Tuesday, December 10, 2013

We've Got the Travel Bug, Part II

Mid June 2013  Road Trip: Virginia to Massachusetts

In mid-June we flew toVirginia. From Virginia, we drove through West Virginia to Maryland, then to Pennsylvania, through NJ, NY and Connecticut to Rhode Island with our final destination in Boston, Massachusetts.

First we drove with friends to The Wisp Resort in McHenry, Maryland, at Deep Creek Lake, for their son's "destination wedding!" This resort has summer and winter activities, including, snow skiing, golf, and an adventure park. The happy couple were married on the top of the mountain overlooking the valley and lake, and the reception had a picturesque view looking up the green mountain! It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful setting.

Following the wedding, we ventured on our road trip with friends, Marc and Nancee. Our first stop was Emmitsburg, PA, where we walked the grounds of the National Fire Academy, (our first visit to this prestigious campus), where there's the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial and a replica sculpture of the firefighters raising the flag at the WTC site, entitled "To Lift a Nation."

Our next stop was Gettysburg, PA. We visited the Gettysburg National Museum, and marveled at the Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama Painting, "a breathtaking canvas that measures 377 feet in circumference and 42 feet high;" then we took a "CD Guided Auto Tour" of the battlegrounds, which spanned miles of open fields. [awesome!] This year marked the 150th anniversary of the famous battle. It's hard to describe the feelings that stir when you walk on historical grounds such as these.

From a couple of days in the Gettysburg area, we drove through Lancaster County, the Amish countryside of Pennsylvania, and stopped in a couple of small towns.  Of course, I found a couple of wonderful quilt shops to browse the beautiful made quilts and fabrics. I bought just a few pieces of fabric (as a quilter, I just couldn't go to Amish country and not, right!?!).  While we were walking around an outdoor plaza, suddenly we were pelted with rain. Due to the rain we only saw one Amish buggy. The rain lasted the rest of our drive to Newport, RI. The scenery all along the way was so green and pretty (except while we were driving through the big city of NY).

We stayed a couple of nights in Newport, RI and toured several of the famous Mansions of Newport. They reminded me of an American version of Downton Abbey!
This is "Marble House."
We also walked and eat on the beautiful waterfront of Newport, celebrating my birthday!


Next up, West Yarmouth for a few days. One day we took the pretty drive all the way to the end of Cape Cod. (Found another cute quilt shop on the way!)
We took a "fast ferry" to the island of Nantucket where we went on an informative walking tour of the old buildings in the town. We enjoyed the quaintness of Nantucket, despite the pricey stores!!

From Cape Cod, we drove to Boston and returned the rental car. We then used the "T"(the Metro) to get around Boston for a few days, took a "Boston Old Town Trolley Tour," walked part of "The Freedom Trail," visited Cheers (of course), and walked on the campus of Harvard University [Mark that off my bucket list!!]; we visited the Fire Museum of the First Fire Department of the United States, explored a lot of history, visited the JFK Museum, enjoyed 'Lobsta' Rolls, and didn't much like the 90% humidity, but we love visiting Boston! We had toured Fenway Park when we stopped in Boston on our New England cruise in 2011, and had hoped to go to a Red Sox game. But it wasn't to be as the Sox were out of town.  For sure we will go there on our next trip to Boston!

Our two week Road Trip took us about 3,000 miles from Virginia to Massachusetts, and we saw so many amazing sights and soaked up the history!  We look forward to more travels like this!

More pictures of our  Road Trip from Virginia to Boston here.

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