Day 5: New Haven, CT to Scarsdale, NY - December 31, 2008-January 1, 2009

Happy 2009 to all of you who are following our little journey of dreams! We clink our mugs of champagne to your health, friendship, and productivity.

The new year's edition of our blog begins in New Haven, CT, where we started off our new year's eve updating our Big Red Book of Route 1. A peek of the madness in process:

We move outdoors to the street, where New Haven greeted us with this delightful "wintry mix." Here, Ian loads up the Mossmobile.

Route 1 continued slushy and grey as we careened down the million-dollar view scenic byway of Connecticut, where we passed an average of one Dunkin' Donuts every 2 miles, according to kurumi.

When we finally arrived at the Children's Garbage Museum in Stratford, CT, we were crestfallen to learn that it had already closed for the day, and thus we were not to meet with the famed 24-foot long Trash-o-Saurus. However, we did manage to take a photo of the picturesque grounds before being honked out of the lot by an irate impacter truck.

Next it was back to the future (the Cenozoic era, if you will) for the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT. We arrived just in time to get in the doors before they closed for their afternoon new year's party, and so were able to see the exhibits of Tom Thumb, Jenny Lind, and our favorite, a reproduction of the reknowned "Feejee Mermaid"-- brilliantly part-fish, part-monkey. No photos allowed in the museum, unfortunately, but you can get a sense of the nifty historical design from the outside. If you look closely you can see a land-based mermaid waving in the left corner.

Our next adventure for the day was at Stew Leonard's in Norwalk, CT, reportedly the "world's largest dairy stor," as the sign boasts out front.

Once we slid our way across the parking lot, we were treated to a world of singing food and acrobatic cows at every turn. After perusing the eggs,

bananas,

and potential dairy-themed lawn decorations,

we settled on a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Shortly thereafter, we drove into Westchester County, where we spent a little more time than desired upon getting hopelessly lost in Port Chester. Or at least we think it was Port Chester. (I mean, come on people, have you heard of signage?) But a phonecall to Katz headquarters got us back on the right track and from then it was Boston Post Road through Rye's Historic District and beyond.

Our off-road venture into New York City for a night of revelry was met with some moments of danger (yes, that is "sniper vodka" in this young man's hand),

but having made it this far we were able to continue on our travels downtown into the belly of Manhattan unscathed. We cannot say the same, however, for those we THOUGHT we left behind in good hands in Scarsdale.

Today was a no-travel day, although we ventured over to Mamaroneck, NY, for a delightful annual new year's fiesta that Debby's family has been crashing for over twenty years.

And we need to catch our zzzz's before another busy day of travel. From your adventurous 1-Routers, good night and happy new year!

Our route for the day:


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And the fateful intersection where we got lost (a warning to future US Route 1 travelers without iPhones or GPS devices):


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