Day 16: Boston MA - Philadelphia PA

A Five-State Day – and only 10 miles from the border into the sixth (the “Philadelphia” Motel 6 shares its nomenclatic optimism with “London” Luton Airport). It feels surprisingly right to be back on the road – the children in the back, good as ever (by which I mean actually good); music and conversation drifting up-front as the states fly by.

Sun was setting as we drove over the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey. The Manhattan skyline stood proud and we all wondered at its potency. It was a deliberate choice to miss that stop in favour of an extra couple of nights in DC – after all, we all spent a weekend there in March, and Mike and the boys haven’t seen enough of the States to indulge in re-runs yet. But still there’s a magical draw to the place, and it’s hard to avoid its magnetic pull as we drive past – even Chris feels a sense of belonging. “That’s the airport we came to on March 5th!” he cried. (Yes, I too had hoped Newark wasn’t his strongest memory of the trip). To catch a distant glimpse of the Empire State Building and know we climbed it together makes the city just a tiny bit ours.

I hope we’re creating hundreds more of these hooks for all of us. As we start the return journey, I’m beginning to realize what an extraordinary thing we’re doing.

Today’s statistics:

• Started driving: 12.37
• Finished driving: 21.22
• Miles: 314
• New States: 3
• Age of USS Constitution: 212 years
• Breakfast: Elephant and Castle, Boston
• Lunch: Panera Bread, East Greenwich, RI
• Dinner: Thomas Edison Service Area, NJ

Today’s Discoveries:

• The sides of the USS Constitution are “like oreo cookies”.
• New Jersey Service Areas want to get you back on the road with as little relaxation and ceremony as possible.
• We’d been lucky with the traffic so far.
• The I-95 isn’t as scenic as it looks like it should be on the map.
• 19^th century sailors used to dunk the ends of their neckerchiefs in wax and use them as earplugs.