Travel Journal

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="002285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.chapmansfriend.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="default.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.chapmansfriend.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="001d2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Go East, Young Man (Dead Presidents and "><U>Go East, Young Man (Dead Presidents and a Dead Franchise)</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pictures"><U>Pictures</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Traveling Man"><U>Traveling Man</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Travel Journal</B></div> <div> <B>August 4, 2003</B></div> <div> <B>9:53 PM EST</B></div> <div> <B>Washington</B></div> <bR> <div> Here I am in D.C. What I'm doing here is spending a day checking out the sites for the first time in a while <I>before </I>I pick up a car and start on the more ramblin' phase of the trip. I'll let that unfold as the trip goes on.</div> <div> Today I wasn't operating under ideal conditions. My flight this morning from Midway left at 6:30... Already putting me under time constraints. Then last night back home, a wave of storms hit at <I>just </I>the time I was trying to get to sleep in preparation for the early start. As a result I got perhaps a full hour of sleep before setting out!</div> <div> My flight got in at around 9:30 Washington time, and to fill the time before I checked in to my room, I decided to wander around town as best I could. Here the combination of:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The usual hot, humid Washington weather,</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Lack of sleep, and</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">carrying my bags around with me</div> <div> began to take their toll. By 1 PM I was out on my feet! I did manage to get over to a monument that tends to get overlooked because it's somewhat isolated from the others-- The Jefferson Memorial. </div> <div> After checking in and getting somewhat refreshed, I went out to hit some more sites. One of the running themes of this trip is my continuing quest to visit as many presidential graves as possible, and to get photos of them. (Just photos taken by me... Not always with me in the picture, though I'd hate to have my records challenged on that technicality!) What I <I>thought </I>was that I had visited both JFK's and Taft's graves at Arlington Cemetery, but that I only had a picture of Kennedy's. So the only thing I needed was a photo of Taft's. I took the Metro out to Arlington, but when I got to the Taft gravesite... It may have only been because it was so many years ago, but I had no memory of being there previously. So my perfectionism which demanded a visit <I>just for the picture </I>actually reassured me that I had visited it at all. It's in a secluded spot, off the more popular trails leading to JFK and the Unknowns Tomb.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2612dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">        <IMG SRC="2632dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> William Howard Taft in a short paragraph...</div> <div> Taft is one of those presidents where the image and the record don't quite match up. He has been portrayed as a conservative interlude in the midst of Teddy Roosevelt and Wilson, but the funny thing is that under Taft, there were actually <I>more </I>government-sponsored anti-trust suits than under Roosevelt. I'm not certain the popular perception is entirely inaccurate-- he was a good deal more standpattish than Roosevelt. But it's just a funny fact. Oh yeah, he tipped the scales at a trey, he stayed in the 1912 race just out of spite to make sure TR didn't win, he ended up being Chief Justice (the job he really wanted anyway), and his son nearly became president himself.</div> <bR> <div> Being at Arlington, I couldn't not visit Kennedy-- unless it would be to make an ironic point, that as a semipro Presidential graves enthusiast I didn't need to revisit possibly the best-known one that everybody else sees. But I'm not that meta. On the way to the Eternal Flame, by chance I saw a few other interesting sites. Nearly hidden away on the path, with no sign announcing it, was Robert Todd Lincoln, Abe Lincoln's oldest son and the only of his children not buried in Springfield. And in what must be the recent Supreme Court section, next to each other were the graves of Harry Blackmun, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, and William Brennan. Marshall especially is such a historic figure that as a history nerd, I was impressed...</div> <bR> <div> The last time I was at the Kennedy site was about 15-20 years ago. It's pretty much as it was except that, of course, Jackie now rests there. It's still a hugely popular site, but I managed to get there during a lull between tour buses.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="265c22d0.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="267c22d0.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> John F. Kennedy in a short paragraph...</div> <div> I think it's fair to say that JFK frustrates historians. Time after time we point out that Kennedy was, at the time he was killed, at best a middling president who had the chance to become a significant figure... And the general public very happily goes on voting him among the two or three best presidents ever. I suppose there is no harm at this, and of course his assassination is an emotional event that trumps dusty monographs. He did have elements of greatness, but he was also very much a man of his time, for better or worse. He was a more reflexive Cold Warrior than Ike, and this nearly blew up in our faces in Cuba. He shared the lack of... urgency, for lack of a better word, over social problems that was a trademark of post-war "vital centrism". Was he changing his views by the time of his death? Backing civil rights and dialing down Cold War rhetoric suggest he may have been... but it's all a mystery. I also understand he was quite handy with the ladies...</div> <bR> <div> After Arlington, I walked back across the Arlington Bridge toward the Lincoln Memorial, looked in at the Vietnam Memorial and the new World War II Memorial, and wandered up toward Lafayette Park overlooking the White House. No political comments about the current resident here :) </div> <bR> <div> I was sorely disappointed that a great old diner, heralded in my guidebooks, was no longer there after making a special trek to eat there. Oh well... A Metro ride back to my room, and hopefully a nice rest. Tomorrow, a few more sightseeing hours, and then it's Road Trip Time.</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 5</B></div> <div> <B>10:52 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Northern Virginia</B></div> <bR> <div> I had a few hours before picking up my car, so I hopscotched around Washington a little. Walked around the Capitol grounds as best I could. A combination of security and construction made it difficult. Gone are the days when you could stroll at will through the Capitol... Then out to the FDR Memorial, located in the same rather isolated part of the city as the Jefferson Memorial. I'll say this-- you don't stumble onto the FDR Memorial just by accident. You've got to make an effort to get there. Finally, a quick look into Ford's Theater and the Petersen House. Once again, construction intervened. It seems as if all Washington is under construction this summer-- the street in front of the theater is ripped up. Incongruously, next door to the place where one of the greatest Americans was killed is the D.C. Hard Rock Cafe.</div> <div> I had thought around this time that it would have been nice to find the site of the old Surratt boarding house, where allegedly the Lincoln plot was hatched, but I hadn't done my homework. Then, just a block from my hotel, I suddenly looked at a passing Japanese restaurant and saw a plaque... identifying this as the site of the Surratt House! Same thing happened to Crosetti (the Lincoln assassination buff) on an old episode of <I>Homicide: Life on the Street.</I></div> <div> I headed out to the airport to pick up my car, and then it was south to Richmond, looking for two more presidential graves. But... Who would have known that driving between Washington and Richmond would be like driving the Edens at rush hour? At stretches, traffic crawled at 30 MPH. This delayed my arrival in Richmond (Hometown of Aimee Mann!!!), and once there, unclear highway signs led me out of the way. By the time I found Hollywood Cemetery it was 4:55... and the gates were scheduled to close at 5! So I will have to return in the morning. Fortunately I am not on a tight schedule. I'm about 25 miles north of Richmond. Tomorrow, back to Richmond, and then, who knows?</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 6</B></div> <div> <B>11:39 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey</B>... No, I've <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Travel Journal"><U>already done that joke.</U></A> </div> <div> <B>Vineland, New Jersey</B></div> <bR> <div> Today involved going back to Richmond and taking care of my unfinished business from yesterday. A  display map at the cemetery entrance pointed the way-- with a few missteps-- to where I wanted to go. There were two presidential graves and one "other" site. The "other" site was Jefferson Davis' grave, and despite the fact that some consider him part of the "checklist" (along with guys like David Rice Atchison, who was supposedly acting president for one day), I can't think of it that way. He was, after all, a traitor, and from what I read, an arrogant jackass. But for those who do insist on "counting" Davis, here it is...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2912dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Now, for the U.S. Presidents at Hollywood Cemetery... They are located about 20 feet from each other, so although it took a few minutes to find the right part of the cemetery, once that was done it was easy. James Monroe's grave is the more unusual-- his tomb is above-ground and looking like it is locked in a cage.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="29306c20.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="29575fa0.jpg" border=0 width="373" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Note the PBR can near the side. Hey, come on, it's James Monroe, not Jim Morrisson!</div> <bR> <div> James Monroe in a short paragraph...</div> <div> He was the last of the line of Virginia Presidents, the Virginia mafia that dominated the early presidency except for John Adams. I suppose his reputation suffers for that, since you figure that he might never have reached that position other than being next in line after Madison and Jefferson. Let's see... His term was known as the "Era of Good Feelings", and his presidency also came at the end of one "party" system, just before the rise of the Democrats/Whigs system. Best known for the Monroe Doctrine, but oddly, John Quincy Adams actually wrote it.</div> <bR> <div> Let's step over to John Tyler's grave (you can see Monroe's tomb in the background of the picture on the left)...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2972dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="2992dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> John Tyler in a short paragraph...</div> <div> A totally undistinguished president, who ended up alienating both his new party (Whigs) and old one (Democrats) after taking over following William Henry Harrison's death. He also did some heavy flirting with treason himself, being elected to the Confederate Congress before he died in 1862. His real significance is that he set the precedent that</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Vice Presidents who get to the White House because of a President's death or resignation are "real" Presidents, not "acting" ones, and</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">They serve the remainder of their 4-year term, not just until a special election.</div> <div> This seems very obvious now, but it was not nearly that obvious in 1841. Some argued that there should be a new election, and that Tyler should only be a caretaker until then-- but Tyler held firm. Still a pretty lousy president.</div> <bR> <div> After Richmond my plan was to get up to the Jersey shore, and possibly find someplace to stay near there. In retrospect, rolling into the area at 6 PM on a Friday was probably not the best timing, either for price or availability, so I quickly retreated inland. I'll plan on going back in the morning and checking out the shore, and maybe pursuing Springsteenania too...</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 7 (actually 8th)</B></div> <div> <B>12:06 AM</B></div> <div> <B>New Windsor, NY</B></div> <bR> <div> No presidential-site activities today. I spent the day moving up the Jersey shore, joining what seemed like half of the state's population (it was a Saturday, after all). The places I stopped couldn't have been more different. Cape May, at the southern tip of the state, is kind of like Mackinac Island only with cars. Crowded but sort of relaxing (unless you are looking for a parking spot!). Wildwood is, I think, more of a nighttime spot and was less crowded than Cape May, but the boardwalk has a lot of old-time beach carny atmosphere. Atlantic City must have been like that in the old days, but today the casinos control the atmosphere. The casinos may have saved Atlantic City but they also ruined it. As Joe McGinniss once said after a similar statement, I am not at liberty to explain my rationale. And Asbury Park's best days are long past, with lots of abandoned and gutted buildings.</div> <div> Needless to say, I wouldn't have been in Asbury Park were it not for the legacy of one Bruce Springsteen, and though the boardwalk was desolate, there were plenty of places that felt familiar to me, including Madam Marie's and the Stone Pony.</div> <div> After Asbury Park it was a dash through northern Jersey, resisting several chances to exit toward New York City, to see how far north I could get. New Windsor, near Newburgh, was as far as I got, and I nearly got further-- I would have kept going if I hadn't been able to get a room here, which I almost did not. Hmmm... where to go tomorrow? I have a few options...</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 8</B></div> <div> <B>11:51 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Framingham, MA</B></div> <bR> <div> As yesterday brought me slowly up the Jersey coast, today brought me slowly up the Hudson River valley on the trail of presidents. It had been a while since visiting Hyde Park, site of FDR's home...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2ad659a0.jpg" border=0 width="613" height="410" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Franklin D. Roosevelt in a short paragraph...</div> <div> It's impossible to boil FDR's legacy down to one paragraph. One thing I find interesting is that lately, FDR's image has become less partisan-- not nonpartisan, but less partisan than in the days when many claimed they would never use the FDR dimes. It took decades, but eventually Lincoln went from being a solely Republican icon to a nonpartisan one, and the same thing is happening here. Reagan quoting FDR at his first acceptance speech, no matter how incongruous it might have seemed to Democrats, made it OK for Republicans to say nicer things about Roosevelt... and I think he has become to Republicans what Ike is to Democrats. Namely, a safe reference to someone of the opposing party to signal "See, I really <I>am </I>bipartisan!"</div> <bR> <div> I didn't stay for the tour of the FDR home (I went on it years ago), but being close enough, and since I was in the habit of revisiting gravesites, I headed up Route 9 to the Martin Van Buren site. I was there 10 or so years ago, but I remember it was in the midst of a downpour, leaving little time for anything but a quick picture.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2af2dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="2b12dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Martin Van Buren in a short paragraph...</div> <div> A fairly unsuccessful president. At different times, I have made analogies between Van Buren and both George H.W. Bush and Al Gore. Like Bush, Van Buren was vice-president to a hugely popular president, won election largely because of being his successor, suffered through an economic depression during his term, and lost attempts for re-election. The Gore comparison is maybe more of a stretch, but Van Buren lost in 1840 due to being perceived as an out-of-touch elitist, and he lost to a guy who was just as much a part of the "privileged" class but carefully cultivated a hokey "down-home" image. Fill in the blanks... Oh, and I'd love for this story to be true. The story goes that since Van Buren's nickname was "Old Kinderhook", it was eventually shortened to "OK" and used as a signal among his supporters. And that's how OK came into use... myself, I think the story is just <I>too </I>precise to be plausible, but who knows.</div> <bR> <div> Just up the road is Albany, where Chester Arthur is buried in a large and historic cemetery...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2b3c22d0.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="2b502ad0.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="173" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Chester Arthur in a short paragraph...</div> <div> Arthur wasn't a great president, or even a very good one, but the fact that he is not the <I>worst </I>president ever is reason for historians to praise him. Arthur was, in effect, an influence-peddler for the New York Republican Party, who had been publicly fired <I>by a fellow Republican </I>for allowing billions of dollars' worth of corruption in the New York Custom House. He was made vice president as a favor to his superiors in the New York Party. And when Garfield was killed and Arthur became president... imagine somebody like George Ryan suddenly becoming president and you get the picture. Everybody feared the worst, and as Joe Queenan has written, people would be surprised if he left the White House silverware behind when he left. And yet, he wasn't the worst president-- even signed the first civil service reform into law. Had major-league muttonchop sideburns.</div> <bR> <div> After Albany, I drifted east towards Boston, and ended up staying near there just off the Turnpike. I took the "T" into the city and looked around Harvard for a bit. Marquette national championships: 1. Harvard national championships: 0. I'm just saying...</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 9</B></div> <div> <B>11:32 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Merrimack, NH</B></div> <bR> <div> To be honest, today didn't turn out as planned. I had an idea that I would take a ferry down to Martha's Vineyard for part of the day, mingle with the Beautiful People, and maybe get Carly Simon to spill the beans on "You're So Vain" without paying the kind of money she charged Wenner. But after a close examination of the logistics involved... Unless I wanted to get going at around 6 AM to catch an early-morning ferry, there was no way I'd be able to avoid spending nearly the entire day on the island-- and that would wreck my schedule of other things to do today. So I reluctantly put away my plans to meet up with Uncle Walter Cronkite and philosophize about the election...</div> <div> Instead, I headed out to Quincy to fulfill my photographic collection of presidential graves. I had already seen the John and John Quincy Adams crypt, but hadn't gotten pictures of both. Remember the days before digital cameras when you had to conserve film? Anyway, I went back to Quincy to rectify this mistake. Yes, it is taking perfectionism to new depths.</div> <div> The crypt is in the basement of this church...</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2b72dc20.jpg" border=0 width="301" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="2b983030.jpg" border=0 width="387" height="259" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="2bb31cc0.jpg" border=0 width="305" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="2bd83030.jpg" border=0 width="387" height="259" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="2bf31cc0.jpg" border=0 width="305" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> John and John Quincy Adams in two short paragraphs...</div> <div> Adams (John) had a pretty unsuccessful term, but who wouldn't, with his main political rival (Jefferson) as vice-president and angling for his job? He's been enjoying a revival of sorts lately, with the McCullough book. Best portrayal in a movie? William Daniels, <I>1776</I>.</div> <div> His son was president at an interesting point because his election was the last one where the old decentralized political system was still in place, and he was able to use the fact that the one effective party was hopelessly regionalized to win with far fewer votes than Andrew Jackson got. As president he came across as a hopeless egghead and was creamed by Jackson in 1828, after Jackson had unified what now was the Democratic Party. Actually he was almost more significant for his post-White House Congressional career, and for his increasing anti-slavery rhetoric. Best portrayal in a movie? Anthony Hopkins, <I>Amistad</I>. Skinny-dipped regularly in the Potomac. Adams, that is, not Hopkins.</div> <div> After Quincy, I spent much of the rest of the day going out to Cape Cod, then coming back. It's not a quick trip under any circumstances, but I did get to the terminal point of Route 6, a road along which I drive for deliveries and once lived about 50 feet from in Iowa City, and I did get a little beach time.</div> <div> Tomorrow? A couple more presidential sites... and what's that "dead franchise" thing all about? The answer tomorrow.</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 11</B></div> <div> <B>8:33 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Scranton, PA</B></div> <bR> <div> I didn't forget to update yesterday... I just couldn't get onto the Internet to update!</div> <div> Yesterday I took off from New Hampshire with a full schedule. The first stop was Concord, to see yet another presidential site... this time the grave of one of the very worst presidents of all time, Franklin Pierce. His grave is in the Old North Cemetery just north of downtown...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2c805860.jpg" border=0 width="261" height="390" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="2cab6250.jpg" border=0 width="438" height="293" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Franklin Pierce in a short paragraph...</div> <div> I have always said Pierce was one of the two or three worst presidents, with responsibility for allowing the Civil War to develop. Standing in front of his grave, I wanted to feel contempt for him, but I couldn't. He may have been a poor president, but he was also a weak man-- probably an alcoholic, certainly a man shattered by personal tragedy. I actually felt a little sorry for him. He didn't do anything to stop the sectionalism that caused the Civil War, but more able men than him couldn't do it either. </div> <bR> <div> After the Pierce grave, here was the situation. Of the 35 presidential graves outside of the state of California, I had visited 34. Where do you think I was headed next?</div> <bR> <div> Plymouth Notch, Vermont.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2ce5a050.jpg" border=0 width="346" height="517" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Plymouth Notch was the hometown of Calvin Coolidge. The house where he was born, the house where he grew up, and the room where he took the oath of office are all part of a state historical site. In a village cemetery just down the road, the Coolidge grave.</div> <bR> <div> Calvin Coolidge in a short paragraph...</div> <div> As president, Coolidge was fortunate enough to be in office when not much executive action was needed. How he would look in a crisis situation? Who knows. As it was, his presidency in a relatively undemanding time has earned him... indifference from historians. With the exception of those who believe that FDR and the New Deal represented a swing away from proper governmental action-- to them, Coolidge is an icon of conservative values. Reagan put his picture in the Oval Office (or, as Miss Alli calls it in <I>West Wing </I>recaps on <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><A HREF="http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com"><U>televisionwithoutpity.com</U></A></FONT>, the Office of O).</div> <bR> <div> Well. Down to two remaining, which at least puts me two ahead of <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><A HREF="http://starship.python.net/crew/manus/Presidents/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://starship.python.net/crew/manus/Pr"><U>this slacker</U></A></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> The rest of the day... Involved taking off to the great white north. This is almost certainly the last season for the Montreal Expos franchise, so if I wanted to see a game at the Big Owe, it was now or never. After braving the border crossing and the French-language highway signs, I was in the city and just about ready to hop on the Metro to get to the game. Fortuitously, the pitching matchup was stellar-- Randy "Big Unit" Johnson for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Livan Hernandez for <I>les Expos</I>. Getting tickets, it was much more hectic than I'd been led to believe it would be. Throngs... well, maybe not throngs, but large groups of people... were in line to get tickets. Obviously the Big Unit brought out some fans.</div> <div> I've always been sorry that Montreal, the city where Jackie Robinson made his pro debut, was going to lose their franchise, but I'm even more sorry now. There may not have been a huge crowd, but the fans weren't simply going through the motions-- they were in to the game and their team. Based on my one night of experience, there's definitely a base of support for baseball in Montreal which MLB could build upon, if it cared about keeping a franchise in the city, which it doesn't. The guys at <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><A HREF="http://www.baseballprospectus.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.baseballprospectus.com"><U>baseballprospectus.com</U></A></FONT> have written about this more extensively, but it was a combination of incompetent and greedy ownership and the policies of Bud Selig-- who canceled the rest of the 1994 season when the Expos had the best record in baseball and were still drawing good crowds-- that killed the Expos. So next year there will be fans in Montreal who mourn the loss of the Expos as much as old Brooklyn Dodgers fans mourned the loss of their team, but because Doris Kearns Goodwin and Roger Kahn and their like don't write about the Expos, nobody will care. It's a shame.</div> <div> The game-- Johnson got knocked around pretty good in the first 2 innings, which was all Hernandez needed... 3-0, Montreal. It was raining so hard during the game that you could actually see the rain pelting the plastic covering over the field.</div> <bR> <div> That brings us to today-- kind of a light sightseeing schedule. I got up early to walk a little around the city, and I walked up the path to the top of <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><A HREF="http://www.lemontroyal.com/index2.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.lemontroyal.com/index2.html"><U>Mount Royal</U></A></FONT>. Not that much of a mountain, but it's a great attraction, and I am a fan of all things <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><A HREF="http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/"><U>Olmsted</U></A></FONT>. Then back in the car and back toward the border. The rest of the day was mainly travel. I had an idea I might be able to stop for a few hours in Cooperstown, but a late start from Montreal and a few other delays ended that. I got to near Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, which I figured was close enough to enable me to get back to Washington in time to return the car by 1 PM. That will be the object tomorrow... then the flight home. </div> <bR> <div> <B>August 13</B></div> <div> <B>12:37 AM</B></div> <div> <B>back home</B></div> <bR> <div> Well, I made it back home, after waiting out a nice 2 hour weather-related delay at the Washington airport. The early part of the day was a dash to get the car back to the rental place, then I took the Metro back into D.C. for another hour or so of sightseeing, just to use up time. I went over to Georgetown, because I've heard of this hot place called "St. Elmo's Fire" that looks like it would be a lot of fun. You know, I think one of the guys who used to hang out there ended up working at the White House. But something must have gone wrong, because the next thing that happened was that he was running a law firm, and last I heard he was going to become a doctor in Vegas. I hope that crazy kid decides what he wants to do with himself...</div> <div> The trip is now over. 9 states, one province, and the District of Columbia. All told, 11 presidential graves, 6 for the first time. One ballgame of a doomed franchise, and one start by a future Hall of Famer. And still, I could have done more! If I only had another week...</div> <div> Anyway, to quote Paul Simon, tomorrow's going to be another working day, and I'm just trying to get some rest. That's all I'm trying-- is to get some rest.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>