National Park – Page 10

Charleston, SC

By Jennie Simpson | December 1, 2016

Hey Guys!! We spent two weeks in the Charleston, SC area!

One of our favorite things to do is go check out a beach in the area! We happened to make it to the Kiawah Beachwalker Park on the last warm day during our stay. It was a fantastic day with temps in the low 80s! We collect a little sand and some shells from each beach we visit.

We found our first sea star out in the wild although, I think it might have been…a little…dead. I’m hoping when the tide came back in it perked up and made a recovery.

I found one of the best shells I’ve found on a beach so far! Too bad is was already spoken for. We put this little guy back into the sand.

We stayed until the park started closing and it got a little too cool for our taste.

We visited Fort Moultrie. You might not recognize the name…Fort Moultrie is right across from its more famous counterpart, Fort Sumter. One of the coolest things we get to do is visit old Forts. We don’t always get a chance to see them all, but we try to hit at least one when they’re available. Some Forts are open for visitors to roam around on their own while others require you to sign up for a guided tour. We like them both…we like to take our time and look, but we also enjoy the knowledge the tour guides impart. Fort Moultrie is a free roaming Fort. There were tons of nooks and crannies we ventured into.

This is as close as we got to Fort Sumter. While it is a part of the National Park System, a private ferry ticket is required to reach it. We can’t always do everything in a city we want to. Since we’re not technically on vacation, we have to pick and choose keeping in mind the cities to come and what those offer, as well.

The biggest reason we didn’t spring for Fort Sumter is because I wanted to visit Boone Hall Plantation.

Boone Hall Plantation is one of America’s oldest working plantations. You’re looking at the Avenue of Oaks. I love the look of the giant oak trees with the Spanish moss! The trees were planted back in 1743 by Captain Thomas Boone. It took more than 200 years for the two rows of trees to meet overhead in the middle. You might recognize this Avenue of Oaks form the mini-series North & South or maybe from the movie The Notebook. Boone Hall Plantation has been in quite a few movies, shows, and print articles.

Boone Hall has quite the history and is part of the Underground Railroad. Our favorite experience at Boone Hall was the Gullah Culture presentation.

This surprised us. To be honest, we didn’t know what Gullah is.

This isn’t our video. I didn’t take one. I could just kick myself for not taking a video. But, this is the same woman we saw and she was really good. If you get to visit Boone Hall Plantation, don’t miss the Gullah Geechee presentation. Plan your day around it.

I’m going to add one more video. This one isn’t at Boone Hall Plantation, but this is a story she told us. Her name is Jackie Michael and she’s a retired schoolteacher turned Gullah Geechee story teller.

The sweetgrass baskets everyone loves comes from the Gullah culture. You can find them all over Charleston. We got to see them being made at a few different places. The picture above was taken at Boone Hall Plantation, but we also saw them at the Charleston City Market and there were some roadside stands as well.

This is the Charleston City Market and if you’re ever in the area you should definitely at least walk through it.

You’ll find some of the best souvenirs here. And food. They sell food. Souvenirs, sweets and BBQ…what more do you need?

There’s a lot of history in Charleston. There are several different tours you can go on. If history is your thing, I would definitely suggest a tour. This is the Old Slave Mart. I’m sure you can guess what happened here.

This is called Rainbow Row. You’ll see this on sooo many Charleston souvenirs. It does depict the quintessential Charleston. I love that the buildings are pretty pastel colors!

Another Charleston must see is the Pineapple Fountain. There were tons of people at this park…all taking photos. The park is gorgeous and right by the waterfront. We saw just as many locals enjoying the park as we did tourists.

Welcome to the land of cotton. We saw so many huge fields of cotton while we were in this area! It was pretty neat to see. The one in the photo above was one of the smaller fields.

Lets talk food. Guys, plan to splurge here. The food is ah-maze-ing. Amazing! This was one of my splurges…it’s a pimento cheese, fried green tomato, bacon, and fried egg sandwich on Texas toast. And please notice the pickled okra next to it. Have you ever seen anything more southern on a plate? It was fantastic!

The other foodie find was a place called Charleston Burger Co. It’s definitely splurge worthy, but they do offer gluten free buns for anyone interested. The Dude got The Killer Beehive burger…and yes, he ate it all!

Angel Oak is a live oak tree that is estimated to be anywhere between 400 and 600 years old. The state of South Carolina has it fenced off and has set hours to visit to try and keep vandals away from it.

The sheer size of this tree was unbelievable!

The last touristy thing we did was go to the Charleston Tea Plantation where we learned all about what goes into making the tea we drink. It was pretty cool and…it was free. Seriously. The tour and all the samples you want…free. It’s definitely worth a stop.

Are you ready for some pretties?

There were tons of pretties in the Charleston area!

Nope, I don’t know any of their names.

I could do an entire post just on the pretties of Charelston. I was in flower heaven!

We also saw more butterflies and honey bees than we have in a long time!

So, there you have it! Our two week stay in Charleston! We didn’t see even half of what there was to see!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Oh Carolina…

By Jennie Simpson | November 16, 2016

Hey Guys!! We spent a week in the Raleigh, NC area.

We didn’t do much.

We made it to the State Capitol Building.

Most of the North Carolina State Capitol Building is a museum. They’ve arranged rooms to resemble what they were in years past. The room above is the geology room. We love it when there’s a museum in the SCBs! We learn so much about the state through these museums.

Y’all know we love foodie spots. Let me introduce you to Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar. You can get burgers, sushi, and burger/sushi fusions!

There were so many options…you could eat there everyday for months and not get the same thing twice. We absolutely loved Cowfish!! The owner came out and talked with us while we were there and guys…he was so nice. Seriously. If there’s a Cowfish near you, go check it out!

We also spent a week in Columbia, SC.

We didn’t take a tour at the South Carolina State Capitol Building, but we did get to roam around. I thought the dome was pretty.

Most of the SCBs we’ve visited have a redish/pink color scheme in at least a few of the rooms, but both of the Carolina’s SBCs were more earthy tones with blue highlights. It was a nice change.

We made it to Congaree National Park. I’d been looking forward to this park since I’d done the initial planning for our whole nomadic fifty state tour. It stuck in my head because there was a caution that this park inhabits six venomous snakes and alligators. Six. Six venomous snakes all in one park. And then they add alligators on top of that!

No, I don’t like snakes. Not even a little, but I felt like we were be safe enough with the boardwalk trail. We got there the week after Hurricane Mathew mucked up our plans and sent us fleeing to Asheville. So…we were already irritated with Mathew. When we got to Congraee we learned Mathew wasn’t done messing with us. Nope. He’d blown through the park and messed up pretty much all of the trails. We got to walk a teeny tiny bit of the boardwalk trail. We were so bummed. I’d been looking forward to it for soooo long and then bam! A hurricane.

But it wasn’t a total loss. We found an all you can eat buffet at Little Pigs Barbecue. All. You. Can. Eat…BBQ!!! What?!?!

I counted four different kinds of pulled pork! There was also all the fixin’s! All of them. Oh, and by-the-way…in the Carolinas anytime you hear BBQ they mean pork. Always. It was soooo stinkin’ good! Little Pigs is a no frills kind of place, but that’s ok because it helps keep the cost down. When was the last time you’ve eaten at an all you can eat buffet for $10? That includes a drink. Yum-oh!

We have officially fallen in love with the Carolinas!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

A Time Of Firsts

By Jennie Simpson | November 2, 2016

The plan was to stay a week on the outer banks of North Carolina enjoying the Kitty Hawk area. Mother Nature threw a monkey wrench in our plans though with Hurricane Mathew so we only stayed for three days. We crammed everything we could into those three days and in the process totally fell in love with the area.

My main reason for going to the area was to visit The Wright Brothers National Memorial. In the photo above you can see the original buildings the Wright Brothers lived and worked in while they were at Kill Devil Hills trying to get their contraption to fly. You can also see the Memorial up on the hill. This is the first and biggest memorial to be built for someone while they were still living.

Nope. It’s not the original, but it’s a copy right down to every detail, built the same way the Wright Brothers would have built theirs. The original was destroyed when a gust of wind caught it and threw it around before they could get it tied down after the fourth flight attempt.

You can see the stone markers signifying where each of the first three flights landed in the picture above. You can also see on the sign, a copy of the photo that was taken of that very first flight that lasted all of 12 seconds and went a grand total of 120 feet.

There’s a neat little area set up that shows what that first attempt looked like with the Wright Brothers and the few guys they had helping. Notice it’s on sand? That’s because when the Wright Brothers were there the area was more like a desert. Not much grass and no trees. Go look up a picture of it on the interwebs. You’ll be surprised at how different it looked back then.

On our first morning there, we got up to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic. It was pretty spectacular.

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It was an amazing way to start the day! We even spotted a pod of dolphins playing in the surf!

We made it to Roanoke Island where the first English Colony was formed and where the first English child (Virginia Dare) was born in the New World.

You might remember from your history class that the fate of the people of this colony is unknown. The only clue was the word “Croatoan” carved in a tree. Nope. It’s not the original tree, but it is a fun picture opportunity!

We only made it to one of the area’s lighthouses since our time was cut short, but it was a really neat lighthouse and it was one of the Visitor Center’s for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. We didn’t make it all the way down to Cape Hatteras either…but, that’s ok. We’ll just have to go back and visit the area again.

After talking to our neighbors (hi neighbors!) we decided to go to Corolla Beach and try to find the wild horses. We didn’t see them, but we had fun driving on the beach!

We did take time to play on the beach. It was right outside our RV park. We could see it from our door and hear the waves at night. It was pretty fantastic! Littlest wanted to fly a kite on the beach so we went and found a kite. It wasn’t hard, they sold them everywhere. It was our first time flying a kite on the beach! You’ll notice we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We didn’t mind.

We spent the entire afternoon building sandcastles, playing in the waves, finding seashells and sea glass and just…relaxing. None of us wanted to leave.

We tried Duck Donuts for the first time. It won’t be our last. We’ve all declared Duck Donuts as our favorite donut place. You walk in and order your donut with the glaze/frosting you want, add whatever toppings you want, and top it off with the drizzle of your choice. And then you get to watch them pull your donut out of the fryer and make it so when you get it it’s still warm!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!! We’ll be in Raleigh, NC next week…guess what donut place is there! Muuwaahahahaha…I’ll eat one for you.

We also got our very first taste of North Carolina BBQ. We’re fans. It’s quite possibly the best BBQ we’ve ever had…anywhere. We went to a place called High Cotton. Guys, we’ll go back to the Kitty Hawk area again just to eat there. It’s really that good. We got to chat with the owner while we were there and he’s the nicest guy. If you’re ever in the area, you have got to stop in and grab a meal. Then get one to go so you can have “leftovers” the next day!

That was all the time we had. The boys managed to earn three new Junior Ranger badges before we had to head inland. We weren’t sure what Hurricane Mathew was going to do and it’s better to play it safe in situations like that, but we’ll be back! We didn’t even scratch the surface of what there is to do there.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

America’s Historic Triangle

By Jennie Simpson | October 19, 2016

Located in Virginia: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown are known as America’s Historic Triangle. We spent two weeks here, but really only scratched the surface of what there is to see and do.

We started at the Yorktown Battlefield where we learned about the final major battle of the American Revolution.

The boys loved it. They got to hear a canon being fired not once, but several times during our visit.

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I thought y’all might want to see the cannon fire and hear how loud it was.

If you head into the Visitor Center, you can see the Witness Cannon they have on display. What’s a Witness Cannon? It’s a cannon that was actually at the battle. It’s genuine. You need to say that last part in your best Southern accent. Really drawl it out and add a few syllables.

You can even see where a cannonball hit it.

We love the battlefield auto tours so we grabbed one in the Visitor Center and headed out to see the battlefield. There were a few other families out doing the tour, but not many.

The countryside in Virginia is beautiful. We really enjoyed our time in Virginia. It’s nice to get back to the Southern hospitality.

Historic Jamestown was next on our list. This is the site of America’s first permanent English settlement. You don’t really get to see anything that was there. It’s all buried to keep it protected. But they’ve built a few structures to give guests an idea of what it might have looked like. It was neat to be there…but I think next time we’ll check out the Jamestown Settlement, which is the State Park version of the one we went to.

The last place we went was Williamsburg. We had some good friends fly all the way from Texas to Virginia to visit with us and they went with us to Jamestown and Williamsburg.

We toured the Governor’s Palace where we got to see how the king’s representative lived.

The whole house was impressive, but I liked the entrance the best. Check out all of those weapons!

All of the weapons were on display not only to show wealth and intimidate, but also to keep them in easy reach when needed. Can you imagine having to keep all of those polished and cleaned?

All of the bright colors surprised me. The photo above was in the ballroom. The rug was rolled up and stored to the side anytime dancing happened.

I’m happy to report none of us got lost in the maze! It was close…I’m soooo bad at these things.

Some of my favorite things about Williamsburg were all of the artisans. We got to roam around and poke our heads into the many wonderful period era shops.

Most of the historic interpreters did a good job of staying in character without making it weird or awkward.

Littlest and The Dude were kind enough to demonstrate the pillory for us. I may or may not have taken my time getting this picture. ha!

One of the highlights of the whole two weeks was the tour through the capitol building at Williamsburg. Our tour guide was amazing! She was knowledgeable, entertaining and came across as genuinely passionate. If all history lessons were as good as hers, I would’ve done so much better in school.

We had to check out the jail. The one above was a bit morbid with the coffin in it. See the steps on the right side of the picture? That’s the toilet.

We were close to Richmond, VA so we took the opportunity to see the VA State Capitol Building.

The VA State Capitol Building was a nice surprise. From the outside you can’t see the dome…but, surprise! There’s a dome!

We had a great time in Williamsburg. We will definitely be back to visit VA again.

See y’all down the road!!

#easterloop2016

Washington DC

By Jennie Simpson | October 11, 2016

Hey Guys!! We spent one week in the DC area and it wasn’t nearly long enough. We had four very crazy, very full, very looonngggg days where we ventured into the DC area and we still didn’t get everything on our list done.

We somehow managed to snag tickets for the White House tour. We heard we were one of only five Texas families since February 2016 that’s been approved.

We got to look through some of the rooms that I’m pretty sure aren’t really used much anymore.

Several of the rooms had a color theme. Can you guess the name of the room above?

There were Secret Servicemen everywhere. Most of them were super nice and full of all kinds of info. We asked them all the questions we could think to ask. From how many colors of green were in the Green Room to how heavy the chandeliers are in the photo above.

Caught this view out one of the White House windows. Not bad, right?

I’m pretty sure they set this up as a photo opp…but it’s a good one.

And check out this piano! Gorgeous!!!

The very first thing we did in the area was visit the zoo. Littlest is panda crazy and has been looking forward to seeing a real, live panda in person all summer.

He was in heaven. We met an old friend of ours and her family at the zoo. *waves at Kiki & family* We got to catch up while the kids all watched the animals.

We stayed at an RV park not too far from DC. They have an orientation about how to get around the area. It was super helpful. We used these two maps the whole time. We never had to actually drive into the DC area. We always utilized the Metro system.

One of the experiences we missed out on in NYC was the subway system. The boys were curious about it and wanting to ride it, but we just didn’t get to do it. So, while we were in DC we rode the Metro often. The first ride was pretty exciting for them.

For those of you wondering what it looks like. Here’s one of the Metro stops.

We found a few foodies… This is a Banana Fosters Shake. It was fantastic! So good!!

And we found a great little hole-in-the-wall Salvadoran place. It too was just fantastic!!

We hit all of the memorials that we could. This is the WWII Memorial.

We had to snag a picture by the Texas post.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Lincoln Memorial. We actually got a decent picture of the boys here without tons of other people in the shot. I think there were roughly a thousand or so people there at the same time we were trying to get the Junior Ranger stuff done.

Korean War Memorial

The Washington Monument was closed while we were there. Something to do with the elevators. We still enjoyed seeing it.

Vietnam War Memorial.

Iwo Jima Memorial.

We found the National Cathedral. It was gorgeous. I love all of the angles and spires around it.

We made it to the Arlington National Cemetery.

It’s a lovely place full of quiet reverence.

We spent several hours here walking around.

We watched the changing of the guard before we left. It changed us all. You can’t watch something like that and not be changed. The boys still bring it up in conversation every so often.

We made it to the Maryland State House!

The dome was ok…

It had some pretty stained glass.

We found the reddest room in the world. If it’s not official it should be. The walls were red velvet.

The Maryland State House is where George Washington resigned from the military.

There was a neat little museum on the first floor. The area around the building was pretty neat too! We enjoyed this one.

We even managed to get in a tour of the Nation’s Capitol Building! We wanted a complete set…

Did you know that if you contact your State Rep that they will set up a private tour for you so you don’t have to wait in the long lines? And you get to go into the tunnels that connect the Capitol Complex. It was pretty cool.

I want y’all to know I got in trouble taking this picture for y’all. Apparently, you’re not supposed to stop in the center and lay your phone down on the ground while you’re at the Nation’s Capitol. I thought for a minute I was going to get kicked out. I made sure to snap the picture before getting up though. I mean, I was already there…and in trouble…might as well get the shot.

Each state gets to have two statues in the building. So…there are statues sitting everywhere. It’s kind of weird.

Our tour guide showed us the Whispering Spot where John Quincy Adams used to have his desk in the room in the photo above this one. We stood over this spot and our guide stood way over across the room and whispered. And we heard him! It was the coolest thing!

This is the old Senate Chambers. It used to have wooden floors. Notice the spittoon. They were everywhere! According to our guide all of the Senators used to chew tobacco and instead of using the spittoons they would just spit on the floor. It became so gross that if you dropped anything at all you just left it. And instead of stopping or using the spittoons they would just rip out the wooden floor every so often and replace it. Talk about a waste of money. Sheesh. Can you even imagine the smell this room most have had??? Bleh!!!

We found a few pretties…

Not too many. It was late in the season.

We walked a lot in the four days we were in DC. Sometimes it pays to be the Littlest.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Cape Cod, MA

By Jennie Simpson | September 13, 2016

Hey Guys!! We spent one crazy, busy week in the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts! I’d always heard how insane the traffic in Cape Cod can get, but it was so much worse than I ever imagined. There was a particular round-about that really mucked up the flow of traffic. It was hard to get in and out of it and it really caused a backup for several miles.

Other than the traffic issue…Cape Cod is a little slice of heaven on a beach.

We spent our first morning there at a Ranger Walk to learn about the beaches and sea life in the area. The boys loved the cool water after walking on the very hot sand.

The Ranger led us down the beach to see around 200 or so seals. Just FYI…great white sharks eat seals so if you see a bunch of seals taking refuge on a sand bar (and you’re in an area known to be home to great whites) chances are…there’s a shark somewhere close. Just something to think about.

We only had one full day in the area and we spent all of it beach hopping…trying to see as much of Cape Cod as possible. I’ll be honest here…we were also trying to get it done so we wouldn’t have to fight the traffic again. Yes…it really was that bad.

If you enjoy lighthouses this is your place. We visited three but spotted a few more.

We happen to be there on International Lighthouse Day. We tried our best to see all of the lighthouses Cape Cod had to offer.

This one was out on a point and it was sooooo windy! Super windy and parking was tight, but look how pretty it is!

We found a burger place…I know, I know… we have a thing about burgers. Some of you might call it an obsession, but we call it a way of life. This place though… It’s called The Knack. It’s definitely in our top 10.

Y’all know we love to take factory tours. We hadn’t been on a potato chip factory tour so we jumped on the chance to visit the Cape Cod Chip Factory!

For some reason, none of the factory tours allow photography. Which is such a bummer because this one was really neat. You shuffle down the hall where you get to watch a potato chip being made from start to finish.

I was allowed to take this picture of the first bag they used.

This tour is a self-guided, free tour and at the end you get this nifty little sample bag! Does anyone recognize the lighthouse on the bag from a picture earlier in this post? You can visit that exact lighthouse.

Besides some great beaches, we saw some amazing sunsets.

We were really close to Plymouth while we were in the Cape Cod area so we took an afternoon and went to visit the place where it all started. I’d heard it’s very touristy, but I really wasn’t prepared for just how much of a tourist trap it really is. We paid the extravagant price to see the MayflowerII. I wouldn’t suggest you do it. Just look at it from the outside and don’t bother going in. It’s really not worth it.

If you happen to be in the area, swing by and take a gander at Plymouth Rock. It’s…a small rock. It’s free to look at though! So, that’s a plus. It’s the only free thing in the area, I think.

So, here’s the thing. I get that people have to pay bills. I do. I get it. But why charge such outrageous prices for things that are being advertised as “family” and “educational”? There were a few other things in the area that were kind of all grouped with Plymouth and the Pilgrims and that whole piece of our history. You can look them up and make your own decisions…but read the reviews on them. Don’t just go to their website because they do a good job of making it look awesome. Read reviews. We chose not to go to the other things after we went to the Mayflower II.

There were a few pretties! I love these…they’re huge!

This one wasn’t completely bloomed out yet, but I love how delicate it looks.

You see the red dots? Those are actually seed pods from some flower that had already finished it’s bloom cycle. I think the red pods are just as pretty as the little purple flowers next to them and then the ocean behind them isn’t bad either.

All in all we loved the Cape Cod area! We will definitely go back…during the off season.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Hampton Falls Area

By Jennie Simpson | September 1, 2016

We used Hampton Falls, NH as our base camp to explore the area. We spent two weeks in NH bouncing around between Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. I usually break these kinds of posts up, but I’m going to smash it all into one this time! Are you ready?

We spent a day in Salem, MA. Salem is a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. The whole witch trial thing always fascinated me.

There’s so much history in the North East. We made it by the Lyceum Hall where Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call. Extra points if you know what he said!

Salem is kind of what you would expect. It’s filled with all things witchy…new

and old.

The Old Town Hall was in a movie you might have seen…Hocus Pocus! I geeked out just a bit here as we walked by.

We stopped by the oldest grave yard in Salem. The Witch Trails are such a sad part of our history. It bothered us how touristy Salem is…we feel like they’re being a little disrespectful to what really happened there. I’m not going to go into a history lesson here…we all know what happened.

We made it to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site where the boys got another Junior Ranger badge! And that was the end of our time in Salem!

We spent a day in Boston, MA walking the Freedom Trail! I love Boston! I’m just going to throw that out there right from the start. I loved it!

Let’s start with the Capitol Building. It’s gorgeous! Look at that golden dome!

The inside didn’t disappoint either. We did a tour where we met a lovely family from England!

And then we saw the dome. And we stood there with our mouths open for a minute. Look at that stained glass!! All thirteen original colonies are represented in this stained glass. Love it!

One more picture of the Capitol Building…I couldn’t leave out the tile floor. So pretty! This Capitol Building is high up on our favorites list. It didn’t disappoint at all. I could do an entire post about it, but we’re leaving the Hampton Falls area tomorrow and I’m not sure I’ll have cell service at our next spot so I’m trying to get all caught up on my posts.

We stopped by the Paul Revere House and strolled through. It’s a self-guided tour with interpreters around to answer any questions. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside. You’re looking at the oldest house in Boston. Looks pretty good for its age.

Another stop on the Freedom Trail is the Old North Church where the two lanterns were hung on April 18, 1775.

You can go in and look around. We’d never been to a church where the pews were boxed off like this. Apparently, back when the church was first built, you would purchase your own box.

We stopped by one of the graveyards on the Freedom Trail. The one in the picture is Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. One of the things we noticed about the gravestones in both Salem and Boston are that they’re a lot thinner than what we’re used to seeing.

Quite a few of the headstones were decorated with the skull and cross bone symbols or a skull with wings. The symbols were supposed to be a reminder to the Puritans of the mortality of the body.

I love the mixture of old and new buildings here.

I may have geeked out a bit here too. I mean, it’s Cheers! Where everybody knows your name!

We went in and had some burgers. No, it’s doesn’t look like the show. I was a little disappointed with that. It was a long hot day of walking though and that air conditioned seat felt wonderful!

It might not have looked like the Cheers on the television, but there was a wall dedicated to it!

I had to stop by the Make Way For The Ducks sculpture. Super cute!

Ok. One more picture of Boston. This is Swan Pond. How lovely is it? We didn’t stick around long here because we were all so tired and ready to be back in the car.

We explored Halibut Point State Park one afternoon.

Halibut Point State Park used to be a quarry. You can see the “pond” it made in the picture above.

We saw this pretty little bird while we were heading back to our car. It let me get really close!

Not far from where we stayed was a farm where you can pick your own blueberries! Anyone need some blueberries? We have plenty!

We explored the ruins of Fort Constitution. There wasn’t much there.

Most of it looked like this. I’m not even sure this was part of the original Fort…it was right next to it.

We went to see the Nubble Lighthouse! It was a gorgeous day!

We checked out the tidal pools at the lighthouse…but there wasn’t too much in them.

Best of all…we got to meet up with one of my friends! Hey Anne Marie!! One of the things I like the most about our nomadic lifestyle is that I get to go visit friends!

Are you ready for some flowers?

I don’t know what kind of flowers these are, but they’re all over the place!! I love love love them!!

I don’t think this is fireweed, but it’s really close. I love the purple.

These are in our RV Park!

You can’t tell from the picture, but this bush is well over six feet tall!

Pretties from Boston.

There’s sumac all over the place here!

I know it’s a weed, but I really like it. They call it Queen Anne’s Lace and when it’s all bloomed out it’s a really pretty white flower.

I think that’s it! We fit quite a bit into two weeks!

See y’all down the road!

#easterloop2016

Acadia National Park

By Jennie Simpson | August 25, 2016

Acadia National Park is one of the country’s smallest National Parks, but it’s also one of the most visited National Parks. More than 2 million people explore Acadia each year and I think they were all there with us. While we loved the park, we didn’t love the crowds. We spent two weeks in Acadia trying to find our own little piece of Down East.

The first thing we did was drive up Cadillac Mountain to take in the views. It was breath taking!

The boys got to take their time with the Junior Ranger books since we were there for two weeks. We went to a Ranger Talk where the boys were introduced to the different sea creatures they could find in the area tide pools. In the photo above, The Dude is holding a sea star.

Speaking of tidal pools…we found tons of them…but no sea stars anywhere! Bummer!! All of the pools we found had plenty of muscles and periwinkles along with seaweed and sometimes…a few crabs.

I love Maine’s rugged coast line.

We made it to Thunder Hole…I think we must have been there at the wrong time though, because it wasn’t very active. The tide was coming in and it was making a little of the thunder noise. Oh well, something to try and catch next time!

The majority of Acadia National Park is on Mount Desert Island. We drove around looking at all of the harbors. I love the bobbers on the buildings.

The tides play a huge role in the daily lives of the Mount Desert Island inhabitants. Most of them have a boat. One of the thing we noticed is that because the tides are so big, they have to anchor their boats pretty far out from the coast. So, they all have these smaller boats to get out to their bigger boat.

We went to see the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. You can’t get a place where you can get a decent shot of it from the coast line. The lighthouse was built in 1858 and is still fully functional. Right now someone lives in it, but allows people to come take pictures with it.

My favorite hike in Acadia is the Bubble Rock hike. It was short, but strenuous up to the summit of Bubble Rock where you get to see a huge boulder left over from when the glaciers moved through the area. The boys tried their hardest to push it off. It didn’t budge.

But, look at the view! We actually managed to get this spot to ourselves for a good twenty minutes! It was amazing!!

When we were leaving about ten or so people were meandering their way up. One of them was nice enough to snap a picture of the five of us at the summit sign.

One of the cool things…and something we hadn’t seen before…is the way Acadia does their trail signs re-purposing fallen trees.

The Acadia Bridges. There are 16 or 17 of them. I guess a lot of people will spend years getting pictures of all of them. We hiked to three…I was over it after the first one. If I’m going to hike, I need the payoff. An old bridge in the middle of a forest just doesn’t do it for me.

The Carriage Roads…sigh. Again, if I’m going to hike…I need something to look at besides a road and trees. There are close to 60 miles worth of Carriage Roads to walk on. You can’t drive on them, but you can walk, bike, or ride in a carriage. I think I was expecting more. Everyone I spoke to…all of the books I read…they all made such a big to do about the Carriage Roads. But, guys…they’re just nicely graveled paths. I dunno. To each his own.

We drove an hour to go visit the Schoodic Peninsula area of Acadia NP and boy howdy, it was totally worth it! We found the top-secret location of the Raven’s Nest. Don’t ask the Rangers, they won’t tell you. I guess it’s deemed too dangerous. We went on a Sunday afternoon and had the place to ourselves. We took our time here and really soaked up the views.

More views from the Raven’s Nest area. I bet you’re wanting to know where this magical place is. We might…just maybe…have the GPS coordinates for it. I don’t know if we should give them to y’all. I mean, what if we give them to you and y’all go and fall off the cliff? I would feel terrible! But, if you promise not to go and be boneheads and fall of the cliff, I’ll give you the coordinates. Promise? Ok, good. Here are the coordinates 44.352005, -68.074934. Now go forth and enjoy the splendor that is known as the Raven’s Nest! lol! Just please be careful and if you have little kids hold their hands.

We made it all the way out to the peninsula and played around on the rocks by the shore.

We found tons of muscles and more periwinkles…but no sea stars.

Littlest and I had fun trying to get pictures of the waves splashing up on the rocks.

As we were leaving the Schoodic Peninsula we spotted some sea otters playing! We sat in our car by the road watching them for a few minutes.

We were losing the light and the otters were moving on when we spotted a porpoise!

On our last night in the area we met up with another full-time RV family. They showed the boys how to go crabbing.

The boys loved crabbing! They had such a great time.

They would catch a bucket full and then take them back to the beach to have crab races with them.

This was our last sunset in Acadia. Not a bad way to end our time there. We shared a campfire with some new friends and got to swap stories about living full-time in an RV with kids.

I know y’all are wondering…yup, we had lobstah!!!

And we had to have a piece of blueberry pie. I mean, we were in Maine, y’all. It would’ve been a crime against nature to not have some blueberry pie.

We also had to have a whoopie pie. When in Maine, right?!

Wild flowers! Everywhere! I was in flower heaven!

So. Stinkin’. Pretty!

Alright! That’s our time in the Acadia area! We already want to go back, but we want to go back when there aren’t 2 million other people getting in the way.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses…

By Jennie Simpson | July 15, 2016

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.

IMGP3548 — The Dude standing by a replica of Lady Liberty’s face.

Before Lady Liberty stood proudly on it, Liberty Island was a star-shaped Fort Wood.

Mr. Man with one big foot!

She has a copper shell about the same thickness as a penny and is 151 feet tall.

There’s a great museum that details how, when, where and who built the Statue of Liberty. We didn’t make it all the way up to the crown. There are only a certain number of people allowed in the crown per day and I didn’t get ours reserved in time.

I checked mid April and they were sold out util mid August. Bummer. We did get to go up into the pedestal! It was crowded and the view wasn’t much different than the view you get on the ground.

We also stopped at Ellis Island.

The boys did the Junior Ranger booklets at both Ellis Island and Liberty Island. The books were different, but the badges were the same. That’s ok…we always learn so much more when the boys go through the Junior Ranger booklets!

IMGP3482 — The Registry Room around 1912

Millions of Americans can claim ancestors who came through the doors of Ellis Island.

IMGP3488 — The Registry Room present day.

For over two decades thousands of immigrants (sometimes over 5,ooo in one day) went through The Registry Room.

IMGP3492 — America propaganda at Ellis Island

There’s a really great museum that details not only the buildings on Ellis Island, but also the struggles of the immigrants to get to Ellis Island and then their struggles once they reached America.

IMGP3501 — Personal items from immigrants

Some of the displays even have actual items that immigrants brought with them on their journey to the U.S.

My favorite things at the museum though, were all of the stories. The quotes of what the immigrants thought and/or felt.

IMGP3512 — Hospital side of Ellis Island

I didn’t realize how big Ellis Island is. You’re only allowed to roam around half the island. You have to be on a special tour to see the hospital side. I would love to do the tour and have already started working on talking Jerl into going back some day to see the rest of Ellis Island.

The view of Ellis Island and Liberty Island from the ferry. Of the two islands…Ellis was my favorite.

So…my only gripe about this is the price of the ferry. There’s only one way to get to the islands and it’s Statue Island Cruises. Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty are both National Parks…they belong to the people…the price of the ferry to see them shouldn’t cost a family of five almost $100. At first I thought maybe that’s just how much ferry rides cost there, but we took a different ferry while in NYC and it only cost us $30 to basically go the same distance. It’s sad how some companies take advantage of people.

All in all, we had a great day! We learned so much and the boys earned another badge!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

The City Of Brotherly Love

By Jennie Simpson | July 4, 2016

Happy Independence Day!

We spent a day roaming around Philadelphia and learning some history.

IMGP3668 — Independence Hall is called “the birthplace of America”.

We did a walking tour of historic Philly. Of the thirty three places on the tour, we only made it to seventeen. One of the best things about it…it was all free!

If you ever make it to Independence Hall make sure you grab a ticket at the visitor center first thing or you might not get to see the room where the Declaration of Independence was created and signed. We snuck in on the second to last tour of the day. Most of what you see in the photo above isn’t original…it’s been a long time…but the chair at the top was there when our country was born.

It’s not a LOVE statute…but it’ll do.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is in Washington Park. The tomb honors both George Washington and an unknown soldier from the Revolutionary War.

The Merchants’ Exchange is the oldest stock exchange building in the United States. The road in front of it is cobblestone and there are lion statues on each side protecting the stairs.

We all know the story of The Liberty Bell, but did you know it weighs about 2,ooo pounds?

Carpenters’ Hall was built in 1770 and is where the First Continental Congress met to draw up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and an appeal to King George III after the British Parliament punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.

Benjamin Franklin was appointed Postmaster General in 1775.

The Christ Church Burial Ground is the final resting place for some of America’s most prominent leaders…including Benjamin Franklin. When we got there the gate was already closed but we caught a glimpse of Franklin’s grave through the fence.

Did you know that the National Park Service has trading cards? You have to ask the Ranger’s for them and they won’t always just give them to you…the boys were quizzed for each card.

A LOVE statue! We looked all over for the LOVE statue, but the park it was supposed to be in was under construction. We were surprised to find an AMOR statue at the Art Museum!

Do you recognize them? The stairs… They’re the Rocky stairs! The boys ran up them and did a little victory dance at the top.

We even made it to the Mint! Unfortunately, photos aren’t permitted. *sad face* So, I can’t show you any of it. The Mint was such a cool experience for all of us. There’s a free self-guided tour that shows how coins are made. If you have a chance to visit the Mint, we highly recommend it! We learned a lot and scored some pretty cool souvenirs.

Yup. It’s a Philly Cheesesteak! We had to do it. I know…how touristy…but look at that sandwich!! It was sooo stinkin’ good!!! There are several places to go to try the famed Philly sandwich. The two you’ve probably heard about are Pat and Gino’s but, when we looked up reviews…they both had horrible ones! Terrible! We found Sonny’s Famous! If you’re ever in Philly, you have got to try Sonny’s. And make sure you get the loaded fries!

It’s spring here…There are flowers everywhere! I love these white flowering vines we found outside the Independence Hall Visitor Center!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016