Tag: metallica

Travel America – Homeward Bound

I almost didn’t want to write about the end of our trip because that means it’s over. Yeah, I know how dumb that sounds since it’s obviously over. I just don’t do well with endings. Summer ended (for us) a week ago and school activities have ramped up, so I figure I’ll hang on just a little longer while sharing the last two days of our trip…as we were homeward bound.

 

We woke up one final morning in Connecticut to that crazy early 5am sunrise (I won’t miss that part). Everyone was sad to say goodbye, as the adults enjoyed renewed time together and all the kids enjoyed getting to really know one another. Deejay and the kids mentioned what we could do “next time” we visited, while the Galloways all pondered the thought that we weren’t sure we’d ever make it that way again. If we do, there are more sites to see and more Just Dance to play.  🙂

We traveled through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. We payed lots more in tolls and listened to a wide variety of tunes (Prodigy, Phish, the Transformers soundtrack, Guster, Honors orchestra, Toad the Wet Sprocket, the Wreck-it Ralph soundtrack, Allstate high school chorus, and the Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack). Alexander spotted nuclear power plants, Brandon spotted soybeans, and I finally spotted corn. (The plants were tiny though—we were apparently north enough for late harvest seasons.) Elizabeth commented how funny it was that one “piece of land” was shared by Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia…made me think about the Michigan U.P.

We finally approached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and the highest toll yet. However, this $15 toll was well worth the view (far better than the industrial views in Jersey for a lovely $12 toll). For 18 miles, we traveled along an isolated corridor of bridges and tunnels. There were two mile-long tunnels, going as deep as 75 feet below the water’s surface. The bridges were so long that they didn’t even seem like bridges as you skimmed above the water. Besides the road, there was nothing in site besides a few passing cars, a lone cargo ship, a picturesque sail boat, and the setting sun. We rode along in near total silence, just soaking up the amazing wonder of it all.

 

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It was hard to reenter reality after that, but soon found our hotel for the night and wandered out for one more delicious seafood meal. The last overnight stay was probably my favorite. This hotel room was a little more spacious, yet we were all still together. Long after crawling into bed, we were all talking about the day and giggling over shadow puppets on the wall.

The last day was celebrated with one last round of hotel waffles and one last effort at packing the car. I suddenly realized that while we had lots of pictures from the trip, we didn’t have a single picture all together. Lizzy came to our rescue and took a good group selfie!

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We drove through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia…of course with lots of music (the Connells, the Cure, more Metallica, Jack Johnson, Delirium, and more Phish). We drove past a giant beach chair in Virginia and wondered about an 1800s cemetery in the medium of I-85. Our final meal stop was at the Beacon in South Carolina. We made the mistake of ordering things “aplenty” (with onion rings and fries)…needless to say, leftovers aplenty went home with us!

 

It really was a wonderful trip. Of course there was tons we didn’t do and see, but that’s life. We all felt like we experienced a lot of our country without being overly scheduled. We made the most of technology (Waze, Gas Buddy, Trip Advisor, Roadside America, and Guess-It), and we made the most of time together. Thom blessed me with the gift of driving, as I got to just enjoy the view much of the trip. I don’t think we’ll ever forget the big things—monuments and our country’s history. I know we won’t forget the little things—silly jokes, crazy selfies, whispers in the night, and even the silence of awe. If you haven’t gotten out and experienced our world in some way, I urge you to do so. Take your spouse, your kids, your dog, or just yourself and experience this amazing world. Whether you experience something new in your community or something cool in a different country, it will change you (for the better) if you let it.

Travel America -Venture Northward

You can imagine our surprise when we woke up to howling wind and temps in the 40s. It was the last day of school for the CT kids, so we decided to drive around and venture northward a little more. Brandon was still angling for a trip to Maine (for authentic lobster), so we pondered driving through Massachusetts into southern Maine, and back through the southern sections of New Hampshire and Vermont. We thought about visiting Salem and/or investigating more American history in Boston with Paul Revere, the Boston Tea Party, etc. In the search, we noticed Plymouth MA and decided to go there first and wing the rest of the plans.
The drive through eastern CT and into MA was beautiful, hilly countryside. As you can imagine, we filled the time with music (REM, Indigo Girls, Imagine Dragons, Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, and Front Line Assembly). However, we kept the sunroof closed since it was too chilly outside.
Plymouth was a quaint, classic New England kind of town. The water was stunning and the anchored yachts were impressive. We strolled down the boardwalk to read about Plymouth Rock and then got to see it. I nearly laughed out loud as I was expecting something like this…

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…but instead I saw this…

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Yes, the information said it was probably at least three times larger (Zoolander anyone?) at the time of the Mayflower landing (if it really landed at the Rock, which seems debatable at best since the rock wasn’t mentioned in historical accounts until 100 years after the landing). Even three times larger would be nowhere near the picture I had in my mind. So, we moved on to see the Mayflower. I wasn’t surprised that it was a replica, but the kids somehow expected the original ship to still be sitting there in the water. I guess we all had our surprises that day, but enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

 
We ended up having an awesome lunch at the Lobster Shack, right there on the water (but inside because it was so windy and cool). On the way back to the car, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center (one of the best things you can do in any touristy town) and had a delightful time talking to the elderly couple running the center. They told us lots about the area and played a memory game with the kids. We had one final surprise before we got back to the car…one little shop was purportedly selling Harry Potter’s famous butterbeer. Of course the boys had to buy some (so the tourist trap worked).

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There were other things to do there, but we felt complete with the experience. We decided that the lunch lobster came out of the same water as our proposed Maine spot an hour north and collectively decided against the driving loop that would put us back at Deejay’s pretty late. Instead, we drove back along the coast and through Ocean Spray and past cranberry bogs. Then we kept going through Rhode Island…my new dream home state. (How could it not be? It’s known as the ocean state!) It really was beautiful, driving over more stunning bridges than I could count (but there were, of course, tolls).

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We got back to CT in time to celebrate the last day of school with a cookout and playtime in the yard with the kids. And since we didn’t make it to Vermont, we did the next best thing and went to Ben & Jerry’s for dessert.  🙂

 

Reflections: Thom had fun messing with some other Plymouth tourists, telling them “welcome to Georgia” after he took a picture for them; he also loved going over the scenic bridges. Elizabeth enjoyed the Visitor Center games (probably because she was better at it than her brothers), and appreciated the delicious cookout complete with grilled asparagus. Alexander had a foodie day, unable to decide whether the stuffed shrimp at lunch was better than the scrumptious scoop at Ben & Jerry’s. Brandon was, of course, excited to have real lobster (there’s no convincing him that other restaurant lobster is real)…but he was also tickled to imagine our forefathers (or relatives) passing down a lie about Plymouth Rock (and, as he said, that’s not something you learn in school).