Adventures with Cordy, September 25, 1976

[Below is days 19 in a series of road trip diary installments. To get the full context, start with Adventures with Cordy: A Road Trip Diary and follow the trail from there. --Amy]

September 25, (Saturday)

The Blue Spruce was cold, no heat or hot water in the early morning -- Jack went to the office at 6:30 to complain and the proprietor hung a sign on the door that said "office open at 8:00 A.M." Having been in business several years, and observing opening and closing hours he accepted this in a fine manner. To the Middleburg Inn for breakfast and to warm up, then mailed Harry's Happy Birthday check at a pretty little post office. Back to the Blue Spruce to load the car to leave, Jack happened to see the owner outside and went over to say "Good-by." We could not hear what was said but there was lots of arm waving and we think several remarks were said regarding each others ancestry. The discussion was a draw... [copy of the entry is cut off here, but the last words of the paragraph are "heart attack."]

On to Plymouth to the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. This was a peaceful place and presented quite a contrast with other historical points we were to visit later, which were also connected with former presidents.

Then to one of the first and largest Granite Quarries in the country, and into Barre where we changed Cordy's right front shoe, it hurt! Had ice cream cones and buttermilk for dinner, but no water, waitress said it was poisoned.

I love this entry, because the Blue Spruce showdown is classic Jack. Lynn's description of the scene is really funny (at least to those who personally knew this group).

If Jack were still alive and you brought up this story today, he would definitely remember it. You would get an earful for the next 90 minutes about how NOT to run a business. 30+ years later, he'd still be mad. That's my grandpa.