...for some reason, when I see a bridge, I feel the urge to cross it... The Susquehanna river is absolutely beautiful in the early morning hours.....

I woke up next morning and suddenly realized that Bloomsburg had been my 100th town parkbenched in North America (95 in the US and 5 in Canada).&nb...

Heading back home and soon off to new adventures, I decided to squeeze in one more old coal town--Mahoney City. Well, "city" is a bit of a misnome...

After having driven right past Williamsport on my way to Canada a few months ago, I knew I needed to come back here... Williamsport is the only re...

Next stop upriver is Milton. Milton has a bit of a sprawl feel--but not in the bad sort of way, such as haphazard developments--folks here just wa...

Danville has all the good qualities of a upriver Susquehanna town--a picturesque, compact little Main Street... and beautiful park right along the ...

Had to sqeeze in one more town before I call it a day... Found a nice little college campus to parkbench at... Tired of Chinese buffets--I felt li...

I've gotta squeeze in on more two-day tour before my move to Morocco--so the question is: Do I head out west to Pittsburgh?  South to Maryland...

Hazleton was another of them coal towns--now it has become a minor warehousing hub which have kept the city from dying out.  In fact--it ...

It was getting pretty late by the time I arrived in Scranton--fortunately the city stays pretty lively late into the night. I started my tour righ...

I was really tempted to stop in Ashland on my way through and visit the coal mine museum there--but I decided I needed to keep up the pace... so I ...

Looking at the map of Pennsylvania I saw a whole string of bold-type towns up in the hills northeast of Harrisburg in an area I would've thought wo...

The little coal mining towns were fun--but I'm starting to get a hankering for "city vibe"--so I continue on northeast to the twin cities of Wilkes...

Just a few miles from Shamokin is my next stop--Mount Carmel... not quite the cozy charm of Shamokin, but interesting all the same.  One thing...

Few Americans know that about a hundred years ago we occupied the Dominican Republic (something that Dominicans are painfully aware of).  Even...

After all the excitement and fun of Camden, Trenton and Atlantic City, it was actually nice to wander around a quiet, generic Pennsylvani...

Atlantic City is a city of irony--only one block away from the colossal, luxuriously decorated casinos is a rather decrepit Main Street that looks ...

After a couple of hours in Philadelphia, Camden and Trenton, I decided to finish my New Jersey parkbenching tour once and for all.  And I new ...

As Camden usually is at the top of the list of "The Most Dangerous Cities in America", it's a must do for my parkbenching tour.   Let's s...

I'd visited Trenton once before--on my way to South America in 05 I think it was... I remember walked down a "skid row" kind of street and sudden...

In Winchester you can visit Stonewall Jackson's old office and then walk a few blocks and visit George Washington's old office (or if you're tall e...

Woodstock has symbolical value for me--so I feel that I have to get back there since I'm sort of "in the area" See back in the summer of 2003,&nbs...

Don't want to offend any of you West Virginia travel buddies--but West Virginia towns do feel a bit scruffy after traveling in Virginia... But scru...

In Winchester you can visit Stonewall Jackson's old office and then walk a few blocks and visit George Washington's old office (or if you're tall e...

Harper's Ferry is a great spot for both history and nature enthusiasts--the little town is rich in historical events and symbolism (mainly John Bro...

For the next leg of my tour, I've decided to visit and revisit a couple of towns in the Maryland/Virginia/West Virginia region--a region I'll call ...

I had to get back and parkbench in Leesburg--have some really fond memories of the town.  Last year, after playing at an Open Mike in Rockvill...

Soon after I headed east from Leesburg, I started seeing the ominous symptoms of suburban sprawl.... First it was the enormous mansions dotting the...

Charles Town (not to be confused with "Charleston") is mainly known for it's casino and racetrack--an effort to bring out-of-state cash into the ar...

As I neared this little isolated town nestled in the hills of northwest Pennsylvania, I started seeing these big signs "Zippo Museum Ahead".  ...

Olean is a town in southwest New York State--a good ways from any big cities... so I guess it's a hub of sorts for the hilly rural area. Even thou...

Can you believe it?  I actually had culture shock after being in Canada for two days! After visiting 5 Canadian cities without seeing the lea...

After a fascinating evening in Toronto, I looked at the map for a couple of other Canadian towns to parkbench at... "Cambridge" has a sophisticated...

Hamilton will be my last stop in Canada.  It's a fairly large industrial kind of city--pretty blue collar I'd say... Main Street doesn't have ...

So here I am, on my first parkbenching expedition to Canada... It's been almost 5 years since I set foot on this Foreign Nation.  Since then ...

Question: What's something Canada has that the United States doesn't have? Answer: A fantastic view of Niagara Falls! Not only that, but Canada...

Irked at five dollars a gallon for gas and $3.50 for a package of crackers, I'm determined not to spend any more money that I absolutely have to in...

Been here to The Falls twice before--once as a teenager and once with my wife back in 2003.  This time it'll be different.  This time I...

After my experiences in Corning and Rochester, I was feeling pretty pumped.  It was getting a bit late, but I was still in the mood for "...

Rochester is a little bit of a detour, but I figure it's a must see since I'm already in the area... As I near the city, though, only one thing is...

When I strained my back at my day job last week I was told I would be unable to work for a while.  Since medication, doctor's visits and physi...

Remember Elizabeth?  It's where I ended up last September on my little "hike" from downtown Newark to the airport--almost missing my flight.&n...

Having recently visited its sister cities of Allentown and Bethlehem, I knew that Easton, PA was feeling left out.  So I knew I had to swing b...

My younger brother was coming for a visit for a couple of days--so I went to the airport in New York to pick him up.  But rather than go strai...

After our tour of Bridgeport, second stop in White Plains and a quick stop at a D-rated Chinese buffet somewhere in the Northeast New Jersey sprawl...

After sleeping in the car a few hours, we drove a bit further to the city of Bridgeport.   My brother Andrew, who lives in Oregon, was im...

Last time I explored Allentown, Pennsylvania was February 2005 on my way to the airport to go to China.  It was freezing cold--the sidewalks w...

The mammoth, rusty remains of the steelworks plant is a grim reminder that things aren't what they used to be here in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania...and...

Mercersburg has no Walmart, big supermarket--and hardly any fast food joints--but it does have a charming little Main Street, an Old School movie t...

2007 was a good year.  After 6 years of silence--playing music only to myself--I finally decided it was time to reconnect with the world again...