Out & About in New York

Ronnie and I recently left the state of New York after spending a little over a month there. We had a great time and definitely plan to go back to the state sometime in the future. In previous blogs, I covered the major things that we did, but there were several other things along the way. In this blog, we will share those things with you.

The park we stayed in when for the time we were not on the Escapees HOP was a Thousand Trails park in Accord, NY. The name of is was Rondout Valley RV Resort. Like most TT parks, it was nothing fancy but was a very nice little park. The sites were nice and level with a good amount of yard space. The roads were paved, and traffic seemed to follow the speed limit, which is not always the case in RV parks. On weekends, the park had either live music or DJs play at their pavilion area, and we could sit outside our RV and listen to the music. We really enjoyed that. Actually, we enjoyed the park as a whole and will definitely stay there again if we are in the area.

The park had two creeks that ran through it, with them meeting together at the edge of the park. We got to see them when the water was at a normal level and then see them again after days of heavy rain when they were more on the full side of things.

Earlier I posted about our trip to Kaaterskill Falls. Before visiting there, we discovered High Falls. High Falls sits on the side of a road, so there was no hiking involved in seeing them. They were much smaller falls but were still beautiful.

One of the really cool places that we visited was the original site of the Woodstock music festival. The event was not actually held in the town of Woodstock but in Bethel, NY. There is a nice marker that includes all of the bands that played over those three days. It overlooks the field where the festival happened. The area included a peace sign that was mowed into it. It was neat to stand there and imagine that place filled with 400,000 people enjoying the time of their lives.

One weekend we found a street festival that was happening near where we were staying. We decided to visit because it was free, just asking for donations if you wished to give. We chose to give a little something because all of the proceeds went to support music education in the county. We both love supporting the arts and thought this was a fascinating way for the community to achieve that.

The Rosendale Street Festival was held in the eclectic little town of Rosendale, NY. It was not a huge event, but had a fair number of vendors, along with the stores on the main street being open to the festival goers. We enjoyed ourselves as we perused the vendors and shops. One big thing to note is that I managed to visit without buying anything. Score one for me!

Last but certainly not least, we heard about a candy store that is owned in part by…wait for it…Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Paul Rudd. Let’s focus for a moment on this…I could visit a store that is owned by Jeffrey Dean Morgan! Needless to say, we had to visit! We didn’t get to see JDM, but we did score two of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had in my life. (shhh, don’t tell my nurse practitioner).

We enjoyed our time in New York and definitely want to visit again. We would give the TT park in Rondout Valley a 4-star rating. It is one of the better TTs that we have visited.

Now to head back to Louisiana to visit family. A blog post on that journey to come soon. Good wifi had been hard to find, and I have used all of our Verizon data until the 18th. Doing a blog post from my phone or iPad is just too much of a pain for me to tackle. Glad it’s only a few days until my data rolls over.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment…I love to answer questions about our trips!

Chipper’s in the Hall, Baby!

When we first heard that Chipper Jones was being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year at the same time we would be in the northeast, we knew we had to arrange our trip so we could be there. Our park in Accord is about 2 1/2 hours from Cooperstown, so we knew we could make that trip easily. Visiting the Hall was on both of our bucket lists, but having the opportunity to be there when one of our favorite players was being inducted was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.

Chipper was the first player that I really followed. I started watching baseball in 1999 and immediately fell in love with the Braves. Of course, back then it was easy to do since they were on TBS for almost every game. Over the years, I have had many other Braves players that are favorites, but Chipper was the original. Being able to be in that crowd of 53,000 baseball fans while listening to Chipper’s acceptance speech was indescribable. Even though we really couldn’t see much from where we were, we could hear every word. I actually had tears in my eyes multiple times throughout his speech. If you haven’t heard it, google it and listen. It’s worth it.

Before the induction ceremony, we visited the Baseball Hall of Fame. It wasn’t quite what we expected, but we enjoyed it and were able to get some photos of our favorite Braves players HOF plaques.

 

On our drive to Cooperstown.

 

In Hank Aaron’s locker on the left and his uniform on the right.

Love me some Javy! He ranks up there with Chipper!

World Series Ring

 

Chippers’ Induction Locker

 

The last photo is Chipper’s signature where his plaque will be placed.

Our trip to the HOF Induction was one that we will always remember. It was truly the trip of a lifetime for us. We were exhausted when we got back to the RV, but it was so worth it. Way to go Chipper, and thanks for letting 53,000 share in your moment. We are so glad we were there!

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.

Breaking in the Hiking Boots

A few days ago, Ronnie & I set out to drive through the Catskill Mountains. Our first stop was in Phonecia, NY. It is a quaint little town that sits on the Esopus Creek. This creek is 65 miles long, and the part we saw was beautiful.

We visited a small general store while in Phonecia, and I found some Big Foot socks! Those who know me well know that I love socks! I have an entire drawer in the RV just for socks. My new ones go perfectly with the Big Foot shirt that I purchased when we visited the Blowing Rock.

After Phonecia, we headed up the road to find the Kaaterskill Falls. This particular waterfall is a two-stage waterfall and is approximately 260 feet tall. It is one of the highest in NY. When we found it, we went to the observation deck. This was a short hike of only about a 1/4 mile, with a nice rock path. The view was amazing.

This portion of the falls is the upper part.

With all of the rain that the area has had lately, the falls were flowing well. After the viewing deck, we decided to hike to the lower falls. This was a 1/2 mile hike down the mountain on a real hiking trail…wet, rocky, and tough. We later looked up the info on it and found that the trail was rated as a moderate hike, which for the two of us was not an easy one. The fun part was coming back out, as the 1/2 mile hike was up the mountain at that point. But, the old folks made it out, and the view from the bottom portion of the falls was amazing! It was worth the hike.

View of the upper falls from the bottom

The mist was so heavy coming off of the falls that we were wet even though we stayed on the approved path. It also covered my phone camera, making the photos a little blurry.

The lower falls

There were steps that we could have taken on down to the bottom of the lower falls, but we chose not to do that part. We both have knee issues, and stairs are the worst for us. At one point on the hike out, I told Ronnie what he needed to put on my urn because I was sure I wasn’t going to survive the trek. About that time, there was a loud clap of thunder that put a little pep in our step, and the adrenaline of possibly being in a thunderstorm in the middle of the woods made the remainder of the hike go a bit faster and easier.  The good news is that we did beat the rain to the car.

At the end of the trail.

We put our new hiking boots and walking sticks to good use. We look forward to many more hikes in our future. Who knows, maybe we will just start chasing waterfalls.

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.

Airline Hell

On the Sunday that Lindsey was to fly home, we all got up and ready, hitting the road to New Jersey to have her at the airport in plenty of time to check-in and find her gate. We made the trip with no problems as traffic was light with it being a Sunday. Parking went smoothly, and we located her check-in easily enough. She got her boarding passes printed, and her back checked, coming in at 49 lbs., just under that 50 mark.

Just as we think that things are going just as planned, Lindsey checks her flight, and it has been delayed…just long enough that she won’t make her connecting flight in Charlotte. So, we get in the American Airlines support line and wait our turn. The person we get is wonderful and tries her best to work something out for us, but by this time, all the flights are delayed, and everything is already a mess. Turns out that there is a massive line of storms south of our area that was delaying all flights in and out of not only New Jersey but NYC too. Since she can’t help us, she gives us a number to call AA to see if they can do something. The person that we get on the phone is another amazingly helpful soul. She works her magic and transfers us to a Delta flight that is still on target for the connecting flight.

We make the trek over to Terminal B because Delta is over there instead of where we were. We took their little monorail that gave me flashbacks of Disney and made me want to be at the happiest place on earth. Before the day was over, I wished that more for more reasons than a monorail. Right after getting to the new terminal and finding the Delta area, we get in line with our AA transfer paper for Linds to get new boarding passes. As we wait, and it’s a long wait, the Delta flight gets delayed and won’t make the connection. While still in line, we call AA back and explain the new situation and find out that there is no way Lindsey will get back to Lousiana that day. Plus, the earliest flight she can get would be the next morning out of LaGuardia, not Newark, meaning that we would have to drive into the city.

Frustrated, we hopped the air tram back over to Terminal A and made our way to our car. Remember, Lindsey’s bag has already been checked at this airport to go on a flight that at this point has been canceled. So, in addition to the stress of having to redo her Monday workday, she is worried about her bag. It was a long 1 1/2 hour trip back to the RV park.

Once we got back to the RV, we had to eat supper early and hit the bed around 8 P.M. because we had to be up at 2 A.M. the next morning to head to the airport for Lindsey’s early morning flight out of LaGuardia. We all got a few hours sleep and hit the road again, this time into New York City. To say that Ronnie was a stressed mess when we got into the city would be a gross understatement. The last thing he had planned to do on this trip was to drive into NYC. The drive in really wasn’t bad because there aren’t many people on the road at 4 A.M. in the city.

Parking at LaGuardia wasn’t as easy as Newark as they have construction work going on with their garages. We finally get parked and make our way to the Terminal. Linds got her boarding passes printed, and we said our goodbyes, leaving her in the very long TSA line. With all of the prior day’s flights ultimately getting canceled, the 5:45 flight was packed. Ronnie & I hung out at the airport until we knew that her flight was actually in the air, just in case it got delayed or canceled again. Then we made our way out of the city, with more traffic, and headed back to the KOA.

This was moving day for us, so we had to get back and get our RV ready to leave out of the park by 11 AM. The trip back was fine, and we moved with no problem. Fortunately, we were only moving a few miles down the road with about an hour drive and going to a park we were already familiar with. By the time we arrived and got everything set up, we were exhausted. These old folks aren’t used to days and nights like we had.

The good news is that Lindsey made her flights with no problem and arrived back in Baton Rouge safely. Her sister picked her up from the airport, greeting her with Chick-fil-A and a sweet tea. If you talked to Lindsey while she was up here, you would know she missed her sweet tea. Also, her bag from the day before was already in Baton Rouge, so she didn’t even have to make a trip back. In the end, it all worked out, but we were all a little stressed along the way…Ronnie most of all. But, he can now say that he drove in New York City (yes, I said it in the Pace commercial voice).

Here are a couple of photos I snapped that day.

We hated to say goodbye, but she was ready to get back home by this point.

Kat tried to sneak a ride back to LA in Lindsey’s suitcase.

These two days were my first experience with airlines and airports. From what we experienced, American Airlines was helpful every step of the way. They had knowledgeable people that tried their best to help us. Dealing with Delta was a little different. Actually, we never really got to deal with them because their lines were so long and they weren’t moving people, so AA had our problem fixed before we ever got to a Delta person. If, and it’s a big if, I ever fly, I think I will go with AA.

We had a great time with Lindsey while she was with us. She dealt with the fact we couldn’t open our slides like a champ. It is was tight quarters, but we made the best of it. Now, it was time to settle in for a few weeks and try to get some RV repairs taken care of.

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.

Vanderbilt Mansion

Lindsey’s last full day with us was supposed to include a trip to Rhode Island to show her the mansions in Newport. That Saturday morning the exhaustion caught up with all of us. She didn’t feel well that morning, so we all went back to bed and slept a few more hours. We decided to visit the Vanderbilt Mansion since it was in our area and on the to see list for us anyway.

The Mansion is a National Historic Site preserved by the National Parks Service, so it was free for us to tour, thanks to Ronnie’s lifetime senior pass. That thing has already paid for itself even though he just got it the end of May. Needless to say, we are looking forward to using it much more in the future.

The mansion was owned by Frederick Vanderbilt and his wife as one of their homes. It was a gilded-age home but was considered their smaller country house and not as “fancy” as their other homes. Since Ronnie & I have seen some of the Newport mansions, we understood that it wasn’t to the level of those, but it was still an extraordinary home. We had an excellent tour guide from the NPS and enjoyed hearing about the lives of this family and learning how the NPS came to be in possession of the home. It is also important to mention that this is the only gilded-age home that the NPS preserves.

By the end of the tour, I wasn’t feeling well, so we called it a day and headed back to the RV. We all were glad we visited the Vanderbilt Mansion and recommend it to anyone that is in the area.

Up next–trying to get Lindsey back to Louisiana.

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited

New York, New York

After the Escapees HOP, we had two days with Lindsey before she had to fly home. One of the days she wanted to go back into the city to see some things we didn’t get to see during the HOP. So, Friday morning we got ready and headed to Beacon, NY to catch the train into NYC.

The train ride in was right alongside the Hudson River and had some beautiful scenery. It took between 1 1/2 and 2 hours to arrive at Grand Central Station. Since that location was one of the sites we all wanted to see, the first thing we did was take it all in and get some photos. It was also the place we last visited at the end of the day when we boarded the train back to Beacon.

We decided to do the Big Bus in NYC so that we had the opportunity to get to all of the places Lindsey wanted to visit. Ronnie & I had a great experience with Big Bus in Washington, D.C., so, we thought it was the way to go. After our NYC experience, we would highly recommend that you use any of the tour companies in the city other than Big Bus.

Our first stop was for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park. We didn’t have time to go inside the MET, but we wanted to see the building.

Central Park was beautiful and a cool place to be on a sunny New York day. We wound up walking almost the length of the park before we were done. We made sure we visited the Strawberry Fields area that is the tribute to John Lennon. We also had a quick lunch in the middle of the park.

After Central Park, we waited for the Big Bus–at the location on the map. Turns out that the site is wrong, so we missed the bus that came by. Once we found out where the actual pickup point was, we were assured that the next bus would be there in about 20 minutes. After more than an hour standing on the sidewalk in the sun, the bus finally made it. Did I mention that it wasn’t a good Big Bus day for us?

The next stop we took was for Chinatown. We didn’t spend a lengthy amount of time there, but Lindsey made a couple of purchases, and I scored some Gucci sunglasses. Plus, we found a Popeye’s there. Didn’t try it because we had already had lunch, but we were shocked to see it in the middle of Chinatown! I didn’t get any photos while on this stop except for Lindsey at Popeye’s.

When we got back on the bus, the plan was to see the Brooklyn Bridge, but it had gotten so late in the afternoon that Lindsey decided we could just see it from the bus and not get off on that stop. It is a good thing we did because traffic had become a nightmare and we missed our connecting bus back to Grand Central. We did get to a spot where we could walk a couple of blocks to meet another bus, but after waiting for over 15 minutes for that one, we decided just to walk on back to Grand Central. It’s a good thing we did because we beat the bus back and got there just in time to catch an express train back to Beacon, cutting about 15 minutes off our train trip.

We did see a lot of the city while on the Big Bus in traffic. Here are a few of the many photos I took.

On our last bus ride, the very long one, we had a super nice guide. The headphone jacks weren’t working upstairs, so he did a lot of one-on-one with us. He gave Ronnie a pack of NYC postcards because Ronnie “saved his life” by letting him know a tree branch was about to hit him. Then he picked a piece of the tree and sang to Lindsey and gave it to her.

All-in-all, we had a good day in the city but were glad to get on the train to head back. Ronnie & I marked NYC off of our to-see list as done. We enjoyed it, but we don’t plan to go back.

Now for a just-for-fun photo so you can laugh with me while laughing at me:

Yes, I was dozing on the train ride in that morning, and Lindsey just had to grab some pictures of me. Lol. Making memories…

Next up will be our trip to the Vanderbilt Mansion.

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.

HOPping Around New York-Days 3 & 4

Day 3 of our HOP tour brought us back into the city. After the early morning bus ride, we arrived at the Empire State Building where we took the express elevator to the 80th floor and then on to the 86th floor. To say the views were spectacular would be an understatement. The day was beautiful with bright sunlight and a steady breeze as we looked down on the bustling city. I took so many photos from the observation deck! It was so pretty, I just couldn’t stop.

After a trip through the gift shop, because no stop in NYC comes without buying a t-shirt, we met back with our group for a HOP provided meal at the Heartland Brewery located at the bottom of the Empire State Building. It was an eclectic place, and the food was really good. Of course, this bunch from the south was still looking for more spice in our food, something we have not found in the northeast.

After lunch, our schedule called for heading straight to the Broadway show we were attending. Fortunately, we were a little ahead of schedule, and we were able to see Times Square since our show was in the area. That saved us from having to put it on our list for when we headed back in on our “by ourselves” day.

Once we made it to the theater, we enjoyed an excellent presentation of The Lion King on Broadway. It was a fantastic production, from the acting to the costumes. I can see why it was an award winner. I also learned on this trip that the “Broadway” and “Off- Broadway” designation is strictly based on the theater, not the location. If the theater holds 500 or more, it is a Broadway production. If it seats 100 to 499, then it is an Off-Broadway production, and if it holds less than 100, then it is considered an Off-Off-Broadway production. Just a bit of trivia for your day that I found to be very interesting.

There were no cameras allowed during the play, so my photos are of the theater itself. As much as I would like to have photographed the production, I must say that it was delightful to sit back and just watch. It’s amazing how much more you see when there isn’t a camera or phone stuck in front of your face. I am the world’s worst about that because I always want to have that memory on my phone. In this case, the memories of the play are just that–in my memories, and it is pretty nice.

The day ended with a long bus drive home. We arrived back at the park earlier than I had expected, so we were able to prepare for the final day of our HOP.

Day 4 kept us in the Hudson Valley region with a trip to the United States Military Academy West Point. I’m not really sure what I expected from West Point, but I can tell you that I was blown away. The campus is absolutely gorgeous! My photos won’t even touch the beauty we witnessed. We also were treated to lunch at the West Point Club with views over the Hudson River. The tour ended at the Visitor Center, Museum, and Gift Shop. (Again, another t-shirt!)

Our tour guide at West Point was outstanding. She told us so much about the history of the school, the cadets and their programs, the campus, and so much more. We heard stories of those who lost their lives and are buried at West Point, saw sites that held historical significance in the early years of our country, and witnessed new cadets as they were going through their first days on the campus. We had hoped to see the son of a friend that attends the school, but he is an upperclassman cadet and was working with a group of new cadets that day.

We left the campus with the feeling that we had ended our HOP tour with a great place to visit. The future leaders of the Army of our great country are being made right now at West Point. They have a bright future ahead of them and so do we, knowing they will lead the forces that protect our freedoms.

When we arrived back at the RV park, our HOP tour officially ended. We are so glad we chose to participate in this event. We had a great time, loved not having to worry about anything but showing up, and learned so much that we wouldn’t have discovered on our own. Plus, we made connections with people who are on this same great journey of RV life that we are living. In fact, our evening ended with some time enjoying visiting with another full-time RV couple that we met on the HOP. It was nice to relax and share stories of our journeys, even though ours have been brief. We look forward to catching them on the road sometime soon.

Stay tuned–the next post will be about our adventures in the city on our own. Also coming, a visit to the Vanderbilt Mansion, and the horrors of trying to fly Lindsey back to Louisiana. Lots still to catch up on!

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.

HOPping Around New York-Day 2

Day two of our New York HOP with Escapees was a little less exhausting than day one. The day included a trip to the Culinary Institute of America and then to FDR’s home and library/museum.

I must admit that when I received the original schedule, I was uncertain about visiting the Culinary Institute (CIA). I can now tell you that I am so glad we went. It was a great experience to visit such a beautiful campus and learn about their programs and degrees. Much of the tour we were unable to take photos, but we could take any we wanted outside so here are a few of the gorgeous campus that sits on the Hudson River.

A quick note about one of the above photos. If you look closely at the fish sculpture, you will notice that it is made completely of flatware…that’s right, forks, spoons, and knives.

After our tour, we were treated to a meal at Ristorante Caterina De’ Medici. We were served by students and the food was all prepared by students. It was a lovely meal and was a great ending to the tour.

Next up was a short trip down the road to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Home and Presidential Library/Museum. This was another awesome history lesson for us. No matter what your polictics, you have to admit that this man did many things to help our country at a time of dire need. Not all of the things he implemented worked or were well received, but at least he had a plan, and many of the things in that plan did work to bring the country out of the Great Depression.

I was amazed to find out just how important it was for him to keep the extent of his physical disablity from polio a secret. At one point in the museum, there were four photos of him in a wheelchair–supposedly the only four photos like that in existence. I couldn’t help but think about the times we live in. If someone tried to keep such a disablity a secret now, they would fail. One photo taken by someone’s phone and it would be all over social media.

One thing that did suprise me about FDR was his decision to stay out of the Civil Rights debate and movement. I was disappointed in this, even though his claim was that he couldn’t let his stance on that interfere with the New Deal movement, so he kept quiet. I understand the importance of improving the financial health of the country, but at the same time, what about the human rights side? I was happy to see that his wife jumped into the movement after his death removed him from office. She felt she couldn’t do that while he was president, but she went full-force into supporting civil rights when she could.

We arrived back to the park to a nice meal under the tent provided by the HOP. After eating and visiting with new friends, we made our way to the RV to get ready for day three…a trip back into the city. Stay tuned!

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are undedited.

HOPping Around New York-Day 1

Does anyone remember the Pace Picante Sauce commercial from many moons ago where the cowboys are playing a card game and one orders more salsa? The others question it because it isn’t Pace and one reads that it was made in New York City. All of the Pace cowboys say “New York City” at the same time in the most country accent you can imagine. If you remember the commercial then you probably just said New York City in your mind in that same southern tone. While Lindsey was with us and we were touring NYC, the three of us said it is that same accent more times than we are to admit. It became the family delicious of the week for us.

Back when we were still working, we signed up to do an Escapees Head Out Program or HOP. The tour was based out of a KOA park in Plattekill, NY, and would give us four days of touring not only the city but some other attractions as well. It was a great event, and we are so happy that we participated. We were able to visit so much without the headache of transportation because we traveled by bus everywhere…and the bus was always where we needed it when we needed it. It was a full schedule for each of the four days, and we were exhausted at the end of each, but we had a blast and met some awesome folks along the way.

Day one was a visit to the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Museum. We boarded the bus at a bright and early 7:15 that morning, which is incredibly early for us now…well, not Lindsey, but for the old folks in the RV. The ride into the city took a couple of hours, but the bus driver was great in the traffic. We went through the Lincoln Tunnel, and for those of you that travel the Mobile, AL, tunnel, think about three times the length. After arriving in the city, we traveled on to Battery Park where we boarded the ferry to Liberty Island. If you know much about me, you know I’m not a fan of ferry boats, but this one didn’t seem to bother me too much. I think it was the excitement of where I was that kept me a little bit calmer. Once we arrived on the island, we only had a little over 30 minutes to see everything. Our tickets didn’t come with access to the statue, but we still were able to see her in all of her glory. We were also able to see some stunning views of Manhatten from the island and then even better from the ferry back. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit Ellis Island as our tour didn’t have time to take it in. We did dock there briefly on the return trip, but we didn’t get off the ferry. Here are a few photos from our visit to Lady Liberty.

After boarding the bus at Battery Park, we headed over to the area of the 9/11 Museum. We had a lunch break and were on our own for about an hour. The three of us walked down to a little place named Charly’s. It was really good, and we had a nice view of a park across the street. Just so happens that the park was where the Occupy Wall Street protest happened several years ago.

Once we all met back up after lunch, we moved on to the 9/11 Museum. I must say that I have never visited such a moving place. There were many times that I was almost in tears and would have to move on to the next exhibit to keep myself from crying. There were also several things that I avoided listening to just because I didn’t think I could hold it together. I took so many pictures that I couldn’t even begin to put them all on here. Photos can’t do justice to the impact of seeing the relics of the twin towers. There was one section of the museum that did not allow photos. It was tough, I’m not going to lie. It was tough to see all of this and imagine what those people and their families went through on that fateful day. I could go on and on about the impact of this place on me, but I will leave it at this–if you even have the opportunity to visit this museum, do it. Don’t think about the cost or the time, just do it. You will be forever moved. Below are a few of the photos I took inside the museum. Again, these can’t do justice to what you see there.

Outside of the museum, we visited the 9/11 Memorials, one for the north tower and one for the south tower, standing in the locations of the original towers. Each memorial listed the names of the lives lost in that particular tower on that horrific day. There were flowers, flags, and such left in some of the names as people had visited the memorial looking for their loved ones or friends. The two fountains are a touching tribute to remember those who did not survive.

 

And above it all, the new One World Trade Center watches over:

After a long bus ride back home, I think all three of us went to bed that night with solemn thoughts about the things we saw on day one of our tour. From the welcoming of the Statue of Liberty to one of the most disastrous days in our country’s history, we felt the emotions of the day. We went to bed enlightened, exhausted, and ready to jump into day two…a blog to follow.

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.

Salem…So Much More Than Witches

These last few weeks have been extremely busy for us. I am just now settling down and rested enough to tackle blogging about all of our adventures. Plus, our internet rolled over to a new month, so I now have normal speed again.

As I mentioned previously, we were supposed to stay at the Thousand Trails park in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. This was planned so that we would be a close drive to the airport in Hartford, Connecticut, while being only a couple of hours away from Salem, Massachusetts…a must do on Lindsey’s list. The change to staying at Accord, New York, meant many miles faced us for both of these trips.

Lindsey, our youngest daughter, has wanted to visit New York City since she was a child, so when we had the opportunity to do an Escapees HOP to see the city, we jumped on it. When we were planning the trip and knew we would be in Mass., Lindsey added on the day trip to Salem, another of her bucket list items. Dropping that off of the list strictly because of distance wasn’t an option…at least not for her. So, this post will be dedicated to our Salem visit with much more of our New York time coming later.

First on the list was picking Lindsey up from the airport. Our best-laid plans had meant about an hour drive for us. The new plan was more like an almost three-hour drive. Fortunately, her flight was at a decent time so this wouldn’t be a problem. We had an easy drive over to Hartford, found the airport with no problem, and familiarized ourselves with baggage claim and waiting areas. The plane arrived a few minutes early, and as you can see, we had a happy reunion in the Bradley International Airport.

After swift retrieval of Lindsey’s luggage, we were headed on our journey back to New York. We hit a snarl in traffic with a huge section of road-closure in Springfield, MA. This lengthened the journey home by about 45 minutes, but we did catch a couple of neat sites along the way.

We made it back to the park and Lindsey settled in. The next day was our only day before moving to the KOA park where the HOP would be based from. That meant one thing…Salem day.

We hit the ground running early that Friday morning, facing a four-hour drive. We made good time and got to Salem just in time for the rain to hit. Our first visit was to the visitor center which is also the Maritime Museum.

Since it was still pouring outside, we decided to spend the money to do the trolley around Salem instead of walking as we had originally planned. We were all glad we did because we were able to learn a tremendous amount of history about Salem. All along, I thought we would be just seeing things about the witch trials, but Salem is much more than that. It is steeped in history regarding trade and wealth during the early years of our country.

Back to the visit, our first trolley stop was the House of Seven Gables. We had already decided that we weren’t going to do the tour because of the cost. We just couldn’t afford to do all the tours we wanted, so we chose the ones most important to us. Upon arrival at the HoSG, we visited the gift shop and were able to catch a good glimpse of the house itself, something you can’t see from outside the entrance. I grabbed a couple of quick photos on our way out.

By this time, the rain had all but subsided, so we trekked backward along the trolley route on foot to see some of the things that we had only viewed as we passed by. Here are a few of the sites.

The original Custom House for arrivals by ship

Salem National Maritime Historic Site

From here we decided to forgo the trolley and walk on to the Witch Memorial and the old graveyard Site. It was a few short blocks away from where we had been impatiently waiting for the trolley.

Witch Memorial to remember those 20 lives that were taken without evidence in 1692

The Burying Point (old graveyard site)

After our journey through the graveyard, we made our way back to the Jeep for a quick sandwich. Then it was time to hop on the trolley again. Our destination this time was the Witch House. This house was not the place where any of the alleged witches lived, it was the house that was directly tied to the judge that presided over the witch trials. It is the only remaining building in Salem that has ties to the witch trials. This was the tour we had all agreed on and are glad we did. The house is in its’ mostly original state, with authentic floors and some furnishings. It also had many historical markers throughout the house to tell us about not only the building but the family that resided there.

After the Witch House tour, we were waiting for the trolley and realized that the pick-up point was in front of a beautiful mansion that just happened to be having free self-guided tours that day. We had stumbled on to the Ropes Mansion by chance and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Between the Ropes Mansion and the Witch House was the First Church in Salem. It is a beautiful structure that still houses an active congregation. Not only is the outside of the church is beautiful but the people that make up the church must also be. There was a Black Lives Matter banner hanging across the entrance with an explanation placard at the fence of the church near the sidewalk (see below). It also had LGBTQ inclusion and welcome signs at the same fence location, but I didn’t manage to get a picture of those. It seems that this church came from a place on non-acceptance/non-tolerance to a place of full-on inclusion of everyone…the type of church I would want to attend if I was a church-goer. Basically, the only type I would attend…if.

The trolley ride back to the visitor center took us through a very wealthy historic neighborhood where all of the homes are required to be kept in their original outside appearance unless approved by the historical society. It was beautiful and still an active living area.

The day ended with a four-hour drive back to New York. We crossed the entire state and back in one day, but learned so much about the history of Salem in the early days of our country. Again, our country’s history is not always pretty, but it is important to remember the past so it doesn’t happen again. We all enjoyed the visit even more than we had expected.

There is still so much more to tell about our recent experiences, but this was enough for one post. Keep your eye out, more is coming!

**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited**