Episode 53 begins with true crime. It delves into the sinister poisoning murders of Nurse Jane Toppan. At the turn of the 20th century this trusted figure betrayed that trust in a string of murders on and off Cape Cod. How did it all go down?
It is safe to say that Cape Cod and New York City are fairly different. How much of a culture shock was it to visit the Big Apple as a 13-year old on a field trip?
Continuing the love letter to the Outer Banks this week's Road Trip takes us to Roanoke Island, North Carolina. It was here that the first English settlement in America was tried and ultimately failed. However what truly became of the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
We go way back to what 1980's kids got to play in school as far as early educational computer games. Sure everyone remembers The Oregon Trail and Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego? There were many more classic titles that will be featured on this week's Top 5.
There is a new This Week In History and Time Capsule featuring the birth of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
Be sure to watch for my livestreams called Without A Map Friday's at 8pm on Instagram which serve as a sort of postgame show for the podcast. Find them on IGTV after they've finished.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 52 here.
Episode 53 begins with true crime. It delves into the sinister poisoning murders of Nurse Jane Toppan. At the turn of the 20th century this trusted figure betrayed that trust in a string of murders on and off Cape Cod. How did it all go down?
It is safe to say that Cape Cod and New York City are fairly different. How much of a culture shock was it to visit the Big Apple as a 13-year old on a field trip?
Continuing the love letter to the Outer Banks this week's Road Trip takes us to Roanoke Island, North Carolina. It was here that the first English settlement in America was tried and ultimately failed. However what truly became of the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
We go way back to what 1980's kids got to play in school as far as early educational computer games. Sure everyone remembers The Oregon Trail and Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego? There were many more classic titles that will be featured on this week's Top 5.
There is a new This Week In History and Time Capsule featuring the birth of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
Be sure to watch for my livestreams called Without A Map Friday's at 8pm on Instagram which serve as a sort of postgame show for the podcast. Find them on IGTV after they've finished.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 52 here.
Intro
Hello World, and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 53. This week's episode has a lot of true crime a lot of mystery, we're going to kick it off with the terrifyingly True Story of nurse jolly Jane Toppan And her rash of poisoning murders at the dawn of the 20th century. We're going to take a road trip to Roanoke Island, North Carolina, which is home of one of the original mysteries in American history. We're going to go way, way back in the day as I look back over 30 years to what it was like being a 13-year-old Cape Cod or visiting New York City for the first time, there's going to be a brand new top five looking back at the early educational PC games from way back when I was in elementary school, middle school. We've got a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule also coming up right now on episode 53 of the in my footsteps podcast. Welcome in everybody. Thank you all for tuning in. We are coming up now near the end of January already the first month of 2022 is in the latter stages. How has this year been treating you? It's definitely never boring. And this year, I've been trying new things. What I was lucky to try associated with my day job at Mind Body spine Chiropractic in Brewster is this new thing we got called Brain tap, visit brain tap.com To learn more about it because I won't be doing a good job explaining it. It comes basically like a virtual reality headset with headphones and a visor. And there are more than 400 programs that you listen to, that can help you with anything from sleep, to meditation to weight loss, etc. My boss, Dr. Mike, he had me listen to the introduction one while also sitting in a massage chair. This was just incredible. I guess I've never truly meditated until I experienced brain tap and I was put into a meditative state and saw and felt things that were just beyond what I thought. I liken it to if any of you have ever gone to a yoga class and tried the poses, but you can't do them on your own, and the instructor will come and basically help you get into the pose and then you feel how it should feel. That's basically what brain tap is it got me to actually get into meditation when I guess I didn't know how to do it right. And we're still trying to figure out the logistics as far as people coming in and signing up for sessions to try the brain tap on their own, but I wanted to share it with you because it was definitely eye-opening and interesting, and unique. Hopefully all of you listening if you're here on Cape Cod or in Massachusetts or New England, hopefully, you all have stayed warm and stayed out of the snow. We haven't gotten much snow on Cape Cod but we've had some cold days. But I guess dealing with some cold days and a little bit of snow makes you appreciate the spring and summer more. I wanted to take a quick second to thank all of you that have been listening. I wanted to thank you for making last week's podcast while release day of last week's podcast episode 52 My best single day for downloads I believe ever. And when you're going on 15 months of doing this podcast 53 episodes now here to have the best day like that makes me feel good because that means the show is continuing to grow and not just tapering off and I'm talking into this microphone to nobody. I'm hoping that trend will continue right here with episode 53. I've got some really cool fun topics like I said, mystery True Crime starting right now. This is one of the wildest Cape Cod true crime stories. It goes beyond Cape Cod throughout Massachusetts but this one you've got to hear to believe. So coming up right now on episode 53 of the in my footsteps podcast let us dive into the horrifying but true story of Jolly Jane Toppan and her rash of poisoning murders.
The Poisoning Murders of Jolly Jane Toppan
There have been many horrific events that have taken place on Cape Cod, from Tony Costa to the lady of the dunes to Edward Ray snow and beyond. One name that belongs right up there with those previously mentioned but usually overlooked is that of nurse Jane Toppan. Nickname jolly Jane. Her poisoning murderers shot New England and we're only the tip of the iceberg. This is a story of those crimes and the intriguing soul behind them in the life of Jane Toppan began in turmoil born in 1857 as honor a Kelly in Boston's North End. She was one of four sisters born to poor Irish immigrants Peter and Bridget. Bridget died of tuberculosis early and honor his childhood and shortly before Peter died from alcohol in 1863, honor her and her sisters became residents of the Boston female asylum for destitute girls on Washington Street. On a robe was adopted by Captain Abner Toppan of Lowell and his wife and who christened her Jane Toppan. She will become an indentured servant to the family. Despite being treated poorly by her adoptive mother, Jane excelled in school and participated in activities at the First Congregational Church in Lowell. She got along well with the toppings daughter Elizabeth, whom she felt she had a kinship with, as she had been mistreated by Mrs. Toppan. After turning 18 Jane had the chance to leave yet chose to stay and continue working for Elizabeth and her husband Oramel Brigham for a decade. Jane's life changed at the age of 20. When she fell in love with a man she wished to marry, he moved nearly 100 miles west to the town of Holyoke for work to save money for marriage. However, while there he met someone else and ended up marrying her instead, Jane would never be the same. She became introverted and brooding, resenting Elizabeth's happy marriage. In 1885, Jane suddenly left Elizabeth's home and entered nurses' training at Cambridge hospital. She would also train some at Mass General Hospital, where she made a great impression on her superiors, but her fellow nurses and training saw her as trouble. It was during her time at Mass General that Toppan attempted to poison a fellow nurse. To further complicate things, it was discovered that Jane had left the training before being formally discharged, and thus her diploma as a registered nurse was never awarded. This did not stop topping as she would ironically become head nurse at Cambridge hospital, only a year after failing to get her diploma by lying to management there about her credentials. Her time at Cambridge hospital saw her garner a very positive reputation as a nurse, the best doctors recommended her as she was described as highly intelligent and caring. She had a high volume of cases which masked her sinister side. During the early 1890s Nurse Jane Toppan’s poisoning murders began with those people whom top and wish to keep as cases she would sometimes administer less than lethal doses of poison to keep them from recovering. The striking dichotomy of her pleasant exterior and evil interior was apparent in the murders of a husband and wife in her care on May 26 1895, Toppan poisoned Israel P. Dunham. The family thought so highly of her that when Dunham's widow became sick two years later, they sent for Toppan to care for her. She then poisoned Mrs. Dunham as well. While part of the private duty circuit in and around Boston, Jane moved back in with her foster sister Elizabeth and her husband Oramel in 1899. Elizabeth became ill and Jane cared for her, including accompanying the family to the village of Cataumet in Born on Cape Cod for the summer. However, Elizabeth only grew worse and died in August 1899. Coincidentally, Elizabeth's housekeeper also in Jane's care died in January 1900. Thompson's positive reputation gained her a job as a nurse at the Episcopal School in Cambridge, caring for a girl with typhoid fever in the fall of 1899. There she met Myra Connors, the head matron at the school and also at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. In January 1900, Connors became sick and confined to her bed. Ironically, after Toppan left for another case, Connors began steadily improving when Toppan returned to care for her friend for free Connors rapidly declined again, and died on February 11 1900. It was at this time that several people including Connors's friend, Nellie Coombs, began to suspect Toppan of poisoning Connors to gain her position at Woods Hole. These suspicions only grew when nurse Jane did indeed succeed Connors as head of the mess house at the Marine Biological Laboratory in the summer of 1900. Much as during her time at the Cambridge hospital, Jane Toppan, was highly respected at Woods Hole during her summer at the MBL. There were no incidents to speak of. However, her undoing would come when she returned to Cataumet for the summer like the year before, topping became good friends with the Davis family from Buzzards Bay, including renting a cottage from patriarch Alden P. Davis. Davis, his wife Maddie, and his two daughters referred to nurse Jane simply as Jenny top and left Woods Hole and returned to Cambridge in 1901. On July 3 1901, Maddie Davis arrived for a visit to see if Jane wish to rent their cottage again for the summer and had dinner with her. Maddie became violently ill and died the next day July Fourth, suspicion arose but Jane proclaimed diabetes is the cause of death and her word was believed. Jane returned to the cave with the body of Mrs. Davis to grieve with the family. Matty's daughter, Genevieve became ill at her mother's funeral and nurse Jane cared for her at the request of her father. Genevieve died July 13. With top and claiming heart disease as the culprit. Alden P. Davis was devastated, and at 70 years old, his failing health which followed was not surprising. On August 8, Alden was found dead in his bed by nurse Jane, she proclaimed his death to be a mixture of grief and a stroke. Shockingly, the man who performed Mrs. Davis's funeral confessed to burying her without a death certificate, going only on nurse Jane's word again, Toppan stayed with the remaining daughter Mary and some other family members who had come to comfort her. When Mary became bedridden nurse Jane cared for her. She told the doctor who came that she was just tired and the doctor took her word and left. Mary died early on August 13 1901, making her the fourth member of the Davis family to die in Jane's care in six weeks. Finally, Jane's facade unraveled as Mary's husband suspected it was poisoning. After Mary's funeral, Jane left Cape Cod returning to Lowell and a police investigation began. The Undertaker recalled Jane telling him the Davis family wished for a lot of embalming fluid to be used, possibly to mask the poisoning agents in their bodies. With the net closing in Jane attempted suicide by poison but was revived by a doctor. She then fled to Amherst, New Hampshire and was subsequently placed under arrest October 29 1901. And arraigned at Barnstable District Court. Now in custody, the true scope of the horrific crimes Jane Toppan committed would be exposed. On November 20 1901. The four Davis family members were exhumed and it was determined that they all died from a lethal dose of morphine. She was indicted in December, Jane confessed to her lawyer Fred Bixby, that not only had she murdered the Davis family, but at least 31 people, perhaps as many as 100. With her victim, she administered morphine and Astrapain and water or whiskey or used injections, Toppan admitted that although she did not think she was insane, she did not feel any remorse for what she had done. On April 8 1902. Three experts examining her found Jane Toppan to be insane. Her trial in Barnstable began and ended on June 24, with Jane being committed to the Taunton State Hospital top and living out her remaining years feeling no remorse for the lives she had affected, dying inside the hospital's walls on August 17 1938. Despite her claims that she wasn't insane and her confession to untold cruel poisoning murderers, only Jane Toppan herself knows just how far her crimes reached. Jolly Jane story is truly terrifying. Showing that sometimes looks can be deceiving, and trust can get you killed.
Road Trip: Roanoke Island, NC
This week’s road trip is the perfect combination of a beautiful spot to Visit in a place that I really enjoyed tied up with one of the most enduring American history, mysteries, and unknowns. We've spent the last four road trips down on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, visiting the towns of duck southern shores Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Now we're going a little further south, and just west of the barrier beach that makes up much of the Outer Banks. Roanoke Island in and of itself may not be something that jumps out to you as far as a vacation spot or historical importance. But if I say The Last Colony of Roanoke that may jump out a little bit more and that's where we're going for this week's road trip to Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Roanoke Island is 90 miles south of Norfolk, Virginia. If you were traveling down south along the outer banks themselves, you would get to the town of Nags Head. And then you would head west on I 64. You head across Roanoke sound, and there you are on the actual Island. The specifics of it Roanoke Island is just under 18 square miles in size. There's a population of more than 6000 people that live on the island. There are two major towns on the island of Roanoke, one Chase and Manteo, with Manteo being the head for any government and town offices. If you're crossing on i 64. And you get onto Roanoke Island, if you go south. That's one cheese if you go north, that's Manteo. And in and of itself, the island is not that, unlike the Outer Banks, I mean, it's tucked away so it's hidden from the actual ocean, but it is an island. And I'm going to get into some of the other attractions, things to do, where to eat, where to stay on Roanoke Island. But I mentioned at the top of the podcast, that this particular spot has a deeper connection to American history due to its connection to the Lost Colony of Roanoke. For those of you that may not be familiar with this story, it goes back to 1587 when a small colony was founded on the northern tip of the island of Roanoke, it was seen as a perfect place to create the first permanent English settlement in this new continent. due to it being shielded from the ocean and any other passing ships by the barrier beach. That is the Outer Banks. They did the settlement and the first year was rough while they were there. The mayor of the colony John White, he left to go back to England to get more resources, more manpower. And when he returned three years later, he found the settlement to be empty. Everybody was gone, including John White's wife, child and grandchild, the grandchild being Virginia Dare, who I've mentioned the Virginia Dare trail the road along the Outer Banks. She was the first English child born in America, and they all were missing. The only clues that pointed to where the settlers may have gone included the word Croatoan and the letters CRO carved into trees within the colony's borders. This led John White to believe that maybe the settlers had gone to nearby Croatoan Island which is now Hatteras Island. At the time. The popular theory was that the Hatteras Native American tribe, which occupied the Croatoan island had taken in some of the colonists because they didn't have the resources and knowledge of the land and they just assimilated into that culture. There's some evidence although some of it is seen to be a hoax, like the dare stones, which are purported, carvings and stones that were made by Eleanor dare the daughter of John White, and though they are largely believed to be a hoax and forgery, there's some believe that at least one of the stones may be authentic. The remnants of this former colony are at the fort Raleigh historic site at 1401 National Park Drive in Manteo. It's 14 acres in size, and there's an earthen fort that has been excavated. To the untrained eye, the earthen fort just looks like hills in the grass. But when you get the tour, and you are told the history and what was in front of you, then it gets more meaningful. And there are still archaeological digs going on there. I feel you have to know some of the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke to better appreciate what is before you. When you look at this fort that's 440 years old, almost. It's wild. Also on the same grounds as a theater where they do an outdoor play a reenactment called the Lost Colony in 2022. It'll be the 85th year they've done it, visit the lost colony.org to get ticket information if you're in the area in the spring or summer. The outdoor theater is beautiful. It overlooks the water. It's really neat. I mean, I was there after the season had ended for the play, but I've heard it's really good. As I've said with all of these road trips to the Outer Banks check out outer banks.com To get a better overall view of Roanoke Island because there's only so much time I spend on these road trip segments for the podcast. And these websites. They're just filled with everything you could need. Geographically I found Roanoke Island to be a fun little break from the flat stretch of beach that makes up basically all of the Outer Banks, it's filled with more trees, and pine trees, and there are less of the ocean waves because it's protected from the ocean. It gave me more vibes of Cape Cod, where we can be at the beach. But then you there are inland areas you can go that are kettle ponds and pine trees in such and Roanoke Island is kind of like that. Besides fort Raleigh National Historic Site and The Last Colony play itself. You can also check out the North Carolina Aquarium. That's it 374 Airport Road and Manteo. It's open year-round two, visit nc aquariums.com. And click on Roanoke Island to get a better idea of the pictures. See what you can see there. If you go to the fort Raleigh historic site within walking distance are the beautiful Elizabethton gardens. This is also open year-round obviously, you want to go in it's warmer and everything's in bloom. But there are acres of well-manicured paths filled with gorgeous plants and trees, bushes and flowers. It's a self-guided tour. So you've got to go on your own. But it's awesome to get lost in among the natural beauty in an area that is so historically significant as well. There is no shortage of places to stay if you go and decide to spend the night on Roanoke Island. From traditional motel types like the island motel, or some of the beautiful bn B's like the white dough in. Like I said earlier, check out outer banks.com it'll do a way better job giving you an idea of what to do what to see when looking for things to eat. If you want a quick bite, you can go to a place like the hungry Pelican at 205 buddly, street in Manteo. Or if you're looking for something a little more extravagant, and taking your time having a nice sit-down dinner, you can check out stripers Bar and Grill at 1100. A South Bay Club Drive in Manteo. For, those of you that have listened to the podcast throughout its existence, you know how much I love history. So I naturally gravitated towards The Lost Colony of Roanoke, Fort Raleigh, and spent most of my time there because I just was fascinated by the story growing up. So to be there where this first English settlement existed was just kind of a powerful thing to be there where kind of everything started for the European settlements in this country. I doubt that mystery will ever really be solved. But you never know. Maybe in my lifetime, they will know what happened to those people from The Lost Colony. As I always say with these road trips, though, don't take my word for it. If you go to Roanoke Island or any of these places that I've mentioned in any of the episodes, find your own way, take your car, point it wherever it wants to go, and find your own little hidden gem that then you can tell me about but I highly recommend Roanoke Island. It's an escape from an escape getting off the outer banks for a little bit to a spot that's just as unique, just as beautiful. And when I come back in two weeks with a new road trip and episode 55 For me, it's going to be the granddaddy of them all as far as the Outer Banks go and it's the Cape Hatteras National Seashore that's going to be in two weeks and I can't wait to share all the amazing stuff I saw out there. But that wraps up this week's road trip. Hopefully, you'll go check out Roanoke Island or any of these places on the Outer Banks and let me know what you thought.
Sponsor: Wear Your Wish
It's a new year, it's a new day is it a new you it is time to head over to Wear your wishes.com and see all that is new there and clothing, accessories and so much more. As Katie marks heads toward the one-year anniversary of Wear your wish she's always adding new things and also promoting the things that have been most popular with all of our customers. There's everything from hats and sweatshirts to stones and jewelry and necklaces. Anything you could want is there. It all comes from the mind and the heart and soul of Katie marks. There's fun and unique stuff like the blow me dandelion sticker which is great for anyone's car, Zodiac scented candles, Starburst logo, sweatshirts and T-shirts with the 11:11 Wear your wish. If you're from Cape Cod, it's great to support local businesses but you don't have to be from Cape Cod to represent Wear your wish. It's so much more than clothing, jewelry accessories. It's a state of mind where your wish and its products are an example of betting on yourself and going with your heart and soul as Katie marks did. And she's always adding new products always listening to the customers. So go to Wear your wishes.com to visit Wear your wish and all of their past products. It costs nothing to look at you will find something you like something that you will be happy and proud to have and to share. So visit where your wish and from Katie marks to all of you she wishes you a very Happy New Year.
This Week In History
This week in history, we are going back 80 years ago this week to January 17th 1942. At the birth of the greatest. It was on this date that Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr, who would become known as Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky. It was in 1964 that clay officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali. All in all, you would have 61 Professional boxing fights. his professional career began October 29 1960 with a victory over Tunney Hunsicker in 1964, Clay became the heavyweight champion of the world knocking out Sonny Liston, and later that year changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He had epic legendary fights against people like Joe Frazier and George Foreman and Ken Norton. And he was just as well known for his taunting and his pre-fight press conferences that are legendary. The best thing was that in his prime Muhammad Ali backed up all of his trash talk, it wasn't just talk because he backed it up. As a result of Ali refusing to be drafted into the service. He actually missed over three years of professional fighting in his prime in his late 20s. So when you think of his final professional record, 56 wins and five losses with 37 wins by knockout. Imagine how many more fights he would have had in those three years that he wasn't allowed to fight. Even some of Ali's lesser-known fights became causes for history, like when he fought Chuck Wepner, who was just a journeyman fighter, and Wepner actually knocked Ali down. And this was what Sylvester Stallone said was the inspiration for his Rocky movie. So imagine that the Chuck Wepner fights not even in the top 10 As far as Ali fights go, Ali initially retired in 1979, but came back the following year to fight Larry Holmes, and it was around this time that he was starting to have the beginnings of the issues with Parkinson's with his voice and trembling hands, but he actually passed the physical from the Mayo Clinic to be allowed to fight for the younger generation for my generation. Muhammad Ali was known more for his battle with Parkinson's because I was too young to ever have seen him fight. Many say that those last couple of fights including the Larry Holmes ones contributed to his Parkinson's. But rather than looking at his last few decades, and how he slowly faded with health issues from Parkinson's, it's better to look back at his overall career and the undeniable impact he had on boxing, but the greater scheme of things in the whole world he was one of the most recognizable athletes in the world ever. And he came into this world as Cassius Clay, and became famous as Muhammad Ali 80 years ago this week in history. And now it's time for a brand new time capsule. I was looking back to find Muhammad Ali's first fight that would have occurred this week in history, and I was lucky his third fight a third-round TKO of Tony esperti occurred on what would be Ali's 19th birthday on January 17 1961. So that's where we're diving into. The number one song on that date was Wonderland by night by Bert camford and his orchestra. The song topped the charts for three weeks. It was written by Klaus Gunther Newman, with lyrics written by Lincoln Chase. Camphor would have his biggest hit in 1966 with his song strangers in the night which is an orchestra performed and Frank Sinatra song, but Wonderland by night was definitely his first big hit. The number one movie was Exodus. It was a historical drama about the founding of the State of Israel, and it starred Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. The film made $20 million worldwide at the box office on a budget of about $4.5 million and it currently has a 65% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The number one TV show was not actually a TV show. It was the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. This occurred on January 20 1961. It's a very famous speech Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country line, and retroactively looking back it really was the largest collection of presidents past, present, and future until the creation of the Reagan Library. As in addition to Kennedy, you had Truman, Eisenhower and future presidents Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford all there. And if you were lucky enough to maybe be at the inauguration and you wanted to videotape it for posterity, you actually could, you could get a Kodak zoom eight reflex video camera for the stunningly low price (wink) of $199.50, or about $1,854. In today's money. The biggest selling point for this camera was having a push button to zoom. So there you go. that'll wrap up another time capsule, another this week in history. But now it's time to go into a brand new top five, this is going to be the top five early school personal computer games, these are going to be fun to give you some memories coming up right now.
Top 5: 1980s Educational PC Games
These days, educational games are commonplace for children from the ABC Mouse to the beat frog to even PBS Kids as games. Growing up as a child of the 1980s though were personal computers were brand new, the Apple two, these were less common. And so this week, we're going to do a top five, where we look at some of the best early educational games for kids of my generation. So get ready for the memories to flow. Naturally. To kick off, we've got to have some honorable mentions. They include, and you'll have to look these up to remember them because I won't dive too deep into the honorables. But they include reader Rabbit, sticky bear, ABC, and Number Munchers. Look them up, you might remember them. Some of these I remember some I don't. As I always say the top fives are in no particular order. This is just random. And I will say I got a lot of inspiration for this list from an article on PC mag.com about educational PC games that every 80s kid loved. So we start with number one that all of you should remember. And that is the Oregon Trail. This game is legendary. It came out in 1982. And it's basically you create your own wagon train, you pick your friends or family, you create them and you start traveling the Oregon Trail you have to stop and hunt, you have to figure out different choices about how to get across rivers. And what happens if your oxen get away or if one of the wagon wheels breaks, you would end up getting diseases like cholera Diptheria, and you'd have members of your train would die severely like your friends would die in it. You can still find this now and download it I have it on my computer so you can play Oregon Trail even now it's such a great flashback. Number two is face maker. This one came out in 1983. And it's very primitive, in some ways, but very neat in another way where you make a face and you had different commands that would make it do things like wink and smile. And you could make your face you could save it, you can animate it, you could print it out. And back then in the mid 1980s. When this was brand new technology, it was mind-blowing to make a face it's sort of like Mr. Potato Head. And for me, as I said at the top, I played all of these on the Apple two at my elementary school, South Yarmouth elementary or later on John Simpkins Elementary, both of which are neither elementary schools anymore. If you want to play this game, go to classic reload.com. And it's right there on the screen like an emulator that you can just play it. But before you do that, we'll get into number three, which is lemonade stand. This was a very early business simulation game where you literally were kids that had your own lemonade stand. That was basically what it was. It was created in 1973 and became part of the apple II in 1979. And thus became a game that all these 1980s kids in school played. And you'd have to choose the prices of your lemonade and how much you spent on ingredients. But then you'd have things like thunderstorms that would ruin your day because you couldn't sell your lemonade. If you're a kid of today, you would look at these games and be like, Wow, these are terrible. But being people my age around my age, they were just the coolest thing ever to make your own lemonade stand. Number four is Odell Lake. This king came out in 1986. And you choose to be one of six different species of fish and essentially you just have to survive along the way you encounter other fish that might eat you or chase you. Or you encounter otters that will always eat you, but it taught elementary school kids about species of fish in a fun way. Unless you got eaten then it wasn't fun. And finally, number five on my list of the top five, early educational 1980s computer games, I couldn't forget this one. It's where in the world is Carmen Sandiego. This game came out in 1985, and was one of the most detailed adventure games that I had seen as a kid. Carmen Sandiego was a thief that you had to track around the world. And you had to know things about culture and geography because of the clues that would be left behind. It spawned a kid's game show in the early 90s. But this game, the PC game was just huge. This one and Oregon Trail are the two that I remember most fondly from my childhood. But like I said, I don't put these in any particular order. But yeah, I kind of lean towards those two. And like I said, classic reload.com has all of these games to play. And I will make sure to put a link in the description of the podcast. So all of you 80s Kids can play all of these games. But do you remember them? Do you remember playing these games as a kid? Oregon Trail, face maker lemonade stand, Odell Lake, and where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Let me know. And let me know if you click on classic reload and play them now if it really brings you back to your childhood. And I'll be back next time with another brand-new random top 5.
Sponsor: KeeKee’s Cape Cod Kitchen
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Back In the Day: A Cape Codder In New York City
I know this is going to be a really big, crazy hot take. But my favorite memories of school were always things that didn't have to do with actually learning. The school dances, the times that we would watch movies, I guess that's learning, lunch gym, recess. Those were all some of my favorite times in school because there was no pressure to learn. But the best times in school for me were always the field trips. I don't remember what our first field trip was. I'm sure in elementary school, we went somewhere locally. And you know something where you didn't really learn much, but it was just fun to be outside of school with your classmates and friends. Way back in episode 21. I talked about what it was like to spend a week staying at a former youth hostel at the Cape Cod National Seashore if you want to go check that one out. But as far as the best single-day trip I ever did, that would be in seventh grade when we went from Cape Cod to New York City. And this is a little bit of what it was like to be a 13-year-old Cape Cod or going to the Big Apple for the first time. The first thing I remember about the New York trip despite it being back in 1991. I still remember how early I had to get up to be there to catch a different bus to go to New York. It wasn't a school bus. It was a nice bus. I believe my mother and stepfather had to drop me off at like 530 in the morning to leave for New York. For those of you listening that aren't from Cape Cod, in order to get from my middle school to New York City was about four and a half hours, and leaving at 530 meant we'd get there about 10am It was so great to be on this nice commercial bus that had TVs so we could watch a movie. I don't remember the movie but think of something that was friendly for early teenagers from 1991. But it was so different than a typical school bus had had those one long vinyl seat that was usually green and the bus will be drafty. And on this bus each seat was like an easy chair. nice and padded. Oh was so worth it. Because getting up that early 430 in the morning to get ready to go to school was not something I wanted to do. I think I brought my Walkman with me. I had a few cassette tapes with me, I don't remember which ones I don't think I made mixtapes to bring. I may have had some cheeseball mixtapes, you know, you kids that are my age where you record stuff off of the radio. So you'd have songs that would either have DJs talking over the beginning, or the end of the song will be interrupted by some kind of bumper for the next show or commercial. The route to get to New York City was I95, going through Providence, and then west into Connecticut through cities like New Haven and Bridgeport. These were all places I had never seen before. I grew up on Cape Cod. So for me, by the time I was 13, going on 14, the furthest away I'd probably ever been was maybe Plymouth Plantation, probably eat a Ville railroad. Those are all within an hour. A trip like this made you feel more like an adult like you were on your own, despite there being teachers and chaperones there. And some of us definitely acted up. I mean, we weren't bad, but we were definitely looser versions of ourselves. And we would be in a classroom, that's for sure. The first thing I can remember, and I'm sure it's the first thing that most first-timers remember about New York City is just the sheer enormity of it, the huge skyscrapers that go on forever. When you're coming from Cape Cod, where the biggest city quote unquote, is Hyannis, you could fit about 500 Hyannis cities inside Manhattan. Being in New York City for basically an afternoon didn't leave you a lot of time to see a lot of what there was there, it was impossible. I do remember that we were able to go all the way up into the top of the Empire State Building and get this beautiful panoramic view all around New York City. It's 102 stories tall, and 1250 feet is the highest you can go as a person, you can go higher if you want to climb to the tip. But that's not allowed. Up until that point, like I was saying before, I hadn't traveled too far away, I think I went to the Boston Museum of Science for my eighth birthday. So however tall that building was, was basically as high in the sky as I'd ever been. So the Empire State Building blew it away. I can't remember if all of us kids in the class went to the same places or groups were split up getting to choose what you wanted to see. I remember going to the Empire State Building. I also remember taking the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, even at 13, I was in awe of the Statue of Liberty because they had done a big restoration on it a few years earlier. So I knew all about the importance of it. The big issue was like I said before, we were only there for the day. So taking the ferry out, we didn't have time to go all the way up into the crown to see everywhere. So we were on like the platform. I do remember one of the kids that had brought a camera there dropped his canister that would hold your film. I know film cameras, he dropped it off the side of the Statue of Liberty. So I don't know if that meant anything to his film, but it meant he couldn't change it and take more pictures because it would all get exposed. We got to walk around times square a little. And it was around this time that I got to see something that I guess most people they wouldn't advertise on brochures for New York City. There was a guy on a street corner. I'm sure there were more on multiple street corners. But he opened up this suitcase and inside he had a whole bunch of gold chains, quote unquote gold chains, being 13th and seeing a gold chain for a reasonable price. Of course, I was a sucker. I was a kid from Cape Cod in New York City. I don't remember how much I spent on the gold chain, but I bought one and it was not gold. The guy reminded me of him coming to America when they first come to Queens and steal all of the suitcases and then they come back at Akeem Eddie Murphy's character. And the guy opens his coat and he's got all the gold toothbrushes and hair dryers and such that was like that guy with me where he's like, Look gold, check it out. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I want a gold chain. It might have taken a few weeks for the gold paint on it to start chipping off and I was like I will, whatever it was an experience. We also were able to go inside the original twin towers at the World Trade Center. But again, with being pressed for time, we weren't able to go all the way up. I would have loved to have gone up to all 110 floors and seen the view from up there. But we were basically in the lobby. So we got up to the first concourse level, which you know, it's not much, but the Trade Center towers were so big, it was like they stretched as far as you could see into the sky. At least, I was glad that I could say that I had been inside those buildings while they still stood. But I keep coming back to the enormity of New York City and being this 13-year-old kid from Cape Cod. And getting to spend the day in New York City, it was like nothing I had ever seen. We didn't get a chance to go see any plays on Broadway. We didn't get to go to Central Park or Yankee Stadium or anything like that. But seeing what I saw was enough, it was this culture shock. And the bus ride home was very long. I don't think any of us stayed awake for much of it because it was dark. Basically, when we started to go home, even 30 years later, I can close my eyes. And remember, being at the Statue of Liberty or being inside the World Trade Center, Twin Towers, I don't remember which one but being inside it. And that's why field trips are so important for kids, you make more memories, doing things like that. I don't have many memories of taking tests, because they weren't great. And I can tell you, I was so excited because going into eighth grade, that was the time that we would go to Washington DC, my school so our class would go there. But unfortunately, the class before me ruined it. They were bad. So we didn't get to go to Washington DC the next year, we went to old Sturbridge village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. But that whole story will be for another back-in-the-day segment. As I look back at more field trips. Did any of you go to New York for a field trip? I mean, I'm sure a lot of you listening have been there as adults. I've been there as an adult but being there as a kid was far different. So what was it like for you? Give me a shout let me know if you bought any fake gold chains like I did. But I'm sure you all were smarter than that.
Closing
And that's gonna do it. For this week's episode, we have finished off episode 53 of the podcast. Thank you to everyone who has been tuning in. I love getting messages from people that are either following along with the episodes or who dive back into the back catalog because now I have a lot of back episodes. It's great. I love it. I love making these. I love finding new things to share with you. Some of them might be from my childhood, like the New York City field trip, and others may be historical things that I think you might like. And it's a whole lot of nostalgia because I'm middle-aged and I'm looking back at my childhood fondly. Tune in every Friday at 8pm. For the without a map live streams on Instagram. They're a blast, we go over a lot of what's happened on the podcast, then it kind of devolves into just randomness with family, friends, and a lot of you that tune in, be sure to visit Christopher setterlund.com. That's where you can find all six of my books. check out links to my in my footsteps podcast blog, and find links to back episodes of the podcast. Speaking of books, I'm excited to announce that I am starting the 10-year anniversary edition of my very first book, The in my footsteps, Cape Cod travel guide. I'm psyched about this because the original book that people still have, it's obsolete, it's old. Some of the places don't exist. Some of the places are private property now, so I found it to be a perfect time to remake it. Put a lot of new spots in there. So I hope you will check it out when it comes out likely at the beginning of 2023. I'm trying to get it done as fast as I can, but it's up to the publisher. I cannot control how fast things go. They are in control. But if you're ever looking for places to go on Cape Cod and checkout shoot me a message Christopher setterlund@gmail.com I don't want to say don't go buy my old book, but it's better. I've learned so much in the last 10 years since that book came out. So come to me I still have the knowledge. Be sure to visit where your wish it were your wishes.com Check out Kiki's Cape Cod kitchen, her cookbook at Amazon. You've heard the ads I just like to pitch them again. Visit me at Mind Body spine chiropractic and Brewster. Check out me Coach KO Kailyn orr the great Dr. Michael singleton himself and Heather that is the glue that holds us all together. We got big things coming there and 2022 You'll be hearing a lot more about it. If you want to support the podcast you can do that by sharing it by liking it positive reviews, word of mouth. That's the best way you can always buy me a coffee at buy me a coffee.com and find the in my footsteps podcast, but honestly, sharing the podcast and telling others about it. That's the best way. Next week is episode 54 which is going to be a shorter bonus episode, I will tell you, I am not sure what the content will be. That's not meant to be some kind of tease. It's just actually I really don't know. So it'll be something good. It'll be a surprise. Like I said, thank you all again for tuning into this podcast is a passion project that hopefully as we go along this content creation, things like podcasts, books, blogs, and videos on YouTube, they will lead to more than just being kind of a part-time gig. I keep my fingers crossed. If you keep listening though, I'm going to keep making these. But mainly focus on your mental health. Like I keep saying, everyone's going through it in some way, shape, or form. If you're sitting here listening to this saying my mental health is great. You're one of the few lucky ones. Everyone else, lean into what makes you happy, lean into those things that give you good vibes and positive memories. Meditation, if you can do it, great. If you need a brain tap, as I do it, whatever gets you there. And hopefully, some of the content I create gets you to that happy place. And remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps, create your own path and enjoy every moment you can on this journey because you just never know. Thanks again for checking out the in my footsteps podcast. I will be back next week. Till then, have a great week. Have a great weekend and I will talk to you all again soon.