Rare Jim input, since my normal role is editor-in-chief and not content provider: When I first started my EE career at the Johnson Space Center, one of the first lessons that was drilled into me was to avoid having any expectations when starting an investigation, whether it be a failure analysis, component evaluation or other, lest it bias the process. I fear my early retirement may have stifled that detachment, as Sylvia’s entry below may show, but I will do my best to regain my pre-dating impartiality going forward. Cue Syl…
True confession is that the city I was most excited about visiting was Wilmington. It looked like it checked every box and was much smaller than Richmond and Baltimore. Quaint even, but still with art, food, healthcare, & kickin’ affordability. I hate to say that I actually just didn’t like it very much. There were some cutie patooty brownstones in a few parts of town. But it wasn’t really walkable at all. I also had thought the river district would be enticing with condos and what looked like a bustling lil scene. ‘Wha wha…” It was sorta sterile, without personality and the river walk was only about 1/2 mile long. To be clear…as we drove around, there were parts that were quaint and charming. But, they were just too far apart for what we need or want.
True confession #2 is that I was not interested in Scranton at all. Jim had read an article on it and it was on the way. Those that know him knows that he never really asks for anything, so I went along with it. Having never spent any real true time in the Northeast, we’ve been struck with how lush it is. Situated in a valley amongst the Pocanos, it is the first city that offered electricity to all citizens. It is also experiencing a bit of a revival. While it’s off the list for now, I am curious to see how it morphs over the next few years. Downtown is uber walkable, but you can only rent apartments in the historic buildings, which isn’t our jam at all. Once you get outside of downtown, there isn’t a whole lot in terms of town stuff, but it is absolutely gorgeous nature-wise with streams, creeks and lakes errywhere. We ate at some cute places and had some fantastic beer, and the people were just lovely. Oh, and I got the most incredible massage at a lovely holistic healing and health center and got my hair did by a Bonafide queen. So yeah – we liked it, but it’s not going to meet enough criteria to stay on the list. For compares, Greensboro edged both of these out for me.
We are on our way to Hartford, CT for another serious city-date and stopped on the way in Poughkeepsie, deep in the heart of the Hudson River valley. It was a natural break in driving, especially when we found out the Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidential library and homestead was there. The Vanderbilt Mansion is also an attraction, but we didn’t have time or enough desire to stay over for it. So, if you can’t tell, old and rich money was here. The Presidential library was fantastic and a crazy contrast in history from our current orange-n-chief. FDR won with true landslides, but he absolutely did overreach in ways that feel startlingly similar when compared with our current situation. The main difference? FDR was trying to help ALL we the people.
