So Long To The Outer Banks

After three days on the Outer Banks, we are heading to Charleston for a couple of days, and then Savannah before turning north. Our final day in the Outer Banks began with a 5:45 sunrise at the beach, a long drive south to Hatteras, two ferry rides and a very wise decision not to stay off the sand with our four-wheel drive EV.

 

While We Are Gone

Lindy's preseason FCS college football magazine is out with predictions for the Ivy League and conferences featuring other Dartmouth opponents. Thanks to a loyal reader, here's what the magazine predicts in the Ivy and for Lehigh and Monmouth. (Merrimack is not in a conference.)

Ivy
1. Yale 
2. Harvard         
3. Penn
4. Dartmouth
5. Brown
6. Princeton
7. Columbia
8. Cornell

Patriot

1. Villanova 

2. Lehigh

3. Richmond

4. William & Mary

5. Lafayette

6. Colgate

7. Holy Cross

8. Fordham

9. Georgetown

10. Bucknell

CAA

1. Rhode Island

2. New Hampshire

3. Monmouth

4. Elon

5. Stony Brook

6. Maine 

7. Towson

8. Albany

9. Bryant

10. Campbell

11. Sacred Heart

12. North Carolina A&T

12. Hampton

The Trip Continues

From Williamsburg we headed to Virginia Beach, where we stumbled across a remarkable state park on the bay. There we were able to grab a private tent site, charge our car for free and catch a shuttle into the heart of the Virginia Beach "boardwalk." The campground offers a beach with sunset views over the bay, and distant views of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. There are outdoor movies for kids (with free popcorn), a neat camp store and more. The coup de grace was the military base adjacent to the campground blasting reveille, a medley of military tunes and the National Anthem over loudspeakers at 8 a.m., when – thankfully – we were already up and packing the car for our next adventure

Learning about weapons from the Revolutionary War at Colonial Williamsburg before we headed to the coast.

Our campground was perfect.

Neptune at Virginia Beach

Careful picking up hitchhikers at the beach.

It's a little older than our '84 VW bus, but we had to grab this shot in Virginia Beach.

First stop in the Outer Banks was Kitty Hawk where we spent a couple of hours in the museum, catching a ranger program and hiking to the top of the hill where the Wright brothers flew their first glider before their first motorized flight.

We are staying three nights at an inn that is described this way: "Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it offers 1930s charm paired with modern comforts and traditional Southern hospitality." Pretty neat place.

From here we head to the bottom of the Outer Banks, where we catch a couple of ferry rides and go on to Charleston and Savannah.

More From The Road

Another beautiful day started with an early wake-up call at our campground outside of Charlottesville and a short drive to Monticello. It finished with visit with old friends in Williamsburg. On tap today is Colonial Williamsburg before we head off toward the Outer Banks.

A few snapshots:

A guided tour of Monticello wasn't cheap, but it was more than worthwhile.

During Jefferson's time the view of his university was open from his mountaintop home. Trees have grown up but groundskeepers keep a window of view open to the school he founded 10 miles away.

Well known for his scientific interests, Jefferson installed a clock in the entryway to Monticello that also told the day of the week. Unfortunately, the "cannon ball" weights that help keep the clock going and tell the day of the week as they descend run out of room. TJ solved that issue by having a hole drilled in the floor and placing Saturday at the bottom level.

And of course, a little football. Here's are a few shots of William and Mary's Zable Stadium.

On The Road

Stopped in Carlisle, Pa., Sunday to visit my old stomping ground (only to find they no longer print the newspaper in the office I worked in) before continuing south.

We had a walking tour around historic Harper's Ferry and visited the Appalachian Trail headquarters on Monday, and then camped at a magnificent state park.

On Tuesday we drove the length of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia on the Skyline Drive. At a visitors center we watched an interesting video about the incredible work the Civilian Conservation Corps did in building a "western park" in the east, and enjoyed a ranger program before spending the night at a campground outside of Charlottesville.

Today we've signed up for a tour of Monticello. From there we'll explore Williamsburg and eventually stop by to visit with an old friend who now works in town. Some of you will be able to guess who I mean. ;-)

We'll spend most of Thursday in Williamsburg before heading to North Carolina's Outer Banks, where
we've booked three nights in what looks to be a very nice inn. Then it's on to Charleston and Savannah.

Here are some pictures from the trip so far.

Lower town at Harper’s Ferry

That's our "digital teal" EV, which has charged without a hitch, just as it did last year on Route 66. We haven't had to wait at a single charger and it continues to be the fastest charging car we've seen at any station. This is our final year of free charging at Electrify America and we're making the most of it. Talk to you again soon.

Hiatus

Greetings from somewhere down the road!

Mrs. BGA and I are taking advantage of our second (and final) year of free EV charging with a road trip to Williamsburg, the Outer Banks, Charleston and Savannah. The tentative plan is to update the site a bit as we go, but expect the posting will be sporadic between now and our return in mid-June.

Given that we'll be doing some camping along the way, I won't always have the opportunity to do my usual web surfing to find tidbits to post, but if you see something and can send it along, I'll be happy to post it.

I leave you with a picture I took on May 30 of snow that fell overnight on Mount Moosilauke. I don't think it was the six inches they got over at Mount Washington, but it makes for a nice pic above the green of our field and the sugarbush adjacent to it.

Cheers,

BW

Congrats, Jace

Ever wonder in this era of grad transfers if players actually go on to earn degrees at their next school? At least when it comes to former Dartmouth tight end Jace Henry '24, the answer is yes.

A spring commencement release from Nevada lists the Ivy League product as collecting his degree in international affairs. Henry, who already held a mechanical engineering degree with honors from Dartmouth, was a member of the 2025 Academic All-Mountain West team last fall.

Henry came to Dartmouth as a quarterback, and went on to earn All-Ivy League honorable mention honors as a tight end. Moving on to Nevada, he was lost for the season due to injury after four games in 2024, but returned last year to win a spot on the All-Mountain West honorable mention team as a blocking tight end. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, he finished the season with seven catches for 43 yards, making nine starts. At the team banquet, he was named a winner of the Coaches Choice Award.

Find his Nevada bio HERE.

Henry is currently working under the aerospace department of Voyager Technologies where he "assists in the design, testing and analysis of Divert, Attitude and Control Systems using controllable solid propulsion technology for kinetic kill vehicles."

Green Alert Take: Academic All-Mountain West? Heck yeah.

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Speaking of grad transfers, it was reported here months ago that former Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig will play this fall at TCU. Now a video has gone up that shows all of his passes and runs last fall against Dartmouth. If nothing else, it's a chance to watch 8½ minutes of Dartmouth-Harvard football HERE.

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A headline on the FootballScoop site: Bill Belichick popularized game planning for "the middle 8," recent data shows it was a myth. Check out the story HERE and see if you agree or disagree.

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Earlier this month, this electronic presenting steered you to a story about how qualifying students from the tiny town of Wheelock in northern Vermont can go to Dartmouth for free. (LINK)

Now WMUR-TV in Manchester has posted an archive of retired commentator Fritz Wetherbee's stories, including one about how Dartmouth College was supposed to be established in Landaff, N.H., about 45 miles north-northeast of Hanover. If you think Hanover is in the middle of nowhere . . . .

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EXTRA POINT
It was 41.7 degrees here at our Vermont hillside home when I went downstairs this morning. Brrr. Maybe it's time to head south for a bit? Stay tuned. ;-)

This And That

It's been almost three weeks since Dartmouth wrapped up spring practice with the Green-White Game, but better late than never. The Dartmouth takes a look at the action from May 9 and includes this quote from coach Sammy McCorkle on the selection of new team captains Grayson Saunier, Harrison Keith and Joshua Johnson LINK:

“It wasn’t a surprise one bit. We’re really excited for all three of those guys. They all bring different leadership styles, different personalities, and they’re exactly what our locker room needs, what our culture needs and what our program needs.”

BGA Overtime had full coverage of the Green-White as well as spring football HERE. 

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Former offensive lineman Jake Guidone '21, who spend a grad transfer season at the University of Connecticut and then a summer with the Baltimore Ravens, is today a financial advisor, but he hasn't left football behind. He's been announced as a staff member at QB Velocity, a company founded by a former Xaverian Brothers High School teammate that uses the slogan, "Where tomorrow's top football players are made today!"

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Something I saw recently on the web regarding Jay Fielder had me thinking about about an anecdote NJ.com sportswriter Steve Politi reported in a 2013 column from the Masters.

Having spotted Arnold Palmer with his eponymous drink, Politi wrote (LINK):

"I chased Kelsey, the waitress serving Arnold Palmer yesterday, back to the bar where she was putting in another drink order.

"How did Arnie order his drink?"

"He leaned over and said, 'I'll have a Mr. Palmer.' Then he winked," Kesley said.

Here's why I thought about that:

That's former Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler '94 presenting the National Football Foundation's Jay Fiedler Top Scholar Athlete award for the top scholar athlete in his Long Island county to Matt Kind earlier this month.

Green Alert Take: I wonder if Jay whispered, "It's the Mr. Fiedler Award?" ;-)

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And while we're at it . . . just because you can use a laugh:

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EXTRA POINT
Vermont is known as the nation's leading producer of maple syrup, so it should come as no surprise it's also known for its signature maple creemees. Summer being as short as it is in these parts, creemee season is serious business in the Green Mountain State.

Believe it or not, there's even a Vermont creemee passport! (LINK)