YOUR SPRING FLING

Places to Explore. Things to Experience. Roads to Ride.

As Spring comes rolling in, we thought we’d offer a few suggestions of places to go and things to see for the beginning of the 2022 riding season here in the northeast. Indeed it is ne and good to simply get out and ride and, many times, the beauty is just the ride itself, but a fun destination can make it all the better so let us toss out a few suggestions…

The Mysteries of O’ Life’s Mysterious America

What an odd duck our man O’Life is and over the years he has written about some very odd, strange, and sometimes unbelievable places. When he heard we were writing a Spring Fling piece he wanted in and thought this spring he would remind you of some of them. Each one of them is amazing in its own way so clear your calendar and follow along the backroads of Mysterious America with the good doctor. Take it away, Seymour…

THE MYSTERY SPOTOF LAKE GEORGE

10 BEACH RD, LAKE GEORGE, NEW YORK

If you live in the northeast and like big rallies, I am sure you have been to Americade up in Lake George, but there is a very odd spot to be found right where Route 9 meets Beach Road; very odd indeed and I’ll wager, unless you are privy to this, that you have walked right past it a hundred times. Behind the Lake George Visitor Center there is a circular platform with a painted blue map of the lake and a compass pattern etched in. In the exact center of the circle, two metal rails cross each other in the middle of the map, forming a literal “X” that marks the mystery spot. Stand here and you’ll witness, or rather hear, a strange natural phenomenon that seems to defy the laws of acoustics.

If you stand in this exact spot, facing the lake, and start shouting, you’ll hear your own voice echo back to you as if from another dimension. Only you can hear it, and only in this precise spot. Cue the Twilight Zone theme! The acoustical phenomenon will make your voice sound tinny to your own ears, while the other visitors around you will wonder why you are standing around shouting or singing opera. Only when they stand in the direct center as well will they, too, hear the effect. Theories range as to how the mystery spot works its wonders. Some say your voice is bouncing off the curved semi-circular stone wall; others point to the position of the lake and mountains. The most intriguing explanation is a local Native American legend, which holds an ancient god that appeared long ago at this spot and his wisdom still echoes around the lake. Regardless of the reason for this acoustical mystery, the Lake George Mystery Spot remains one of the best-kept secrets of Lake George, hidden in plain sight.

THE PEMBER MUSEUMOF NATURAL HISTORY

33 WEST MAIN STREET, GRANVILLE, NEW YORK 12832 518-642-1515 • www.pembermuseum.wordpress.com

How about a ride along the border with New York State and Vermont to make a stop at a most, err, unusual museum. The Pember. As they say… a “Victorian Collection of Animals and Artifacts from Around the World.” The Pember Library and Museum were established in Granville, New York, in 1909, by Franklin Tanner Pember and his wife Ellen Wood Pem-

ber. Both institutions continue to operate in the building designed and built for this purpose. The Pember Library is housed on the rst oor of the granite structure with marble accents and the Pember Museum of Natural History is located on the second oor with an elevator that can access both the library and museum. Head upstairs and be prepared to be amazed at their most amazing collection, the lifetime obsession of Franklin. Pember was born near Granville in 1841. He was an entrepreneur, with interests in the fur trade, oil elds, and orange groves. From boyhood, he was interested in the natural world and collected mounted birds and mammals, bird nests and eggs, shells, insects, plants, and rocks and minerals. This collection became the basis of the Pember Museum. The Pember’s eventually funded the building of the Granville library that the museum was to go into and in 1909 Franklin’s life’s work was assembled and opened as the Pember Museum. It is displayed today much as it was then, an incredible natural history collection displayed in wood and glass cases. Victorian maximalism at its best. Unfortunately, not long after the Pember’s deaths (they died within a few weeks of each other) in 1924, the Pember Museum fell into neglect and disuse. Today, revitalized in the 1970s by the local community of Granville, the Pember is open and active. As one explores, Pember’s presence can be felt throughout. Pember did much of the collecting, as well as the taxidermy in the museum himself, and his obvious love of natural history and his skillful hand at taxidermy are fully on display. Strolling through the second oor of the library is truly a bit of Mysterious America.

55 BROWN ST., WICKFORD TOWN SQUARE NORTH KINGSTON, RI 02852 • 401-294-3331

Who made this odd stone that now sits in the Wickford Town Square? Was it made as a prank, was it native Americans who carved Norsestyle runes onto it. Or, was it the Vikings; and we don’t mean the football team. The earliest known eyewitness accounts of the inscription dates from 1948, at which time neighborhood children began calling it Indian Rock due to the characters inscribed upon it. This rock, as it was submerged for the majority of daily tidal cycles, was known only to the locals until l984 when a quahogger, working from his skiff, noticed the inscription. He noti ed researchers interested in Norse runic inscriptions in North America, setting the stage for the numerous attempts at an explanation ever since. Some believe it is a record of a visit to Narragansett Bay by the Vikings or other Norsemen, or Icelandic explorers/trappers, still others a voyage by the Knights Templar. Some believe it was more likely rendered by immigrants to our area, out of national pride, in the 19th-20th centuries. The Stone disappeared in 2012. It was recovered by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management in 2013 and was installed in Wickford in 2015. Although no one can say with complete certainty exactly by whom or when these intriguing Runic symbols were carved into this stone, it is safe to say, as quoted from Professor Henrik Williams of Uppsala University in Sweden, the rune stone is “of considerable cultural signi cance to Rhode Island and New England, not the least because of the controversy, mystery, and even intrigue connected with it.” Whoever did it – this bit of Mysterious America is truly worth the ride to Rhode Island as we roll through the spring. ~ O’Life out! By now you are probably thinking, “Hey Rathjen… Kamil – we’re getting hungry. So are we… Here are three super eateries that range from comfortable and cozy to exquisite and, well, a tad upscale in the most artsy and fun way…

BIG KEV’S BBQ

90 ROYCE RD, SWAN LAKE, NY 12783 845-798-7395

While Rat’s may be a tad upscale for you, then our rst suggestion is the polar opposite. Basic, easy and relaxed. We found Big Kev’s years back and, in the warmer months, it is a superb roadside barbeque that has been feeding locals and travelers for years now. Located along Route 17B in White Lake, New York – not far from Bethel Hills and the original Woodstock site, Big Kev’s barbeque is always superb and worth the wait as at times Kev and company get quite busy.

THE RED WOLF INN

16 FAIRGROUNDS RD, HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ 08619 609-584-7800 • www.ratsrestaurant.com

130 COUNTY ROAD 519, BELVIDERE, NJ 07823 908-475-4772

The Red Wolf has been a favorite of ours for decades. The Inn, more like a tavern, is located in far western New Jersey, just east of the Delaware River, right on County Road 519, one of the best roads in the state for a great ride! They serve up the best steaks in New Jersey – end of story. But they also offer up so much more. The appetizers include clams, mushrooms and escargot and the mussels in the Wolf’s garlic cream sauce are amazingly delicious. The plates of pasta are also a great choice – and we particularly love their Seafood Alfredo. They have offerings of seafood, pork, and poultry – but it is rare we do not go to The Red Wolf and not order steak. Named after the wolves that once lived at the restaurant – you can nd a portion just perfect for you… add the garlic butter, seriously great! If you have a great spring ride planned along the Delaware River make it a point to spin by The Red Wolf for an early dinner (they start serving at 5pm) and you’ll understand and appreciate us making mention of this phenomenal restaurant for a Spring Fling ride! In southern New Jersey, there is a most wondrous place – it is called Grounds for Sculpture and, on its 42 beautifully manicured acres, you will nd some of the best and most creative art in the nation.

Huge statues of stone and metal, the incredible creations of Seward

Johnson and other notable artists are scattered throughout Grounds for

Sculpture – but we have ridden here for their famed restaurant – Rat’s.

This superb restaurant is surrounded by wonderful art and lies along a koi pond that is a stunning recreation of Monet’s Water Lilies. Rat’s is inspired by Claude Monet’s hometown, Giverny, and its decor resembles a French countryside tavern. Its chefs take advantage of local New Jersey produce to create a distinctly French menu, including specials such as trout amandine, the sh luxuriously dripped with brown butter and almonds, and roasted duck breast on a bed of farro, piquant with tart cherries and chili walnuts. The restaurant is named after the rat from The Wind in the Willows, the children’s book about rats, toads, and moles who enjoy chilling out by a river under the titular willow trees, and

downing a few after dinner. We think it is one of the neatest places at which we have ever eaten – and we have several times. You should too, this spring.

Make That Monster Road Trip Plan…

I’m talkin’ baseball! Like Reggie, Quisenberry. Talkin’ baseball! Carew and Gaylord Perry, Seaver, Garvey, Schmidt and Vida Blue, While we were putting this Spring Fling piece together we were also following our own advice and making plans for a big ride later this year… and for us, the trip will probably include…. Baseball You might think most motorheads are not ball & stick fans, but we here at Backroads love baseball and try to get to games whenever we can whether it be our beloved Mets, our local Sussex County Miners, or pulling off to the side of the road to watch a few innings of Little League or Amish boys & girls going at it like they were in The Show. This year the BMW MOA National Rally is being held in Spring eld, Missouri – a decent distance away from Backroads Central and a road trip that will eat up a few weeks if we do it right. We have a plan to do just that. As soon as we booked our hotel near the rally, Shira brought up the possibility of catching a few Major League games while on the road. You see we are on a quest to get to all the MLB Parks and have a good number already notched. So we looked at the map, the calendar and played with the trip in our heads. If all goes as lightly planned right now we’ll tag three new parks. We’ll see if the owners and players can make this all happen. First out to Cleveland, Ohio. Here along Lake Erie and the not-on- re Cuyahoga River we will catch the Indians trying to scalp the Oakland Athletics – and we’ll make time for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame too. We’ll then head further west and across the mighty Mississippi River, but not before stopping on the eastern shore and visiting Cahokia. Cahwhatyasay? Cahokia was the largest and most in uential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, which developed advanced societies across much of what is now the central and southeastern United States, beginning more than 1,000 years before European contact. Trust us – this is a very important place and a very deep and almost forgotten chunk of this continent’s history. Heading across the Big Muddy we’ll see if the St. Louis Cardinals can turn away the Pirates of Pittsburgh… arrrgg! The next few days will see us blasting the backroads of the Ozarks, south through Arkansas, and then back north to the BMW Rally in Spring eld. With the rally in the mirrors, we’ll start heading home, enjoying the stunning pavement of Kentucky before crossing the Ohio River and making a stop at The Great American Ballpark to see my brother’s beloved Cincinnati Reds play 9 against the Los Angeles Dodger. Go Reds! This has us on a great vector to enjoy Ohio’s Triple Nickel Route 555 and then into West “By God” Virginia and back home. As Steely Dan sang… “The plan was set - the plan was done.” Time to make your plans too! ,