Our October 9-16-15 Trip
Title
Our October 9-16-15 Trip
Identifier
OUR_OCTOBER_9
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"When we lived in Brooklyn, the local bank featured the following saying, engraved in stone: 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.' "
Date
2016-01-16
Coverage
2015/2016
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Text
OUR OCTOBER 9-16-15 TRIP
When we lived in Brooklyn, the local bank featured the following saying, engraved in stone: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.” I wasn’t sure if that saying was profound or silly. A journey around the block also begins with but a single step. Nevertheless, the observation occurred to me, as Fran and I returned home from a journey that took us from Brookline to Schenectady, to Binghamton to Carlisle, to Lancaster, to Doylestown, to Princeton, and back home.
I checked the odometer when we arrived home and realized we had travelled over 1,100 miles. We had originally planned to drive to Pittsburgh after leaving Carlisle, but changed our minds. That would have added another 400 miles. Too much.
The idea for the trip started soon after we received the invitation to Barbara Stern’s granddaughter Amira’s Bat Mitzvah in Binghamton. We had never been to Binghamton. When we looked at a map, we saw that Binghamton was only about 200 miles from my cousin Bobby and his family in Carlisle, PA, and we hadn’t seen them for a while.
As we were planning the trip, we learned that Hanna, my cousin Barbara’s granddaughter (coincidence) had started at Union College in Schenectady, and Schenectady is sort of on the way to Binghamton, so why not stop and have lunch with her. We briefly entertained the thought of visiting David in Pittsburgh, just a couple hundred miles from Carlisle. We decided that when we go to Pittsburgh, we will fly.
During the planning process, Fran suggested that we check out Amish country. And we did. We spent a couple of days in Lancaster. We visited two farmers’ markets, took a bus tour of Amish homes and farms, and drove through the historic and picturesquely named towns of Blue Ball, Intercourse, Lititz, Bird-in-Hand, Paradise, Ephrata etc. OK, the last few aren’t as picturesquely named, but they are historic. Fran suggested that we stop off at the Winton Armetale Factory Store in Mt. Joy, which is on the way from Carlisle to Lancaster, to pick up a few items which make lovely gifts, which we did. I didn’t want to drive all the way to Hershey, so we settled for a visit to Wilbur’s chocolate factory in Lititz.
Before, I start on a trip, I read a few guidebooks, study maps of the area, and then check Google and/or Mapquest. I print out directions, in addition to programming the GPS. I see it as someone wearing suspenders and a belt. This time, the belt--the GPS-- broke, and I was grateful that we had suspenders, the printed directions. I did miss the voice of the lady inside my GPS telling me to make a left turn in point five miles, or if I missed the turn, to, when possible, make a legal U-turn.
Trips I take serve two main purposes: connecting with family and friends, and sightseeing, This fulfilled both. After connecting with cousins Barbara and Hanna, we saw a bit of Schenectady, a town that once was an industrial center, both GE and American Locomotive Co. They are pretty much gone. Thank goodness it has Union College. It didn’t seem to have much else, like Binghamton which once was a center of cigars and shoes. Its economy is now also dependent on higher education.
(As I frequently do, I stopped writing, planning to pick it up within a few days. It is now three months later. And as is happening more and more, details are disappearing. I do not intend to look through the papers I accumulated to flesh out this piece. So this is what I remember.)
Amira’s Bat Mitzvah was wonderful. It was good being with Bob and Rose, Ruth, and of course, Barbara and her family. Marian and Dorian pulled out all the stops. It may have been a “keeping up with the Joneses” situation. First a lovely dinner at the hotel for out-of-towners Friday evening, giving us a chance to catch up with Barbara’s family and meet Dorian’s. Then the Bat Mitzvah Saturday morning. I asked Amira if she would be doing her Haftorah. She said yes, and the Torah reading as well. I was impressed. Turns out she read a couple of lines of each, and she also led the service. A lovely old Reform temple attached to a mansion. A woman Rabbi and a young man as Cantor. And a lavish Kiddush lunch in the mansion. A little sight-seeing, a rest, and a return to the Temple for a wild dinner party. Sunday morning, brunch at Marian’s.
We then drove to Carlisle for a wonderful visit with Bob and Judith, and Melinda, Melanie and Lilia who is really incredible as Bob kept telling me. Very bright and outgoing. The two Mommy family is becoming more common. (Zoe and Carolina, and Rachel and Bonnie.) Melinda is clearly in control. Bobby looks great; Judith does not.
On to Lancaster with the stop in Mt. Joy. See above. Then on to Phil and Martha. Phil was much more animated. The drive to Ruth’s went well, though I was aware that all the driving was demanding. It was a long drive home. End of story.
1-16-16
When we lived in Brooklyn, the local bank featured the following saying, engraved in stone: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.” I wasn’t sure if that saying was profound or silly. A journey around the block also begins with but a single step. Nevertheless, the observation occurred to me, as Fran and I returned home from a journey that took us from Brookline to Schenectady, to Binghamton to Carlisle, to Lancaster, to Doylestown, to Princeton, and back home.
I checked the odometer when we arrived home and realized we had travelled over 1,100 miles. We had originally planned to drive to Pittsburgh after leaving Carlisle, but changed our minds. That would have added another 400 miles. Too much.
The idea for the trip started soon after we received the invitation to Barbara Stern’s granddaughter Amira’s Bat Mitzvah in Binghamton. We had never been to Binghamton. When we looked at a map, we saw that Binghamton was only about 200 miles from my cousin Bobby and his family in Carlisle, PA, and we hadn’t seen them for a while.
As we were planning the trip, we learned that Hanna, my cousin Barbara’s granddaughter (coincidence) had started at Union College in Schenectady, and Schenectady is sort of on the way to Binghamton, so why not stop and have lunch with her. We briefly entertained the thought of visiting David in Pittsburgh, just a couple hundred miles from Carlisle. We decided that when we go to Pittsburgh, we will fly.
During the planning process, Fran suggested that we check out Amish country. And we did. We spent a couple of days in Lancaster. We visited two farmers’ markets, took a bus tour of Amish homes and farms, and drove through the historic and picturesquely named towns of Blue Ball, Intercourse, Lititz, Bird-in-Hand, Paradise, Ephrata etc. OK, the last few aren’t as picturesquely named, but they are historic. Fran suggested that we stop off at the Winton Armetale Factory Store in Mt. Joy, which is on the way from Carlisle to Lancaster, to pick up a few items which make lovely gifts, which we did. I didn’t want to drive all the way to Hershey, so we settled for a visit to Wilbur’s chocolate factory in Lititz.
Before, I start on a trip, I read a few guidebooks, study maps of the area, and then check Google and/or Mapquest. I print out directions, in addition to programming the GPS. I see it as someone wearing suspenders and a belt. This time, the belt--the GPS-- broke, and I was grateful that we had suspenders, the printed directions. I did miss the voice of the lady inside my GPS telling me to make a left turn in point five miles, or if I missed the turn, to, when possible, make a legal U-turn.
Trips I take serve two main purposes: connecting with family and friends, and sightseeing, This fulfilled both. After connecting with cousins Barbara and Hanna, we saw a bit of Schenectady, a town that once was an industrial center, both GE and American Locomotive Co. They are pretty much gone. Thank goodness it has Union College. It didn’t seem to have much else, like Binghamton which once was a center of cigars and shoes. Its economy is now also dependent on higher education.
(As I frequently do, I stopped writing, planning to pick it up within a few days. It is now three months later. And as is happening more and more, details are disappearing. I do not intend to look through the papers I accumulated to flesh out this piece. So this is what I remember.)
Amira’s Bat Mitzvah was wonderful. It was good being with Bob and Rose, Ruth, and of course, Barbara and her family. Marian and Dorian pulled out all the stops. It may have been a “keeping up with the Joneses” situation. First a lovely dinner at the hotel for out-of-towners Friday evening, giving us a chance to catch up with Barbara’s family and meet Dorian’s. Then the Bat Mitzvah Saturday morning. I asked Amira if she would be doing her Haftorah. She said yes, and the Torah reading as well. I was impressed. Turns out she read a couple of lines of each, and she also led the service. A lovely old Reform temple attached to a mansion. A woman Rabbi and a young man as Cantor. And a lavish Kiddush lunch in the mansion. A little sight-seeing, a rest, and a return to the Temple for a wild dinner party. Sunday morning, brunch at Marian’s.
We then drove to Carlisle for a wonderful visit with Bob and Judith, and Melinda, Melanie and Lilia who is really incredible as Bob kept telling me. Very bright and outgoing. The two Mommy family is becoming more common. (Zoe and Carolina, and Rachel and Bonnie.) Melinda is clearly in control. Bobby looks great; Judith does not.
On to Lancaster with the stop in Mt. Joy. See above. Then on to Phil and Martha. Phil was much more animated. The drive to Ruth’s went well, though I was aware that all the driving was demanding. It was a long drive home. End of story.
1-16-16
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Our October 9-16-15 Trip,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 23, 2025, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/411.