Gettysburg

 

Gettysburg RV park

 Friday:   We went on a tour to president Eisenhower's retirement farm. The home's contents were all original to when they lived there, and it looked like they had just moved out.. He and Mamie purchased it right before he became president. It was the first home they ever owned as were military and moved a lot.

We then went on a bus tour of the battle of Gettsyburg. It was a turning point in the Civil War. Our very animated guide described the battles from atop ridges, his hands pointing to places where the thousands of soldiers were all lined up. It was tiring just watching him! But we got a good look at how the battles were fought and won.

We had contemplated just doing a driving tour through the battlefield on our own, but in the end decided to take the guided bus tour.  We are very glad we did.

Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state, with farms, corn fields and this time of year pumpkins everywhere. The people here take great pride in their land and houses.

We went into East Berlin, PA, a short drive from camp on Saturday. We ate lunch at Wild Hog's BBQ. A small family run place where you order inside then sit outside to eat. Their Northern BBQ was good!

Upon returning to camp you could see lots of children with their bikes and scooters playing together around the campground.  It looks like a number of these families come often on the weekends and the children all know each other. We saw a grouping of probably 15 of them gathered under a tree, their bikes and scooters on their sides, enjoying being outside and playing together.

 

There are also lots of farm animals in campground. It depends on the mood of the baby goats if you are able to leave. They stand in the road until they feel like getting out of the way.

 

Nice walking trail through the cornfields at camp

The weather here is wonderful - cool and sunny.

  

Sunday Sept 28? The days are running together: 

Leaving PA today , we drove through Maryland. We crossed the Potomac River and entered Virginia.

It took us a long time to get here as we did not want to go through DC. The roads were good, but mostly 2 lane. We got set up in a nice site. Dennis is getting very good at backing in to a site straight the first time!

 Looking forward to visiting historic Williamsburg!

On the road again

Sunday September 21:

Leaving New Jersey campground to travel back to Hershey to rest and do laundry, etc.

A running marathon event in Jersey City had all the RV's backed up leaving the campground. We ended up in this line for almost and hour....

Saying goodby to new friends was a little hard. We did get a list of everyone with email addresses, etc so hopefully can keep up a little and maybe do another trip with them.

We have been RV'ing for the past four years, but we have not taken our RV out of our home state before.  On this trip we have already driven it into seven states.  We have been in a lot of places on other trips, but never with the RV.  This is probably not a big deal to everyone, but it is a milestone to us.

 Back to Hershey for some R & R:

Staying here until Wednesday. Temp is in the 60s but sunny. We are beginning to see fall colors now.

  Spent Monday morning at Hershey doing laundry and resting.

Tuesday:

Drove to the Waltz winery in Manheim PA just about a 15 minute drive from camp. The family has owned property since the 1700s. In the 1990's the family stopped growing tobacco and started a vineyard. The soil and temps seem to be perfect for this. They grow all of their own grapes and produce very good wines.

The cheese we had with the wine was so good we asked where to buy it. She said in a little town called Lititz PA. Cute little town, population 9,000. We found out later it was voted the "coolest town" in the US. We were walking to the cheese shop when I stepped on an uneven walkway and fell. I twisted ankle and hit the ground on my left arm and slightly hit head on the walkway. A lady with two small children was there and she asked to help us, even if we needed to go to her house, a short walk a way! She gave me water and stayed until I was sure I could walk. Ankle was painful to walk on at first, but did not swell and rib and arm are still sore as well.  A little ibuprofen did the trick! Tomorrow we are to go to Gettysburg.

Wednesday: 

Arrived Wednesday at Gettysburg Farm Park. Beautiful park. Wifi not good at all, but views are very nice to look at.  This camping park is also a working farm with crops, animals, and farm equipment.

Thursday: rainy and cool. All right with us. Sat inside and drank coffee most of morning and listened to rain. Due to clear up in the afternoon.

Time to clean camper! We split up the jobs and did not take long.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Gettysburg battlefield and Eisenhower farm.

We had purchased local apples along the way so I made apple dumplings! What we needed was more food, huh???? Actually very easy with Pillsbury pie dough - too easy….Recipe at Allrecipes.com - old fashioned apple dumplings.

Last New York Days

Thursday

People and Traffic

The city is so busy with locals and tourists. Most people are going their way, just trying to get to their destination or work or meeting; we have never felt unsafe.

More bus riding. The traffic was bad today and the bus is beginning to tire everyone. Most days we leave at 10:00am and return back to camp around 11:00pm.

We toured Trinity Church.  Very interesting, especially the cemetery.  The earliest legible tombstone indicates the death of a boy in 1658.  The grave of Alexander Hamilton is also there.

Wall Street: The Dutch were among the first settlers to New York (which they called New Amsterdam).  They were afraid the Indians would get them so they built a wall. Later when the wall came down the street was named Wall Street. At least, we think that is what the tour guide said…… Sometime our head gets too full!!! Anyway, on the street they have sections inserted with the wall pieces.

Chelsea's Market

Chelsea Market was next. Then Trump Grill for dinner!  Trump Tower is next to Tiffany's so everyone got to go in and look at the jewelry.  I did not see any bags going out with purchases….

Broadway show was Les Miserables.  We are not huge fans of opera and had seen the movie, but did not like the movie that much.  But the Broadway production was fantastic. The talent of these performers amazes me. The theaters are small which surprised me, so most seats are good and ours were truly great.

While we ride the bus through town our guide shows us buildings and talks about the history of them and other things around.

 

Friday:

Today we rode the ferry over to Ellis Island and then to the Statue of Liberty. It is overwhelming to me to see what our forefathers went through to get to America. First and Second class people arriving by steamer ship got off and went their way. Only steerage had to go through Ellis. 

They were inspected for diseases and mental health so none of that would come into the country.

New friends from PA

The Statue was incredible as well. Do you know what is on the tablet she holds in her left arm?

We went to Ground Zero to see the reflecting pools.

Then to St Paul's church. St Paul's was the place George Washington went to to pray right after his inauguration. There was a replica of the bench he prayed on.

 It was also the place first responders went to to rest in between shifts cleaning up after the World Trade Center attacks.  At first they would sleep on the pews at the church, but then volunteers brought in cots, blankets, food, etc. It became a peaceful, restful place for them to go. The displays and pictures depicting this were so heartfelt and rich. Several people mentioned this affected them more emotionally than the reflecting pools. It is amazing what people will do for one another when the need arises.

Great Italian dinner and walking at an Italian street festival which just happened to be going on.  Good canoli's.

Saturday: Last day of tour

 Food first, of course, Hungarian Pastry Shop. Picture is of some of our group in front of shop.

Lunch was at Gray Papayas hot dog place. You get two hot dogs and choice of toppings. It comes with a papaya drink that is quite good. Then you go outside and stand around and eat. A New York experience. We eat, ride the bus, walk, eat, ride the bus, walk, eat. In between all of that our minds get filled with info, facts, sights. 

 We drove to Harlem and around Upper East Side. Then took a walk in Central Park.

 Visited St John's church.  It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.  After that we walked around Central Park. Late in afternoon we took a carriage ride through the park. Then had dinner at a Brazilian Restaurant. You go through salad line with mega choices. After you eat that you turn over a coaster from red to green and they begin to bring the meat! When the coaster is turned over to red they stop serving meat. Served on large skewers and sliced at your place. So many choices….

Dessert -of course….

We saw so many interesting places today - John Lennon's, Barbara Walters, Lauren Bacall's apartment buildings.

The city is so amazing and much to see and do. We are tired but sorry to go. A truly amazing week!!!!!

Good by New York

Cake Boss

Wednesday is a free day. 

We rode the ferry to Manhattan and walked to Ground Zero. Beautiful reflecting pools.Our camera died on us on the way over. It is pretty old and we tried everything to bring it back to life, but no luck.

We ate hot dog from street vendor, rode ferry back, got on light rail with new friends and went to Hoboken. Just a short ride from campground. We asked a "local" who was on the train how to get to Washington Street as we wanted to get a cupcake at Carlo's Bakery - the Cake Boss. The young lady we asked said she was going to that street and we could walk with her. She knew just where the bakery was. She said she was walking to work at RADIO SHACK - WHERE THEY SELL CAMERAS! She is the assistant manager….. 

So she walked us right to the bakery, we had a delicous pastry then walked up the street to Radio Shack and bought a new camera - the same brand as we had, which we wanted - and it did not cost much more than the one we had looked at at Sam's Wholesale before we left for the trip. 

We have found people here so willing to go out of their way to be helpful.

Grand Central Station, Broadway and More

Tuesday:

Rode the Subway! Was easier than I thought. Our tour guide got all 53 of us on the same car and off . We got off at Grand Central Station. It is so beautiful. We had lunch on our own there and got to walk around.

 

We then went to Radio City Music Hall for a tour then shopped on 5th Ave!

We met one of the Rocketts during the tour and she told a little about herself and the Rocketts.

Their traveling group is coming to Houston this year.

We had dinner at a nice restaurant ( Mustang Harry's)  and then saw "Wicked" on Broadway. We had great seats which were very close to the front and the play was fabulous.

Our parking lot campground

Let me tell you a little about our group:

There are 52 total. That includes the host and hostess and another couple that are their helpers. We have a variety of RV's: large coaches, smaller ones, and 5th wheels.

There are several couples from Texas: San Antonio, Gail - a town near Snyder, Bridgeport and Denton. We have a Canadian couple, and several from the Eastern area, and Florida.

California is also included.

One woman has traveled with RV Fantasy Tours 9 times. She drives a C Class which is the smaller of the Coaches. This trip she brought a friend, but sometimes goes alone.

She has a home in Florida but spends most of her time touring and seeing her children who are spread across the country. She had a significant heart surgery 10 years ago. The doctors told her she would probably live 5 years, so she decided to live life to the fullest. That was 10 years ago. She is a sweet lady and is inspiring to us all.

Of course, they are all retired and seasoned travelers. Some older and some younger than us. All nice people and interesting to talk to.

Our host, hostess are very well organized and love what they do. They are retired from other work, but began doing this about 7 years ago after taking a tour with the company as customers.

Peking Duck

First full day on NY tour today - yesterday was just a partial day. We drove through the Holland Tunnel from Jersey City where we are camped to Manhattan and picked up our guide. 

 

The Bumblebee

 We will have the same guide (Jo Ann) all week and we pick her up on the Manhattan side each day as we cross over.  We are able to follow her when we are off the bus because she carries a kookie umbrella that is supposed to look like a bumblebee.

 

 

We did a walking and driving tour of China Town.   We had lunch at the Peking Duck House.  It was a huge meal including Peking duck. It was quite a show of the chef carving the duck and then putting slices in a flour "dumpling like" circle along with scallions and a delicious sauce. It was then folded. We Texans on the tour called it "duck burrito." It was actually quite good.

Duck Burrito

 

  

We then drove to the Brooklyn side of the  Brooklyn Bridge and walked almost half way across! It was quite a climb. 





  The view of the harbor from the halfway point on the bridge was spectacular.

We stood in line for 30 minutes to have an ice cream cone at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.  It seems everyone in NY stands in line for everything and does not seem to mind it.

We stopped at Katz Deli - a famous NY stop.  We bought Pastrami on Rye sandwiches to eat later. This was the place where the line: "I'll have what she's having" from When Harry Met Sally was filmed. The tables are the same tables as in the movie.

World Trade Center Tower No. 1

Later the ride on the New York Water Taxi after dark was breathtaking.

 











They actually played "God Bless America" while we drove around the Statue of Liberty! 

 

Another great day in New York.  It was about an eleven and a half hour day and we experienced so much our brains are fried.

Tomorrow:  Subway ride and Broadway Show

NEW YORK NEW YORK

 

While traveling on Saturday to New Jersey it is misty rain. 55 degrees. First time since last winter that I have lap blanket on in truck. Cozy warm. There are so many nice farms along the way. There is such an order to how the farmers plant their crops making nice looking fields. They grow mostly corn and soy beans.

 

Arrived safely at Liberty Park Marina. We were concerned about the drive in but with Maps app and voice guidance it was easy.

 

Our site

RV Park is truly a parking lot. We are cramped in here very close, but can see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. We-walked into Jersey City and looked around some. Interesting to see how people live in different cities.

View from campground

 There are 25 campers on our tour.

We had orientation at 2:30 followed by light supper then our first tour - city lights of New York. Good tour guide and driver - he got us through the Lincoln Tunnel!

 

We went to Hamilton Park and saw view of Hudson River. 

We saw the place where Captain Sculley landed the plane in the Hudson.  Oh, we were also standing on the site where Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.  Even though Burr won the duel, Hamilton's picture is on the ten dollar bill; and almost no one remembers Burr.

 

View of Empire State Building from the top of Rockefeller Center

We went to Rockefeller Center. So many people even at 7:30 at night. Would never attempt this on our own - bus drops us off in front, tour guide gets our tickets, and gets us in. Lines to get in elevator long and crowded on top at observation. Nice view of city. 

Then we went to Times Square and walked around. We saw where Good Morning America works. Everything all lit up and people walking around.

Dennis got a pretzel from a street vendor. He said they are better at the  ballpark.   Our host got a hot dog and said he liked the ones at Cosco better! 

Bus leaves at 10:00 tomorrow for more fun! China Town and more.