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Sea 18 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2025 By Elizabeth Westbrook I will confess that my itch to travel comes from my father. Thank goodness Phillip likes to drive — especially the wide open roads. So when we decided to visit the capitals of the 50 states, I went to AAA and got maps and TourBooks (books are now only online and accessible on their app). Reading aloud from the TourBooks for each state made our trips more memorable and interesting. Having two phones with navigation allowed me to change quickly the destination seamlessly. For example, typing the "Connecticut capitol building" on one and stumbling on a farmers market on the way nearby allowed me to hook the other phone. The varieties of locally-grown products and the different cultural flavors that we have experienced are the delicious rewards of traveling. Let's take Peninsula, Ohio, a village we encountered while visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park (thanks to Bertsy Seim's sharing a photo in "Oh, the Places We Go!"). While riding our bikes (yes, there's a bike rack on the back; Phillip takes the bikes off at night) on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail, we heard popping noises along the cornfields to keep away pesky birds. Szalay's Farm and Market owned these acres of land giving us an opportunity to buy jars of pickles, ears of corn (I microwaved to add to my own Bento salad lunches stored in a cooler for convenience), as well as baked goods. Other farmers provided different melons that were sweet and succulent. There were many choices from the summer's bounty. The heavenly corn-on-the-cob slathered with butter and hot dogs (more like German sausages) with homemade sauerkraut and Vidalia onions can be purchased in the kiosks flanking numerous tables for outdoor dining. Waterbury, Vermont, found us close to Ben and Jerry's factory but even better was Cabot Creamery for horseradish cheese, maple mustard, small batch Maple Gin from Smugglers' Notch Distillery, and from the supermarket, I found Bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup. The summer of 2019 took us as far as Buffalo, New York, driving the highways just below Canada. This year we drove up to Winnipeg, Canada, and hugged the highways just above the U.S. until we ran out of roads on Prince Edward Island. I love ice cream but it's hard to find real homemade (cream, sugar, natural ingredients for assorted flavors) so I was elated to find Holman's Ice Cream Parlour in Summerside and had two helpings (yes, I got back in line). The Wind & Reef Restaurant in the North Cape had the best mussels we've ever tasted. Digby, Nova Scotia, is the world capital for scallops and naturally we had them at The Crow's Nest — and yes, we ordered them twice. They were that good! Having Phillip's portable stove, a pan, and a box of different spices allowed us to shop for the freshest seafood along the way and taste the bounty of the local waters. We bought a Lincoln Navigator and removed the seats from the back, replacing them with storage and an open carpeted area. This allowed us to use the vehicle as a closet. The very back has our "camping gears" and bike accessories. The height and length were taken into consideration due to limitations of parking garages and possible tight maneuverings. Inspired by Ray Windhorn's story (July 2020) of using ferries in his travels, I was thrilled to give Phillip a rest and let the captains of several ferry crossings usher us through our 2021, 2022, and 2024 trips on the Pacific side, Gulf Shores of the South, Eastern side, and North Atlantic side respectively. Hotels (with breakfast) and privately-owned bed & breakfast help start a new day of travel (after the commuters, we averaged 200 miles or less). Location! Location! We have stayed at a B&B in Bar Harbor, Maine, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Casa Cipriani in the Battery Park in Lower Manhattan; they were pricey but the value for their locations is priceless as well as maximizing the experience of luxury that comes once-in-a-lifetime. Experiencing the national parks and cities throughout this wonderful, borderless country of ours gave me pause when we visited iconic places that have left indelible marks from my middle school years. Standing at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which combined to form the Ohio River in Shining Sea From to Continued on following page

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