A special note to those of you who left a comment that never made it to the blog, I just now found them!
Blooger used to notify me when a comment needed to be oked, seems that stopped sometime...
Sorry about that! I REALLY enjoy all the comments!
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I'm a West Coast guy. My ingrained view of the East Coast comes from stories I've heard from people I know, stories from television, stories from movies and from novels I've read. A quick visit to NYC when I was 10 years old doesn't really count, nor does six months at a Coast Guard school in Elizabeth City, NC.
So now I've traveled up the East Coast ... and the time has come to say that, in reality, it is not like I'd thought. Here is what I've learned so far ...
1. The East Coast is just another part of America
2. There is a lot more water than out in the west (wetlands, streams, creeks, bays & what not).
3. The Atlantic Ocean gets warm in the summer.
4. There is a huge amount of green almost everywhere.
5. There are lots of people out here, people everywhere!
6. Folks are friendly.
7. There are a lot of low clearance places & roads I'm not allowed to drive on with an RV.
8. EZ-Pass for all the toll roads & bridges is a good thing because there are lots of tolls where we've been so far!
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| Our Route |
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| Driving to the NC Outer Banks |
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Ballast stone from Blackbeard's ship
Beaufort, NC |
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| Geno's is one of them |
Philadelphia is known for many things, Philly cheese-steak sandwiches are one of them.
I was not impressed.
Now the Horseshoe Burger at the Horseshoe Cafe in Benson, AZ .... That was memorable!
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| Independence Hall |
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| Pat's is the other cheese-steak sandwich place |
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| A New Jersey beach |
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| A New Jersey boardwalk |
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| A view from the NJ train going to NYC |
Everybody I met in New Jersey and New York was friendly.
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| The monument in the hole left by the 911 attack |
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| A view from the (free!) Staten Island ferry |
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| A NYC Selfie |
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| New York City |
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| A Greenwich, CT book store |
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| The NYC view from a boat off Greenwich, CT |
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| Downtown art, Greenwich, CT |
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Flo's Clam Shack in Rhode Island. Fried clam strips
are ok but fried whole clams come with the fried bellies. |
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| A beach in Rhode Island |
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| Sunset where we camped in Rhode Island |
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| Camping on the beach on Cape Cod, MA |
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| A Hyannisport street |
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| Another Hyannisport street |
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| "The" Kennedy compound in Hyannisport |
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| Salem, MA |
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| This was in Boston |
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| Maine |
Maine is a beautiful state and the people have a good attitude!
Wow! What a great trip!
ReplyDeleteThank you, We're enjoying it!
DeleteDamn, that was a good trip- you saw lots of the best parts of the east. I had enough, after 40 years, and moved to the south, but there ARE some good parts. Just too many people.
ReplyDeleteYou passed within about 1/4mi of me when you were on the Staten Island Ferry. They cut through the mooring field by the Statue where I hang out.
I kinda miss Cape Cod, seeing those pictures, especially now that the Kennedy's are dying off. Driving is certainly safer there now.
I bet you near to soiled yourself when you saw those tolls! Makes you wonder what they spend the money on. Certainly ain't the roads.
The bridge tolls shocked me! The rest of them I didn't really notice until I got the message than my Ez-pass needed more money. I'm sorry but the "crappy road you pay extra for award" has to go to Illinois back in the early 90's...
DeleteThe Staten Is ferry was a great trip! I'd have waved as I went by if I'd known! :-)
I'm going to have to come back to NYC just to look around some more. I'll need a bigger budget too... A $2 hotdog from a street vendor is not bad but the $38 to go up to the top of the Empire State Building was unexpected.
I turned down orders to Coast Guard Air Sta Cape Cod back in the early 80's, after seeing it I wonder if I did the right thing...
You guys have been to quite a few places. I have never been to the East Coast or NYC.
ReplyDeleteDid you see any Kennedy's at the Hyannisport compound? I had no idea you had to pay so much to go up to the top of the Empire State Building!
Did you eat a lot of lobster when you were in Maine? Both your wife and yourself have beautiful smiles and look so happy in all your pictures :)
A funny story about the Kennedy compound (just saw the guard), my wife's friend was showing us around and she goes down the road to get a closer look at the place...she must have missed the signs saying not to go down that road... there is a guy at the house saying go back, you can't be here. She gets up to him, rolls down the window and stops. He says it all again & insists she backs out. She says she doesn't back up, doesn't know how. He asks were she learned to drive that she doesn't back up, she says in Connecticut. He says ok, I understand then, and let's her use the circular drive to leave. A very friendly, even humorous exchange.
DeleteMaine lobster... they catch a lot of them up here & inshore too!
We had a Lobster roll at a roadside stand (lobster meat on a hot dog bun with melted butter, a bag of chip & a soda pop under the trees at a picnic table). A fresh steamed lobster from the grocery store and a boiled "twin" lobster dinner at a sea food restaurant.
What a funny anecdote!
DeleteIt has been so long since I have eaten lobster, glad you have been able to indulge. Bon Appétit!