Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland - 2007.05.05-07
Another trip down, and more items marked off some of my life's checklists (photographing state welcome signs, and visiting all 50 state capitols)! Naturally, I've got pictures!
Laura and I enjoyed our $25 flight from Chicago to Philadelphia Saturday morning. We headed in to Philly to try to see some sights (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall), but found that there was a parade going on and the city was a mess. Optimism intact, we left for Trenton. We passed signs for Sesame Place along the way, and couldn't resist having a look. When we learned that it would be $15 just to *park* there, we turned around and resumed our course. We got to the New Jersey capitol and took some pictures of the lovely grounds. On to Harrisburg ... but on the way we found ourselves too close to Hershey not to stop. A quick stop for a tour of Hershey's Chocolate World (it was opening day, so it was a bit busy) is all we needed. We got to Harrisburg and took lots of pictures of the beautiful, green-domed capitol building there. We started driving east, and decided to crash in Exton, Pennsylvania, feeling like the first fourteen hours of the trip were productive enough.
Day two! We hit the capitol in Annapolis during what seemed like Naval Academy Graduation day ... the city was pretty freakin' busy. We left without buying necessary souvenirs for the sake of saving our sanity. On to Dover, Delaware! Laura's had nothing but bad experiences in Delaware, so we were both eager to make this our last visit to The First State. For sake of both our personal checklists that meant we needed to get a "Welcome To..." sign, buy me a shot glass, get post cards for each of us, and photograph the capitol (the fact that there are no National Parks Service sites in Delaware made the trip easier). It was a bit of a labor to find post cards, but we found exactly eleven of them at the Dover Downs Casino, Racetrack, Hotel, and Casino, and they sold me a shot glass, too! Eleven is less than the 38-or-so post cards she and I usually need, but we called it good. We got out of Delaware in a hurry, and headed toward Atlantic City. We made it as far as Egg Harbor City, New Jersey before we decided to stop. Conveniently, there was a diner just down the road, and we had a wonderful diner dinner, the likes of which one cannot easily find in the midwest.
Day three! In to Atlantic City in the morning for a quick stroll on the boardwalk, and some souvenir purchases. A quick jaunt up the GSP to NJ route 72 to the lovely town of Ship Bottom gave us some time for two lost east-coasters to get back in touch with the ocean we miss so much. We got back to Philly early enough to drive around to find a cheesesteak, but didn't find any, so we left! Or so we thought. The plane was pretty darned late in departing, but such is life!
As usual, not bad for a long weekend!
Laura and I enjoyed our $25 flight from Chicago to Philadelphia Saturday morning. We headed in to Philly to try to see some sights (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall), but found that there was a parade going on and the city was a mess. Optimism intact, we left for Trenton. We passed signs for Sesame Place along the way, and couldn't resist having a look. When we learned that it would be $15 just to *park* there, we turned around and resumed our course. We got to the New Jersey capitol and took some pictures of the lovely grounds. On to Harrisburg ... but on the way we found ourselves too close to Hershey not to stop. A quick stop for a tour of Hershey's Chocolate World (it was opening day, so it was a bit busy) is all we needed. We got to Harrisburg and took lots of pictures of the beautiful, green-domed capitol building there. We started driving east, and decided to crash in Exton, Pennsylvania, feeling like the first fourteen hours of the trip were productive enough.
Day two! We hit the capitol in Annapolis during what seemed like Naval Academy Graduation day ... the city was pretty freakin' busy. We left without buying necessary souvenirs for the sake of saving our sanity. On to Dover, Delaware! Laura's had nothing but bad experiences in Delaware, so we were both eager to make this our last visit to The First State. For sake of both our personal checklists that meant we needed to get a "Welcome To..." sign, buy me a shot glass, get post cards for each of us, and photograph the capitol (the fact that there are no National Parks Service sites in Delaware made the trip easier). It was a bit of a labor to find post cards, but we found exactly eleven of them at the Dover Downs Casino, Racetrack, Hotel, and Casino, and they sold me a shot glass, too! Eleven is less than the 38-or-so post cards she and I usually need, but we called it good. We got out of Delaware in a hurry, and headed toward Atlantic City. We made it as far as Egg Harbor City, New Jersey before we decided to stop. Conveniently, there was a diner just down the road, and we had a wonderful diner dinner, the likes of which one cannot easily find in the midwest.
Day three! In to Atlantic City in the morning for a quick stroll on the boardwalk, and some souvenir purchases. A quick jaunt up the GSP to NJ route 72 to the lovely town of Ship Bottom gave us some time for two lost east-coasters to get back in touch with the ocean we miss so much. We got back to Philly early enough to drive around to find a cheesesteak, but didn't find any, so we left! Or so we thought. The plane was pretty darned late in departing, but such is life!
As usual, not bad for a long weekend!