In My Footsteps: A Gen-X Nostalgia Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Episode 83 digs deep, both into the past and into the ground. It begins with the strange but true story of buried treasure on Cape Cod.  Who was Mabel Simpkins-Agassiz , and what was the odd object she had buried on her property?  And how is that object still around today? Next, is a Road Trip exploring one of the beautiful towns of Cape Cod.  Dennis, Massachusetts is dead center...

Send us Fan Mail It's that time of year again, Back to School time.  Episode 82 of the podcast is the monthly bonus episode.  This month we look at going back to school, or more appropriately, going to school for the first time. From school shopping, riding the bus, lunch, recess, field day, field trips, and other overall initial memories of education it will be a fun trip down memory lane, o...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 81 begins with a look back three years to the day Cape Cod was hit with several tornadoes .  Although only minimal in intensity these storms left their mark on the peninsula.  I will tell the story of how the most intense of the three just happened to travel directly over where I worked at the time as well. This week's Road Trip heads to the popular college city of Ne...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 80 begins with a trip back to the golden age of Cape Cod restaurants.  This week it's a look at a beloved establishment run by a beloved family.  Get ready to eat heartily and smile widely as we reminisce about the Sword and Shield of Harwich Port. It is part city and part wide open spaces.  This week's Road Trip takes us to one of only six capital cities New Eng...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 79 kicks off with a look back at the potentially final screening of the Lady of the Dunes documentary that debuted in April.  The film, produced by Frank Durant, has been a popular talking point on the podcast including a long-form interview with Frank in Episode 62.  This segment will look back at the final screening, look forward to the companion book that will be releas...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 78 is the special monthly bonus show. We all may come from different places and different backgrounds, but one way we're all similar is the fact that we all work for a living .  The jobs might be different, they might pay different, and have different responsibilities, but they're all part of being part of the workforce. It all had to start somewhere though. We a...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 77 kicks off with some true crime . Clarence Parker was a loving husband, doting father, and respected member of the Falmouth, Massachusetts community. So why was he killed in cold-blood on his front lawn, and why has the case never been solved? It is the smallest state capital in America, population-wise.  However Montpelier, Vermont is also one of the most beautiful and...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 76 begins with the fourth Dedication to the Craft photography segment.  Sunset and night photography is fun and can create some beautiful everlasting images.  However something else that enjoys being out after dark is the coyote .  This segment details some examples of when night photography meets a coyote, or several. This week's Road Trip takes us to the island esca...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 75 begins by looking back at what could have been the worst author event ever .  What follows is a series of unfortunate events.  However it will be left up to the listener as to whether this was truly a bad event, or just a funny story being shared on this week's episode. It might be the smallest town by sheer land size to be featured on the podcast but Nahant, Massa...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 74 is the monthly bonus show. This is all about a subject I'd wanted to talk about for a while but needed to find a good spot in the podcast itinerary. Being diagnosed as suffering from migraine headaches from the age of 2 I thought it would be good to discuss my dealings with the affliction.  I am not doctor so I'll be sharing a lot of common medical research. ...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 73 of the podcast kicks off with the horrifying true story of the scariest place I have ever visited, Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts.  For a century patients were kept there, through various iterations of the property.  Though it was used for the backdrop of a few movies the reality of this long standing hospital is stranger than fiction. There are a fe...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 72 is loaded with flashbacks and wild nights. It begins with a trip back to the Golden Age of Cape Cod nightlife.  Guido Murphy's of Hyannis was one of the most popular, and most infamous, night spots ever on the Cape.  How did it start?  How did it get its reputation?  And what became of it? This week's Road Trip takes us to the seaside, riverside, town of Groto...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 71 begins by taking a trip back 50 years ago to the week and Cape Cod's very own Woodstock concert .  Held in Provincetown in 1972 it had big aspirations and noble intentions.  Who organized it?  Who played it?  What is its legacy? Head up north to the middle of New Hampshire and a Road Trip to the charming little town of New London .  Wide open spaces, mountains, aut...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 70 is the monthly bonus episode of the podcast. For this show we take a deep dive Back In the Day to when my desire to be a writer took a detour.  After getting my first taste of Saturday Night Live in the early 1990's I decided I wanted to create my own characters and skits.  At first it was radio shows with my Sony tape recorder, but after saving up money for months...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 69 begins with a Cape Cod true crime tale.  In 1899 a shocking murder rocked the Cape and specifically the town of Yarmouth.  Young James Whittemore had been killed by his supposed friend Edwin Ray Snow .  Why did Snow murder his friend?  What happened after Snow was caught?  It's all covered here. Heeeere's Johnny!  For 30 years Johnny Carson was the undisputed...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 68 falls the day before Friday the 13th and this spooky day is intertwined throughout the show. It begins with a somewhat creepy tale, though more sad and unfortunate.  The West Barnstable Brick Company was a giant of Cape Cod business for more than half a century.  Today all that remains are the bricks themselves which are collector's items, an overgrown area hiding...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 67 kicks off with the story behind what some consider to be the most dangerous stretch of road in Massachusetts.  This stretch of Cape Cod's Route 6, between Dennis and Orleans, is ominously referred to as ' Suicide Alley .'  Does it deserve this nickname? It's a double-dip Road Trip as we venture to the Green Mountain State of Vermont and the neighbori...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 66 is the monthly bonus show. This is an episode I have wanted to do.  Although this show will be dedicated to and focus on my Nana I hope that the positive memories she gave me will allow those listening to remember their own family and friends and their own positive memories.  My Nana was a truly special lady and deserves an episode all her own. Remember there is no new...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 65 begins with the behind the scenes story of the premiere of the Lady of the Dunes documentary produced by Frank Durant .  From who was there at the Provincetown Theater, plans for the film going forward, my involvement, and my night overall, and more it is all here.  To listen to the exclusive interview with Frank leading up to the premiere check out Episode 62. We head...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 64 begins with the story of Cape Cod's oddest tourist attraction.  For more than fifty years the SS James Longstreet sat in Cape Cod Bay, off of Eastham.  It was a former Liberty Ship turned target ship .  Routinely bombed for decades the Longstreet was also a popular photography subject as well as boating adventure.  What ever became of Cape Cod's target ship? T...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 63 starts with a trip down memory lane.  For more than four decades The Paddock in Hyannis was home to great food and great music.  Whether it was in house singers and musicians, or celebrities filtering in from the neighboring Cape Cod Melody Tent, there was always something going on there.  Our Road Trip segment takes us to the Green Mountain State and Brattleboro, Vermo...

Send us Fan Mail Who was The Lady of the Dunes ?  This question had fascinated and confounded people across America for nearly fifty years.  Since her body was discovered in a remote area of the Provincetown dunes in July 1974 the questions of her identity, the motive behind her murder, and the parties responsible have gone unanswered. Producer Frank Durant is shining a new light on the case and t...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 61 begins with another installment of Restaurant Storytime .  This is perhaps the king of unbelievable stories that happened during my tenure in the restaurant industry.  The key players? A summer night, a dishwasher, and an uninvited intruder in the prep room.  It is all 100% reality. Things get a little lighter as we go back to the story of Cape Cod's first summer W...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 60 begins with the story of revolutionary automobile industrialist Henry Ford and his purchase of a piece of Cape Cod history .  In a fascinating turn of events it is possible that the most-viewed Cape Cod attraction does not even reside on the Cape.  Find out all about what it is, and what piece of the Cape Ford originally wanted to buy. Is it possible for something to be...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 59 begins with a trip back into the golden age of Cape Cod night life.  For three decades Pufferbellies was one of the biggest and brightest stars of Cape Cod after dark thanks to the popularity of its owner and Happy Hour legend John Morgan. There was a time in the 19th century that Rhode Island was seen as the vampire capital of America .  The most disturbing story of th...