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Published: September 16th 2023
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Today’s objective was to drive to our condo in Newport, Rhode Island. After breakfast, at a cute place called the Speckled Hen, we headed out to a Bakery that was known for their Whoopie pies. Terry and I both love Whoopie pies and didn’t think we should leave what is known as the home of the Whoopie pie without taking some with us. The story is that the kids and dads were so excited when they found the tasty cakes in their lunches that they shouted “WHOOPIE!”
I had read the best Whoopie pie place was in the Bird in hand, baker and Café. I must admit, I was a little disappointed in their bakery. While they had plenty of Whoopie pies and shoofly pie, They had very little other baked goods. However, the Whoopie pies were to die for.
We were on the road toward Newport. The only thing I had a hard time with was skirting around New York City and not being able to stop. It was hard to pass the places that would lead me into the city and to see the city skyline in the distance. Anyone who knows me knows that New York
City is one of my very favorite places, but sadly, not a place to visit on this trip.
Our GPS this time really took us places I’ve never been. We crossed the George Washington Bridge and managed to get on a beautiful parkway that allowed no commercial traffic. It was a great drive. Along that parkway I saw signs for New Haven, Connecticut and I remembered Louis Lunch was the home of the first hamburger, so we decided to stop.
Louis lunch is a very small small building in downtown New Haven. It’s been making hamburgers since the late 1800’s and started out as a food cart. They moved the food cart on a trailer to its current location, dug a foundation, and eventually added on to the building. Three generations have operated this historic site. The current owner is the grandson of the founder.
There are very few places to sit and most people take their orders to go. The only way you can customize your burger is to add cheese, onions, or tomatoes. They used to have mustard but never ketchup. They want you to taste the quality of their special mix of burger and
seasonings. There are very few sides, but they do have potato salad, potato chips, and pie for dessert. They do not sell Coca-Cola products because during the depression, their Coca-Cola supplier tried to cheat them by selling their Coke order on the black market for a higher price . Therefore the owner called Pepsi, and has done business with Pepsi ever Since.
The current owner was so interesting to talk to. He shared so much history with us. He is still using the original gas fired toaster for the bread. They also still use the original gas fired vertical ovens for the burgers. Each of the three ovens holds three burgers, which are typically cook medium rare but you can have it cooked differently.
Louis lunch is on the national register of historic places. I had seen it on travel channel and love the history behind it. It certainly was a worthwhile stop.
The owner told us about his love for ice cream and there I was a great spot right around the corner. It didn’t take long for me to decide that’s where we’d have dessert. The ice cream was great but sadly a downpour of
rain started and we were stuck there. I finally got brave enough to go out and get the car and load everybody in so we could head out.
New Haven is also the home of Yale University and we would’ve liked to drive around and take some pictures, but it was high traffic time and a downpour of rain. It looked like a beautiful city.
We drove through a lot of rain, but we finally made it to Newport just before 7 o’clock checked into our condo and unloaded the car. It was gonna be a night in for us and a day to explore tomorrow.
Nite all!
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