Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Liberty Tour Wrap Up

   I called our quick trip this past May the "Liberty Tour" because we essentially started with the Statue of Liberty and ended at the Liberty Bell and included Boston, where our country was born. It was a quick trip, took a total of 5 days-though 2 of those was simply getting to and from Tennessee. The main point of the trip was really to visit those states marked in red above. It has always been a dream of mine to visit all 50 states. Missing all of New England was an area easily covered in a short time. Getting in those last 10, in the Pacific Northwest, is going to be a bit more difficult.

   I'm sure most people would suggest flying to any place. That is something that just will never happen. Not only do I not like flying, the thought of missing everything in between fills me with dread. There is so much to see in our country. What really boggles my mind are the people who want to fly over and miss it all. Not me, I want to see it all. A little 'Veruca Salt' there, but I don't need to own anything, just experience it! The main point on my bucket list is to live in an RV full time and see something-somewhere- different every day. My dream.
   This trip was sort of typical of many of our trips. Drive to a place, experience what you can as quickly as possible, and move on to be able to experience something else. I think we spent a decent amount of time staring over at the Statue of Liberty, taking a dozen or so photos, but we didn't have time to take a tour. In fact, tours are rarely part of our itinerary. Don't have the time, don't want to spend the money or deal with the crowds. I would much rather walk all around a historic home taking photos than spend an hour looking at every nook and cranny inside. Maybe it's just that the exterior architecture interests me much more than interior decorating. That means we spend more time seeing more things. There is probably a name for the type of quick travel we do, but I'm not sure what that is.

      See, most people would not bother taking the route above. But in this route we saw the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey Terminal and 9/11 memorial, another 9/11 memorial, and drove down Frank Sinatra Dr. The route then continued along the Palisades to some incredible views of Manhattan. We did not have time to actually drive through NYC, but we were pretty satisfied just laying eyes on this magnificent skyline. Seeing the George Washington Bridge from the Fort Lee park, being able to sit and take in its majesty, rather than ogling it only while driving across. That was almost the best part of the whole trip.
 

   Then there was the wackiness that is Boston. I had heard horror stories. It did not matter. We didn't choose to take the route you see above. I am not even certain that is the exact route, but it is pretty close. You can't buy an experience like that! Well, maybe you can, but when it is spontaneous and happens to our family, those are memories you can talk about forever. I would rather be lost in Boston than lost on a cruise ship.
   Yes, if we had more time in Boston I would love to have stopped at Boston Common, the many cemeteries, Paul Revere house, Bunker Hill, gone out to Lexington and Concord. But we had priorities. The main thing I wanted to see: Fenway Park. What my kid wanted was to walk around Salem. Those are the things we spent time on. And I have a reason to return to the area, to see all the other things.
   New England was beautiful. I could really over-generalize the people we came into contact with and make assumptions about each whole state(I'm looking at you Connecticut), but I don't like when others make assumptions about The South, so I won't go there. Absolutely loved what we saw of Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont; don't remember much of New Hampshire. Small things can warp your viewpoint, I would rather avoid the judgments. It was a great trip, the only thing I might change would my own personal illness that came up, who wouldn't change that.

  Look forward to seeing New England again!

   I also want to take the time to acknowledge the websites that help me decide what places to put on my itinerary:


   And numerous other blogs, photos on Flickr and sites that showed up when I Googled something.

  Coming tomorrow, a more complete review of Salem, Massachusetts.
Welcome Signs from our New England trip

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