The Wizard of West Orange

After leaving Morristown, it took us about 30 minutes to drive to West Orange, NJ and Thomas Edison National Historical Park. 

☑ #166 of 424 NPS units

While Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph (1877) and incandescent light bulb (1879) in his laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ, by the mid-1880s his business operations had outgrown the facilities there. He moved his industrial research and development laboratory into the West Orange complex in 1887, a campus ten times the size of Menlo Park. Here, along with his teams of scientists/engineers, he perfected his phonograph, developed motion pictures, and invented many other devices and technologies.

Where America Survived

After we finished our visit at the Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Sites yesterday, we stopped by the Jockey Hollow area of Morristown National Historical Park on the way to our hotel in Parsippany, NJ. 

We arrived about 5:45PM, long after the visitor center closing time of 4:00PM. But since the grounds were open from 8:00AM – 8:00PM, we still had plenty of time to check out the outdoor portions of the park. And we were back again first thing this morning to finish up what we missed, all before the visitor center opened at 10:00AM. How's that for maximum travel efficiency?! 😉 

Ten Crucial Days

When R and I received an invite to the wedding of our close friends' daughter, we decided to tack on some extra days and make a vacation out of it! Working son (M) and college son (J) didn't come with, so just us two empty-nesters flew into Newark yesterday. 

The air quality is so much better than it was a week ago!

Travel tip: Seats 48A/B on a Boeing 777-200 are great because there is no third seat in the row = extra room for economy price!

Ink-iversary

If the traditional gift for 25 years of marriage is silver and 50 years is gold, then we marked the occasion of our 28th wedding anniversary with ink. National park passport stamps from Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center, to be precise!

However, our first stop was actually for brunch at La Playa Soul Kitchen. Since seeing the write-up online about this place a couple months ago, we have been wanting to make the trek over to Port Hueneme to check them out. Today was the perfect opportunity - we will drive anywhere for good food!

Animal Kingdom

The last time I attended this scientific conference in person was four years ago in Atlanta. Due to the pandemic, the next three were virtual. However, this year we are back to "normal" along with thousands of other attendees in Orlando. 

My colleagues and I flew in yesterday, but instead of going with them to check into our hotel next to the convention center, I rented a car and headed about 45 minutes east to Titusville. I was a little nervous about driving and staying overnight solo, but when chasing national park units, you gotta do what you gotta do...

Divide and Conquer

Wednesday, January 4

Taking advantage of cheaper air fares after the holidays, R and I flew back to Illinois for a welfare check on our folks. But we decided to split up so that we each would get more time with our respective parental unit(s). After the norovirus debacle last year, my secondary objective was to make sure to get some Lou's this trip.

Who cares how cold it is outside when you have hot pizza in your belly?