You have to be insane to take your mother on a long road trip, but what better time to go crazy than for a birthday?  It was mid-May 2006.  
Peg’s Birthday in New England
2006
Crazy to leave Bethel Park?
On the road North, it rains at first.
Gas prices are high
So we have to make our first stop at Hank’s.   For a cone.
Always the best.
Once we get to the New York Thruway, the sky clears.
Peg is the co-pilot
And we find our way to Schwabl’s for dinner: beef on weck sandwiches
Classic.
Peg poses for a souvenir snapshot but worries about her hair!
Driving till about 10 PM, we stop in Saratoga Springs for the night. Peg needs coffee.
While Rick eats leftover beef on weck.
Peg sacks out.
The next morning we wander around Saratoga Springs.
Peg waits while Rick checks out the CD store.
Soon we’re back on the road with cumulus clouds ahead.
It’s a good day for lunch in a diner.
Mom gets a burger.
But Rick gets the boiled New England dinner.
It’s huge.  Tons of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes.
And we all have to be careful.
Vermont fills the day.
But we have the time to check out a covered bridge...
...with all its timeless utility.
Then Woodstock VT looks worth a walk around.
Peg is glad to be out of the car for a while...
...but the ice cream parlor is closed for the day.
So we wander through a bookstore.
And Rick checks out the town’s bulletin board.
Full of local news and upcoming events.
We make Hanover, New Hampshire, for the night,
And have a good dinner downtown.
The next day we wanted to wander around Dartmouth, but it was a day to stay in the car.
Back on the road, when the rain stops, we stop for ice cream.
Lunch in a cone.
We cross New Hampshire on Route 4...
...headed for the grand old hotel called Wentworth-By-The-Sea that Nisey had recommended.
We have a room with a view but no time to dawdle.
We have dinner plans in Essex, Massachusetts.
Whole-belly clams and great fried seafood.
And our dinner companions are all Manoogians.
And they know the routine.
Talin says, “Taste everything and anything.”
And don’t worry about looking goofy.
May 19 has been a long day.
The next morning, Peg is ready for a big hearty breakfast!
And Rick gets one of the best breakfasts of his life: lobster hash with a poached egg on top!
We could just relax and enjoy the hotel, but we’re so close to Maine.
And we make the drive up US1 to Wiscasset...
...where Red’s sells seafood and sandwiches...
...and the world’s best lobster rolls.  Ah!
But Peg is afraid of freezing to death.
Although lots of people there are wearing shorts.
It’s a gray, cool day.
But it’s never too cold for a frozen custard.
By the next morning, Peg is a year older.
Up in a room on the top floor.
But the birthday day is gorgeous!
And we love the hotel that Nisey told us about.
Even the nearby old military prison looks inviting.
So we need a birthday breakfast.
Under a rotunda.
With lots of orange juice.
And gallons of coffee.
Writing  postcards is a good reason to linger.
But we have to leave the swanky Wentworth.
They don’t have a room for us anymore.  Booked full.
Maybe because the old cars have arrived.
It’s an antique car show with a  perfect setting.
And people come with these automobiles.
All very classy.
But our relatively new Element has proved to be trustworthy as well as roomy.
And we have Mapquest directions to get us back on our way.
We stop for lunch at a chowder place.
Because you need to taste some chowder while you’re in New England.
We stop that evening in Mystic, Connecticut, where a storm washed our car and the whole town.
It’s time for some birthday shrimp.
Beside the river in the pretty little town with the famous pizza place..
Although the seafood is pretty decent too.
And Peg zonks out while watching THE SOPRANOS in the Residence Inn. Birthday girl.
The next morning we make a pilgrimage to Fairfield, CT.
Where I knew the hot dogs were superb because I’d been there before.
Although the place is now more permanent, not just a panel truck.
The lunch hour is still crazy with lots of hungry patrons coming and going.
Even Peg loves the dogs.
When the rush is over, we talk to Gary Zemola.
He was a star of A HOT DOG PROGRAM that Rick and his crew shot near here in 1998.
Gary’s sister stopped by.  She was in the show too.
And she took this photo.
Soon we were back on our way home.
We drove across New York, crossing into Pennsylvania.
We paused overnight in Hazelton, PA, and drove the rest of the way the next day.
Gas was no cheaper.
But it all seemed more than worthwhile.
We’d seen some wonderful things.
Never went too fast.
Stopped whenever we felt like it.
We ate enough seafood.
 
And Peg didn’t have to tell anybody how old she is.