Albany New York via Mystic Seaport, Conn. 3 years ago.

[Bubba]

Another three day weekend being put to good use.
For some reason Sal wants to go to the museum in Albany New York, but who am I to turn down a chance for a ride.
Would be nice if it was a little cooler. Supposed to go into the upper eighties.
Well we got our usual early start and headed up the New Jersey Turnpike. Traffic wasn't too bad. We decided to visit Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and then head up to Albany.
We left the N.J. Pike at exit 11 and headed up the Garden State Parkway for Spring Valley, Rt. 287 and the Tappen Zee Bridge at Nyack. A bit of a round about way to get there, but if you read about my ride to Laconia in New Hampshire, and the pure hell of the Cross-Bronx Expwy, you will know why we took this route. The ride is longer but much more pleasant with less traffic, plus the scenery is nicer and a hell of a lot safer.
After crossing the Tappen Zee, we headed along Rt. 287 towards Rt. 95. Once getting on Rt. 95, we ran straight north to New London, Conn.
Upon arriving in New London we headed for Old Mystic Seaport.
A word to the wise. If you are planning to stay over night, make rervations in advance. For those who know nothing about Mystic, a brief tour.
New England maritime history is alive and well at the Mystic Seaport Museum (Route 27 off exit 90 of I-95). This replica of a 19th century whaling/shipbuilding community is filled with educational and entertaining activities.
In June and September, the Seaport is open from 9a.m. to 5p.m. For July and August, the hours are 9a.m. to 7p.m.
The marine theme takes a more contemporary turn at the Mystic Marine life Aquarium (55 Coogan Blvd., adjacent to Olde Mystic Village). The aquarium is home to about 6,000 marine species.
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the aquarium's hours are 9a.m. to 7p.m. daily.
After taking the tour and seeing the Mystic Seaport Museum, we decided to find some place to stay for the night. Everything was taken, as there was a regatta that weekend. This is why you should make reservations in advance. We decided to head for Hartford to find a place to stay, as this was on our route to Albany.
We ran up Rt. 95 and headed west on Rt. 2. Once in Hartford accommodations were many and we settled down for the night.
Next morning, Sunday, we are heading for RT. 91 and Massachusetts. After crossing the border in Mass., we cought Rt. 90 west towards New York. We were in for a long ride, so we settled into one of those steady drones of a ride, towards Albany.
After a few hours, we spotted the sign for the Albany exit. As I slowed and starting exiting the highway, I felt that horrible vibrating warble coming out of my front forks. Wouldn't you know it, after running at 60 to 70 mph for a couple of hours, my front tire went flat at the exit.
We pulled into a gas station just outside of the exit and tried to put air into the tire, but it slowly started leaking out at the valve stem. So here we are, on the outskirts of Albany with a bike with a flat tire and its a Sunday. Of course the gas station couldn't or wouldn't fix the flat, so we decided to get a motel room at the place next door. At least that was
convenient.
For the life of me I don't know why we did what we did next, which was nothing. We stayed in the motel watching TV all day, instead of getting a taxi and going to see the museum that Sal wanted to go to in the first place.
So there we sat all day. What a bore. I made a few phone calls to find a close motorcycle dealership that might be open. I finally found one that was a few miles away, but of course they were closed. So we made plans to head there in the morning.
Monday morning rolled around, and the elves hadn't snuck in during the night and fixed my tire.It was just as flat as it was the night before. Of course it was only flat on the bottom, but that didn't help. I called the Suzuki dealer to let him know our problem and they said to bring it in.
As we were getting the bikes ready to head for the dealership, Sal decided he was going to drop his bike, because he never saw a windshield break before. Bummer #2. Didn't bounce at all.
After a few expletives from Sal, we removed what was left of his windshield and pushed my bike next door to the gas station. I filled the tire with as much air as it would hold safely and started to the Suzuki dealership about 5 miles down Rt. 9 south.
I don't remember the name of the Suzuki dealership, but a nicer bunch of guys you wouldn't want to meet. They took the bike right in and pulled the tire. Turned out that the place where I had bought the tire had put a cheap Japanese tube in instead of a good American tube.
The tube had gotten a small tear in it and the air was leaking from the valve stem opening.
After all was put back together, me with a good American tube and Sal without a windshield, we were on our way home. The dealer didn't have a windshield for Sals bike. Of course this didn't make Sal a very happy camper, because if you're not used to riding without a windshield, the wind tends to whip your helmet around a bit. We headed for RT. 87 south and home.
After working our way through the normal Monday morning traffic on Rt. 87, we crossed over to New Jersey just south of Suffern NY. We headed south on Rt. 17 to meet up with the Garden State Pkw again. We caught the Pkw at Paramus. Traffic was hell. We headed south until we picked up the New Jersey Turnpike at exit 11 and headed home.
Another good ride. Even the bad ones are good. I know this one left a few things to be desired though.

[MrGompers]

Nice story. I also take the Tappan Zee anytime I plan on driving thru NYC.
Being stuck in Mystic without a hotel room is a bummer. If it happens again you can prolly find a room at one of the indian casinos nearby. If you don't know how to get there ask any of the locals they'll know.
Even if you don't gamble the casinos can be fun.

I agree with your assesment of the cross bronx expressway. The cross county expressway isn't any better either. Even in a cage they blow.