SRIANEE FAST FORWARDS US TO THE PRESENT!

 SMALL TOWN USA - SUMMER 2021

A holiday experience I was fortunate enough to manage in these difficult times..... Srianee "Bunter" Dias. 

After a seemingly endless winter of being “stuck” in my West Hartford , Connecticut home I was beginning to get edgy and restless.  My annual departure to Sri Lanka via Germany was out of the question in January 2021.  An idea was beginning to germinate in my mind.  Since travel abroad was not permitted, what if I could make a road trip when the weather and other conditions improved?  The COVID-19 vaccination rates in the US were on an upward trajectory so this seemed like a definite possibility. 

In late March 2021 I flew to Florida visit my older daughter.  (This was my first plane trip since I returned from Sri Lanka in March 2020!)  During my visit I connected with my friend Marsha, who had moved to Florida from Connecticut a few years ago. She had also been “grounded” by the international travel restrictions. I shared with her my idea of visiting small towns in other parts of the US with the goal of observing and listening to people who were different from those who were familiar to us, in our part of the country (i.e. “The Blue States.”) My curiosity had peaked after the events of January 6th.  Meanwhile, Marsha herself had also set an unusual goal for herself; to have conversations with 1000 strangers within a year! 

Our ideas came together quickly and by June 10th 2021 we were on the road heading north to the Adirondack region in New York State.  A final destination was not set. (Friends and family compared us to “Thelma and Louise” - a movie that I had not yet seen!)  At first we were cautious, booking places to stay 2 days ahead, because I was not looking forward to sleeping in the car! But soon we were “winging it” and began booking hotels a few hours ahead.  

The Adirondack area is a Forest Preserve in New York State, consisting of 6 million acres of forests, lakes and wetlands, with many recreational opportunities.  (Skiing, camping, fishing, boating etc.) There is a mixture of private property and state owned land in that area. We probably could have spent a week exploring the area, but after spending one night in the rustic “Black Mountain Lodge” near North Creek, we headed to the Finger Lakes region, also in New York State, where the landscape was breathtaking.  Geologists believe that the Finger Lakes were created about 550 million years ago by melting glaciers. In addition to the eleven long and narrow lakes, many gorges and waterfalls dot the area. 

As we travelled northward into New York State we discovered places in several lovely little towns which were perfect for “pit stops,” One such discovery was a General Store in Jacksonville, Vermont. 
In Greenwich, New York, at Lynn’s Cafe. we had a slice of a supremely delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting!  By the third day on the road we realized that we needed to spend less time driving and more time savoring the small towns, talking and listening to the people who lived in those places.

 In Western Pennsylvania we visited Falling Waters, in Mill Run, which is the location of an iconic house designed by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.  This unusual home is built on cantilevers over a waterfall! We met a few interesting people there, including a young architect from Iran, who now lives North Carolina.

In Fairmont, West Virginia, we dined at 'DJ’s 50s and 60s Diner which was decorated in the 50s and 60s style.  The friendly waitresses were happy to share their stories with us, including the fact that their diner was the location for filming a zombie movie!

On our way to Ohio we decided to take an exit off the highway to visit a really tiny town, Ellenboro, West Virginia, where the population had shrunk from 363 in 2010 to 217 in 2019. (Marsha was accessing these tidbits on her smart phone while I was driving!). In just 5 minutes we had driven past all the buildings in the town, but then we spotted something curious.  As I was turning the car around to get back to the highway, we noticed a logo on a truck belonging to Sewer and Water Company.  It looked like a glass-blower!  As we were puzzling over this riddle (what did glass blowing have to do with sewers?) we spotted two guys getting into the truck and asked them what the connection was.  They informed us that the town once had a thriving glass factory and suggested that we talk to “Sammy” who lived in the red brick house up the street.  We drove a few feet up the street and found Sam Hogue, a former employee of the glass factory, who now makes glass marbles! The marbles range in size from

small machine made marbles, like the ones we played with as kids, up to large ones that were really works of art, that one could proudly display on a shelf.  There were numerous jars and egg cartons containing hundreds of thousands of marbles filling his workshop and garage from floor to ceiling.  The garage also housed a Model T Ford!  Sam Hogue was an interesting character who was a legend in his town and had been featured in a television special! Who knew that we would meet a TV personality in this remote little town? (One can find him on Google under “Hillbilly Marble Maker!”) 

We discovered ethnic restaurants in the most unlikely places.  A Lebanese restaurant in Parkersburg, West Virginia and a Peruvian restaurant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, examples of how the world is changing.  Both places had survived the lockdowns of last year because of the “kindness of loyal customers.” 

In Adams County, in southern Ohio, we visited the Great Serpent Mound.  This is an effigy mound which is believed to have been created by ancient Native American cultures. It is in the shape of a huge long serpent with a curled tail, extending over 1348 feet.  It is probably best viewed from a low flying aircraft. The significance is still a mystery and archaeologists don’t have all the answers. It is not a burial mound, but may have astrological significance. -The age is also still being disputed.  Some research archaeologists suggest that it was built sometime between 800 BCE to 100 CE. Others have dated it as CE 1000 to CE1500. 

It is a National Historic Landmark and may soon be recognized as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site.  The kind site manager spent a long time answering our questions and giving us a brief history of the place.  The weekend after our visit was the summer solstice, and thousands of people were expected at the site, because on that day the sun sets directly over the head of the serpent effigy.  (At the winter solstice the tail points to the sunrise.) 

During lunch at a restaurant in the nearby town of Peebles, we couldn’t help overhearing an older man’s irate cellphone conversation in the booth behind us. He was expressing his frustration over thefts of gasoline from the tractors on his property.  He was threatening to “take out” the perpetrators because the police were not doing anything about it.  When my friend got up to refill her water bottle, she made eye contact with him and told him that although she didn’t mean to eavesdrop, she realised that he had a big problem, and wished him success in solving it. He promptly asked her to sit down and began complaining about the authorities who were not interested in controlling crime in the area.  I joined them soon afterwards and we listened to him for at least 20 minutes while he vented.  He felt that using his “Smith and Wesson” was the only way to deal with the thieves!  We hoped that after the “therapy session” with us that he calmed down and found another way to deal with his problem!  Apparently, GE had been the main employer in the area, but recent cutbacks had increased unemployment and were forcing town dwellers to travel over 50 miles to jobs in big cities.  He was describing the plight of many small towns.  How much longer will they survive? 

On our way back to our car we stopped to admire an unusual building, which appeared to be a commercial establishment, but displayed exquisite landscaping.  While we were taking photographs, a young man who had noticed our Connecticut license plates approached us and asked if we would like to go inside.  He was a high school history teacher who had just started his summer vacation.  He escorted us inside the building which happened to be a “Wood Depot” constructed with all the different types of timber that they sell to builders.  Our guide escorted us up and down Main Street giving us a brief history of the town.  He showed us a mural on the side of a building painted by a town resident “Welcoming People to Peebles!”  He also gave us very helpful suggestions of places to visit in Kentucky where we were heading next. 

We were truly experiencing the kindness of strangers. 

…To be continued…