Amish Country Pennsylvania

Last week we moved to Narvon, Pennsylvania, which is in Lancaster County, Amish Country.  The RV park is just fantastic.  Beautiful large spaces and the park has many amenities.  It appears it is used by many seasonals from New Jersey and the Philadelphia area.

Before I start on our sightseeing activities let me tell you about our little adventure on the drive here.  We stopped near York, Pennsylvania to have lunch at a McDonald’s.  The McDonald’s did not have a large enough parking lot for our rig so I drove into a store parking lot across the street.  The store was closed and there were no cars in the lot.  I parked way off to the side and towards the back.  Full disclosure, I did see a No Trespassing sign but figured since the place was closed and we were only going to be there about 20 to 30 minutes, we were good.  As we came back to our rig after lunch a township police car drove up and the officer got out.  He tells me as I exit our truck “expensive lunch buddy”.  He then explains that the owner of the store had called and we were trespassing and would be arrested.  Our truck and trailer would be towed and impounded.  He continued this “hard ass” approach for a couple of minutes or more, not relenting on that we were going to have to post a $1,000 bond and could spend 90 days in jail.  I am just thinking to myself, “is this really happening over a parking error?”.   He mentions that the owner has had issues with vandals and destruction to the property and he pointed out some damage.  I then responded,” being a retired law enforcement officer, I can appreciate the situation the owner is in and the need for the signs.”  He then asks me who I had worked for and I told him.  I think this was all he needed as he then said, “go on, get out of here, I will talk to the owner”.  Needless to say we got in the truck and left quickly.  Not exactly sure what was happening here regarding the officer’s demeanor and the way he handled the situation, but I am glad his final decision was to let us leave. 

Ok, on to sightseeing.  First stop was Lancaster, PA.  A larger city with a great historic feel to it, with many old buildings and a great downtown area.  We went here to check out the Central Market, but it was closed for the day.  We ended up getting information on the surrounding areas to visit.  There is a stretch of highway that takes you through some small towns with shops and restaurants.  It also takes you by many Amish and Mennonite farms.  The funniest town is Intercourse, PA.  This t-shirt we found in a shop shows that the Amish do have a sense of humor.

The t-shirt is correct.  The town of Intercourse is between the towns of Blue Ball, PA and Paradise, PA.

We stopped in a little town called Lititz which is where hard pretzels were first made.  The original shop is still there and we took a tour of the original factory.  The town itself was just beautiful with many old buildings that have been restored and a very nice downtown area that you can easily walk around.

The original pretzel factory

Fran’s attempt at making a pretzel and her certificate

We took a drive to Reading, PA to go grocery shopping.  The only sightseeing we did was to drive up to the Pagoda they have built atop one of the hills that overlooks the town.  Not sure why the built the Pagoda, but the view of the town was spectacular.

The Pagoda

View of Reading

On Sunday we took a drive into Philadelphia.  This is my fifth trip to the city but Fran’s first so we went in so she could see the historic sites.

Independence Hall

Room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed

Liberty Bell

Elfreth’s Alley.  The oldest neighborhood in the US.

Lunch at the City Tavern.  This is the restaurant the delegates went to after they signed the Declaration. 

Today we drove to Strasburg, PA.  This is mainly known for its old railroad and railroad museum.  We walked around the train stop to see the train and cars but did not go into the museum.

This is the steam engine they use to pull the cars for the daily train rides.

Train station where you board for the ride.

The one item the intrigued Fran as we drove through the countryside was the number of clothes lines and how large they were.  As many of these homes were occupied by Amish they dry their clothes outside and have clothes lines that go 50 feet or more and are way up in the air.  They are on pulleys.

Washington, D.C.

For the past week we have been staying in College Park, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C..  We leave tomorrow, Tuesday, for Lancaster County (Amish country), Pennsylvania.  Let me get you caught up on our activities here in our nation’s capitol.

The RV park we are staying at is a bit pricey (second highest rate we have paid) but it is located so it is easy to get into the city via Metro and the park has many very nice amenities.

Because of my previous employment with the U.S. Treasury I have spent many days in D.C. for work, including a six month detail in 2003.  I would always walk around the city and take in as many sights as I could but still had not seen it all.  My family has been here on a couple of occasions on trips we took but those did not allow Fran to see all the sights either.  So, on this trip we had a list of places to see for both of us.

First day we ventured into the district we went to the National Holocaust Museum.  Neither of us had been to this museum.  Fortunately as a retired federal employee I was able to get in without having to worry about a timed ticket as the ticket line was pretty long.  This time of year is a very busy time in D.C. due to spring break and many schools having field trips to the city.  The Holocaust museum is very nicely done in telling the story from Hitler’s rise, through the Holocaust and finally to the creation of Israel. 

Next we took a walk up the mall towards the Capitol stopping at the National Archives to see our nation’s most sacred documents.  I tried to tell Fran we had been here as a family but she did not remember, so we stopped in.  Cool to see that the documents for which our country is based on are still around, even though you can barely read them.

We were on our way to the Library of Congress when we came across the Newseum. This was on our list so we stopped in.  Wow, what a place.  It is a little pricey at $20 (look for coupons), but well worth it.  You could easily spend hours at this museum.  It is generally about the role of media throughout history but they have so many items from important events it was amazing.  The shirt that Lee Harvey Oswald wore when arrested, the door the Watergate burglars used to enter the building, the radio tower from the World Trade Center, and the list goes on.  They have the current daily paper from every state in the US and newspapers going back hundreds of years chronicling the important historical events.  We arrived later in the afternoon and were not able to spend as much time as we should have.  The ticket is good for two days but we could not make it back the next day.  Definitely a must see!

Saturday we drove out to Mount Vernon (home of George Washington).  I had been here 30 years ago and was amazed to see how much they have added and how busy it is.  You have to get a timed ticket to get into the line to see the house.  We were lucky in arriving early as our line time was less than two hours after our arrival time so it gave us time to see the rest of the grounds then go see the house.  The house sits on a little hill that overlooks the river.  The view is just spectacular.

The porch facing the river

The view from the porch

Front of the house

George and Martha’s tombs

Today we visited the International Spy Museum (very interesting), the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Martin Luther King Memorial, FDR Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. 

The iconic reading room in the Library of Congress

Amazed by the ornate ceilings in the Library of Congress

Supreme Court

Martin Luther King Memorial

We also visited the World War II Memorial.  As my stepfather is my most avid follower on this blog and a WWII veteran (Pacific) I post these pictures for him.

First a picture of him

 

A portion of the memorial

The wall of the fallen.  Each star represents 100 Americans killed in the war.

My step father is from Rhode Island.  Fran is standing in front of the Rhode Island column in the memorial.

We had a great time, but still more to see.  Next time…..

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Finally Delaware can be checked of our state list.  That leaves two states, Vermont and Hawaii, for Fran and I to say we have been in all 50 states.  We stopped here for the weekend and to see what was around.  We are at the state park just outside of the main part of Rehoboth Beach.  It is a decent RV park between the bay and ocean.  You do get sort of a view of the bay but the most imposing thing is the new bridge that crosses the inlet.  It is a really cool looking suspension bridge that is lit up with blue lights at night.

Our rig in the park

The bridge as seen from our site

Tried to get a picture of the bridge at night and this is the best I could do.

Where we are it is part of the beach cities in Maryland and Delaware.  From what we have learned they are very popular areas in the summer months.  Just south of us is Ocean City, Maryland and it has more hotels and condos than you can count.  The traffic on this coastal highway must be miserable on summer weekends.  Rehoboth Beach has a cool main street that is lined with restaurants, souvenir shops, beach stores, etc., that lead you to the boardwalk and the beach.  It sort of gives you the feel of the 1950’s.

This is the boardwalk with the sign for their famous salt water taffy,

Up the road the next town is Lewes which has a beach also but is more of a quaint old town.  Many of the homes date back over 300 years and have been nicely restored. 

This is the first house in the first state!

On Saturday we took a drive up to Dover to see what was there.  Not a lot to see but I did have to stop by the NASCAR track to get my picture taken in front of the “Dover Monster”.

The Dover track is called “The Monster Mile”.  The winner’s trophy is a smaller version of the statue behind me in the picture.

Leaving here on Tuesday and headed west to College Park, Maryland which is just outside Washington, D.C.

Eastern Shore of Virginia

We arrived in Sanford, Virginia on April 4th to spend a week.  We are in a very nice RV park on the eastern shore of Virginia.  To get here we came over the Chesapeake Bridge and Tunnel highway, for $28.  It was a beautiful drive.

First order of business was to take the truck into the local Ford dealer for a repair.  While in the Outer Banks I had noticed that the truck was leaking antifreeze and a local auto repair shop discovered that it was coming from the lower radiator hose but he could not fix it as the parts would have to come from the dealer.  Fortunately it was not leaking very fast and the hose appeared to be intact so I made an appointment for a dealer near our next stop, Virginia.  I took the truck in on Friday and ended up spending 8 hours there while they did the repair.  I am guessing the hose must have a gold lining based on the cost of the part, $125.  All told the repair cost $400, for a RADIATOR HOSE!!

Our first night it rained heavy and our space had huge puddles all over it.  I figured the ground would absorb the water but by late afternoon the puddles were still as deep.  To get to our trailer door we had to walk on two pieces of wood so we would not soak our shoes.  The park said we could move to nearby site that has a concrete pad and less flooding.  We completed the move on Saturday morning.

With those items out of the way we have done some exploring of the area.  The biggest attraction in this area is Chincoteague Island and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.  The island has a quaint little town and some tourist stuff, along with restaurants and such, but really, to us, it was not that big of deal.  The big event is in July when the wild ponies from the Wildlife Refuge are herded up and swim to Chincoteague Island for an auction.  The wild ponies are similar to what we saw on the Outer Banks.  They have been here for something like 400 years.  The herd is kept to a size of 150.  We took a walk on a trail in the park and could see a few off in the distance.  The pictures are blurry as the camera focused on the trees that were in front.

What was amazing on our walk was to see the destruction to the forest caused by superstorm Sandy.  Trees were snapped in half and bark blown off trunks.  Trees are piled up all over the area we walked.

After the first couple of days the weather significantly improved to where we are now running the air conditioner!

Next stop Delaware.

Finishing up with the Outer Banks

As I write this we have moved on to Temperanceville, Virginia, which is on the eastern shore.  Let me finish up our stay in the Outer Banks.

We spent our last full day seeing the remaining sites we had on our list.  The first stop was Jockey Ridge State Park.  This park has the largest natural sand dune on the east coast.  It is massive and gives you the sense of being in a huge desert.

Hard to capture the total perspective but in this picture you are seeing the expanse of the dune but what you cannot tell is that is probably 100 or more feet tall.  We took a walk on one of the trails but decided not to hike to the top of the dune.

As you can see Fran is bundled up as it was cold with a wind blowing.

It extends to the sound side.

Our next stop was Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo for lunch.  Roanoke was actually the first place the US was colonized but the entire population died off so it is called The Lost Colony.  During the summer months they do a very popular play called “The Lost Colony” that attracts many well known actors. 

On the island one of the attractions is the Elizabethian Gardens in honor of Queen Elizabeth.  Very beautiful gardens over 10 acres but not sure it was worth the $9.00 per person admission.

Statue of Queen Elizabeth

One section of the gardens

A great view of the sound through the trees.

Lastly, Fran was a funny picture taking mood so I offer these two up for your enjoyment.

It was this BIG!

Water, water!

Wild Horses of the Outer Banks

One of the big attractions in the Outer Banks is the wild horses.  These are horses that were originally brought here hundreds of years ago by the Spanish and have roamed the islands since.  Now they roam in the northern section and are protected by law from human contact, but they roam freely on the beach and around the homes that are up in that area. 

The fascinating part of this is how you get there.  The horses are in Corolla, North Carolina.  You drive the main highway, NC 12, in the Outer Banks north until it ends.  At that point you make a right turn, then a left turn and go onto the sand.  You must have a four wheel drive vehicle.  You end up on the beach, which now becomes the major road for the next 11 miles.  This is the section where the horses live along with a whole bunch of people.  There are many homes in this area, some as rental others for permanent residents.  The roads are all sand and not really marked. 

We could have used our truck, as it does have 4 wheel drive, and ventured out to find the horses.  But from what I read it can be very difficult to find them as they roam in the back country to find water and going on those roads can be treacherous, plus, if you are not experienced, you would not know where you are.  So instead we took a tour and are glad we did.  Our guide searched high and low for over 2 hours.  We saw many hoof prints and fresh excrement but only came across one horse off in the distance.  By law you have to stay at least 50 feet away from them. 

Here is a picture of the only one we found on our tour

Here are some other pictures from the tour

Our tour vehicle.  There were only four of us so we rode in the cab.

A view of the marsh.

A view of the dunes.

Wright Brothers

Today we went to the Wright Brothers National Monument that is in Kill Devils, North Carolina.  It is in the northern part of the Outer Banks, near Kitty Hawk.  With this visit we finish our tour of the Wright brothers sites.  It all started over 20 years ago with a visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. where we saw the original aircraft flown by the Wright brothers.

As our daughter Kelly lives near Dayton, Ohio we went to the various historical sites that are associated with the Wright brothers.  They lived and worked in Dayton, tested and built their airplane here.

Lastly, today we went to the place where they actually flew the aircraft and were successful. It is a great place to visit.  They have markers indicating the four flights made, restored hanger and living quarters, a very nice visitor’s center, an exhibit hall, a great sculpture depicting the actual first flight and the monument dedicated to their achievement.

This is the field where the flight happened.  The buildings are the restored living quarters and hanger.  In the background is where they flew with markers indicating the distance of the four flights.

Looking down the flight path.  At the bottom of the picture is the start of the rail that the plane was balanced on.  The granite marker indicates where the plane left the ground.

The marker

The monument on top of the sand dune.

Fran having some fun at the monument!

There is a sculpture depicting the actual event, from the plane to the people who were there.