All posts by Martin

Found a disc golf course in Rock Falls 5 minutes from the coffee shop.  It is located in a very small little public park.  Wicked short 18 basket course…I could see almost all of the baskets!  Didn’t bother bringing my bag… just two discs.  Finished in under 30 minutes.  Luckily I was the only one there.  I can see this course getting congested.

Crossed the Mississippi River in Clinton, IA and entered Iowa.  It looked like I expected Iowa to look.

Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA

From online… “In 1870, Alfred Hurst came to the area, having heard of the limestone formations along the banks of the Maquoketa River.  He then found what he considered the best quality limestone rock to produce the whitest, purest, and most adhesive lime in the marketplace.  He constructed a small pot kiln and started producing powder lime.  He then erected the first draw kiln in 1871, with the other 3 following soon after.  In the 1st year, production reached 100 barrels a week, with a total of 3200 barrels for the year. At the company’s peak, the kilns would produce 8000 barrels of lime a day!”

Looking in from the top through the fence. (You can see my legs on the right)

What I saw!

I’m lucky to work a block away from Regina Pizzeria

I am lucky because my full time job at MaidPro is right down the street from Regina Pizzeria, a staple in Boston since 1926.  Regina Pizzeria’s flagship and first restaurant is located on Thatcher Street in the North End of Boston although they now have locations all over Massachusetts. 

I do enjoy a two slice lunch from Regina’s.  Its so easy for me to take a quick walk down the street, grab the slices and come back to the office to eat here.  On most days, there is usually a line with tourists and locals alike awaiting a seat, however, if you’re taking out, you can skip the line and go right up to the bar.  The always have cheese slices and pepperoni slices on a daily basis along with some type of specialty slices.  Today’s was onion and sausage.

I like their pizza, even though sometimes I do find the crust to be a little doughy.  I look past that because the sauce and the cheese make up for it.  When I do order with toppings, they never skimp and they are usually falling off when I’m trying to eat it.

If you are eating in, they have just a few booths and tables.  Expect to be sitting very closely with whatever group you came with.  When I do stay to eat on those occasional dinners, I like to sit at the bar.  The bar tenders are often friendly and I’ve often met people also sitting at the bar from out of town.  They also have a nice selection of cold beers.  Don’t go looking for a huge selection but they do have some variety.

If you plan to eat at this original Regina Pizzeria, make sure you let me know.  Especially if it’s during lunch, I’ll walk over and meet you there!

When I graduated college, I decided that before I started my career, I wanted an opportunity to see the United States.  There were places I wanted to visit, see and explore before settling down behind a desk for the next 40 years.  I had a job lined up, however, I had about six weeks before I started.  So at the beginning of July 1988, a friend and I set out with no set plan.  We had $2000, my new car (that was stick… my friend didn’t drive stick!), a cooler and a tent.

We left Massachusetts and headed west either camping or staying with friends along the way. Every day after traveling, we’d take out a map of the U.S. and use a black marker to show where we had traveled for the day.  By the end of the trip, we had a nice map documenting our trip.

Some of the highlights that I recall include Niagara Falls, the Gateway Arch in St Louis, one of the strongest thunder storms I’ve ever experienced in Kansas (we saw it coming in the distance for hours), seeing the Rocky Mountains and driving up Pike’s Peak, seeing the Grand Canyon, winning money in Vegas, walking through the San Diego Zoo, driving up near the Hollywood sign, camping under Red Wood trees, eating crab in Seattle, looking out at night from our camp site and seeing the glow of forest fires of Yellowstone National Park across the lake, catching a Second City show in Chicago, playing Ultimate for a Canadian team that was short a player in the Canadian National Ultimate Championship in Toronto (we lost) and walking around Montreal.  I’m hoping to write more about some of these experiences at a later time.

This turned out to be a life changing trip.  Not only because I ended up marrying my friend and having two amazing daughters, but also because it opened my eyes to what an amazing place North America is.  We didn’t stay in any one place for very long and in six weeks, we saw such a small fraction of what is out there.  It became a dream of mine to try and see more and as often as possible…. to stay longer in some places and to see some I’ve yet to see.  I truly love going to places, both near and far, and experiencing them.  I like to talk to locals that live there, eat the local cuisine, see the natural wonders, investigate the history, hear the music and just try to see and feel as much as possible.

I have managed to take some additional, smaller road trips over the years, but I’m hoping dreams do come true and I’ll be able to go out for a longer period of time.