California 2013 - Round 2 - Day 3 & 4

September 13, 2013 (Friday)

The day did not go exactly has I had originally planned – first the tour I wanted to go on was full and secondly we had to go back to the suit place to pick up the corrected jacket.

A view from Sausalito

Since basically all we had to do for the day was wedding stuff we took advantage of what little free time that we had and checked out Sausalito. There was plenty of free street parking along the bay. We checked out some of little shops and took a nice stroll along the bay to soak in the views.

After picking up the suit jacket, we headed back to the hotel before heading to the wedding. We stopped by the ice cream place before leaving for the wedding. Yum! The ceremony was nice and short. The reception also took place at the Botanical Garden and was only a short walk away. There were fruits and cheeses to munch on before dinner was served. The dinner was very unique – individual pot pies! The shells and lids were baked and the filling was scooped into the shell. The rest of the evening was danced away.

September 14, 2013 (Saturday)

After the great breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express we ventured to a new destination – Sacramento.

All aboard - train ride in Old Sacramento

There was a lot of positive information about Old Sacramento thus we checked it out. Old Sacramento is the original historic business district back in the Gold Rush Period (1850’s). The area is a CA Historical Landmark. There are over 50 buildings of significance in the little “Old Town”. The location is also home to the California State Railroad Museum. We did not visit the museum but, did go on the Sacramento Southern Railroad train excursion. The vintage diesel locomotive leaves on the hour and has about a 45 minute ride. We took the regular coach ($10 adults, $5 youths (6-17), free 5 and under), there is also first class for $15/person, free 5 and under. We were extremely cramped in the coach cars and the views from the train were not very good; therefore, I would not recommend riding the train.

Sacramento - CA Capitol

We continued our tradition of visiting capitol buildings. California’s capitol is similar to most that we have seen – neoclassical architecture. There is a lovely park adjacent to the capitol. There was a small amount of free parking around the fountain across the street. 

Heading out town we stopped for gas and lunch. We had a gift card for Chili’s and we went there for lunch. They forgot to put our order in as a result we got a free dessert.

Our adventure continued as we headed towards South Lake Tahoe. The drive views improved as we drove to the west of Sacramento. We stopped at a few turn-outs for photos.

Driving to Lake Tahoe

While in South Lake Tahoe, we stayed at the Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort. The resort was super nice, the only downfall was that were was some construction going on to the building and the surrounding roadways.

After settling in, we took a walk to check out the town. There was a nice little shopping near the CA/NV state line called Heavenly Village. We bought an awesome caramel apple at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Also, we headed to the Hard Rock Café (located just inside the Harvey’s Resort and Casino) to collect yet another zippo lighter for Mike’s collection.

Driving to Lake Tahoe

California 2013 - Round 2 - Day 1 & 2

September 11, 2013 (Wednesday)

Yahoo - time for another trip! This adventure heads us back out to California. We hopped on the plane at DTW only to have to sit and wait for more than an hour due to computer problems on the plane – not fun since the plane was probably over 90 degrees inside. In return, we got to watch any movies we wanted for free. Regardless, we made it without any other issues, just later than we had hoped for.

September 12, 2013 (Thursday)

The stay at the Days Inn in San Bruno was not as good as the previous stay. The room was fine but the breakfast was pretty bad – there was hardly anything to pick from. The hotel was completely booked for the night, that may have been the problem but, they really needed someone to keep a better eye on keeping the breakfast station replenished.

San Francisco Maritime NHP

Leaving the hotel, we headed to the San Francisco Maritime NHP site, which is in the Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood. There is a lot of parking in the area and it is pretty cheap (under $10 for the day) if you arrive by 9AM. We visited this site quickly on our last trip, but this time we went onto the ships/boats. The biggest ship, the Balclutha, has short videos inside which tell the story of what the boat was used for over the years. There is a $5/person (free under age 16) charge to enter the boats, but it is free to walk down the pier and view the exterior.

Since, we were in the Bay area for a wedding, we had to go pick up Mike’s suit in Mill Valley (Jos. A. Bank). There were other locations around but, we decided that that location would probably be the easiest. The coat sleeves were too short and the store made us come back the next day to pick it up – this of course made the plans for the next day change.

While in Mill Valley, we had lunch at a place called Pizza Antica, which is in the Strawberry Village Shopping Center. We split a Caesar Salad and pizza. The pizza had sweet corn, bacon, arugula and basil on it – a weird but yummy combination!

After lunch, we headed to Berkeley to check into the hotel – Holiday Inn Express. The hotel was relatively new and in excellent condition. We were in a king size bed room and the room was very spacious. The workout room was decent, but there was not a pool. The surrounding neighborhood was a little hit-or-miss. A few buildings had graffiti but all in all it was okay. There was a very tasty ice cream place right down the block called Foster’s Freeze.

The Thomas - one of the many starters!

The wedding was held at the University of California Berkeley Botanical Garden. We headed there for a short rehearsal before heading to the rehearsal dinner in Napa. The rehearsal dinner was at the restaurant that the groom works at – The Thomas. The dinner was on the patio, which was quite lovely. There were portable heaters to keep us warm in the evening chill. The food was served to us family style. There were many choices and all by the looks of what was left over from our table everyone loved pretty much everything.

Metamora Country Days and Hot Air Balloon Festival

This exciting new installment is all about the Metamora Country Days and Hot Air Balloon Festival! It was a last minute type of adventure, not a lot of planning went into it. We arrived in the area around 4PM. Metamora was pretty backed up with traffic and things really were not very well directed as to where the activities were. Parking was available along the side of the roads as well as a large hilly farm field. Traffic was being directed in the field. The balloon launch festivities were scheduled to take place between 5PM-8PM. There was an ice cream social going on in the balloon launch field, we checked that out - $2 for a decent size sundae (Chocolate or Strawberry). There were also helicopter rides ($35), tractor pulls, a kids play area, a craft show and a beer tent in the area around the balloon launch field.

It was really awesome to see the balloons set up and take off! It is definitely worth checking out. The balloons started to launch around 7PM. We left after all of the balloons took off. Getting out of the parking lot took a little while, which I found kind of weird since there were fireworks scheduled for dusk.

 

Road Trip - Maryland! (Day 6-7)

May 30, 2013 (Thursday)

Heading back near the DC area our first stop was Greenbelt Park.  The park has camping, hiking, biking and picnicking.  We did not really check out the park much, it seemed mostly like a city park. There were not any displays at the visitor center.

Fort Washington

Continuing south, we stopped at Fort Washington Park. We headed to the visitor center to get some information about the site. There was a ten minute film about the history of the fort.  The film was dated but, decent. There are a lot of picnic areas at the site. Fort Washington is one of only a couple of U.S. seacoast fortifications that is still in its original form. Some portions of the fort are open for viewing. Allowing an hour at the site was adequate to read posted information and check out the fort.

We continued south to Piscataway Park. There is a small visitor site that does not really have much to offer.  Piscataway is across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon. The park is partnered with The Accokeek Foundation, which operates the National Colonial Farm and the Ecosystem Farm.  It appeared that the Farms were mostly there for school groups – there was nothing going on during our visit. There are some hiking trails at the site and a fishing pier.



Annapolis - The Maryland State House

The last NPS site visit for the day was the Thomas Stone National Historic Site.  Thomas Stone was one of the 1776 signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Had he lived longer he probably would have gone on to bigger and better things.  He died at the age of 44. While at the site you are able to view the interior of the home “Haberdeventure” and learn about Thomas Stone. The park guided tour lasted about 45 minutes.

Before heading back to the campground, we headed to Annapolis – to visit the capitol, or as they call it “The Maryland State House”! The streets around the state house are brick and there are tons of little shops in the area. Annapolis has more original 18^th century structures standing that any other city in the United States.  The Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use and it is also the only to serve as the nation’s capitol.  Annapolis is home to the United States Naval Academy. The third oldest college in the US - St. John’s College is also located in Annapolis.  I would love to go back and check out the area more!

May 31, 2013 (Friday)

Baltimore here we come!  We started the day at the Hampton National Historic Site. The home is a Georgian mansion that is very beautiful. The mansion was built at the county seat after the Revolutionary War by a prominent Maryland family.  You are able to view the grounds on your own, but if you would like to see the inside you must go on a tour. The tour is free and last about an hour. The tour really focuses on the people that lived in the home – while interesting, the tour seemed to drag on.

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine was the last NPS stop of the trip. Fort McHenry is the only NPS location that is both a National Monument and Historic Shrine. There was a really good video about the fort at the visitor center – definitely worth viewing. The cost to enter the fort is $7/adult, kids get in for free. The park also accepts the NPS passes.  

Had Francis Scott Key not wrote what is known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” the battle that took place probably would not be as well known. The fort is in very good condition with many of the buildings have displays and/or videos. 

Next stop – downtown Baltimore! We parked in a surface lot and ventured out by foot. First stop - the Hard Rock Café so Mike could add to his zippo collection.  After wandering around a bit we decided to go to the aquarium. The aquarium was a bit pricey - $34.95 for adults (12-64), $21.95 for kids (3-11), $29.95 seniors (65+). The aquarium was very well laid out with lots of things to see – Australian river gorge, Atlantic coral reef, tropical rain forest, and of course many fish, dolphins and sharks. Per the National Aquarium website you should allow about 3 hours to see everything. I’d say we were there for about that long.

After leaving the aquarium, we headed to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We arrived early enough to be able to order from the lunch menu – which serves items with more than enough to fill you up. I had the pizza/salad and Mike had a chicken pasta dish. For dessert, we split a piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake – yum!

Prior to our trip, we noticed that the Detroit Tigers were going to be playing the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards so we decided to get tickets. Stub Hub had many seats available. Our seats were okay (section 49, row 12), but we were back a little too far so we could not see the scoreboard.  The stadium was pretty neat, much narrower than Comerica Park in Detroit. The Tigers lost but it was a good game right down to the top of the 9^th inning.

The baseball game was the last event for our vacation…after one last night at the campground we headed home. The drive home was smooth sailing.

Stay tuned for our next adventure! 

Road Trip - Maryland! (Day 5)

May 29, 2013 (Wednesday)



C&O N.H.S. - Great Falls Tavern -Mike helping with the locks!

We were up and on the road a bit earlier than normal since we were headed towards the DC area. The first stop for the day was the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) National Historical Park. There is a small fee to enter the site - $5 per car. There are numerous visitor centers along the nearly 185 mile stretch of the Potomac River. We stopped at the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. There are some exhibits inside of the old locktender’s house and they are worth a quick peak. The really cool thing about this location is that they have canal boat rides.

There was a load of school kids going for a ride so we were able to watch the lock fill, open, and see the mules pull the boat down the canal. Mike even got to help open the lock! The canal system lifts canal boats from near sea level to 605 feet – 74 locks that make up the grade difference.

South of the visitor center there is a short walk that takes you to the Great Falls Overlook – It was a nice easy walk that had a lot of shade and the overlook was beautiful!  There are many other hikes that spur off the towpath as well – pick up a map at the visitor center.

Next stop – Clara Barton National Historic Site and Glen Echo Park. The history of this area is rather interesting.  Twin brothers Edwin and Edward Baltzley received $250,000 for an invention - a reversible egg beater (1888). With that money they invested in real estate –516 acres of land.  They intended to create their own town for high society people – the town was named “Glen Echo on the Potomac”. They founded the Glen Echo Railroad and began to sell building sites. The Chautauqua Union of Washington DC chose Glen Echo as their assembly site. Chautauqua was organized to teach bible study, organization and management, but also grew to offering summer courses all summer long.  Many buildings had to be built to accommodate all of the courses. The Baltzley brothers over-extended themselves and fell into debt; this forced the discontinuation of the Chautauqua programs at Glen Echo. By 1899 amusement park rides were added to the site, as were ball fields, bowling, boating, picnic area, and a dance pavilion. The site did well as an amusement park. A pool was also added to the site. The popularity of Glen Echo peaked in the early 1940’s. Along came World War II – boat rides were discontinued due to gas shortages, the shooting gallery closed since ammunition was difficult to obtain and many of the park workers joined the armed services.  Segregation was an issue during the 50’s and 60’s with protests occurring at the park entrance.  In 1955, the park was sold and became a full blown amusement park. In 1968, the amusement park closed and was bought by the General Services Administration in order to protect the Potomac Palisades and to provide additional park lands. In 1970, the title was transferred to the National Park service. Now, the park offers a wide variety of classes – focusing on the arts. Many of the old buildings have been renovated and many elements at what was originally on site still remain. The Carousel, I believe, is the only ride that remains in operation.

Okay, so know how the Clara Barton site ended up here… The Baltzley brothers offered to give Clara Barton a house if she would head the Chautauqua Women’s Executive Committee in there development. Also, since she was an influential person at the time (1891) they thought it might help sell building lots. Clara Barton saw the house as a way to benefit the Red Cross and she accepted the offer.  She found the community too remote and commuting to DC was difficult so she only stayed in Glen Echo during the Chautauqua season. A few years later (1897), a trolley line extended to Glen Echo and Clara moved to the Glen Echo home full time at that point. 

Perhaps, I should have first told you who Clara Barton was. Clara Barton was the founder of the American Red Cross. The background is rather interesting and she was a very brave and determined woman.  She spent time in war stricken areas and then at natural disaster sites.  The home is open for free tours on the hour. The tour lasts about an hour and was interesting.

Wow, I spend more time than expected on those two interesting sites. Next on the docket was Great Falls Park in Virginia.  This park is nearly directly opposite of where we were early at the C&O Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. Great Falls Park provided a much better view of the falls and has three different viewing platforms.  There are a few exhibits in the visitor center but really the trails and falls are the highlight. The entrance fee paid to get in at the C&O site works to get in at the Great Falls Park site.

The last stop of the day was Arlington National Cemetery.  Parking is $1.75 for the first three hours.  The Cemetery is open at 8am-5pm or 7pm, depending on the season. There is a tour bus that you can hop on to get you around the cemetery ($8.75-$4.50). We just walked to the more well-known sites – which probably are the only places the bus takes you also. The welcome center as maps available as well as some interesting exhibits and displays. 

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier changing of the guard ceremony takes place every hour and during April-September at the half hour too. Other notable spots to visit include the Kennedy gravesites and the Arlington House. The Arlington House – The Robert E. Lee Memorial is a NPS site. The view from the Arlington House is impressive. The home is open from 9:30 to 4:30. The home site is currently under renovations, but you are able to walk through a large portion at this time. 

The evening was capped off with a visit with one of Mike’s college classmates. We met up at EW Beck’s Pub in Sykesville, not far from where we were camping.  The place was busy and the service in the bar area left a lot to be desired. The staff was nice enough put the TV on the Detroit Red Wings hockey game. The downtown area was very quaint.

Road Trip - Maryland! (Day 3-4)

May 27, 2013 (Monday)

Wills House Sign

Downtown Gettysburg was the first stop of the day. There was free on-street parking since it was a holiday. We walked around a bit while waiting for the David Wills House to open. David Wills played a very active role for the efforts that he provided the area after the battle, Mr.  Wills notified the Pennsylvania Governor about the condition of the battlefield – improper burials – largely due to the heavy rains in the areas right after the battle. In return the Governor, put Mr. Wills in charge of establishing a permanent national cemetery for all of the Union’s dead.

The president at the time, Lincoln, spoke at the cemetery opening ceremony, while on his visit he stayed at the Wills home. It is said that Lincoln completed what is known as the Gettysburg Address in the bedroom of the home.

There are two videos available for viewing as well as much of the home. An hour is adequate time to allow at the site. The cost is $6.50/adult and lesser cost for seniors and youth. There is $1 off with the AAA discount.

Catoctin Mountain Park

Upon leaving Gettysburg, (we wanted to get out of the area since we did not want to get stuck in the Memorial Day parade) we headed south to Catoctin Mountain Park.  We headed to the visitor center first – the parking lots were overflowing!  The park was created during the 1930s Depression.  Back in 1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked hard at this site to turn old farm land back to the native landscape of Eastern hardwood forest.  Camp David is located in the heart of Catoctin Mountain Park – that area is closed to the public.  Catoctin Mountain Park has 25 miles of hiking trails. Upon recommendation, by the rangers at the visitor center we hiked to Chimney Rock overlook and Wolf Rock.  Roundtrip the hike was about 4 miles in length and took us around 2.5 hours.  I would say it was a moderate hike – about 600 feet of elevation change and rocky terrain.  There were a lot of families with children hiking – I did not hear any complaining – amazing!

PA Capitol Building in Harrisburg

Continuing with our visiting the state capitol buildings for photos we headed to Harrisburg, PA. Parking was a little tough to find, probably largely due to a big festival that was going on a few blocks away.  Harrisburg was selected as the capitol location because of its access to the nearby Susquehanna River. Harrisburg was a large port city in the 1800’s and it played part in the early development of the Pennsylvania canal system. The capitol building has Italian Renaissance style. The dome is modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The capitol offers 40 minute tours pretty much every day, but apparently you have to call ahead of you would like to take the free tour.

Since we did not have any other plans we headed over to Hershey, PA. Three guesses as to what you can find there…Chocolate! There is a ton to do in Hershey – Hersheypark (amusement park), Hershey’s Chocolate World, ZooAmerica, Hershey Gardens, concert venue… We just visited Hershey’s Chocolate World. There are a few different attractions to pick from – we just opted for the free “Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Tour” Ride. It was a fun little ride that was not too long. You get free chocolate once you get off the ride. Other attractions included a 4D movie, trolley ride, create your own candy bar, and chocolate tasting adventure – pretty much each costing between $5 to $15. There is free parking for up to an hour or if you buy the attractions you can get a free parking also. There is a huge store, café, ice cream shop, and bakery on site also.

Welcome to Hershey!

May 28, 2013 (Tuesday)

The time came to pack up the camper and head into Maryland for the remainder of the trip. We stayed at Ramblin’ Pines Campground in Woodbine.  There really were not many pines at the park so I am not sure how they came up with the name.  The park was better than the last park, since the roads were paved (less dust) and the showers were hot. The site we had (D-12) was $49.50/night.

A stop along the way...Monocacy National Battlefield

On the way to the park, we stopped at Monocacy National Battlefield. There was room to park with the camper at the visitor center and we asked about how parking would work at the driving tour stops and were told that we should not have much problem other than at one stop. Well…if there were many cars at stops, we probably would have had some issues but we made it.  The visitor center was very nice (allow at least an hour), with lots of interesting displays – especially the light up map. The park ranger gave a 45 minute talk about the battle that took place. The ranger said that a lot of people really are not aware of this particular battle, but the battle was actually really important. The battle delayed Confederate forces from advancing to Washington, DC and ultimately forced them to withdraw to Virginia.  The driving tour covers around six miles. The sites really are not that interesting – just some old homes and farms. I would highly recommend the ranger presentation and visiting the visitor center exhibits, skip the driving tour if you do not have time. There are a few hikes at Monocacy. We took the hike at the visitor center (totally not worth it in my opinion) and the hike at the Gambrill Mill. The Mill hike offered decent scenery; again if you do not have time I would skip it. 

Road Trip - Maryland! (Day 1-2)

May 25, 2013 (Saturday)

Time for another adventure! This journey takes us camping in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Drummer Boy Camping Resort was the place we camped for the first three nights of the trip. It was not our first choice of campgrounds, but when we were looking at booking something (very early March) pretty much every place we called was booked for the holiday weekend. We ended up paying $88 a night! We probably could have stayed at a hotel for only slightly more and not had to haul the camper at 10 miles per gallon! Luckily, the further east we went the cheaper the gas – I think the cheapest we saw was $3.35 (compared to $3.85 when we left and returned MI).

The campground was pretty nice – they had a fishing pond, a few kids play structure areas, two pools (one had a waterslide), mini-golf, volleyball courts, etc. The water pressure was a bit low thus they had the closest bathroom to our site closed. For me shower water was not the warmest one night, but it was hot for Mike a little later. The roads were mostly stone, which made biking not the best. It did not get overly loud at night. The campground is right next to the freeway so there was road noise. There was also an active rail road track nearby.

May 26, 2013 (Sunday)

Welcome to Gettysburg!

We started the day early (8am) with a visit to Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center. It worked out really well with getting there so early – it was very busy by lunch time. We opted to watch the film "A New Birth of Freedom", view the restored Gettysburg Cyclorama, which depicts "Pickett's Charge", and tour the Civil War Museum. The film lasted 20 minutes and was interesting. Right after the film, you are directed to the Cyclorama – that lasts probably about 10 minutes. The film, cyclorama, and museum exhibit cost is $10.50/adult (reduced rate with the AAA discount, for seniors, military and children). While purchasing tickets for the Gettysburg activities, we also got tickets to visit the Eisenhower National Historic Site ($7.50/adult, $5/youth). There is a bus that takes to you to and from the Eisenhower site right from the Visitor Center. It should also be noted that there are many options for viewing the Gettysburg battlefield – licensed battlefield guide who ride with you in your personal vehicle ($65/car w/ 1-6 people), bus tour ($30/adult or $18/youth), or you can do a self-tour (free!). There are audio tour cd’s that can be purchased at the bookstore, if you want some commentary while on your self-guided auto tour. Plan to allow about 2 hours for any of the tour choices listed above. Every stop of the tour had parking available with the exception being the “Big Round Top”, that parking area was jam packed.

Eisenhower National Historical Site

Okay, back to the order of the day. After the video, cyclorama, and a partial viewing of the museum we hopped on, at our appointed time, to the bus to the Eisenhower site.  The bus ride was short and the bus was decent (clean and not smelly). Once to arrive to the site, you are greeted at the bus by a park guide, you are then escorted into the home and given a brief summary about each room. Upon exiting the home, you may stroll about the rest of the estate. There are some gardens, cattle and cattle barns on the site. There is also a ten minute video that is somewhat interesting. I recommend allowing 1.5 to 2 hours at the site. The bus picks up and drops off at the site every 30 minutes.

An overhead view of a portion of Gettysburg.

Back at the Gettysburg Visitor Center, we had a picnic lunch and then headed back into view the rest of the museum.  If you want to thoroughly view everything in the museum, you are going to need to allow at least two hours. Once we were satisfied with everything the visitor center had to offer we headed to the cemetery. There was a National Cemetery Walk just forming when we arrived so we joined. The walk was led by a park ranger and lasted about 45 minutes.  The walk was informative and very peaceful. I asked the guide about the NPS trading cards and he was able to give me the cards for Gettysburg.

There are many other walking tours available – each day of the three battle days, Little Round Top, Cemetery Ridge, Civil War Soldier, and Spangler Farm. The walking tours are all free, you just need to pick up the schedule at the visitor center and find out where the tour starts. The tours vary in length from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.

Pennsylvania Monument - Gettysburg

After our walking tour was over we headed out to drive the battlefield.  We stopped everywhere we could and the tour lasted about 3 hours. There really is not too much to see other than a bunch of memorials. Oh, interesting fact – the Pennsylvania Monument, the largest in Gettysburg, was cleaned for the 150^th anniversary – the cost $1.1 million!

The evening was capped off with a visit to Mulligan MacDuffer Adventure Golf and Ice Cream Parlor.  The ice cream was delicious – there were probably about 20 flavors to choose from.  The 18-hole adventure golf was around $8/game for adults and $6/game for kids. They have two courses, we opted for the front course “Highlands”. Some of the holes were quite challenging. We did not have a hole-in-ones at all on this course.