New England

We left New York and moved into Connecticut last week as we continue our journey up the east coast.  We are in a little town called Chaplin, which is out in the middle of nowhere.  It is a very rural peaceful RV park and a great value compared to what we have been paying for sites on this trip.  The park is not that far from the places we wanted to see and the relatives we wanted to visit in Rhode Island.  As we could not find a decent park in Rhode Island we are staying at this park for two weeks to handle both states.

Here our activities for the first week. 

We drove to the coast of Connecticut to check out the towns of Mystic and Stonington.  Both are quaint little towns on the water with nice downtown areas to walk around.  You really get the feel of being in New England.  For you movie buffs there was a movie called Mystic Pizza which was the breakout role for Julia Roberts.  There really is a pizza restaurant called Mystic Pizza and some of the filming was done there.  We stopped in and bought a slice.

Mystic Pizza restaurant

View of the harbor with some sail boats

We had lunch at the next town over, Stonington, at a restaurant, Noah’s, recommended in our 1,000 places to see.  It was a very nice lunch. 

Noah’s restaurant

On Sunday we took a drive to see a couple of other little towns not far from here, East Haddam and Essex.  In East Haddam there is Gillette Castle state park which has a stone castle made at the turn of the 19th century by a man named Gillette.  He was famous for playing Sherlock Holmes on the stage during that period.  This house sits on a cliff and has amazing views of the area.  The amount of stone used is unreal.  Even the canopies over the windows are made of stone.

Gillette Castle

Stone canopies

The view

Part of the wall that surrounds the house

We had lunch in East Haddam at the Blue Oar.  This is right on the water and is a favorite place for boaters as there is a dock.  It was rainy and a little cold the day we went so no crowds.

Yesterday we drove to Newport, Rhode Island to check it out.  We ended up walking the downtown (wharf area), having lunch at the Black Pearl restaurant (fantastic clam chowder), driving on Bellevue Avenue (famous mansions) and Ocean Drive (more huge homes) and ending up walking on the cliff walk.  The town has built a nice walkway that extends 3 1/2 miles on the edge of the cliff and passes by many of the famous mansions.  About half the walk was closed when we visited but we did a little over a mile of it.

The cliff that the walkway follows

A small cottage!

Weekend retreat!

Newport was great and the weather was just perfect for the day.  The town was much larger than I had expected and I can see how it can get very busy on weekends and during the summer months. 

Next up is a visit to Hartford, Connecticut and a visit with relatives over the Memorial Day weekend.

New York

Last week we moved from New Jersey to Florida, New York, which is about 40 miles outside of New York City.  We have been here for a week and leave tomorrow, Tuesday, for Chaplin, Connecticut.  We did some sightseeing this past week so let me get you caught up.

We are in the Hudson Valley which is just a very beautiful area.  We picked this area as it is near a couple of sights we wanted to see, FDR Library and Home, West Point and it allowed us to get into New York City fairly easily by train.

First stop was the FDR Library and his Hyde Park home.  We were a little disappointed as the library is undergoing an extensive renovation so all they had open was a small exhibit following his life.  What was neat is his house.  You get to see it as it was when he last lived in it.  I could see why he loved to come to this house as the views of the Hudson Valley are spectacular.

Here is a picture of the library as it would look on the outside prior to the renovation.

His house

The view from the back of his house

His grave and his wife’s

Just down the road from FDR’s home is the summer home of one of the Vanderbilt’s.  They would use this house about 12 weeks out of the year.  It was given to the National Park Service back in the 40’s with all the original furnishings.  It represents the Gilded Age in America (turn of the century 1900’s).

Just a little weekend cottage!

Entry foyer with opening to second floor and skylight.

Next stop was a day trip into New York City.  We have been a few times so the plan was not to go to Times Square but rather to do some things we had not done.  I had not been to the 9/11 memorial so that was our first stop.  They have done a great job with this except for all the security.  It just so happened that the day we went was the day they officially topped the new building at 1776 feet by installing the last section of the spire.

The new Freedom Tower at 1776 feet.

One of the two memorial pools.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We’re walking, we’re walking!

Then it was a subway ride back into Manhattan, Chelsea District, to walk the High Line and have lunch.

We’re walking some more!

That was our day in the city.  Today, our last day, we went out to West Point and took a bus tour of the facility.  What a impressive place and some fantastic views of the Hudson River.

One of the chapel’s and probably the most famous.

Inside the chapel.  That is stained glass on both sides that line the walls and at each end.

As graduation is in a couple of weeks a cadet was out getting some pictures taken in his uniform.

The superintendent’s house.  This is the oldest building on the facility.

View of the Hudson River where it makes a turn.  This is called Trophy Point.  West Point was placed here as fort to protect from an attack from the river.

We had a chance to visit with some old friends from our days living in Concord, California.  We had not seen them in 20 years so it was a nice evening of catching up. 

Time to move on!

Cape May, New Jersey

We arrived in Cape May on Tuesday, April 30th, and will be here until May 7th.  If you look at a map, and have been reading my blog, you will see that we took the looooooooooooong way to get here.  We were actually just a few miles across the water when we were in Delaware and there is a ferry we could have taken.  We decided against it as we wanted to stop in the Washington, D.C. area and in Amish Country, Pennsylvania, so here we are.  That also allowed us to put two more map stickers on our RV map, which is very important!

We picked this area as neither of us had been here and wanted to see the Jersey shore and Atlantic City.  The beaches here are just beautiful so I can see why everyone comes here in the summer.  The big attraction here is Wildwoods which is right on the ocean and has amusement parks and a huge boardwalk with many arcades, restaurants and shops.  It is not tourist season yet and the weather is still a little cold so the place looked like a ghost town.  It is amazing to see all the homes, cottages and hotels.  The boardwalk was very impressive and I can see where families would have a great time.

A portion of the boardwalk in Wildwoods

Cape May lighthouse

Beach at Cape May

We took a drive up to Atlantic City and stopped at a town just before Atlantic City called Margate.  We had been told by a friend who is from the area to check out the building shaped like an elephant, so we did.

The things you see on the road

Neither of us had been to Atlantic City and wanted to go see the famed boardwalk.  As we get the New York TV stations on our DirecTV we had heard that much of the boardwalk had been damaged by superstorm Sandy last year, but that was not the case.  There was a lot of construction activity in the town and on one of the hotels lining the boardwalk but other than that the boardwalk and all the shops and restaurants were fine.

Trump’s Casino

A view down the beach.  They have restored the dunes and planted shrubs to help keep the sand in place.

A portion of the boardwalk. You see the cart in the middle of the picture, that is the boardwalk taxi.  You get pushed by someone, so you go walking speed!!  They do not allow bikes on the boardwalk during most of the day so this is what enterprising individuals have come up with. Did I mention you sit and move at WALKING SPEED!  I did not bother to ask how much they charge as I probably would not have been able to contain my laughter.

Weather has been cool and downright cold on some days.  In Atlantic City it was pleasant, but in Wildwoods we were bundled up in heavy coats.  Where is Spring?

Headed to Florida, New York next week, which is about 50 miles outside New York City.