Leaving Glen Allen Virginia we headed to our next stop for 5 nights at the KOA outside Millersville Maryland, just north of Washington DC, not a long trip – just arduous going around Washington. On our 2014 trip in the area we discovered how bad the roads are around that area so allowed plenty of time. We decided back then that any trip to include touring Washington would not be in Junior, fly in and find a hotel – so no pictures of the Capitol.

We took two trips, one to Baltimore and the harbor and Annapolis where we took a trolley ride around the town. Baltimore was really quite amazing, the harbor is really interesting and we went on a harbor cruise and sat at the bow on the upper deck – had to carry Rusty up the steep stairs – he hates to be carried.

The carousel at Baltimore Harbor

Dolphin water feature in Baltimore

Hard Rock Café and Dicks Last Resort in Baltimore

Bubba Gump restaurant in Baltimore

Submarine Museum at Baltimore Harbor

Two of the 4 military ships moored in Baltimore harbor

Fort McHenry defended Baltimore from the English Navy in 1814

USS Constellation in Baltimore harbor

Connie and Rusty on the Baltimore Harbor Cruise – Rusty shade bathing

On board the Annapolis Trolley Bus – courtesy of the tour guide

Maryland WW II Memorial – Severn River and the Annapolis Naval Academy in the distance

Annapolis Wall Painting

Another day it was raining so we just took a drive over to Delaware to eat in Dover and visit a small town right on the Maryland-Delaware state line called Marydel, it has one post office and 2 town Mayors – of course.

Our next stop was in Palmerton, Pennsylvania another 5 day stop. About the only thing we wanted to do here was visit the Pocono Mountains, Callie’s Candy and Pretzel Kitchens and of course take a trip to the Amish area around Lancaster. The chocolate and pretzel stops are dangerous places – ginger dark chocolate, orange in dark chocolate, jalapeno pretzels and more – really yummy. The chocolates only lasted a couple of days around my sweet tooth; we still have some pretzels left.

We found an Amish buggy ride in a town called Bird in Hand; there are some really “interesting” town names around here – Fertility and Intercourse to name two we saw. Ruth Ann was our young Mennonite driver, who answered all our questions including a lesson on the difference between the Amish and Mennonite communities – very interesting hour.

One horsepower buggy

Amish pedal power

Our horse drawn buggy at Abe’s

From there we were headed for Moodus in Connecticut – and that was where we had a really interesting drive along a toll road that had a weight limit. Randi (GPS system) who led us here in the first place, continually reminded me at every intersection we were too heavy, we managed to travel to our designated exit without incurring the wrath of the New Jersey police. Maybe if we had been pulled over we might have avoided hitting the deer on I80 east – yes – a large deer took out the front grill and most of the nose of Junior. If there is any luck about that it was that the oil coolers and radiator only suffered superficial damage so we were able to continue on to Moodus. The toad also took a hit from the grill bars that travelled under Junior, again, still drivable. The deer was not so lucky.

The grill is no longer there

Oil cooler and AC

It was at this point we decided to cut out 4 stops in Vermont, Maine, Canada and Niagara Falls – just start making our way back to Texas to get Junior fixed. The insurance company sent out an appraiser on Memorial Day and that part of the process was quite painless.

It’s been a while since we put an entry in our travel blog, and as we’ve been on this East coast journey for 5 weeks we thought it was about time. This post covers the Carolinas and Virginia.

We left our sticks and bricks in East Texas on April 23^rd and made a ‘mad dash’ across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to Carrollton in Georgia just west of Atlanta. We did 2 overnight stops in Monroe, Louisiana and Meridian, Mississippi – main reason for the ‘dash’ was that we had already travelled this route in 2014 in Arvey Senior – to see if we could travel full time. If you read our last post Early 2016 post you will already know that we had a few changes in our lives, anyway on with this post.

Even though we were just outside Atlanta we didn’t venture in, just took 2 days to chill before we travelled to Hardeeville in South Carolina. We stayed at Lake Jasper 2 years ago in the middle of summer not a great time to visit Savannah, just stop on the river front, eat and melt in the heat then a quick dash back to the car and the air conditioning. This time the temperature was much better and we had a nice lunch at a Greek restaurant on the river front and then took a trolley tour around Savannah.

A riverboat in Savannah

Some of the really beautiful architecture

An English themed pub in Savannah

We also took a few side trips to see a really old plantation building and the Spanish moss covered trees around the homes in Beaufort. On our last day we toured Tybee Island, took an impromptu Dolphin cruise and walked around Fort Pulaski – a great last day in South Carolina. We were told that the defenders of the fort stocked the moat with alligators – we saw one that had been left behind.

Frampton Plantation House

Beaufort House with trees covered in Spanish Moss

A shrimping boat coming in

Two dolphins alongside the boat

Four dolphins – does this count as a pod?

Seabirds and lighthouse viewed from the Atlantic

Cannon overlooking the entrance and moat at Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski moat with a lone alligator

The next stop was near Jacksonville, North Carolina for 5 days to explore the beaches and Fort Macon. On the way back from Fort Macon we bought a pound and a half of head-on shrimp – Connie said NEVER AGAIN, there is so much work involved in removing the head, the shell and not to mention – the poop.

Fort Macon in North Carolina

Connie and Rusty outside Fort Macon

Fresh shrimp on the barby

Whenever we get near a beach Connie has to go paddling

Connie after dipping her toes in the Atlantic at Coligny Beach

Connie paddling again

Virginia was our next stop and an amazing tour of the 1862 Seven Days Battlegrounds for Richmond, where General Robert E. Lee with 45,000 confederates pushed back the union army of 100,000 troops to the banks of the James River. Then with victories at Cedar Mountain and Bull Run he marched towards Maryland to start the first invasion of the north.

Beaver Dam Creek outside Richmond

Union artillery positions at the Springfield Plantation outside Richmond

One of the things we find ourselves looking for is waterfalls, so when Crabtree Falls appeared in Google maps we went. This is one of the rarest pictures – me and Connie and the waterfall. It was a cold and damp day so we found ourselves descending through some light clouds – amazing views though.

A rare picture of the 2 of us – courtesy of another tourist

View in the mist

View from the hills