Main Page > 2007 Havin' Fun on US 1
The Tour started flawlessly, Bone picked up Mike in Baaston (Boston to non-Bostonian's !), exactly at10:15 in the morning. Bone navigated the confusing streets of Boston and finally started south on US-1, looking for adventure, with the objective of getting all the way into New Jersey the first day.
The start: Beantown !!!
As the Boys sped on I-93 (which was US-1 as well) Mike and Bone planned their adventure day-by-day. Soon the Freeway and US-1 diverged giving the Boys the "feel" of the old Kings Highway !
A Donut to Dunk every Quarter Mile in New England !!!
It was an iconic first day. Was it the Boston skyline that impressed them? No ! Was it the beauty of the New England Coast ?!? Not really. Whattabout the Big Apple, cruising through the Bronx? Nope !! What impressed the Boys the most along US-1 in Massachusetts was all the Dunkin Donuts they passed !!!
A Close Shave at Gillette Stadium for the Boys
As US-1 traced out of suburban Boston and headed into the country-side they passed Tom Brady's "home" Gillette Stadium.
About a half hour of passing by Gillette Stadium Mike and Bone passed into their first new state, Rhode Island !
Finding Providence in Rhode Island !
In short order US-1 traced the Boys from the border of Rhode Island and into the City of Providence. Home of Roger Williams. No, not the singer, but the founder of the Colony of Rhode Island !
Religious tolerance is a cyclical thing. Roger Williams, a defender of religious liberty arrived in Boston on February 5, 1631 as a minister. Many of Williams's parishioners did not agree with his idea to separate from the Church of England. He then became minister in Salem. There, his ideas also proved too radical. He went to Plymouth but again fell into disfavor. Williams insisted that land must be purchased from the Indians, rather than taken from them forcefully, in order to claim title to it. He again went to Salem and was eventually put on trial in 1635 for his views. His sentence was banishment. Williams then purchased land from the Narragansett Indians and established the settlement of Providence, Rhode Island. Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island based upon principles of complete religious toleration, separation of church and state, and political democracy.
Oddly enough the very precepts that the NeoCon's and Radical Moslems do not agree with today !!
No Kidding, The BEST Corned Beef Hash in Eggs !
As the early afternoon waned warm, they decided to stop in a bucolic little town just outside of Providence for lunch at Audra's Cafe. Wanting to sample the local cuisine Mike asked the waitress what was the house specialty, when she said corned beef hash, it took no time for Mike and Bone to order up two Corned Beef Hash and Eggs !
And boy was it gooood !! Mike and Bone raved for at least 100 miles after the meal on how good it was!. Just as the "afterglow" of the Corned Beef Hash ended, the Boys entered Connecticut and began driving along the coast into the picturesque village of Mystic Seaport.
Getting Mystic Seaport
The actress Julia Robert was first noticed in a movie called Mystic Pizza, passing the store that provided the name for the movie was too good for Bone to pass up, so they snapped a picture, but sadly did not TASTE any pizza since it was pushing 4:00 and the Boys wanted to make it through New York and to Englewood by 8:00 PM.
A little Whiskey with your Rye ?
They quickly flew through the rest of Connecticut and into New York State around 6:00 PM, while following US-1 through the Toney town of Rye, US-1 turned into a suburban side street and turned the Boys around more that once, finally they were back on track an in a 20 minutes they were heading into the Big Apple.
The Bronx Age
US-1 cut right through New York primarily through the Bronx, cutting a tiny edge of Manhattan. As Mike and Bone passed into the run section of the Bronx around 7:00, with the temperature still in the 90's, the "natives" were wandering in the streets to the point the Boys had to dodge them driving down the street.
After driving through some of the gamiest neighborhoods of New York, the Boys crossed the Harlem River into Manhattan and queued up for a 15-minute wait onto the George Washington Bridge.
A Ripping Abomination !!! Rutt's Hutt
Finally, crossing the George Washington into Jersey around 8:00 PM, the Boys were roughly on schedule and in need of sustenance, knowing that one of the Hot Dog Program's favourites was just nearby in Clifton, the Boys high-tailed into Joisey, through a very strange Turkish community and after 20 minutes of aimlessly driving around lost, they stumbled onto Rutt's Hutt !!
Rutt's Hut in Clifton New Jersey, has been around since the 1930's and still thrives with the locals, despite being in a bizarre location and is most certainly out of the way. Why do people keep coming in droves to this hot dog emporium? It's the hot dogs, stupid! Rutt's most certainly serves just about the ugliest looking hot dog around. Deep fat fried rather than steamed or grilled. Cooked until its skin is mangled and torn. The locals love to order a "Ripper", which is a hot dog that has been simmering long enough in hot oil, to rip through it's natural casing skin, and plump out it's porky goodness. That's the classic Ripper, shown above - proving that beauty, rather than being skin deep, comes from deep within. The meek can order "In and Outers" - hardly wrinkled at all. Strong of spirit might consider a couple of "Cremators" cooked to a tasty black. Whatever style, top them with a layer of Rutt's secret relish, the secret ingredients being chopped cabbage and carrots.
But are they any good? Nope. Starving, Mike and Bone ordered a couple of "Rippers" with Fries and a beer, and found the beer to be the best part of the meal !!!. First, the Bar is old, dirty, and decrepit, the Help rude, and the Owner was shuffling around pissed off at Mike and Bone's Waitress screaming at her. The hot dogs were greasy from the oil and fairly tasteless, the bun's cold and stale, and the relish not very good. In fact of all the Hot Program stops to-date, this was the one place that the Boys would never go back to.
Rutt's really is a Hut !!
An overly Conventional End
Sorry, ain't no room in the Inn! After a completely unsatisfying stop at Rutts Hut, Mike and Bone high-tailed it back to US-1 or as Bruce Springsteen spoke of it so eloquently in Born to Run "Cruising on 1-9." Heading down 1-9 the Boys were exhausted, by now it was 11:00 PM and they had been driving for 12 hours. Unfortunately they could not find a hotel anywhere due to a student convention !! It took another 20 minutes of driving south through Elizabeth and past the Prison in Rahway before the Boys found "room and an inn"
They collapsed in a Sheraton around Midnight making their first days travel objective!