A few words from Millie

When we left Myrtle Beach in our motorhome, a light rain was falling. That did not dampen my excitement for I had looked forward to this trip since our wedding day of April 13^th. This was a combination Honeymoon/Vacation trip with a mixture of destinations planned. Our main objective was to visit family in the Maryland/Delaware area, attend the Syracuse New York RV Rally and then an onward tour of the New England States.

After 47 days and over 3500 miles our objectives have been met and our trip has come to an end. There were many memories made, too many to mention here, however the most special thing to me is the time we spent meandering along country roads. We tried to drive off the interstates as much as possible to view small towns and stop if we saw anything we wanted to visit. Once, in Connecticut we even drove on a dirt road to view a a scenic river.

 I will have special memories of our visit with family in Delaware and helping Larry’s dad celebrate his 90^th birthday, watching granddaughter Delaney play in a softball tournament, and also concerts with Reba McIntyre and Wayne Newton in Syracuse NY. Our ferry ride at Lake George, New York was great with views of the mansions along the shore, our nearby camp site was beautiful and I hated to leave.

What a treat to visit with our friends Clay and Rebecca Fingar on their farm in Stuyvesant Falls NY, they were such gracious hosts and I will have lasting memories of their family and beautiful farm.

Our tour of the Franklin D. Roosevelt library/home in Hyde Park New York was very informative. After seeing and hearing of President Roosevelt’s accomplishments, I am reminded of what a great leader he was in time of war and our countries Great Depression.

My first impression of New York City? So much traffic, so many people and tall tall buildings!

Our tour guide was an excellent source of information and history, I wondered if after 10 hours of almost nonstop talking how he could conduct tours almost everyday. I was very impressed with our tour agenda and the many sights that were included in our day.

Newport RI was most interesting. Again we were fortunate to have chosen a tour guide who was very eager to share his knowledge of the area with stories about the rich and famous who had summer homes there. I will always remember the huge mansions

of Doris Duke, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s and Jackie Kennedy’s mother and stepfather which was used only a few weeks each year. The town was very interesting, however crowded with summer tourists.

Cape Cod Massachusetts could have been any beach community; my mental image was of white clap board cottages and Patti Page singing “Old Cape Cod”  Another less than inviting characteristic of the area is the beaches, other than an occasional park, the ocean beaches are private and reserved for the rich waterfront owners.

The Kennedy compound at Hyenas Port was true to pictures I have seen. Joseph P. Kennedy’s home will soon be open to the public for it and its contents were willed to the state of Massachusetts after the death of Ted Kennedy.

 Provincetown Massachusetts was a HOOT; you have to go there to experience the

“Artistic Environment “ 

I loved Gloucester and Rockport Massachusetts. These waterfront towns were picture perfect with beautiful stone shorelines, sailboats, waterfront shopping and restaurants. We stayed a couple of days longer than planned to see more of the area.

Boston Massachusetts was celebrating the Fourth of July. As in years past the Boston Pops Orchestra was performing with the fireworks display which draws an estimated 200,000 people. Since this was the weekend we were in the area, we decided to skip our plan to go on a professional tour downtown and instead go to the JFK Library. It was a good decision for the library was state of the art with tons of information regarding President Kennedy’s presidency. 

I never thought about riding a Segway before. I have often seen tourists riding them in my neighborhood at Market Common, Myrtle Beach. When Larry told me he had made reservations for us at Salem Massachusetts Segway for a tour, I was a little apprehensive but willing to try something new. It turned out to be a great experience which I highly recommend.   

We had a wonderful Guide/ Segway instructor named Arielle. She was a cute young girl who had a great personality and mannerism for giving Witch History of Salem but with a modern twist. It was another great day….

On our way to Bar Harbor, we stopped at Gardiner Maine for a brief visit with Bob and Nancy Lamarre. Although our meeting was short it was good to spend some time with this nice couple.

Acadia National Park Maine was beautiful. I enjoyed our drive up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to view the surrounding Atlantic shoreline and the vast stone crest of the mountain. We also stopped at the only beach in the area and were amazed at children swimming in the ice cold water. My only thought was “Kids you should see our beach”

My opinion of beaches thus far, nothing can compare to Myrtle Beach.  

Bar Harbor Maine was beautiful. The shops were very interesting; the Whale Watching Cruise boats were steadily in and out of the harbor. We decided not to take the tour since we saw two whales feeding close to shore when we were at Acadia Park.

Thousand Trails Camping Resort near Hershey Pennsylvania is one of my favorite campgrounds. It is part of our membership plan so we have stayed there often. I think the area is beautiful and the camping facility is as good as it gets. We always visit local Amish roadside stands and get fresh farm produce. Great place…

 It’s always good to get back to my home state of Virginia. For me the soft rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains are a welcome sight. Our visit with family was was far too short, however after a wonderful 18 mile bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail and accomplishing the feat of picking three gallons of blueberries from a family member’s farm, it was time to move on.

Pigeon Forge Tennessee should be on everyone’s list to visit. Something for everyone, from small kids to older adults. The live shows we saw were spectacular, showcasing very professional and talented performers. Great Smokey Mountain Nation Forest was beautiful with scenic overlooks and meandering rivers.  

With mixed emotions our long awaited trip has come to an end. We were successful in visiting most of the places we had planned to see. As with all trips you never have the time to see and do everything that’s available for tourists. We had to make some tough decisions to see what appealed to us and we accomplished that. Our next trip will be to the Southwest sometime early fall. But for now, we’ll have to settle on living across the street from the beautiful Atlantic Ocean, taking long walks with our girls (Maggie and Dixie) along the surf while we make our future travel plans.

Larry's post script

We drove the last leg of the trip from Dreher State Park to our home in Myrtle Beach on Monday the 22^nd of July. We were on the road 46 days, drove approximately 3700 miles and visited or passed thru 15 states. I’ll post the fuel and campground expenses as soon as I add them all up. 

Millie and I are both writing a few final words to close the blog postings for the New England trip. I know Millie is recounting the memorable places and people we visited along the way so I won’t repeat that.

I too will savor the memories of our New England adventure and the family and friends we met along the way. But all thru the trip especially in the last few days, this one thought kept coming back to me; how lucky we are to have found each other, to live at the beach, and to be out here doing what we enjoy so much. Life is good, very good! 

Dreher Island State Park, South Carolina

Friday July 19^th. In the evening we returned to the Majestic Theater to see the show called, “America’s Hit Parade”. In addition to four of the cast from the Soul of Motown show, the Hit Parade had four additional female performers and one male performer. The male was an Elvis impersonator and you could say the lead performer, but neither show billed any one of the cast as the headliner. The Hit Parade covered songs from the 50’s up to the 80’s. The performers sang and danced in costumes to match the songs, this made some skits like The Village People’s “YMCA” hilarious. It was a very good show, but after having just seeing the Motown show the night before this one seemed tamer. This is no refection on the cast; it was probably because the “white but polite” audience was silent except for the appropriate applauses.

On Saturday July 20^th we left Pigeon Forge and the state of Tennessee via I-40. The interstate passes thru the mountains just north of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It meanders thru the mountains rather than making a dramatic gap crossing like Newfound or the Cumberland but it is a very scenic ride just the same. Like a lot of mountain valleys this one has a wild river running down it and the road is adjacent to it most of the way. At the Apex of the mountains we entered North Carolina and drove the 90+/- miles thru the state to the South Carolina border without stopping.

Entering South Carolina we had to accept the realization that the New England trip aka the Honeymoon trip is almost over and we will be home soon. Not that living at the beach is any kind of hardship; we do consider Myrtle Beach to be pretty near paradise.

We decided not to spend the tail end of the trip as a long drive down the interstate so we deviated just west of Columbia and got a site at Dreher Island State Park. The park campground is on a small island; our motorhome is backed into a site just steps from Lake Murray. We will spend two nights here before running the remaining 150 miles to our home.

Pigeon Forge Tennessee

Wednesday July 17 we said goodbye to Paul and Betty and the beautiful mountain region where they live. We drove 150 miles to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and the tourist destination area called Pigeon Forge. I have for a long time been misinformed about the rise of the area as a tourist destination. Country Singer Dolly Parton’s roots are in nearby Sevierville and her name is used on one of the attractions synonymous with Pigeon Forge, Dollywood.

I always assumed Dollywood was the start of the tourist industry here. The area was very isolated until the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created nearby in 1934. Gradually overtime a few tourist venues were opened along Rt 441 the road to the park thru Pigeon Forge. In 1982 the town initiated an aggressive development plan that centered on the tourist industry. In 1985 the owners of an existing attraction called Silver Dollar City approached Ms. Parton and proposed a partnership in the promotion and operation of Silver Dollar City. Dolly became a minor partner and the park was renamed Dollywood. 

Anyhow visitors today are not likely to meet many people who remember the isolated mountain hamlet of long ago. Rt. 441 still runs thru Pigeon Forge but it is now a 6 lane highway with endless outlet malls, restaurants, hotels, music venues and attractions of all sorts. It’s kind of like Myrtle Beach without the beach.

On Thursday evening we went to the Grand Majestic Theater to see a show called “Soul of Motown”. The very talented cast of five men and one woman sang and danced for 2 ½ hours in a tribute show to all the legends of Motown. Millie and I enjoyed the show beyond our expectations, in part due to the tour bus load of Afro-Americans that we were seated with. In black theater, audience participation is both expected and encouraged, so as you can imagine our seating section was the liveliest.

Friday July 19 Driving east from Pigeon Forge we passed through the town of Gatlinburg on our way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Approximately 15 miles into the park (all uphill) you reach the scenic overlook at Newfound Gap. In addition to the panoramic view the overlook is the location of the Tennessee/ North Carolina border and the spot where President F.D. Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940.  You can also walk on part of the Appalachian Trail at the Newfound Gap.

Tonight we are going back to the Majestic Theater to see another show, this one called America’s Hit Parade. It is billed as “A singing and dancing sensation taking you through all the greatest hits of the decades”.

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia

On Sunday (July14) we left the Dixie Caverns campground and drove about a hundred miles to a National Park Service campground called Grindstone. It is located in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in the southwest corner of Virginia. This is a very mountainous region and is the site of the highest point in Virginia which is 5729 feet above sea level. Grindstone is in an old growth forest, the tall trees and the canopy of green leaves only allowing speckled sunlight on the rhododendrons and moss covered boulders below.  The rhododendrons are flowering right now; dressing the mountain in its summer best, especially scenic is down by the campground wading pool. Cool spring water bubbles its way down the rocky stream bed to fill the sparkling pool. On weekends when the campground fills with families, intrepid youngsters will brave the pool of crisp mountain water and swear it’s not cold even as their lips turn blue.

Grindstone is one of the nicest campgrounds I’ve ever been in. Millie and I haven’t discussed it’s rating on our 1-5 scale but in spite of it not having internet, cell phone service, cable TV or full utility hookups, I think we will still rate it very high.

After setting up our campsite we drove about 6 miles to visit Millie’s sister Betty and her husband Paul. They have a blueberry grove on their property and Millie and I picked 3 gallons of berries in about an hour.

On Monday (July 15) we drove to Damascus Virginia to an outfitter where we rented bicycles and arranged for a shuttle to the summit of White Top Mountain. An almost 18 mile section of the Virginia Creeper Trail runs from White Top to the town of Damascus, and here’s the good part, it is a wide smooth old railroad bed  and all downhill! The first ten miles is an average 6 degree decline and you use brakes most of the time, rarely pedaling at all. The rest is still down hill at about 2 degrees and requires occasional casual pedaling. Most of the route is thru National forest and is very scenic as it follows a river down the mountain. We crossed over approximately 25 trestles and bridges as the trail switched from one side of the river to the other. Part of the Appalachian Trail follows the Creeper trail so we saw some of the back pack trekkers walking their way south to Georgia. We also met hikers, horse back riders and a few folks with questionable mental capabilities. The last group were easy to spot, they were the bicyclist’s who where pedaling uphill!

I’m giving the Virginia Creeper trail my highest recommendation, it takes about four hours to traverse the down hill section and it is very easy to do, we saw families with kids as young as 5-6 pedaling their own bikes, younger kids behind a parent on a tandem bike and a toddler in a  bike trailer. There are several outfitters in Damascus offering bike rentals and shuttle service, there are at least two rest stop facilities along the trail and a trailside restaurant at about the half way point.

                                        Junction of Virginia Creeper and Appalachian Trails

When we got off the trail we called Paul and Betty and made arrangements to meet them at a Mexican restaurant in Chilhowie. After our long day on the trail Millie and I both ate our entire dinner, something we rarely do. Most of the time we take half of our restaurant meals home with us.

Tuesday (July 16) we enjoyed the campground taking the girls for several walks. We also visited Paul and Betty again where I used their internet service to make reservations at our next destination. Betty made a delicious homemade pizza which we savored alfresco on their porch; afterwards we had a desert of ice cream and blueberry pie made with fruit from their berry patch.

PA-MD-WV-VA

Saturday July 13, 2013. We’ve spent two more days’ traveling south. Since the last posting we’ve left New York and traveled into Pennsylvania spending Friday night at the Hershey Thousand Trails Campground. The Hershey TT Campground is one of the crown jewels of this membership campground company and it is always clean and inviting.

Today we traveled a little over 300 miles down I-81 passing thru Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. As it passes thru Virginia I-81 parallels Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is one of our favorite roads. The Virginia section of I-81 has panoramic vista’s that are as spectacular as any we’ve seen in the country.

We are overnighting in a small campground behind a tourist attraction called Dixie Caverns. It’s not much to look at, actually a little shabby, but it is reasonably priced and has cable TV with over 70 channels! 

Tomorrow we move on to Mount Rogers National Recreation area, we plan on staying there for a few days. Millie has family in the area that we will visit, we also hope to rent bikes and ride the Virginia Creeper Trail.

Maine to New Hampshire to Vermont to New York

July 10/11 2013. Not much to report we are in driving mode, covering about 500 miles in the last two days. Our first day we traveled 200+/- miles from Bar Harbor Maine west to Lancaster New Hampshire. 

We stayed in a large almost empty campground, the campground roads were paved but the ground was very saturated. The owner directed us to a site that was fairly solid ground. It rained all night and I was concerned about leaving in the morning but we didn’t have any trouble.

Day two we drove the rest of the way west across New Hampshire and then turned south on I-91 in Vermont. The interstate meanders thru mountains and valleys as it follows the Connecticut River. It is one of the most scenic turnpikes we’ve seen. At the bottom of Vermont we turned west again drove the width of Vermont and entered New York State. 

After a 300+/- mile run today we are overnighting in a small campground that boarders the Susquehanna River. It is the head waters of the same Susquehanna that flows thru Pennsylvania and Maryland before emptying in the Chesapeake Bay. Now that I think about it we were at the Chesapeake Bay terminus of this river earlier in this trip. It was in the June 11 blog posting, we walked out to the Turkey Point lighthouse where five rivers converge to form the head of the bay. The Susquehanna is one of those five; the other four rivers are The Elk, The Bohemia, The Sassafras, and The Northeast.

                                            Southern terminus of Susquehanna River at Turkey Point Maryland

The travel plan for the next few days is Pennsylvania tomorrow, stopping at the Hershey Thousand Trails Campground, Virginia the next day, overnighting near Staunton around the beginning of Skyline Drive and then Grindstone Campground in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area down in the Southwestern corner of Virginia.

Arcadia National Park, Maine

Sunday July 7 2013. We found the Boston area to be very interesting and you could easily spend an entire vacation there, but it was time for us to move on. I-95 is the most direct route for the first half of our 200+/- mile journey to Arcadia National Park in Maine. Soon we were passing thru long sections of undeveloped forest; it didn’t take long for us to realize there are more trees than people in Maine. I suspect the reason is the harsh winters for it is a beautiful place and you’d think more people would be living here.

About half way to Arcadia we stopped in the town of Gardiner and met with an army comrade of mine, Bob Lamarre and his wife Nancy.  Bob and I have corresponded via the internet but this was our first face to face meeting, I look forward to meeting guys from “our” war, we have a bond that transcends time and it’s always good to see them. 

It is an interesting story of how the internet expands our lives, Bob and I both served with the 195^th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam but not at the same time. He left country several days before I got there. It wasn’t until 35+/- years later that we made contact on the 195^th’s website. The commonality between us was Bob’s brother Larry who also served in the 195^th and whom I knew very well. Unfortunately Larry Lamarre succumbed to leukemia some years ago.

After our all too brief visit we continued on to Arcadia National Park. Arcadia is everything you’ve heard about it. It is one of the most scenic wildernesses we’ve ever seen. The thousands of acres of woodlands are located on an island set in the rocky shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Centerpiece of the park is Cadillac Mountain, you can drive to the summit which is 1500 feet above sea level,. Once there you can hike amongst the rocky outcroppings and take in spectacular views of the park and surrounding islands as well as the Atlantic Ocean.

On Mount Desert Island but just outside the park boundary is the small town of Bar Harbor or as the Mainers say it “Ba Haba”.  It is the quintessential tourist town and I must add a very well done version. It has a history dating to the 1700s, preserved waterfront business district; the stores now vending merchandise for the visitors, a vibrant restaurant scene, whale watching charter boats and a water view public park. Millie and I enjoyed lunch overlooking the harbor at the Fish House Grill. Afterwards we bought some homemade blueberry ice cream from BEN & BILL'S CHOCOLATE EMPORIUM. We sat on a bench along the main street and watched the passing parade while we enjoyed the delicious treat. 

Visits to JFK Library and Salem

Friday July 5 2013. Temperatures are projected to be near 100 with a heat index of 105 today so we opted for an air conditioned attraction. We drove down to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in south Boston. It is located on a picturesque harbor side campus overlooking Massachusetts Bay.

The span of the exhibit timeline was JFK from student to President. No mention of his assassination, Oswald, or Dallas was made; only in a small black passage were there little TV screens running news footage of his funeral.

I’m going to give this attraction a must see rating. Even if you were around in 1960’s and think you know the JFK story, I’m sure you will be affected by the presentation, it’s one of those thought provoking experiences.

 Saturday July 6, 2013. We got up and moving early today as we had an early reservation in Salem Massachusetts. Instead our usual guided bus or trolley ride we went on a guided Segway tour of the infamous Salem Witch trials. Our guide, Arielle first gave us an orientation on the two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered electric vehicles that we would be riding. After practicing in the tour company’s indoor class room we drove our Segways out the door and out into the historic downtown. Arielle told us all about the witch trials, which took place in a nine month period in 1692/1693 and resulted in the deaths of 20 people. Nineteen were hanged and one was pressed to death, none of the Salem witches were burned at the stake.

After returning to the motorhome we discussed where our next destination would be. We have to be home in a couple weeks so must stop our northern trek soon and as we used to say in the boating world, turn the pointy end toward home. Tomorrow morning we go to Arcadia National Park in Maine, it will be our northern most stop.

Gloucester and Rockport Massachusetts

Wednesday July 3 2013. We said goodbye to Cape Cod and moved to Rusnik’s Campground about 45 miles north of Boston. There just aren’t many RV parks in the Boston area and this was the closest we could get a site in. It’s an easy commute down the interstate back to the city if we chose to go there. We didn’t do much of anything in the afternoon, just relaxed in the motorhome and took the dogs for a couple long walks around the campground.

Thursday July 4 2013. We drove south along the shore to Gloucester and then Rockport. Gloucester is the larger of the two towns; it has a large commercial harbor that services the fishing industry. Gordon's Seafood has a large operation in the harbor. The town is not particularly a tourist destination which surprised me; it does however have a nice promenade that runs along the harbor for about ½ mile. There is a narrow canal that intersects the walkway; it was interesting to see the boats negotiating the strong current flowing thru the narrow waterway. It brought back memories of my boating days, except it seemed like every time I committed to a similar traverse some yahoo in front of me would break down or do something incredibly stupid and I would have to do some fancy maneuvering.

The Gloucester is most notable for its memorial to fishermen that have been lost at sea; it is located on the promenade overlooking the harbor. The 8-foot-tall bronze statue of a fisherman dressed in oilskins standing braced at the wheel on the sloping deck of his ship. The surrounding plagues list the names of all the local fishermen lost over the last three century’s. A panel on the front of the base holds an inscription taken from the Bible’s Psalm 107:23, "They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships".

Rockport is much more tourist oriented than Gloucester. The harbor area is shops of all sorts, but Rockport’s claim to fame is its harbor carved into the rugged shoreline and of course it’s red fishing shack. 

 On Bradley Wharf, it has for years been one of the most famous sites on Cape Ann as the subject of hundreds of paintings and photographs by aspiring artists from all over the world. After touring the harbor area we were able to get lunch seated on a shaded patio overlooking the water; it doesn’t get much better than that!

                                                           Lobster Salad Sandwich

Provincetown, Massachsetts

Tuesday July 2, 2013 we decided to drive out to the end of the peninsula stopping at the Cape Cod National Seashore before reaching lands end and the town of Provincetown. We stopped at the visitor’s center to pick up a map and get suggestions on things to see in the park. Traffic on the park roads wasn’t that heavy but every spot we planned to stop at, the parking lot was full. Cars were lined at the entrance and they didn’t let a car in until one left. Our visit became a driving tour, but that was ok, we’ve seen miles of sand dunes and climbed many lighthouse steps, and to be honest they’re all starting to look the same.

The night before I did some research on Provincetown so I thought I was prepared for the following situation. As we entered Provincetown one of the first things we came upon was a gay couple walking down the street. Having done my research I told Millie we would be seeing more as 1/5 of the town’s population is gay. The further we drove down the narrow street through the waterfront business district the more of them we saw. It was like an episode from The Twilight Zone, we were transported to a town where everyone was gay except us. 

Before I continue this story I have to tell you about another very strange behavior here on Cape Cod. Bicyclists and pedestrians meander down the traffic lanes with no apparent regard for vehicles. There will be a sidewalk or bike path adjacent to the road and the folks will be wandering aimlessly down the traffic lanes. We’ve even encountered adults with tiny babies in strollers or bike carriers tying up traffic as they go zombie like on their way. When you come up behind a biker, they’re not going straight arrow down the right ¼ of the highway like we’re used to seeing. The cyclists up here wallow around the lane in front of you as if they’re drunk or high on something. I know this sounds like an exaggeration or a made up story, but it has happened to us again and again.

Back to the Provincetown story, as we drove down the very narrow street we had to drive very slowly because of all the people on foot and pedal. Just as their straight brethren Cape Cod-ians do, the gay blades (Sorry but I’ve got to call a spade a spade, these fella’s were flamboyantly gay) of Provincetown also congregate in the street. So I’m going at a snails pace, by now just trying to get the heck out of there. The fellas who are in pairs and groups are stopping in front of us to greet. Lots of kissing and hugging going on, I’m doing one of those, hold head in hand and twist head to avoid looking maneuvers.

I’m trying really hard to not be judgmental or demeaning in any way, but I’m sure you will agree this was a very bizarre experience for an elderly straight couple

The National park has a beach access just outside of town and on our exit we decided to stop and check out the ocean. Once again we encountered some of the fellas, now they were wearing Speedos and pedaling bikes to the beach. I told Millie I would probably be getting a speeding ticket trying to get outta there!