Wilmington DE Tuesday, April 5
Well we are back on the road after five wonderful days in Framingham MA visiting family. Obviously part of the time with them is just being together, cooking, eating, talking, playing games. We do manage to squeeze in some activities, though.
We took Deb down to Springfield to introduce her to a childhood friend-Dr. Seuss. Springfield has a museum quad with five different museums. Ted Geisel was born in Springfield and his life here directly impacted his imaginative books. Chris and I have been here before but the chance to share the Dr. Seuss museum with Deb was too great of an opportunity to pass by. Chris goes kind of nuts remembering various Dr. Seuss characters and books. At one stop, a Smart Board was set up for children, and not so young children, to doodle. Chris had a senior moment figuring out how to use it. A mother sitting nearby offered her eight year old daughter as a tutor. The daughter did a great job and Chris had a chance to enjoy her moment of creativity.
After some yard work Saturday, the four of us visited an Audubon sanctuary, the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center. Part of the trails were a little muddy but we managed to spot some skunk cabbage, an early blooming spring ephemeral. Spring ephemerals need to pop up quickly before trees leaf out and block the sunlight. Skunk cabbage are usually one of the first to be spotted in spring.
Sunday after church we visited the Mapparium which is part of the Christian Science complex in Boston. The Mapparium is a three story walk through globe built in 1935 showing nations as they existed at that time. I found it less interesting than I expected, even causing a little dizziness from looking up at the globe countries. Instead, I would recommend the map library at the Central Boston Public Library if maps interest you.
Deb was able to take Monday off from work so we visited the Commonwealth Museum. This is a MA state museum attached to the state Archives. The exhibit area is quite well done even though the quantity of the exhibits is small. The focus is on MA history and given Massachusetts’ role in establishing the United States, it includes national history. I found the exhibits even handed in their handling of state history. For instance, the Puritans had a positive impact on the development of democratic institutions even as their religious intolerance still has an impact on today’s society.
There was an educational chart contrasting Native American living and farming methods with those of the European colonists. It has taken 300+ years for us to acknowledge that many of the native agricultural practices are so less destructive on the land. Maybe if we spent more time trying to scale up their practices, we could have caused less damage to the land while still feeding many more people. One final note. Hopefully you recall that untold hundreds of thousands of Native Americans died from being exposed to European sicknesses for which the Native Americans had not developed any immunity. Many Indians converted to Christianity, believing that the Christian god must be better since the Europeans did not die of these diseases.
Massachusetts complicated history with slavery was covered. First, slavery was allowed, then prohibited. Shippers participated in the slavery trade. MA was a hotbed for abolitionists while the textile mills profited from Southern cotton grown with slave labor. Free blacks were accepted and integrated into the state militia before the Revolutionary War-but not after the Revolutionary War in the country which proclaimed: ”all men are created equal.”
In the afternoon, the three of us went hiking at Callahan State Park, not far from the Airbnb Chris and I were staying at. While the trails were easy to follow, there were no maps available. We managed to get in an hour hike without getting lost and made it safely back before dinner time. Dinner was take out from Bella Costa Ristorante Italian restaurant and dessert from Dulce D Leche Gelato Cafe.
Tuesday, today, we went back on the road where we will be for the next three weeks plus. Paterson Great Falls National Historic Site is a National Park Service site in progress. In other words, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The Great Falls on the Passaic River are impressive at 77 feet high. The Great Falls are the location of America’s first manufacturing center.
In 1792, Alexander Hamilton founded Paterson and for 150 years Paterson fulfilled Hamilton’s dream to wean America from foreign goods. When Paterson was created, England sold America its manufacturing goods. Even though we were an independent country, lack of a manufacturing base made us dependent on England. Paterson mills used the water power, and later hydropower, from the Great Falls of the Passaic River to manufacture textiles including cotton, flax, silk, and rayon, to build aircraft engines and railroad locomotives, and make paper.
Immigrants flocked to the city, creating a diverse culture and melting pot, and cheap labor. But in the early 20th century, workers realized they were getting a raw deal. They banded together and a six month strike eventually produced better working conditions, shorter hours, and higher pay.
The view today around the falls is of a city struggling to reclaim its lost grandeur. Some of the mills have been rehabilitated and are economically productive once again. But across the street from one of those will be a mill with broken windows and fallen in roof. Trash and litter line several of the once mighty raceways that brought water power to the mills. The contrast between the Great Falls of the Passaic and St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis (Mississippi National River and Recreation Area) is striking. Minneapolis is the clear winner with parklands lining the river, residential complexes created from rehabbed mills and newly built high rises. Offices and entertainment options create a vibrant community. Lets hope Paterson’s vision can be reached.
As for the national park, Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park does not have a functioning visitor center although a viewing overlook has been created. We had to knock on the locked door of the admin center to get our passport stamp. It works, but not so much that one wants to brag about it to others.
Tuesday night we ate hot dogs at a Wilmington DE landmark institution, Deerhead Hot Dogs. A special sauce is their signature dish. The sauce and restaurant date back to 1935. A local car club was having their monthly meeting while we were there. They took up 18 of the 24 seats in the restaurant.
Ed and Chris, Wilmington DE Tuesday April 5, 2022
Chris Klejbuk and Ed Heimel travel adventure 
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