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…

New Jersey – Paterson Great Falls

Our last stop en route to Massachusetts was New Jersey to visit Barbara’s uncle. We always enjoy seeing him. Barbara’s cousin was there when we arrived, so we all went out to a local diner.

We were looking for a local activity with not too much walking; Barbara’s uncle suggested PATERSON GREAT FALLS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, which was a great idea.

Paterson Great Falls drops some two million gallons of water a day claiming to be “the second largest waterfall by volume east of the Mississippi River” – with only Niagara Falls surpassing it.

 

The National Historic Park highlights the history here, as well. Here in 1792 Alexander Hamilton founded Paterson, the first city of industry and innovation. He also founded the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), New Jersey’s first corporation.

The S.U.M. constructed a multitiered water system by diverting some of the river water to a raceway that could then be used to power multiple mills. This sign shows some of the course of the raceway.

hydroelectric plant on left

Paterson became a manufacturing hub for more than 150 years. The 1913 hydroelectric plant, one of the first in the country, has been modernized to bring power to 11,000 homes. The city is a bit run down today, but it is great to see parks revitalize this section. And we enjoyed our trip there.

Bill with Uncle Jim

no campground: stayed with Barbara’s uncle in Lyndhurst NJ

Pennsylvania – Gettysburg

We pass the exit for GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK most every time we drive south, but never took the time to visit until now.

We started at the visitor center. Many National Park visitor centers offer a free orientation movie. Gettysburg charged a fee for a combined ticket including a movie, cyclorama, and museum.

•         The movie narrated by Morgan Freeman gave a good background of the Civil War tension and the 3-day battle. (We found a YouTube version here.) 

•         The cyclorama is a cylindrical shaped panoramic painting meant to give viewers a 360° view.  Cycloramas were popular in the late 19th century. This 42 ft tall, 377 ft long cyclorama was painted in 1883, was displayed in various places including Boston, was purchased by the National Parks in the 1940s, and recently underwent a 13-million dollar restoration before it opened in a new visitor center in 2008. Narration and spotlighting sections of the cyclorama told the story. It was pretty cool. (Wikipedia has a write up here.)

one section of the Gettysburg Cyclorama – Cemetery Ridge

•         The museum was also pretty well done. The displays and videos were informative and the many quotes throughout highlight the individuals and viewpoints that shaped this chapter of our history. A loud middle school field trip descended on us while we were there, so we left before finishing the whole museum.

The 3-day Battle of Gettysburg involved 175,000 troops and covered a huge swath of land. The National Park manages nearly 4,000 acres surrounding the town of Gettysburg and has partially restored it to its 1863 condition. Seeing the land really helps bring the history to life. This can be done by bus tour ($$), by having a battlefield guide join you in your car ($$), or by following the free self-guided auto tour. You can probably guess which one we chose – the self-guided auto tour.

Signs along the route explain the battle chronologically.

The first things we noticed were the monuments. There are 1,328 monuments – big, small, ornate, simple, Union, Confederate, individuals, regiments, states… just lots of monuments.

many monuments line the road

Virginia Monument

General Warren on Little Roundtop

Barbara wanted to look for a particular letterbox that required following a set of pictures. 

part of the clue - all pictures

It was a challenge to follow (things changed since the clue was written 8 years ago), but we found the box. Just as we finished we struck up a conversation with a local resident and history buff who connected with us on a number of things including Dayton aviation, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. His eyes lit up when he talked about history – we thought he would be a great volunteer with the National Parks.

We ended our day at the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The town of Gettysburg dealt with the aftermath, burying the thousands of casualties. Four months later, Abraham Lincoln delivered his now famous Gettysburg Address at the cemetery's consecration.

no campground: stayed at Super8 Gettysburg, 201mi 3hr 36min from Staunton VA via Luray Caverns

Virginia – Luray Caverns

We like caves and toured many throughout our travels.

2003 Ohio Caverns OH

2003 Mammoth Cave National Park KY

2004 Wind Cave National Park SD

2004 Jewel Cave National Monument SD

2005 Marengo Cave IN

2005 Wyandotte Caves IN

2005 & 2006 Carter Caves State Resort Park KY

2006 Carlsbad Caverns National Park NM

2006 Organ Cave WV

2007 Crystal Cave, Sequoia National Park CA

2007 Grand Caverns VA

2014 Ape Cave WA

We’ve done regular cave tours and wild cave tours with a guide and without, seeing cave formations, cave lakes, bats, and lava tubes, but we had never been to Luray Caverns. It appears in almost every top ten list of caves in the US claiming to be one of the biggest and most beautiful caves in the Eastern US.

We took the guided tour. This cave is adorned with an abundance of well-lit speleothems: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, mud flows, flow stone, draperies, and mirrored pools.

“Saracen’s Tent” has drapery formations

the “Totem Pole Room”

the “Double Column”

“Dream Lake” reflects the image of stalactites

Luray Caverns has an over-commercialized feel with its snapped off stalagmites, enter only with a photo in front of a green screen, exit only through the gift shop, the famous Great Stalacpipe Organ, a please-donate-here Wishing Well, and lots of other kitsch, but we knew that ahead and focused on the formations in this beautiful cave. Now we can add Luray Caverns to our list.

Bill also toured the Car & Carriage Caravan Museum which was included in the price of admission with its interesting collection of cars.

no campground: stayed with Barbara’s cousin in Staunton VA; distance to Luray Cavern from Barbara’s cousin 69mi 1hr 10min; visited en route to Gettysburg PA

Virginia – Staunton – Resting

Our next stop on our trip north was to see Barbara’s cousin. We wanted to visit and see their new home. 

They are always so gracious, so we feel at home when we visit -- a nice place to rest as we travel.

The house sits on rolling pastureland surrounded by mountains in the distance. They have gorgeous sunsets. Even their laundry room has a great view!

They let a neighbor graze their cows on most of their land except for the fenced in area around their house.

In addition to hosting us at a busy time they are doing us a huge favor by letting us leave our trailer at their place as we head north. 

We’ll be back.

no campground: stayed with Barbara’s cousin; distance from Crosswinds Campground NC via Appomattox Court House National Historical Park 231mi 4hr 29min