For the purpose of this discussion, Fall consists of mid-September through early December and covers a potpourri of activities. We didn’t spend much time in the 1000 Islands this fall for a couple of reasons: (1) September is the best time of year to travel in the northern part of the country and (2) we had a number of commitments. It’s difficult to avoid writing a “how I spent my summer vacation” type of essay, but here’s the attempt:
Boston. This was our first “tourist” visit and we gladly accepted invitations from Jack Hereford/Christina Acocella and Steve/Susan Marschilok to host us. We had an excellent time with both couples and got to catch up with Steve and Susan after their return to the US from Abu Dhabi. The city is steeped in American history and is remarkably vibrant. We spent a few days in the city center seeing the sites, eating outstanding food, and immersing ourselves in the atmosphere. Steve and Susan took us on the Duck Boat tour and beer tastings at Harpoon and Sam Adams – all of which we highly recommend.
Deep River/Middletown, CT. The visit objective was to build a few shelves and glorified bench for Sarah and Pete’s jumbo living room. Upon arrival, the plan had evolved to a somewhat larger plan: A wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling glorious built-in library and entertainment center. It took us every minute of the week to pull it together, but we’re all pretty satisfied on how it turned out. We still have some cabinet doors to finish between Christmas and New Years, but this is generally considered a good way to keep me busy and out of the way (a perspective that I share).
Niagara Falls. Our niece, Samantha Eberl was married to Lucas Smith at a dinner theatre in “the Falls”. Both of them are avid players in theatre productions around Western NY and consequently the wedding had a strong and unusual theatre theme. When the wedding party was introduced at the reception, the bride and groom sang “All I ask of You” from the Phantom of the Opera as duet. It was incredibly moving and powerful – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
New Freedom, PA. We stopped for a couple of days to see our dear friends Robyn and Dave Barone. As always, we had a great time and got a chance to catch up.
Ashburn, VA. We spent a week in October at Jessie and Damon’s in Ashburn (near Dulles airport) to build a large dining room table that could accommodate a dozen people. We timed it so that it would be ready for Thanksgiving. We returned in mid-November and thoroughly enjoyed the company of all our kids and grandchildren through Thanksgiving weekend. During our 2+ weeks in DC, we were able to take advantage of some of the big league entertainment Washington has to offer including La traviata at the Kennedy Center and Steve Martin/Martin Short at the Anthem Theatre.
Cherokee, NC. Cherokee is a small town on the east side of Smoky Mountain National Park. Last year we stayed and visited the west side of the park, but wanted to visit and hike on the other side. What we found is that the towns on the east are entirely different than the west. The west includes “tourist towns” with glitter, restaurants, and bars – towns like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge with its Dollywood attractions. The east side contrast is dramatic: much of the land is Indian reservations and is fairly rural. There are touristy areas but it is much less commercial and more “Native American”. Our campsite was in a steep valley with no internet or TV coverage and barely functional cell phone coverage. The National Park is just as beautiful though, albeit a bit less to see than the west side. We had a several days of great hiking at the peak of changing leaves. One of the more memorable hikes was at the end of the “road to nowhere” where there is a long two lane tunnel that essentially ends in the woods. There’s an interesting history to it that can be read by searching on “bryson city road to nowhere”. We also took a day to go to see the Biltmore Estate in Ashville. As luck would have it, it was completely decorated for the holidays. Gorgeous trees were everywhere. They claim it’s the largest private residence in the US. It is an amazing property and the pictures don’t begin to capture the grandeur.
Tybee Island. This is an island that is a few miles long at the foot of the Savannah River near Savanna, GA. We went there because it was closer to Savannah than Hilton Head and I thought the name was cool. Although there are some very nice homes, it’s more like the Jersey shore than Hilton Head – a kind of charming-character/run-down combo. It has nice beaches on both the Ocean and the Savannah River. We did some biking as they had a nice (safe) trail that went from one end of the island to the other, but most of our time was spent seeing Savannah. It’s a great city with a colorful past – similar to Charleston in many regards. We took a walking tour which was excellent and informative. The city squares are beautiful and unique and there are abundant classic southern houses built in the 1800’s and before. The weather is great, people are friendly, and the food is outstanding – what’s not to like ?
Congaree National Park. The park is in the middle of nowhere – roughly 15 miles SE of Columbia, SC. It’s small by comparison to most national parks and has none of the crowds we’re used to seeing. We had this on to todo list because it’s one of the few parks on the east coast and it was relatively convenient to get to. The key attraction is that it represents the last of large old growth floodplain forests. These forests used to cover much of the SE part of the US, but have been cut down and drained over the past 200 years. The Park floods several times a year to the point where you really can’t hike or see the park, but it was fine when we were there. It is just like the pictures: awesome spooky trees growing in water. Our second (and final) hike was on the Oakridge trail which ended up being about 8 miles due to downed trees and a damaged bridge. We expected an easy hike because all the trails are flat, but that’s not how it turned out. Due to the 3 M’s (Mud, Mosquitos, and Maintenance-lack of), it was a bit long and nasty. Even though it was November, I clearly missed the subtle warnings such as the trail reviews that said “bring insect spray” and the park ranger who said “you’ll need to walk around a few puddles”. To sum it up, we’re glad we went to Congaree, but once was enough.
Surfside Beach. We stayed at Ocean Lakes again. This place grows on us more each time we go there. Great RV resort with every amenity you can think of, a fabulous beach to walk and hang on, fresh seafood in Murrell’s Inlet, super weather, and uncrowded in the Fall. This is where you go to vacation when you are already on an “endless holiday” like we are.
Wake Forest, NC. This is a must-do stop to see our friends Marv and Laurie Baker. Although it was brief, it was a wonderful visit at their house in Wake Forest. It was also Laurie’s (45th?) birthday. We has a great time catching up and prepping for a rendezvous in Sedona in a few months.
Red Bay, AL. We headed off to the famous and glamorous city of gold: Red Bay, AL to get our RV worked on. This is in the middle of nowhere, but where the Tiffin RV factory and service facility is. The catch is that it’s “no reservations accepted”. You don’t get into the work queue until you’ve checked into the Tiffin campground. The typical wait is a week, but we chose early December because it’s only a few days. …. the difficulties we retired people have to overcome…..
We’ll cap off the 2018 RV season in Nashville and Memphis for 10 days and then back to the Northeast for Christmas and New Years.
WLB
