The Road To Alice's Restaurant -- Day 3, Discovering Tony's Roots

We woke up to soft sunlight and a beautiful dry morning in Mansfield, PA -- which if you look at a map, is just below the New York border and about half way across the state. It's very quaint small college town -- and our hotel is on a bluff overlooking the town as you can see. It's in the rolling hill country of PA, on what is known locally as the "Norther Tier." The primary reason for this trip is to attend the wedding of Tony's half cousin whom we've never met. Indeed we spent the day meeting relatives of Tony's that he's never met, exploring the area, and, as is customary for family reunions, learning lots of family secrets -- err, stories.

Now, you may need a score card for this in order to keep track, so go get a pencil. Lord knows it helped me. Tony's paternal grandfather and grandmother were both raised in the Corning, NY area (just over the border from Mansfield, PA). William Park Gilkinson II and Helen Barber were married and lived in Bath, NY. They had two kids, Jack and Judy. Jack is Tony's father. When Helen was pregnant with Judy, they divorced and William married another woman. They had four children, including one named William Park Gilkinson III or Bill. Helen never spoke about her husband, or his second family -- and though they lived 20 miles or so apart, they never met. When Jack was 16 and Judy 14, Helen moved the family to Tampa, FL where they remained, and where both live today. William III (Bill) married Mary and remained in the Corning area. OK, do we have everybody straight?

Tony, in 1990, began searching for his family history and "discovered" Bill and his wife Mary and they corresponded for a number of years, though they never met. About three years ago, Tony told his Aunt Judy about Bill up in Corning, and they started corresponding, and Judy flew up to meet about two years ago. Bill's oldest daughter is getting married, and it's that wedding that we'll be attending tomorrow (in kilts) that brought us to this part of the country and on this trip. Today was the first time Tony and Bill have met.

We hit the road about 10am and headed up to Beaver Dams, NY which is outside of Corning, and about 30 miles north of Mansfield. It was a gorgeous morning for a ride, the air nice and cool, the sun out, and no traffic on US-15. We went through a number of charming small towns -- including Lawrenceville, right on the NY border, where the entire town was having a town-wide garage sale. The main (and really the only) street through town was lined with every single house having a community garage sale for about a mile. I suppose it beats having a dump -- since the neighbors from other towns come to buy your junk, or your current neighbors and you just swap junk...but I digress.

We motored on up to Corning and into Beaver Dams and roared into Bill and Mary's driveway where Judy was waiting to greet us. At last Tony and Bill met, and while I was busy taking my helmet off I heard Bill speak, and if I had not seen him, would have sworn it would have been Tony's father Jack. They don't look alike, except for the Gilkinson freckles, and hairline -- but to me, he sounded exactly like Jack. We trooped back to the back porch for ice tea and numerous posed pictures like this: From left to right, you have moi, Tony's aunt Judy, Tony, Tony's uncle Bill, Tony's Great Uncle (Tony's grandfather's brother) Dick, and Tony's aunt Mary (Bills wife). Tony is the tallest in the family, and Dick remarked when he met Tony for the first time -- "well, you're a big one aren't 'ya?"

We spent the afternoon swapping stories and family lineage and history and secrets -- which we will spare all of you at this time. For lunch, we rode and drove down to a little local biker hangout that Bill likes for burgers and a fish fry, then it was off down the road to Bath, NY to explore the town where Jack and Judy grew up. Bath is about 20 miles NW of Corning, and we took the back roads there and enjoyed the "Southern Tier" of NY - what the locals call the area. In Bath we stopped by the courthouse which was built in 1870, and where Tony's grandmother worked as a secretary for the County Clerk. Then it was up the road to the two houses that remain of the three they lived in before moving to Tampa. Tony's Dad had asked him to call from the house at 35 Robie St., which is where he remembers most of his early days. Tony took a moment to phone his Dad while standing in front of his father's old home, and he and his Dad spent some time talking about the house and the large tree next to it, while Bill and Judy and I listened in. I always enjoy these kinds of things -- the old "physical" item that brings the past to life -- and I know how Tony felt finally seeing the places his Dad spoke of growing up, and hearing his aunt Judy talk about their childhood in upstate NY.

We said our goodbyes at the gas station in Bath, and while Tony and I filled up, Judy and Bill headed back to Bill's house and Tony and I headed south back down to Mansfield where the wedding will be on Saturday. The ride back to Mansfield was almost perfect -- the temperature just right, the air clean and smelling of hay and fresh mown grass and trees, and an absolutely idyllic countryside of farms, red barns, and quiet country roads. Indeed we went past Mansfield and rode a loop around the PA countryside, it was so nice out. What more could a motorcycle rider ask for?

We had dinner in the local college town pizza joint -- and truth be told, it was one of the BEST pizzas we'd ever had. We followed that up with sundae's at the ice cream parlor next door to it, and then rode the few blocks back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we have the wedding, and we will be riding the short mile and a half in our kilts. Judy has promised to be there with camera in hand to record it for posterity. (Or record our posteriors for posterity I suppose, as you know what one wears under a kilt...)

From the Quality Inn in Mansfield, PA...

Gary and Tony