Danhauser Travel Blogs

  9/30/23– Baseball is here as our day begins with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. We arrive after 11am, pay for parking ($5.25 for 2 hours) and upon entering are greeted with the plaques of every player in the HOF on the first floor wing. Wow, what a collection of all-time greats gathered in one room.   I waste no time in finding my Astros players as well as Babe Ruth and others as it’s definitely a sight to see whether you’re a baseball fan or not. On the second floor, we watch a 17 minute video in a theatre setting (which is quite moving) and proceed to view the history of this great pastime all the way from the mid 1860s. I look over at Sharece and she’s enamored with the memorabilia more than I am, which is saying something. There’s a special wing for the women who played professional baseball in the 1940s during World War II and I was able to see the name of my great aunt, Margaret Danhauser, as part of the Racine Belles.   What an awesome moment f...

  9/29/23– This motel is not the best but it did its job. We check out at 10:30am and hit the road for the hour and a half drive to Montpelier, Vermont. The day is very cloudy, which makes me happy for the great weather we’ve had so far on this trip. It would be great if we could enjoy more of the fall foliage during our drive with a bright blue sky, but can’t win all the time I guess. The good news is we arrive at the State Capital around noon with not very many people around. We park our car at the meter and view the stunning grounds leading up to the Capital Building. The colorful leaves and lush flowers really do bring out the best look, and we don’t have to wait long for any people to clear the way either. Once inside, we opt to explore on our own, using their handheld devices, and can’t believe how small this building really is. The Representatives and Senate rooms are upstairs and empty for us to take all the random photos we want, but it is weird to tour around a workin...

  9/28/23– We get our buffet breakfast and leave the hotel before 11am. We stop at Wal-Mart for some Dramamine for Sharece (due to the elevation and windy roads we’ll be on shortly), find a souvenir store and drive about thirty minutes to the base of Mount Washington. There’s fog rolling in, despite it being a partial sunny day, so our hopes of nice visibility is waning, but we pay the $55 toll price to drive to the top regardless. The trees are much more colorful here with bouts of red, yellow and orange splashed between the green, and the road is barely enough to fit two cars on. Somehow, our little Prius makes it up the path in about 25 minutes. Actually more like 35 minutes with the several stops we take. At the top, our concerns were confirmed as we’re only able to see about 2 miles through the fog, but it’s still a nice experience regardless. There’s a train with passengers boarding that we’re able to see, a small museum and a Mount Washington Summit sign (6,288 feet) t...

  9/27/23– With Portland crossed off the list, it’s now time to venture to New Hampshire. Our Airbnb gives us an extra hour before check-out and we promptly leave at 11am for the hour and fifteen minute drive down the tree-lined back roads.        We arrive at the Holiday Inn in North Conway shortly after noon but our room isn’t ready yet. Knowing this was a possibility, we take this time to explore the area and set our GPS for Albany Covered Bridge. On the way, we pull over for some photos of the rock layered creek that lines the windy road. The view is very impressive as the water shoots down the babbling brook. Sharece does slip on one of the rocks, but she appears fine for now. We’ll see how that turns out later. Ten more minutes down the road and we get to the bridge. First built in 1858, it’s a wooden structure expanding over the creek that fits in nicely with the surrounding fall-colored trees. We do have to wait for the bridge to clear as...