The Constitution State
My entire anxiety filled body let out a collective sigh of relief as we finally drove out of the chaos they call the New York City infrastructure. With The Big Apple in our rear view mirror, it was time to focus on CT. Just like Delaware, I found myself thinking: What the Hell is Connecticut? Well, I gotta say, it was very similar to its small New England neighbors (surprise, surprise). We found ourselves in New Haven for the night after we escaped New York and we crashed from exhaustion in the back of Meredith after an event filled day of mayhem and airborne Cup of Noodles. We woke up from a warm fall’s slumber and headed to our first destination of the day: The Pez Factory.
The Pez Factory was tucked out of the way a little, but when we drove into the parking lot to look up to 5 gigantic pez candy wrappers, we knew we were in the right place. The factory had an interactive museum about the history of the company as well as the various pez figurines that have been manufactured over the years. There even was a scavenger hunt for little Pez figurines that spelled a hidden message that if you discovered, you could win a free Pez dispenser. We both got a figurine each as well as a lot of free candy and a new insight on the very diverse Pez Dispenser collecting hobby. I had no idea that Pez was created in Austria, and it was originally sold on the market as a mint, specifically for anti-smoking purposes. Well, you learn something new every day, I suppose, which was a preeminent precursor to our next destination: Yale University.
Yes, that Yale. The hoity-toity, don’t-look-at-me-my-daddy-is-a-lawyer Yale was exactly how I expected it to be. The campus was beautiful! Towering church-like buildings loomed near and far, with powerful formations and designs chiseled into the stone structures that painted a beautiful and calming environment. You get what you pay for…
We walked throughout the campus as we headed for the library, and groaned as we overheard a lot of the conversations being held by the students. I mean, we weren’t trying to eavesdrop at all. But when you’re literally talking loud enough to hear when I’m sitting in the car, you can be classified as annoying-and that was my experience with Yale. This was until we got to the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. We walked into the library unaware of the sheer magnitude of what we were about to experience. A large pillar of glass acted as the centerpiece of a dimly lit building with a ceiling that appeared to be hundreds of feet above us. In the center of the glass pillar was the largest collection of books I have ever laid eyes on. Think Library of Congress jam-packed into a massive column that stretches the length of a three story house-and is about that wide too! These books were so beautiful; olden leather spines with gold lettering went on for what seemed like miles.
You could feel the history in that room. The silent, inviting levels all had various art pieces strewn around the pillar of books. They all highlighted Native American and overall Western lifestyles in still photos of black-and-white. Action shots of protestors fighting back to protect land, Native American dancers garbed in traditional headdresses and beads, and portfolio pictures of low-income families of coal mining towns offered a very interesting atmosphere when juxtaposed to the wealth of books (and their monetary value) just across the way from their exhibits. It was quite the experience, and it made this trip to Hogwarts Yale definitely worth it.
After our hunger for curiosity had been satisfied, we had another hunger to fill: literal hunger. We decided to go to a small, local deli that held claim to making the first burger. Louis Lunch is a small red building that makes you think of the term ‘hole-in-the-wall’. We walk into this small establishment and lay eyes on old, work wooden booths and chairs that take us back to a time before the internet-or really any 21st century technology, ever existed. Initials and various names are carved into every crevice of carpentry in sight, and a large sign that says THIS IS NOT BURGER KING, YOU WILL HAVE IT MY WAY AND LIKE IT, hangs over the window to the left. We walk up to order and discover the sign is not lying. You may order a burger, they will put tomato and onions on it if you’d like, but that’s it. No cheese, no sauce, no lettuce, no extra fluff. This is exactly how they served it back in the day, and not much has changed since. When I went to pay, I learned it was cash only (go figure) and McKayla, the one holding the cash, was in the restroom (again, go figure).
They made the burger patties by hand and put them on sourdough bread inside of this small oven-like contraption. They were definitely handmade, and once we finally got our food, I must say it was well worth the wait. You did not have a choice on how the burgers were cooked; they were all cooked medium rare (as they should be). It was perfectly cooked, and the bread was toasted to perfection as well. Something about the simplicity and the way every ingredient of the sandwich was unique enough to differentiate taste made this sandwich-burger thing taste better than the sum of its parts. If I could, I would have eaten 4 more but alas, I’m not running around slamming up bombs anymore, so I can’t do that anymore.
From New Haven, we traveled to Hartford, CT. There, we took a detour to the Elizabeth Rose Garden for a moment to relax, have a picnic, and unwind a little. The fall struck park had little left growing but the gloomy, overcast day yielded a very peaceful, empty park that gave us plenty of space to relax and eat together in peace. There were squirrels everywhere, desperately burying nuts for the winter. McKayla claims she’s a superhero, and that a bite from a radioactive squirrel in D.C. when she was a kid gave her the ability to talk to squirrels and fly like one too. Her alter-ego is Squirrel-Girl, but I think she’s just nuts. After a relaxing evening in the park, we said our goodbyes to Connecticut before hopping into Meredith and heading towards Rhode Island. Feeney, if you’re reading this, your hometown state is pretty neat.
God Bless!
