Day 1

And so begins our summer 2023 road trip. Gary and I got up early this morning and we were on the road by 5 o’clock. It’s just the two of us this time. Kati stayed home to take care of things that need to be done for us to move, things that need to be done to settle her dad‘s estate, and to take a professional development class for work. We started the trip listening to Billy Joel—a tribute to dad. He often started off our vacations when I was a kid by playing Billy’s Greatest Hits. Volumes I and II take me back to sitting in the backseat of he car, excitement and anticipation bubbling in my stomach. Traveling was, and still is, my favorite activity—the time of year I am genuinely happy. The songs on Volume III remind me Dad and Mattituck. It’s been three years since Dad died and two since Mom sold the house, and still I found myself crying as I listened to a couple of the songs. The memories hit hard and fast and I wasn’t expecting the lyrics to jerk me back in time so forcefully.

G3 must not have slept much last night. He slept all through Pennsylvania, waking up only for breakfast. He also slept through much of Ohio. He did, however, become semi-alert when I put Melissa Ferrick on, and then only to vent about how awful her music is. He complained about her voice, he complained about her lyrics, and he complained about her guitar skills. I think he just hate lesbian musicians because he also always complains about the Indigo Girls. Or maybe it’s just women that don’t appeal to him because he wasn’t happy with Mary Chapin Carpenter either. Despite his displeasure with my choices, he opted to play my Korean music which completely confused me because he couldn’t possibly understand any of the words. But apparently not as understanding male singers is better than suffering through anything sung by a woman.

I didn’t want to spend the entire day driving without at least one productive stop so I took G3 to Marion, Ohio to pay a visit to Warren G. Harding—or rather Harding’s house. Years ago, Kati worked with a woman who was Harding’s grand niece. Since she is a bit of a history buff, she was always proud of that connection to a president. We arrived early for the tour so G3 and I played horseshoes—where Harding once upon a time played—and he beat me every game. He even managed to get a ringer.

When he was 25, Harding married Florence. She was five years older than he was, which was unusual for the late 1800s. Florence was also divorced. Her first husband was an alcoholic and abandoned her and their son. Florence’s father disowned her after her first marriage—he was a bit of a control freak and balked at his daughter not taking orders from him. He did take her back in when her first husband absconded, but he assumed custody of Florence’s son. When Florence married Harding, he disowned her again and refused to relinquish custody of her kid. Her son grew up to be an alcoholic, like his dad, and died young from pneumonia.

Harding supported equality for women. Not only did he vote, as a senator, in favor of women’s suffrage, when he went into politics he let his wife take over the business of running his newspaper. He was the first man elected president after the passage of the 19th Amendment. Even though evidence suggests that women voted in line with their husbands, the fact that he was pro women’s rights probably made him appealing to women voters. (Although history also has a few voices claiming that women voted for him because he was attractive. Personally, I don’t see it. But what do I know.)

Harding ran his 1920 campaign from his front porch. Instead of touring the country, he gave speeches at his house. People would take the train to Marion, walk two miles in the heat, listen to Harding speak for an hour, and then turn around and walk back to the train station. Harding was a gifted orator and he could be quite charismatic, appealing to men and women. He won both the popular vote and the electoral vote on his 55th birthday. His inaugural speech was the first to reach thousands with a microphone. He dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington. Before him, no other president insisted on a budget. When he did, he helped cut taxes by 25% by eliminating wasteful spending.

In 1923, Harding became the first US president to visit Alaska and Canada. On that tour he fell sick. His doctor originally thought it was food poisoning. It wasn’t. Though he was unaware of it, he was suffering from Congenial Heart failure—which is why he slept sitting up the last six months of his life. He took to bed at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and died a few days later from a heart attack. According to legend, the clock in the living room of his house is haunted. It stopped at precisely the same time he died—thousands of miles away.

While he was on his goodwill tour, his Vice President, Coolidge, was vacationing at his Vermont home. Coolidge’s dad was a local judge. When word reached Coolidge that Harding was dead, his farther swore him in as President. (We learned that 4 years ago when we were visiting Coolidge’s house.)

Sadly, for years Harding’s legacy was marred by scandals. In one scandal, he was allegedly aware of money being embezzled from the Veterans. According to the tour guide, he was cleared of involvement in that scandal, and others, once his papers were discovered years later.

It was a long day of driving and since I didn’t sleep much last night—excitement to get on the road kept me up—I need to go to bed.