On the Watt Espy Trail

Well over a year ago I started first thinking about taking a trip to the State University of New York at Albany (UAlbany) to have a look at Uncle Watty's death penalty research. He had donated his vast, one-of-a-kind research to UAlbany not long before he died. Once I got Jim Vann (Uncle Jim) on board and started thinking about things Kade would enjoying seeing, we mapped out quite an agenda.
 

August 4, we will rent a car at Logan Airport and drive to Albany, NY, where we will stay two nights

August 5, I will spend day seeing Uncle Watty's collection at UAlbany and have dinner w/ a professor and his wife that evening

August 6, we will drive to Boston, where we will stay 5 nights

August 6, for dinner, I will meet a Boston professor friend of Watty's

then August 7th and rest of trip will be all fun and games

August 7, 8, 9, 10  Boston tourist activities and lots of good dining

August 11 rent car and drive to Cape Cod, where we will stay 4 nights.  

August 11, 12, 13, 14  Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.......seafood, beach, relaxation

August 15 drive to Newport, Rhode Island, tour breaker mansions, spend one night

August 16, drive to New Haven, Connecticut for afternoon at Yale and Uzbek dinner at Shahnoza's, spend night at New Haven hotel

August 17, after breakfast, drive to Boston airport, return rental car and catch flights back

First, we'd meet at the Boston airport (Uncle Jim flying in from Panama City Beach, FL), rent a car and then drive west to Albany, NY, where we'd stay two nights.  I had already been talking with some key figures at the university and in the "death penalty world" (people who knew and appreciated Watt Espy). They were going to give us an official tour, and they were making arrangements to have dinner with Kade and me so that we could reminisce about Uncle Watty's life and accomplishments. I arrived in Albany full of excitement!

Click here for part two.

Vermont & New Hampshire

After our stop in Troy, NY to see one of Uncle Watty's friends we drove through the Southern part of Vermont and New Hampshire, working our way back east.  Brattleboro, Vermont was a particular destination I had in mind.  It was where I almost went to get my master's degree at the (SIT) School for International Teaching.  Several years ago I had thought about getting a master's in ESL (English as Second Language), and had heard wonderful things about their program from my colleagues in Bangkok.  Anyway, this trip I wanted to drive through Brattleboro.  We did, and I was greatly impressed.  It reminded me of Asheville, with the lovely mountains, active downtown and thriving arts community.   Keene, NH also turned out to be a city that impressed us quite a bit.  Uncle Jim, once again, provided our comedy!  The scene in the video where he comes out of the porta-toilet is hilarious.

Click here for part three.

Beantown

We turned in our rental car and then took a cab into Cambridge, where we checked into the Harvard Square Hotel.  Taking the advice of friends and fellow travelers we opted to rely on Boston's highly efficient subway system for our day-to-day transportation.  In one video below, you can get a taste of what it's like on the subway.  See if you can spot Uncle Jim!  Each day we had a quick breakfast and a coffee before heading out to explore the sights, tastes and sounds of the city.  As you can see, the famous Boston Cream Pie lived up to its sterling reputation!  When thinking back on our time in Boston, my favorite activities were:  going to the top of the Prudential Building for a view of the city, having an exquisite dinner in North End's Little Italy, standing before Paul Revere's tombstone in the Granary Burying Grounds, visiting the JFK Library & Museum and going on the Duck Tour.  

my ticket to the JFK Library

Click here for part four.

Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard

Cape Cod proved to be my favorite destination of the whole trip.  It didn't hurt that Kade and I stayed in a lovely, relaxing B&B By the Sea in the coastal town, Dennis Port. 

Dennis Port on Dwellable

My personal highlight - and I would say it was Uncle Jim's too - was taking a late afternoon swim in the Atlantic, on the outer cape at Coast Guard Beach.  Another cool thing Kade and I did was tour the JFK Museum in Hyannis.  On our last full day on Cape Cod, we took a boat to Martha's Vineyard.  On "the Vin" we saw the beach where JAWS was filmed, we saw the home where Dr. King penned his I have a Dream speech and we took a bus down a street where Jackie Kennedy Onassis used to ride her bicycle.  And, I must mention that we spotted (and I videoed) two celebrities - well, one TV personality and one music legend.  The clips below are the shortest of the videos I made.  Extended versions of these - along with a few additional Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard ones - can be found on my youtube channel:  major allen espy

 

During the time we were on Cape Cod, there was a shark sighting.

Dennis Port on Dwellable

 

Click here for part five.

Fall River, MA

After an amazing time on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, Kade and I decided that, en route to New Haven, we'd take Uncle Jim by one of the creepiest homes in America: the Lizzie Borden House. Video one shows us arriving at the home and getting Uncle Jim's reaction. Then, I follow with some pictures of our tour inside the home, and end with a short biography of Lizze Borden.

Lizzie Borden took an axe / And gave her mother forty whacks. / When she saw what she had done, / She gave her father forty-one.

Three ghosts in the mirror.

Lizzie Borden through the years!

The tour guide stands on the spot beside the bed where Mrs. Borden's body was found. The view from the staircase, where I took the picture, is where investigators first saw her body.

For an update this year on the Lizzie Borden case, click here.

Click here for the final part.

New Haven

A rain-soaked day kept us from doing any serious sight-seeing in Newport, Rhode Island.  Therefore, we decided to drive on to New Haven, Connecticut to the spend the night.  The following day we drove around the Yale Campus, had a fabulous burger and later got an afternoon coffee.  Then, we drove over to a friend's house - a lady I taught in Uzbekistan many, many years ago.  We were greeted at the door with big smiles and we left with full stomachs.  Traditional Uzbek food was made from scratch, and we got to participate.  Thanks, Shahnoza.  Uncle Jim, as you can see in the second video, loved playing with the children.  And they loved him!