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Once during a particularly intense bout of exams,
papers, and research, my college friends and I
decided to just get in the car and drive. Drive away
from it all. After driving about three hours and feeling as
if we could finally breathe again, we realized there was a
slight flaw in our plan - each and every one of us had to
report for several finals the next day! While we had to turn
around, our little getaway did give us a great idea for an
adventure-filled fall break...can anyone say ROAD TRIP!?!
Once we closed our last textbooks and arranged pet-sitters for fall break, we all piled back into the car to begin our East Coast Tackled trip. We started in Vermont, where the leaves dazzled and amazed us with their vibrant colors and warm reflections of Autumn's air and then headed all the way down to South Carolina. The East Coast of the United States truly comes alive in the fall and the options are as limitless as the color of the leaves. We put on our explorer caps and took off. We stopped when we saw something interesting and remained flexible. It quickly became a trip of a lifetime. After dining on a dinner of breakfast covered in that famous Vermont maple syrup, we left Vermont and continued our descent down into New York State. Although we didn't head to Niagara Falls, as we had paid tribute to the awe-inspiring natural wonder in pre-21 days, we headed straight towards the bright lights of New York City, with stopovers in up-state NY's Petrified Sea Garden and Albany's Egg Theatre, an incredibly unique architectural and performance experience. As we got close to NYC, we left the car at our hotel in Westchester County and took the train into the city. Like the city itself, I don't believe we slept the entire time we were there.We did the usual - Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc. - but where we really lucked out was with the purchase of our Broadway tickets.There is a TKTS booth in the middle of Times Square that sells last minute, same day tickets at a fraction of their regular price. We all were able to see the Lion King, which was beyond superb, and afterwards, boarded the train at Grand Central to head back to our car and continue south into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Even though the weather was a bit cool to swim, New Jersey's Cape May and Atlantic City areas were loads of fun.We felt our stomachs in our throats on the rides at Morey's Piers, we let the cool sand squish between our toes, splurged on 'carnie' food, and then donated a collective $10 to Mr.Trump. After the casinos and food, we headed a bit west into Pennsylvania to once again be spellbound by the beautiful leaves and scenery. After exploring the mountains and outdoor adventure of the Pocono Mountain region of PA, we decided to save some money and camp at Valley Forge campground while seeing the sites of Philadelphia. We took a tour of historic Philly and its surrounding area, making sure to include trips to the magnificent Museum of Art, Barnes Foundation, and US Mint.They provided countless ideas for research papers! |
Being a history major, Sheila insisted that we next head to Gettysburg.
Although a few of us were reluctant to spend a day reliving some of the
bloodiest days of the Civil War, it turned out to be spectacular. Since it is
a National Park, we were able to have a guide get into our car and give
us a personal tour of the battlefields, for just a few dollars. Even for the
non-history buff crowd, it was really interesting. For instance, did you
know that President Eisenhower called Gettysburg his only home?
From Gettysburg, it was just a short jaunt across the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland where we ate crabs...crab legs, crab cakes, softshell crabs, blue crabs, crab imperial...yum, yum, yum. After we finally rolled out of the restaurants, we headed towards Baltimore to explore Inner Harbor, the Science Center, and Fort McHenry - the epic location of Francis Scott Key's Star Spangled Banner. With one last stop for crabs, we headed into Washington, D.C., where we found much to our excitement that everything is free!! Free museums,monuments,and tours of government agencies/buildings. It was great and gave our over-extended wallets a much-needed break. After leaving D.C., we finally hit the 'south,' a.k.a Virginia. While we tended to follow the coast and play in the soft sands of VA Beach, we noticed that a large portion of Virginia is dedicated to the history of the Civil War...and not the same Civil War we always heard about up north but the Confederate story. It was quite a remarkable experience. From Virginia, we hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway which twisted and wound its way through the Blue Ridge/Smokey Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. It was a beautiful ride and we just couldn't get enough of the North Carolina Mountains. We went white water rafting, toasted marshmallows over our campfire, and had some much needed 'down time.' Feeling fully rested and knowing we were reaching the end of our journey, we headed into South Carolina. It was a perfect time to visit Myrtle Beach because it was off-season, the tourists were gone and the prices dropped to half of their seasonal rates. Although the outside air only hinted of the summer sun, the water remained warm enough to swim and we splashed and played in the water, sand, and on the boardwalk until the dreaded time came to return home. We clambered back into the car, knowing we had completed an unforgettable road trip, full of adventure, fantastic East Coast sites, natural beauty, and memories that would help us get through whatever papers, finals, and further research greeted us when we arrived back at college. |