On June 8th we drove to Mystic, Connecticut....one of my better navigation days!!!! Our friend Bill had plotted out on our map to make a big swoop around the cities of Baltimore and New York (avoiding low tunnels etc )going through Pennsylvania....this looked way out of the way and looking at the map I said oh we can go right up I-95 through New Jersey not realizing that this would take us over the George Washington Bridge through I think the Bronx!!! Besides the fact that the bridge was very old, with narrow lanes and trucks all around us with inches to spare according to my driver the toll was $18.....Art was not impressed with my decision!!!
The next day we toured the Submarine museum and the first nuclear submarine the Nautilus and then saw the Mystic Seaport in the afternoon. Both being very interesting and educational....the historical seaport actually has an active shipyard working on restoring an 80 yr old ship. There is also a fleet of small sailboats maintained for classes.
June 10th we drove to Plymouth, Massachusetts....couldn't touch the rock it was surrounded by an iron fence with a roof over it to protect it. Took a drive to Hyannis
on Cape Cod.....nice little town with a great marina port. Had a great shrimp dinner in a fish house!! The next day we took a train into Boston and did a bus tour of the city.....would have never been able to drive in this city..it was crazy!! Then took another drive on the other side of Cape Cod and saw more of the ocean and quaint little towns and beaches the next day.
On June 13th we drove to Freeport, Maine.....had a lobster dinner for my birthday dinner which was wonderful!! Followed dinner with a quick tour of LL Beans main store and was overwhelmed!
The next day we drove into Bar Harbor, Maine and camped at Acadia NP...the park was beautiful surrounded by water but not as much of a WOW factor as the National Parks on the west coast...I guess we are spoiled!!
At this point we had to make a decision to turn around and come home......we had seen a lot but I had been having increasing pain in my knee and was really struggling getting around...so Art suggested we head home to get it looked at more seriously..I did have a cortisone injection before we left!!! It lasted about 4 days......not a happy camper but I agreed.
We stopped in Ohio and had a great visit with my younger brother and his wife. We had a major storm come through with winds up to 60 miles an hour...very scarey!!!
We are in Fort Collins, Co at this point visiting kids and grandkids and will be home sometime this weekend......
It will be hard to end this great trip but we are ready to see all our friends and family.
Talk to you soon!!
Pat and Art
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
May 31 -June 7
When we arrived in Williamsburg on Monday afternoon we immediately called Art's sister Pat's in-laws, Bill and Suzie...just wanted to let them know we had arrived but they wanted to come over immediately and see us, our 5th wheel and visit!! Art had met them but I never had....we went to there house for a great Colonial dinner of Brunswick Stew that they serve in all the taverns here ( I'm sure Suzie's was the best ) ! Followed by strawberrys over pound cake...yum!!
Bill and Suzie have lived in the area about 3 1/2 yrs and two of their children and their grandchildren all live close by so they know the area well and Bill is a history buff....so he wanted us to tour the area in the way the events happened. So on Tuesday off we went to Jamestown which was the 1st permanent English settlement in 1607 followed up with dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant which makes the very best guacamole at your table!! Then on Wednesday Bill and Suzie had medical checkups so we took a tour of the Yorktown battlefields where the decisive war of the Revolution was won and the beginning of our Bill of Rights was begun!! We met up with Bill/Suzie and took them to a restaurant that my brother had taken us to on Hilton Head called Bonefish....they have this great appetizer called Bang Bang shrimp and on Wed night they have a special price during happy hour....it is a spicy grilled shrimp that I would love to be able to make!!
Thursday and Friday we spent touring Williamsburg with Bill and Suzie....just the right mix of history and shopping.
We realized we were close to Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello that on Saturday we drove there and toured...very lovely and interesting with all his mechanical inventions!! When we got back to our campsite Bill and Suzie came to pick us up and take us to one more ice cream shop!!! This was the fourth in their area that they thought would meet our standards and they all four did!! Individual dairys with only a few family owned stores and very creamy, strong flavored ice creams...I don't think we coud have picked a favorite they were all so delicious!!
Sunday, after finishing up laundry and cleanup details we drove to a campground close to Mt Vernon and the next day we toured George's house....again a great historical moment but they had you wait in lines and go inside in groups of 20 and parade through...we felt like cattle!! And by this time we felt we were in Art's words "historied out!!"
Will post again later today or tomorrow to catch up this last week!!
Hope all is well with all.....e-mail and let us know what you have been up to!!
Art and Pat
Bill and Suzie have lived in the area about 3 1/2 yrs and two of their children and their grandchildren all live close by so they know the area well and Bill is a history buff....so he wanted us to tour the area in the way the events happened. So on Tuesday off we went to Jamestown which was the 1st permanent English settlement in 1607 followed up with dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant which makes the very best guacamole at your table!! Then on Wednesday Bill and Suzie had medical checkups so we took a tour of the Yorktown battlefields where the decisive war of the Revolution was won and the beginning of our Bill of Rights was begun!! We met up with Bill/Suzie and took them to a restaurant that my brother had taken us to on Hilton Head called Bonefish....they have this great appetizer called Bang Bang shrimp and on Wed night they have a special price during happy hour....it is a spicy grilled shrimp that I would love to be able to make!!
Thursday and Friday we spent touring Williamsburg with Bill and Suzie....just the right mix of history and shopping.
We realized we were close to Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello that on Saturday we drove there and toured...very lovely and interesting with all his mechanical inventions!! When we got back to our campsite Bill and Suzie came to pick us up and take us to one more ice cream shop!!! This was the fourth in their area that they thought would meet our standards and they all four did!! Individual dairys with only a few family owned stores and very creamy, strong flavored ice creams...I don't think we coud have picked a favorite they were all so delicious!!
Sunday, after finishing up laundry and cleanup details we drove to a campground close to Mt Vernon and the next day we toured George's house....again a great historical moment but they had you wait in lines and go inside in groups of 20 and parade through...we felt like cattle!! And by this time we felt we were in Art's words "historied out!!"
Will post again later today or tomorrow to catch up this last week!!
Hope all is well with all.....e-mail and let us know what you have been up to!!
Art and Pat
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Well, I always wondered about reporters who had deadlines and now know I couldn't have taken all the pressure!! One brother says where's the blog??? He was looking for it on Sunday...didn't buy my explanation that I wrote two last week!!
On Thursday, May 26th we left Charleston early to drive to the Croatan National Forest where we were fortunate to get a campsite because it filled up early afternoon. We were midstate North Carolina on the coast by the Neuse River. Everyone has there own idea of what a forest is....our back yard is more of a forest!!! But the rivers in the area are huge and put the American and Sacramento rivers to shame...some we can't even see the other side! We had some great visits with people from the area as I think most of the campers were from within a 25 mile area...just came to fish, go to the beach and kick back!
We were 10 miles south of New Bern, NC which was founded by Swiss and German immigrants in 1710 and thus named after Bern, Switzerland. This being their 300th anniversary they had a year long celebration going on...Bern means bear and so they had about 50 bears located around the town as part of a challenge this year on who makes the best bear. Lots of variation and talent seen as we walked around and toured the area...took a tour of the governor's Palace and other historical sites. Also the birthplace of pepsi cola...discovered by a pharmacist. Lots of history!!
Day trip to Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach across the Intercoastal Waterway which was built below ground level as several previous forts had been lost due to erosion from wind and shifting beach...
then on to Beufort, NC which was another of the first settlements in NC with lots of history and on ocean bay with great marina restaurants, shops, historical homes etc..
We had a couple of great meals in New Bern but I was disappointed that the restaurant that had been suggested to us by a couple we met camping in Asheville, SC did not have the Monte Christo sandwich she had told me was the BEST she had ever had!! When asked the waitress gave us this vague answer that oh that was only on the menu every once in a while...could be 2-6 months!! She never even offered to ask the chef....but the dinner we had there was top notch and I just didn't have the energy at the time to ask for the manager or the chef and make a request or point out that the waitress could have cared less about my request!!
We drove to the outer banks on Sunday and there was a campsite available in one of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Parks but it was only 10 ft wide and barely long enough for our truck and 5th wheel so we passed and just drove around the Nags Head area and then went to the Wrights Brothers National Monument in Kitty Hawk...one of the most impressive monuments we have seen!! Left the outer banks and spent Sunday night at a Wal-Mart parking lot as it was too late to find a campsite and we were driving on to Williamsburg, VA, a short drive away the next AM.
And that is where we are now...will write about our visit here next...but just a warning I might be gushing about what a beautiful area THIS is!!!!
Our best to all, Pat and Art
On Thursday, May 26th we left Charleston early to drive to the Croatan National Forest where we were fortunate to get a campsite because it filled up early afternoon. We were midstate North Carolina on the coast by the Neuse River. Everyone has there own idea of what a forest is....our back yard is more of a forest!!! But the rivers in the area are huge and put the American and Sacramento rivers to shame...some we can't even see the other side! We had some great visits with people from the area as I think most of the campers were from within a 25 mile area...just came to fish, go to the beach and kick back!
We were 10 miles south of New Bern, NC which was founded by Swiss and German immigrants in 1710 and thus named after Bern, Switzerland. This being their 300th anniversary they had a year long celebration going on...Bern means bear and so they had about 50 bears located around the town as part of a challenge this year on who makes the best bear. Lots of variation and talent seen as we walked around and toured the area...took a tour of the governor's Palace and other historical sites. Also the birthplace of pepsi cola...discovered by a pharmacist. Lots of history!!
Day trip to Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach across the Intercoastal Waterway which was built below ground level as several previous forts had been lost due to erosion from wind and shifting beach...
then on to Beufort, NC which was another of the first settlements in NC with lots of history and on ocean bay with great marina restaurants, shops, historical homes etc..
We had a couple of great meals in New Bern but I was disappointed that the restaurant that had been suggested to us by a couple we met camping in Asheville, SC did not have the Monte Christo sandwich she had told me was the BEST she had ever had!! When asked the waitress gave us this vague answer that oh that was only on the menu every once in a while...could be 2-6 months!! She never even offered to ask the chef....but the dinner we had there was top notch and I just didn't have the energy at the time to ask for the manager or the chef and make a request or point out that the waitress could have cared less about my request!!
We drove to the outer banks on Sunday and there was a campsite available in one of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Parks but it was only 10 ft wide and barely long enough for our truck and 5th wheel so we passed and just drove around the Nags Head area and then went to the Wrights Brothers National Monument in Kitty Hawk...one of the most impressive monuments we have seen!! Left the outer banks and spent Sunday night at a Wal-Mart parking lot as it was too late to find a campsite and we were driving on to Williamsburg, VA, a short drive away the next AM.
And that is where we are now...will write about our visit here next...but just a warning I might be gushing about what a beautiful area THIS is!!!!
Our best to all, Pat and Art
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