East Coast Trip Recap

We arrived in Massachusetts to spend time with daughters & friends and catch up on logistics. Now that we've arrived, it’s a good time to recap our trip.

Our month-long trip from Florida to Massachusetts gave us lots of time to visit people and see sites. Our route kept us mostly hugging the coast with the goal to avoid freezing temperatures until Virginia (where we left our trailer). That worked for the most part except for two nights on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but the freeze was short enough not to pose a problem.

We visited many interesting places: National Park units, State Parks, and other destinations.

park signs

If we were at a National Park area we did the quintessential activities: get the stamp, pick up the brochure, photograph the park sign, visit the visitor center, watch the video, read the display boards, attend a ranger-led tour…

brochures

 

We went to all sorts of parks experiencing both nature and history. The historic parks reminded us of Colonial era struggles, pioneer life, Civil War battles, the aristocratic hunt club era, the history of flight, and the birth of industry. We bracketed the Civil War, visiting Fort Sumter (the beginning), Gettysburg (middle), and Appomattox (the end).

We saw lighthouses.

St Augustine, St Simons, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke Island,

Bodie Island, Currituck Beach, and Roanoke Marshes lighthouses

We walked beaches, meandered through gardens, hiked on nature trails, and found some letterboxes.

a letterbox logbook

We observed wildlife and especially enjoyed watching dolphins play, seeing a few birds we hadn’t seen before, and spotting a wild horse.

We explored new places.

shops at St Simons Island

We biked around Jekyll Island and went 4-wheeling on a beach in the Outer Banks. We trudged up the East Coast’s largest sand dune on a very windy day and grasped the enormity of an aircraft carrier. And we saw lots of other interesting sites.

Here are some of the places we camped.

One site was just over the dune from the ocean. Another site had great sunrises over the Intracoastal Waterway. Another was a very private site in the woods. Sometimes this is how we feel when we travel.

a sign we saw while camping

It was particularly great to connect to friends & family along the way – we enjoyed sharing meals, doing activities, and just catching up. Many thanks for everyone who hosted us! We also enjoyed conversations with random people we met, like the Escape 19 owners we met in Georgia (who mention us in their blog), the Okefenokee homestead volunteer, and the history buff at Gettysburg. We’re thankful for ALL the interactions and all the special times we had as we traveled.

Bill & Barbara with Tom & Karen

at Certified Burgers & Beverage on St Simons Island GA

source: "Bill & Barbara Come for a Visit" from the Hartley’s blog

We expect to go on another trip in a few weeks, so stay tuned…