Springing Up The East Coast

Springtime, with its colorful blooms and cooler temps, has always been one of my favorite times of the year. But after staying in Florida a little longer then we had originally planned, I thought that we would just jump right into summer as we started to head north. An appointment in central Pennsylvania to get Baby Beest's batteries ''recharged'' helped set our travel course, but also forced us to travel a bit faster than we normally like to. 

But I quickly noticed, blooming rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain-laurel, and sea roses lined our travel route up the East Coast.

And visits to national parks, historical sites, busy cities,  quiet villages ... and best of all ... time with family and friends made this a quick but memorable three weeks as we enjoyed ...

Springing Up The East Coast.

Here are some of our ''colorful'' highlights.

A photo-op in front of the capitol building in Columbia, South Carolina. This is my 48th state capital visit ... only Kentucky and Hawaii elude me.

The pure joy of children at play. We sure missed the energy, creativity, and laughter of young people when we were hanging out with the ''older crowd'' in Florida.

A walk among the towering giants at Congaree National Park. This South Carolina park protects the largest area of old growth river swamp hardwood trees that is left in the United States.

A birthday visit with family in Richmond, Virginia. Nothing like time with active grand-nieces to make me feel ''young at heart''.

A walk by a covered bridge in central Pennsylvania. While our van was getting a new battery system, we enjoyed all the colorful beauty of this quaint farming community.

A ''sweet'' visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Yes, it's one of those silly tourist traps, but anyone who loves Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as much as Doug does, needs to go pay them homage ...

while enjoying a Reese's PB sundae in honor of the 50th anniversary of this chocolate entertainment mecca.

A bike ride though the rolling green fields of Valley Forge. Unfortunately, my phone had some issues while we were there, so I don't have any photos of this place that is considered the turning point in the American Revolution. We'll have to go with a picture of Washington crossing the Delaware River ... I imagine the winter at Valley Forge was just as cold and miserable, and the soldiers were just as brave and determined.

A visit to Philadelphia for a scene out of the movie ''Rocky'',

... and a scene out of history.

This is the house where Thomas Jefferson stayed when he wrote the Declaration of Independence during the summer of 1776.

A stop at Gateway National Recreation Area. We enjoyed a bike ride on the trails that led us past an old fort and lighthouse, and we soaked up the quiet before we headed to our next ''home'' on the Jersey Shore overlooking ... 

New York City!

From our campground in Jersey City, we could bike along the coast to catch a glimpse of Lady Liberty or walk to the subway that would take us into the city. Any guesses which dear old ''Friends'' lived in this corner apartment in Greenwich Village?

 

Stately architecture with a ''spring'' floral flare greeted us as we walked around the quiet neighborhoods just outside of the busy Manhattan business center.

This was our second visit to NYC, and this time we didn't spend as much time in the touristy areas. Instead we met up with my niece on the East Side who introduced us to authentic New York style pizza. It was good, and very inexpensive by New York City standards at only $3.75 a slice, but I think that I'm a bigger fan of Chicago-style ... what's your choice?

We also learned that searching out the ''local'' bakeries yield delicious results. We took the subway to Brooklyn to walk around another working class section of the city and just happened to stumble upon this amazing selection of sweets.

How does one decide???

But I had no problem deciding on my favorite beer during our Brooklyn Brewery tour The secret is out ... their barrel aged stout ''Black ops'' is seriously delicious.

After two days of more mellow ''neighborhood'' strolls, we spent our third day doing the ultimate tourist activity ... it's showtime! There were big smiles for ''Hamilton''!

After three days in NYC, it was time to move out of the high-rent district. We drove north to Poughkeepsie, New York where Doug met up with a friend from his college days. Even though they hadn't seen each other in many years, Levi and his wife made us feel right at home. 

It was a fun surprise to find out that their house is near Hyde Park, which is where Franklin D. Roosevelt was born and raised, and where he and Eleanor raised their family. The National Park Service now manages and gives tours of the house as well as his presidential library and Eleanor Roosevelt's Stone Cottage which is nearby. And since I just turned that ''magical'' age, I received my National Park Senior Pass and got us all in on the tour of the FDR home for ''free''.

Because he gifted the house and grounds to the Park Service upon his death in 1945, much of FDR's personal belongings are still there including his personal wheelchair. He designed it using a normal chair as the base in order to downplay the after effects of polio. With all the amazing things that he accomplished for our country, it's crazy to think that he could not stand on his own.

There wasn't enough time to take in all of the history in that area, but I'm sure that FDR, Eleanor, and our friends Levi and Cheryl will welcome us back in the future.

During the following days, we finally were able to (sort of) solidify our summer travel plans and decided to head to eastern Canada. We were enamored with Newfoundland when we visited two years ago and want to spend more time there, so we decided to head there before returning to Minnesota in late summer. A few travel bucket list items of Doug's determined our route through New England.

One is his love of lobster, which kept us close to the coast in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine.

And he found some good ones! The coastal town of Wiscasset, Maine is famous for its roadside lobster stand called Red's Eats. Called the ''World's Best Lobster Shack'', it has been featured in numerous written publications and TV shows. Because of its popularity, there is always a long line. Not wanting to wait in line for an hour and a half like we did two years ago when we last passed through, we decided to try the ''rival'' shack across the road called Sprague's Lobster.

Same price, no wait, and according to Doug, the lobster roll as good or better than the competition across the street. Should we let the hungry people standing in line across the street in on our secret?

The other activity that determined our route was Doug's goal of visiting a craft brewery in every state.

Northwoods Brewing, a Harvest Host location in New Hampshire, served up good fish & chips in addition to their excellent home brews. As a bonus ... the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked crullers drew us back in for a breakfast treat the next morning.

A visit to Portland, Maine with its many craft breweries made it easy for Doug to capture his 49th state. It also was a lovely place to enjoy beautiful seaside scenery after another delicious seafood lunch.

Stopping at a state park just north of Portland, we got our first glimpse of some of the coastal beauty that awaited us at our next extended stop at Acadia National Park. But that iconic park deserves a blog entry all its own!

We were ready to enjoy a few days immersed in coastal beauty, ever grateful to be able to enjoy so many colorful moments while Springing up the East Coast.

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