Last night I slept under the stars. After walking an hour, I hunkered down between the tracks and the Schuylkill River. A passing train woke me, I considered running for it but rolled over instead. Laying there, between sleep and consciousness I realized I made a mistake going west. If I caught a westbound to Harrisburg, I would be closer to Baltimore but I would have to backtrack to Delaware.
Doubling back, I headed back towards Royersford. As I rounded the corner before the long straightaway, an eastbound rumbled behind me. I did the dangerous thing, especially someone my age, I jumped the moving freight and landed atop an empty flatcar. Sitting back, I enjoyed the ride, waving my cardboard sign at each crossing.
Afternoon: I contemplated spending another afternoon in Philadelphia but decided against the idea and instead worked my way south, catching a southbound freight around Chester. I kicked back and rode into Delaware, enjoying the pleasant weather from another flatcar. I decided to bypass Wilmington, hunkering down till the outskirts of Newark.
As the train slowed approaching my destination, I jumped from the flatbed and almost did a standup before falling lightly to my knees. Do you think John McCain is this limber? After brushing off my pants, I hoofed it into the historical little city. A small town until World War II, it is now a college town of about thirty-thousand residents. Wasting no time, I made my way to Deer Park Tavern. I ponied to the bar and ordered a burger and a blond and took a moment to enjoy the surroundings. George Washington and Edgar Allen Poe are purported to have stayed here. Another legend claims that Poe haunts the upstairs.
Before too long, I stumped with a few poly-sci summer students from nearby University of Delaware. The conversation quickly turned to Russia and Georgia, and the breakout of hostilities. I commented that the Russians were drawing their line in the sand, concerned about the flirtations of T’bilisi with NATO and the west. That breakaway territories Abkhazia and South Ossetia are supported by Russia provide a convenient excuse for Moscow to influence international policy within the old Soviet boarders.
We closed the bar, I bid farewell to my new friends, found a reasonable motel in town, showered and turned in.
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