Joe Spain and David Mace will lead the Happy Wanderers in their final outing of the spring/summer season on Wednesday, June 23, the first trip to Manhattan on Metro North since the fall of 2019! The group will be leaving the Darien station on the 8:33 AM express to Grand Central (8:37 AM out of Noroton Heights); masks are required on Metro North. You should buy your tickets for the train at the machines on the Darien or Noroton train platforms. A Metro Card will be needed for the Tram to Roosevelt Island. If you don’t have a Card, you can buy your train ticket from the machines with one Metro Card ride included. The group will congregate at the information booth on the main floor upon arrival in Grand Central. The walking destination is the 59th St. Tram to Roosevelt Island, and then to the Four Freedoms Roosevelt Park at the south end of the Island. From there, the group will take the East River ferry to 34th Street, and have lunch. We then will walk back to Grand Central, with a short stop at the Morgan Library, and an afternoon train back to Darien. Please get in touch with Joe (203-554-4201) or David (203-505-9693) if you would like to join this excursion.
Category: Wanderers (Page 3 of 5)
David Mace and Joe Spain
The next wandering of the DMA will be on Tuesday, May 25 to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Jamaica Bay is a wildlife refuge managed by the National Parks Service as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. It is located in Queens just a little over an hour’s drive from Darien. Our group will leave from the DCA parking lot at 8:30 am. We will car pool to the site and then enjoy the beautiful scenery and birdlife. Bring your binoculars and your camera. Afterward we will have lunch. If you are planning to join us please let Joe Spain or David Mace know in advance. We look forward to this spectacular day.
Groton Connecticut is an old New England town settled in the 1640s between the Thames and the Mystic Rivers. Early on it became a shipbuilding town. During WW1 Groton became a submarine base and in 1954 the first nuclear powered submarine, the Nautilus, was launched from Groton. In the waning days of the American Revolution the turncoat Benedict Arnold overwhelmed a cadre of militia on the heights of Groton overlooking the Thames. Arnold sacked the town as well as setting New London on fire across the river. This is the only major battle fought during the Revolution in Connecticut. We will meet in the parking lot of the DCA at 8:30 am. Those who wish to car pool may do so. Others may wish to drive alone. It is a 1 hour and 45 minute drive to Groton. We will pick a place for lunch either in Groton or in another town on our return. Please join us for an exciting day in a lovely part of Connecticut. Let Joe Spain or David Mace know of your interest in joining us.
Joe Spain, David Mace
Some great pictures: Wandering in Groton
Tues March 23 to Derby. Ct. It is a 40 minute drive. We meet at the Derby library, 313 Elizabeth St, at 10 am. The photo is the Naugatuck and Housatonic rivers coming together.
Contact David Mace or Joe Spain
BB3GGJ Minutemen leaving for the Battle of Concord Massachusetts 1775
Our Westport–Ridgefield Wandering will take place on this coming Tuesday, October 27. Our walking focus will be the Danbury Raid, a military incursion of the British that took place in April 1777, during the Revolutionary War.
We will drive to Westport and meet there at 9:30 AM on the 27th at the main Compo Beach Parking Lot. The shortest and most direct route is to go on I-95N toward New Haven and get off at Exit 17. There go straight at the end of the exit ramp and through the railroad station neighborhood, over the old girder bridge, and then to South Compo Road and onto Compo Beach Road. When I made a trial run the other day, it took about 14 minutes after I entered at Exit 11.
The street address of the entrance to Compo Beach Park is 80 Compo Beach Road. There turn south into the park, past the gate house, which is closed for the season, and continue to the south end of the parking lot, adjacent to two large decorative black metal canons on the south end of the beach. There we will meet our guide, Edward Hynes, and will park and assemble for the beginning of our Wandering. There are public restrooms in the park.
After about an hour and a half walk in Westport, we will end up back at the beach parking lot, from which we will drive north to Ridgefield, following, at least in part, the general route that the invaders followed on their way toward Danbury. The second part of our tour will be centered in Ridgefield and will focus on the actions taken by the Connecticut based militias to attack, harass and deter the British forces as they marched north to their objective: the Continentals’ supply depots in Danbury. After walking through some of the parks and locations of the Battle of Ridgefield, we will have access to some picnic tables there to eat the sandwiches you need to bring. There are no restaurants nearby. You may also choose to return to Darien if you prefer. Below is a list of our wanderers. If you want to pair with somebody to drive please make your own arrangements.
Finally, please bring a mask, which is required in the parks. I am assuming we can take off the mask when we do our walking.
If you have questions, you can reach me on my cell phone at 203-554-4201. Below is the list of wanderers.
Looking forward to seeing you all on Tuesday. Happy Wandering!
Your hosts: David Mace & Joe Spain
Mark Shakley and I just returned from a visit to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge This is a spectacular venue in Queens (900 acres) looking toward the Rockaways and back to the Verrazano Bridge. We walked the 1.7 mile loop around West Pond. Along the way we met a number of birders with cameras and telescopes. We saw a multitude of bird species including several Osprey platforms built by the National Parks Service. Jamaica Bay is part of the Gateway Recreation Area under the National Parks. We will have a Wandering to Jamaica Bay on Thursday November 5. It is a one hour drive from Darien. We will take sandwiches and eat on picnic tables at the Visitors Center. Mark your calendar for November 5. If you are interested please email David Mace.
https://npplan.com/parks-by-st
Woodlawn Cemetery Wandering, Tuesday October 6
Our first 2020 wandering is now set for Tuesday, October 6 at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. This National Historic Landmark founded in 1863 is the resting place for many recognizable names including Fiorello LaGuardia, Herman Meliville, Lionel Hampton, Robert Moses and scores more. We will travel by car to Woodlawn (approximately a 45 minute drive). You may drive alone or with a group depending on your feelings about pandemic risk. We will meet at the cemetery at 9:45 am and then begin a 2 hour tour with a guide to see the beauty of the 400 acre cemetery itself as well as the grave markers and mausoleums of many of its famous inhabitants. You may bring your own lunch since the cemetery has picnic tables which we are welcome to use. Or you may return home after our walk. The cost per person is $10 which we can pay upon arrival. We are limiting the group to 10 members, so first come first served. If you would like to join us please email David Mace. Once our group is formed we will talk about driving arrangements and a specific destination which can easily be found on google maps. It should be a grand day.
On Dec 12 we will go into Manhattan to see the Christmas decor. We’ll walk down to Herald Sq, then up as far as 59th St to see the storefronts, the Rock Center tree and perhaps a stop at St Patrick’s.
Your guides: David Mace & Joe Spain
On November 14 (Thurs) we will go to Flushing Queens. We will take the 8:34 train from Darien, 8:37 from Noroton Heights and regroup at the information booth in GCT. We will walk the sites of the 1939 and 1964 Worlds Fairs. We will tour the area of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Finally, we will visit the Queens Museum which has an extraordinary diorama of New York City. After lunch we will return.
Your guides: David Mace and Joe Spain
We will be walking on October 17 from the Battery in lower Manhattan up the promenade on the Hudson River to 34th Street. Along the way we will explore the new Hudson River Park and the many new piers that have been built on the route. Of course we will stop for lunch. On a nice October day this will be a spectacular walk.
The Wanderers will kick off their season on Tuesday the 17th of September with a walk through Hudson Yards. That morning, we shall take the 7:55 train from the Darien Station (7:58 from Noroton Heights). Please remember to purchase your train tickets from the train station machines. Also, please have your MetroCard for use on the Subway. MetroCards can be purchased from the same machines on the train platforms.
When our train arrives at Grand Central, we shall gather at the Upper Level Information Booth to start our walk to the Subway and to Hudson Yards, the new development on the West side of Mid-Town Manhattan.
Nestled there among several brand new sky-scrapers are two special structures, the Vessel and the Shed, which we shall thoroughly explore. The day’s walk will proceed downtown along a portion of the High-Line to the Chelsea Markets, with lunch at a lower west side eatery, followed by a stroll to the Subway, and then home.
Your guides: David Mace & Joe Spain
June 21 Wandering to the Rockaways
The Happy Wanderers will embark on their final Wandering of the Spring season on Tuesday June 21 to Rockaway, Queens.We will depart on the train to Grand Central that leaves the Darien station at 7:55 AM (7:58 AM from Noroton Heights) on the 18th. We then will gather at the Upper Level Information Booth at GCT, and from there take the Subway to Wall Street and to its East River Ferry Pier to board the the ferry for Rockaway. 
We plan to see some historic sites in the Rockaways, as well as some new developments, including the restored boardwalk that was damaged by Storm Sandy. Then we shall have a good lunch and return via ferry back to Wall Street, Grand Central and home.