DAYS 31-32 CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS

DAYS 31-34 MASSACHUSETTS

We found a superior State Park in Cape Cod, MA. The Shawme-Crowell State Forest was one of our favorite campsites so far.

We ended up staying there for three nights while we spent four days exploring Cape Cod, Boston and Plymouth, which were all within driving distance.

This is CAPE COD

We had our maps and thought we could locate and see the lighthouses in half a day and go up to Plymouth in the afternoon. Little did we know that we would be driving about 150 miles that day. The maps weren’t cooperating! (Of course, you might think it was the navigator’s fault.) Eventually, we were able to locate several lighthouses; some from afar. The scenic views were pretty incredible, but it was hard to get to the beaches because so many of them are privately owned.

Hyannis was the first lighthouse on one of our maps, so we made several turn around to try and find it. We finally stopped at a beach parking lot and asked the attendant. She was almost embarrassed to point it out to us. It happened to be right there and she let us park for free to take a picture. It looks like a lifeguard stand with a green light on top. That is it.

Chatham Lighthouse is part of the US Coast Guard

The Nauset Lighthouse is one of the more colorful ones.

Coast Guard Beach The Highland Lighthouse, aka: Cape Cod Light in Truro, was the first light seen on a voyage to Boston from Europe. It has been moved inland due to erosion. You can go inside this one. We chose not to ascend the 69 steps to the top and just enjoyed it from below.

Provincetown, at the very tip of the Cape, has three lighthouses, but we were only able to view two of them. The Wood Edge Light is accessible by walking over the rock barrier.
It looked pretty nice from a distance. :-)The Race Point Light is only accessible by boat.
Provincetown is quite a tourist trap and we did a little sightseeing, but that was about it. The ride back to our campsite took about two hours. We did a lot of driving around looking for the lighthouses, so it really took the whole day. We slept really well that night!
Next stop: BOSTON, MA

DAYS 29-30 BEAVER POND CAMPSITE, NEW YORK

DAYS 29-30 BEAVER POND CAMPSITE, NEW YORK

We decided to take a day off from our touring and spent two nights and the whole day at this campsite in Harriman State Park in New York. It was okay. More than anything, we enjoyed not having to go anywhere or do anything. We even captured a picture of a deer.

DAYS 27-29 INTERCOURSE AND PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

DAYS 27-29
We arrived in Intercourse, Pennsylvania: Amish-Mennonite country. We found Beacon Hill Campground, an adult campground, nice and quiet, with the occasional horse and buggy traveling up the road behind our campsite. They have some great antique shops in this area.

On Monday, we went into Philadelphia, visiting several points of interest. Again, we had a wonderful history lesson here.



Standing two feet away from the Liberty Bell, our nation’s symbol for liberty, was humbling.

We went into Christ Church, where many of our forefather attended church, and sat in the pew where George Washington sat. This was a great step back into time. Christ Church still holds services weekly. The baptismal pictured here is over 300 years old, and still used today.


At Independence Hall, being in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed was even more humbling.



We went into the Federal Reserve Building where they had a self guided series of stations to learn more about the economics of our country. They gave us a bag of shredded money on our way out.
While Philadelphia is a huge industrial city, this little area has a lot of charm and makes you feel like you are standing on hallowed ground.

On Tuesday, we decided to take a horse and buggy tour of the Amish-Mennonite area. These two cultures have many similarities and some differences. The Amish are much stricter with their walk with God than the Mennonites. The Amish do not use any electricity, while the Mennonites are more liberal and some even own a car. The Amish ride in the gray buggies and the black buggies belong to the Mennonites.
There were eight couples in our buggy, and some children. The tour guide always addressed his statements and questions only to the men. Pretty interesting.
The schools are one-room, with students grades 1-8, taught by someone who has an 8th grade education. They are mainly for teaching the children English.
We visited a working Mennonite farm.

Hope you are enjoying our adventure with us. We would love to hear from you. Just click on the comments link and add your own. If you don’t have a Google ID, just send as Anonymous, but sign your name to the comment. Thanks.
Janet and Bob

DAYS 22-27 MARYLAND AND GETTYSBURG

DAYS 22-27
We spent 5 days in Westminster, Maryland with Barbie and Bryan (daughter and son-in-law). Here is their beautiful home and garden. We also enjoyed their pets: Bandit and Rascal are Shelties who can do some pretty amazing tricks. Their cats were a little friendlier toward us this year. We think it’s because we didn’t have Angel around to torment them.

We traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a day. What a great history lesson. At the Welcome Center, we watched an IMAX film and toured the museum. In the museum, we heard the Gettysburg Address performed by Sam Waterson (Law and Order). If you know who he is, you know he sounds just like Abraham Lincoln would have sounded.

Then we did the tour around the battlefield on our own examining monuments and cannons. We were in awe of the massive numbers of soldiers who fought there over a three day period. Over 51,000 were dead, wounded or missing!

Bob and I went antiquing in Frederick, MD. We do enjoy that pastime.
We went to Barbie and Bryan’s friends’ house for the 4th of July.