Mile 2055

 After some fun filled days in Essex, MA at our friends place we leave this morning after we sorted out some stuff stuff, rearranged our remaining stuff, and gained surprisingly 1.5" more ground clearance.  We loaded the bikes on the rack and added some straps for more stability and avoiding the swaying to take off some stress on the hitch.  This hopefully will prolong the lifetime of the equipment.  

Second attempt

"The Mariner", Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial, MA

Two of the four planters made by our friend Chris Williams of Essex, MA

at the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial, MA

Then we pick up our routing and follow the Atlantic coastline heading to Gloucester, MA making the loop around Cape Ann, passing through Essex again and heading North on the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway. 

Impressions from Cape Ann, MA

 We cross the Merrimack River in Newburyport, MA and enter for a short while New Hamsphire.  We continue following SR-1A to join shortly Hwy-1 to cross the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, NH to enter the State of Maine.  We pass Kittery, stop at Pepperrell Cove at Bistro 1828 (their mussels are to die for) for a late lunch, and continue to Cape Neddick, Ogunquit, then go East on SR-9 to Kennebunkport and Kennebunk, ME, following once again a beautiful coastline and finally calling it the day at Scarborough, ME.  

Nubble Light House, Cape Neddick, ME to protect mariners from the "Savage Rock"

Today we saw one of the most beautiful coastlines and coves, huge, beautiful houses, and beaches which stand any comparison to ours at home (except for the water temperature).

"There's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away."  -  Sarah Kay, American Poet

Mile 1911

 After spending the morning at the AMCA meet in Oley, PA and getting most of the parts Chris had come for for his 1948 Harley Davidson, we decide late afternoon to head back to Essex, MA.  We decide to take a more Southern route and elect Interstate travel because of Friday evening.  We pick up I-76 / I-276  in Morgantown, PA to bring us to I-95, the notoriously ever so crowded Interstate leading us through New Jersey and New York, over to the stop and go double tier George Washington Bridge and up the East Coast through Connecticut and Rhode Island into Massachusetts.  We all three arrive late at night exhausted from the slow traffic and fall to bed instantly.

Indians and Harleys,

.... and some more

Impressions from the AMCA Meet in Oley, PA 

Having arrived and Finella's and Chris' place where we will spend some days we use the time to re-organize our stuff as we were a bit overloaded and scraped our bike rack several times.  Due to stupid packing and loading we had lost 50% of our ground clearance which in the long run when roads worsen is not a good thing to have.  So its time to separate the needed from the luxury items.

Back to square one

I also fiddle as usual a little around with Chris, having design chats for his new living space, talk motorcycles, and move some steel around.  Just the stuff guys do when they have too much time on hand, and cold beer in the fridge.  Just having a good time.  A big THANKS to Finella, Chris, Thomas, and Jackson for their hospitality and friendship.

"There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family."  -  Janice Dean and/or Jay Shetty, cited 2018 by first on Facebook and by the latter on X (formerly Twitter).

Mile 1508

 After taking care of some business up here in Hartford, CT and spending a lovely afternoon / evening with a friend, we turn the next day our wheels West (I know we just came from there) to meet up with another friend in Mohnton, PA for a AMCA motorcycle meet in Oley, PA.  We avoid as much as we can to drive Interstate as we do since the beginning of our journey and follow Hwy-202 to Danbury, CT, crossing the Hudson River and continuing to Suffern, NY, where we pick up I-287 to bring us to I-78 toward Allentown, PA.  From here it is all PA back country roads to our camp site in Mohntown, PA.  After a quick stop in the supermarket dinner and breakfast is secured, and Chris is already there and awaits us with a hearty welcome and some cold beer.

Sushi and a Kani Salad at the favorite Restaurant

Diner along the way

Crossing the Delaware River

Just driving today, but not bad at all, and worth spending time with a friend.

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."  -  Elisabeth Foley, American historical fiction and historical mystery writer

Mile 1140

 Today we start with a visit to the 4th oldest private Ivy League research university in the country, Princeton, NJ, founded in 1746.  We take the bicycles from the parking lot and ride up to the campus which in fact is a 2.4 km2 area (or a little town).  Walking through the buildings and classrooms threw me back 47 years reminding me of my own time in the holly halls of wisdom at my university.  But here it has another gravity to it, because of its age, the quality of teaching, and the kind of people who were educated here.  Presidents, supreme court justices, senators, and scientists like James Madison (4th US President), Woodrow Wilson (28th US President), John F. Kennedy (35th US President), James Stewart (American actor and military aviator), Michelle Obama, Jeff Bezos, Brooke Shields, Donald Rumsfeld, Queen Noor Al Hussein, and many others.  And as a special feed today was the admission day for the 2025 class.  Lots of speeches, many proud students, and even more proud parents.

getting ready to ride to the campus

University Chapel and Library  -  East Pyne

                               East Pyne

                                 Nassau Hall

John Witherspoon, president of the college 1768 - 1794

and signer of the Declaration of Independence

After that, we moved out of Princeton, NJ on Hwy-206 to find Hwy-202 to bring us through the state of New York into Connecticut.  The roads in New York are as bad as ever, and with all the construction works we lost a couple of times our bearings, and hitting end of day traffic made the moving a stop and go exercise.  When we finally crossed I-84 we went onto the Interstate, but this wasn't a better idea and Also here it was stop and go traffic, and the last 80 miles took us almost three hours.  But with a good sushi dinner at our favorite place at our former home place, some cold wine, all is quickly forgotten and the day ends on a positive note.

"Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction.  A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue." - John Witherspoon, 18th century intellectual

Mile 872

 This morning we leave our campsite at the Pocomoke Sound and cross the State Line into Delaware.  Here we follow Hwy-13 / 113 to get to the SR-90 to bring us over the Isle of Wight Island and Bay to Fenwick Island, DE.  Here we follow the Assawoman Bay to the left, and the Atlantic to the right, the along the Indian River Bay to the ferry terminal in Lewes, DE to bring us over to Cape May, NJ.  The check in at the ferry terminal is most different from all the others we had till now, lots of security checks with dog sniffing and visual inspections.  But safety first, those inspections don't bother us, as long as we don't have to unpack everything which could take awhile.  The ride over the Delaware Bay is pretty uneventful, and so we drive from Cape May, NJ to Wildwood, NJ.  Our idea is to follow the Atlantic coast line to Ocean City, NJ and then to Atlantic City, NJ and enjoy the boardwalks and coastal beauties New Jersey is so much known for.  But we are in for a big disappointment.  The amusement parks are closed and look like they haven't been open since last year, hotels, beach bars, and restaurants are still closed or under renovation, and the boardwalks are very much deserted.  It is a picture as grey as the sky today, all what we need now is some rain and the mood couldn't be worse.  So we abandon this plan and follow Hwy-9 North towards New York, NY as much as we feel on driving this way.

All in all a little bit of a disappointing day, and at the end of it, it started to rain.  A perfect ending to a not so perfect day.

Ferry Lewes, DE to Cape May, NJ

Boardwalk and Amusement Parks in Wildwood, NJ on the Monday after Easter

Street murals

"Put your make-up on, fix your hair up pretty.  And meet me tonight in Atlantic City." - Bruce Springsteen - nicknamed "The Boss", American singer, songwriter and guitarist form Long Island, NJ

Mile 658

 After another very stormy night we prepare our stuff and head further north on the OBX to Kitty Hawk, NC - OBX.  We do not pay a visit to the Wright brothers in Kill Devils Hills, NC - OBX as we had visited the site and museum some years ago, but because of being Easter Sunday is is also closed when we passed by.  So we go on to Kitty Hawk, NC - OBX and continue Hwy-158 to Granbdy, NC.  Near Currituck, NC we pick up Hwy-168 and make our way to Virginia Beach, VA.

December 17, 1903 - NC - First in Flight

We stop at the Naval Aviation Monument, a tribute to the naval air men and women starting from the day of January 18, 1911 when Eugene Ely made the first landing on the platform on an armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, spanning all the way to the present day.  I have to say this is next to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA another one of my favorite Armed Forces Memorial.

Naval Aviation Monument, Virginia Beach, VA

Not an aviator, but a powerful fighter too

After that we pay a visit to the First Landing State Park and get some interesting history about the first settlers who landed here long before (13 years) the first settlers arrived in Massachusetts (Plymouth, MA on Dec. 18, 1620 with the Mayflower).  The settlers who landed here at Cape Henry on April 16, 1607 found that the land was not sustainable, it couldn't be defended (against the British), and did not provide what the settlers were looking for, so they continued up the Chesapeake Bay and founded upon May 13, 1607 in Jamestown the first English settlement in America.

The old and the new Lighthouse at Cape Henry

Admiral Francois Joseph Paul De Grasse

Beach at Cape Henry, military ground and off limits for us

Not having enough of history for today, we cross over to the Cape Henry Lighthouse and Memorial.  As the historic site is located at the military base, we need to check in at the JEB Little Creek Fort Stay Gate, deposit our ID for a military visitor pass, getting instructions of what is off limits and are then shuttled into the compound.  The currently in service lighthouse is the oldest steel tower lighthouse in the US and was basically constructed by mistake as a replacement for the old brick one.  When the wooden staircase in the old lighthouse was replaced with a steel one, engineers found some cracks in the building they thought they were structural.  So the new lighthouse was built.  Once completed, a second assessment on the old lighthouse revealed the cracks were none structural, and the integrity of the building was solid and sound, nevertheless it was decommissioned.  We also learn a little about the battle of the Capes of 1871 when the French Navy under Admiral De Grasse defeated the British Navy under Admiral Graves to provide help to George Washington who was fighting Cornwallis.  The French involvement in the last days of August and early September, and the surrender of Cornwallis in October 19, 1781 gave the America the opportunity it needed for independence.

After so much history it was now time to cross the Chesapeake Bay via the Bridges and Tunnels to find our campsite near the State Line to Delaware for tonight, and enjoy a nice hot shower we were longing for since days (the last three days were only cold showers or none at all).

"... I wish it was in my power to express to Congress how much I feel myself indebted to the Count deGrasse and his fleet ..." - George Washington, Oct. 19, 1781

"... I consider myself infinitely happy to have been of some service to the United States .... reserve me a place in your memory ..." - DeGrasse, Nov. 03, 1781

Mile 443

 After our first night in the roof top tent we start easy today as we only have a small trip.  We visit the Ocracoke Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the State, (since 1823) and the second oldest in the Nation (oldest is Sandy Hook Light, since June 11, 1764).  

The we continue along the beach to the north end and catch the ferry to Hatteras, NC - OBX.  Here we just have a short drive up to the Oregon Inlet for our next camp stop, and a relaxed afternoon at the beach.

Ferry to Hatteras, NC - OBX, Beaches of OBX

After a stormy night with gusts of 30 mph, we wake up to another sunny day, and some lesser winds.  We check our tent and car, no damages, everything is still at its place.  After breakfast we drive to Nags Head, NC to get a power adapter for the campsite outlet as all the 15 Amp outlets don't work, but it appears the 30 Amp do.  Worth a try, and $15 is a good investment for future campsites as well.  After that we turn around and make a coffee stop in Manteo, NC to take the scenic drive through the Alligator River N.W.R. over the Alligator River / Intracoastal Waterway through the swamplands to Columbia, NC.  Here we pick up SR-94 through the Pocosin Lakes N.W.R. and over Lake Mattamuskeet until we reach Hwy-264 which brings us back to Manns Harbor, NC and on to Manteo to our morning coffee shop (because of the WiFi connection).  Some planning for the next two days ahead with ferry booking and campsite reservations, and we are ready for a quick shopping at the supermarket for the evening.  

Street mural in Columbia, NC

Bald Cypress at Pocosin Lakes N.W.R.

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Trail

Bodie Island Lighthouse

This is the third lighthouse built in this area.  The first, built 1848, stood 57 ft tall on an unstable foundations, which became unsafe and was razed.  The second lighthouse, built 1859 and 90 ft tall was destroyed by Confederate troops during the Civil War.  In 1870 construction was started on the lighthouse which stands here today, and completed on October 01, 1872.  This brick lighthouse stand 167.6 ft tall and holds a first-order Fresnel lens, electrically illuminated since 1932.

A very easy day, lots of nice country (swamps), uncountable turtles and pelicans (I like to watch them dive for fish), just what the doctor ordered.

"Buy me coffee and take me on a road trip." - unknown