7/15/18. Wytheville, Va. Pulled into the KOA here and found a park with a few surprises. They had a wonderful recreation room with a grill, video games and a six lane bowling alley! We both had three scoops of ice cream ($2.50 each) followed by a Skee Ball competition (25 cents per game). We battled to a tie the first game but I managed to beat her soundly in game two. Lots of fun!
7/16/18. Shenandoah Valley Campground, Quicksburg, Va, this was a nice but small campground with level sites. As usual, we sat out in the evening and had a wonderful time! There was a view of mountains from the camp.
7/17/18. Started to experience tension today in the northeast USA. We had to pay tolls of $23 for the truck and trailer (ouch), barely missed clipping the rear of the RV on a narrow bridge and just got set up at our campsite in Coatsville when a major thunderstorm roared by! There was no sitting out tonight because of the weather. So here we are, tired, needing rest then we discover the only open tour of Philadelphia is tomorrow!
So we buy our tickets ($75 each) for this all day tour. We show up at 8am the next day and board a van with 7 other tourists and head for the city. Traffic was bad which caused our guide to rearrange our schedule a bit. The Liberty Bell was the first stop and we had to pass through security checkpoint to even get close to this national treasure. There were lots of exhibits and information about the bell and how it got here before we got to it. A park ranger was there to explain the large crack in the bell. It was inspiring!
Our tour guide then walked us over to Independance Hall where the Declaration of Independence was designed and later signed joining the 13 colonies together into a unified, independent nation. Security was high here also since we had to go through another security checkpoint. After this, we walked where Benjamin Franklin’s house and print shop once stood. Nearby, a print shop was on display where rangers demonstrated how a printing press worked. That was interesting! After this it was time for lunch so we stopped at a small restaurant called Campo’s where we had two Philly Cheesesteaks and drinks for $28 (yikes, and that was with a discount). They were wonderful, but I think I can do better! We then toured Christ Church which is Anglican and was able to hear part of a recital. The original organ had 3600 pipes! This beautiful church served all the founding fathers. Washington even had a special step outside the church to help him exit his buggy. After this we saw Betsy Ross’ place. The interesting thing about her is that there isn’t any historical evidence linking her to our first national flag. There was probably evidence in archives; however, a fire in 1800 wiped them out. I’m reading a book about her (recommended by the tour guide) to learn more. She actually made 100s of flags but we just don’t know about THE flag. After this we left the city and left for Valley Forge. They have a very nice visitor center with many exhibits. We also drove around the battlegrounds a bit and saw where the armies were stationed. Washington had a much nicer place than his generals (with 19 people to serve him). Finally, we headed back to the KOA and arrived about 6:15pm. Our tour guide was great (a bookworm) and made this an incredible tour!
7/15/18. Wytheville, Va. Pulled into the KOA here and found a park with a few surprises. They had a wonderful recreation room with a grill, video games and a six lane bowling alley! We both had three scoops of ice cream ($2.50 each) followed by a Skee Ball competition (25 cents per game). We battled to a tie the first game but I managed to beat her soundly in game two. Lots of fun!
7/16/18. Shenandoah Valley Campground, Quicksburg, Va, this was a nice but small campground with level sites. As usual, we sat out in the evening and had a wonderful time! There was a view of mountains from the camp.
7/17/18. Started to experience tension today in the northeast USA. We had to pay tolls of $23 for the truck and trailer (ouch), barely missed clipping the rear of the RV on a narrow bridge and just got set up at our campsite in Coatsville when a major thunderstorm roared by! There was no sitting out tonight because of the weather. So here we are, tired, needing rest then we discover the only open tour of Philadelphia is tomorrow!
So we buy our tickets ($75 each) for this all day tour. We show up at 8am the next day and board a van with 7 other tourists and head for the city. Traffic was bad which caused our guide to rearrange our schedule a bit. The Liberty Bell was the first stop and we had to pass through security checkpoint to even get close to this national treasure. There were lots of exhibits and information about the bell and how it got here before we got to it. A park ranger was there to explain the large crack in the bell. It was inspiring!
Our tour guide then walked us over to Independance Hall where the Declaration of Independence was designed and later signed joining the 13 colonies together into a unified, independent nation. Security was high here also since we had to go through another security checkpoint. After this, we walked where Benjamin Franklin’s house and print shop once stood. Nearby, a print shop was on display where rangers demonstrated how a printing press worked. That was interesting! After this it was time for lunch so we stopped at a small restaurant called Campo’s where we had two Philly Cheesesteaks and drinks for $28 (yikes, and that was with a discount). They were wonderful, but I think I can do better! We then toured Christ Church which is Anglican and was able to hear part of a recital. The original organ had 3600 pipes! This beautiful church served all the founding fathers. Washington even had a special step outside the church to help him exit his buggy. After this we saw Betsy Ross’ place. The interesting thing about her is that there isn’t any historical evidence linking her to our first national flag. There was probably evidence in archives; however, a fire in 1800 wiped them out. I’m reading a book about her (recommended by the tour guide) to learn more. She actually made 100s of flags but we just don’t know about THE flag. After this we left the city and left for Valley Forge. They have a very nice visitor center with many exhibits. We also drove around the battlegrounds a bit and saw where the armies were stationed. Washington had a much nicer place than his generals (with 19 people to serve him). Finally, we headed back to the KOA and arrived about 6:15pm. Our tour guide was great (a bookworm) and made this an incredible tour!
7/26/18 We had showers today but too time to go to a wonderful little tavern called Depot Street. Not much parking but the fish and chips were excellent (not beer battered). We will be going back!
Next, we discovered where the train station was for our trip into the city (Boston) and then came back to the rv. Sill having showers but we are snug in our traveling home.
7/27/18 (Friday) – we wanted to tour Concord and Lexington today because that’s where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired. Well, we plowed into Concord, found the visitor center, and discovered the only tours available were walking only in high 80 degree weather. We said no thanks and went on to Lexington. It seems the entire world was there to see the sights and when we did find parking it was metered every two hours. That doesn’t work well with a 1 1/2 hour tour. I’m sore the meter maids probably haul in $100K a year so we left and went to the Minuteman National Historic Park. We saw a really nice 25 minute multimedia presentation of the war’s beginnings. After this we left to find a good place for lunch. There is a nice place called The Red Heat Tavern in Bedford. Wonderful! I had beef tips and fries, Deb had a pulled pork sandwich with chips. Excellent! Our tummies are full and we head toward home before we fall asleep!
We didn’t know what to expect from the people when we got to the northeast. The people have been generally wonderful and friendly. Plus, we haven’t had any trouble understanding them either. We do detect accents; however, it hasn’t been a problem for us.
Another unexpected pleasure is seeing the beautiful homes along the way. Lots of houses have two stories and are painted white with black shutters. They often do not have much porch space (if any). We describe these homes as “stately”.
7/28/18 Visited Plimouth Village wich is a reconstructed town resembling the ones the Pilgrims created when they reached the new world.
