bob rolled with the punches and we veered off to the city of Kingston. Here at the Old Dutch Church & Cemetery was the burial site of our 4thVice President George Clinton, who had served in the office from 1805-1812 under both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He along with John C. Calhoun were the only men to serve as V.P. under two Presidents.
The grave of Vice President George Clinton in Kingston, New York
This day was a double-whammy for V.P.’s, as we left Kingston and headed directly to Rhinebeck about 30 minutes away to get the grave of Levi P. Morton at the Rhinebeck Cemetery. Morton was the 22nd Vice President of the United States, having served from 1889-1896 under Benjamin Harrison. He would later serve as the Governor of New York.
The grave of Levi P. Morton in Rhinebeck, New York
With a very full day behind us already, we headed to our final destination of the evening, Hyde Park, New York. Arriving at about 6:20 at the Quality Inn, we had plenty of time to spare in the evening.
Fortunately – as luck would have it – just a few doors down from our motel was the Eveready Diner, a gigantic restaurant that had been featured on the Local Legends episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Bob and I relaxed for about an hour and a half in our room and then headed over to diner.
DD&D #41: Eveready Diner in Hyde Park, New York
It was unclear what dish had been featured on the show, and it was doubtful that they still had it anyway, as their menu was always changing accroding to the waitress. In any case, not only was the Chicken Pot Pie one of the best that I’ve had, we had the added treat of being joined by my friend Peter, who had driven up from the New York City region to join us. We hung out at the diner for nearly three hours, eating the great food, and chatting. Being well familiar with Bob from this website and an introduction to him at the New York convention in 1994, Peter was regaled with a batch of stories of the man, the myth, and the legend himself. In fact, Peter brought along his copy of Sons of the Desert: The Conventions and had both Bob and me sign it wherever our photo appeared.
Peter joins us for a trio of delicious dinners
Bob scribbles out his name in Peter’s book
Locating all those pictures of me from my days of yore
Eventually we called it a night and Peter headed back home and Bob and I headed a few doors down back to our motel, where I quickly crashed while watching Seinfeld reruns on TV. We were midway through our road trip portion of the vacation, and we had lots of ground that still needed covering.
The New England road trip will continue…
“If I can only have one food for the rest of my life? That’s easy. Pez. Cherry flavored Pez. No question about it.”
Chris
November 23rd, 2012