We’ve made it to Massachusetts! We have a few things we wanted to see while we were here. We had already been to Boston, since my sister lived there for awhile. However, Salem was on our list of places we wanted to see and it was about 1.75 hours from our campground. It has been on our bucket list for awhile, so we took the trip with my parents who were visiting us.
Salem wasn’t quite what we thought it would be. It was very new, very modern, with only a few historic houses. The The houses under the National Park Service were not open, but the House Of Seven Gables was (had to purchase tickets ahead of time online). The National Park Service had two Visitor Centers for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The boys got a Junior Ranger badge, although the booklets/pamphlets were not available since they were still building some of the exhibits needed to work on the books.
We did get to see the Friendship of Salem ship and walk onto the deck. We were not allowed underneath though (COVID). We walked down and saw the lighthouse as well.
Sights around Salem
We grabbed lunch at Brodie’s Seaport. I had the chicken pecan salad, which was delicious.
Physical menu on a board outside had pricing, whereas the scan by phone QR code menu did not
I’m glad we went, since it was on our list of cities we wanted to see, but I would not go back again.
We stopped at Junior’s for a late lunch. They had several locations around the city, but we ate at the 45th St. location near Times Square.
We had a nice seat on the outdoor patio and an amazing waiter. We ordered the Something Else, a Ruben sandwich, and the Brownie and Strawberry Cake Shakes.
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We ate dessert first. The Cake Shakes were huge and we all shared them. Our waiter brought out plates, so we took the cheesecake off of the shake glass to eat. Everything was so good. The other cheesecakes on the menu looked amazing as well. Our sandwiches were also good. The Ruben was a big surprise because we are not normally Ruben lovers. However, our waiter recommended it so we gave it a try. It was the best sandwich we had eaten in a while! Their dressing on the side was delicious and really brightened up the sandwich.
If you have a chance to stop at Junior’s, try their cheesecake and a Ruben!
We spent a couple of hours walking around Central Park. It is so much bigger than I thought it would be. It is 843 acres! There are several bridges, a playground, a zoo, a fountain, a lake, and a castle. We didn’t even see all of it. If we had more time, we would have taken the Blue Line bus tour around the park to hear all of the different tidbits about it.
We didn’t really have a plan in mind, just wandered through the park enjoying the beautiful weather.
There was a large open field in the park where we saw people throwing the Frisbee, picnicking, reading, and sunbathing. We saw a lot of Speedos.
Ben brought us to Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond. Nick enjoyed seeing all the turtles; they were swimming and lounging on the rocks. Belvedere Castle was open, but there was really only one room open. The stairs to go up were closed off.
It was an amazing park in the middle of a huge city.
One of the best ways we spent our money in New York was the Big Bus hop on/hop off tickets (we bought the Classic ticket). It was a double-decker bus (open air on the top). The tour was prerecorded, but they gave you headphones that you plugged in to the bus. You also had some volume control. This worked out great for me because I sometimes have trouble hearing on the tours.
The tour bus has an app where you can track where the buses currently are, so you can find one to hop onto. There is a red line and a blue line. The blue line really only circles Central Park, while the Red line goes through different spots in the city. Their audio portion contains a lot of fun facts and trivia about the sights along the way.
During our trip, the Red Line had stops at the Empire State Building/Korea Town, SoHo, Chinatown/Little Italy, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty/Battery Park, Circle Line Sightseeing, and M&M World (Times Square). The Blue Line stopped at Times Square.
The experience of sitting on the top floor of the bus was really neat. We had to duck under a few trees, could (but didn’t) touch the stop lights as we drove under them, and had a good view of things near street level (we could see over the other cars).
Views of the High Line (old railroad track made into walking path), Little IslandWall Street, Chinatown, library (Ghost Busters was here), Flat Iron Building), Empire State Building
DETAILS:*
TICKETS: $47.20/adults online price ($59 on-street), $39.20/child online ($49 on-street) (ages 3-12). COVID Restrictions: masks required. They have a few options, these prices were for the Classic Ticket.
HOURS: Red Line: first bus is at 9:30 am at the M&M stop, last bus 4:30 pm at the M&M stop. Blue Line had stops at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 2:00.
PARKING: No
BATHROOM: No
TIME RECOMMENDED: Min 90 tour per line (tour time without getting off)
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
Once we got off the ferry at the Brookfield terminal, we walked around New York City to see some of the sites before our tour bus was due down at Battery Park.
We stopped by the 9/11 memorial. The area was gated off and the museum wasn’t open yet for the day. We could still see the fountains/pools that were made in the footprints of the towers. Ben and I both remember hearing the live broadcasts over the radio. The boys have learned about it in school, but it is something else to see it in person.
We walked to see Wall Street and the Charging Bull statue. There was only 1 other person there, so we didn’t have to wait in line long at all. I will say the backside of the bull had some very shiny parts.
We made our way down to Battery Park and got to see the Statue of Liberty! Ben and I saw it on the ferry coming in (the boys had fallen asleep), but we still enjoyed seeing it. We did not take the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty island, as you could not walk up to the crown (COVID restrictions). NOTE: Currently, the ferry is only available from the New York side at Battery Park. The New Jersey terminal should open May 29.
Will liked seeing Castle Clinton, although it seems like this battery is now used mostly for tickets to the Statue of Liberty. There were not a lot of informational signs available, as the only two we saw were hidden behind construction items. It looks like they are doing renovations. The restrooms were open, which were a big plus as many others were closed (COVID).
Battery Park had some nice green space and a fun looking carousel (Seaglass Carousel). There was a Starbucks across the street, so we got a coffee and a bagel to enjoy while we waited for our bus tour.
Later in the day, we visited Times Square and explored the M&M Store. Nick found a pressed penny machine and added two new ones to his collection. Will got a large warm pretzel from a street food vendor. The Krispy Kreme had the Hot Now light on, so we stopped in to get a warm donut. There was a little bit of a line, but it moved pretty fast. We got to see the donuts getting glazed on the conveyor belt. There was one cool looking donut, The Big Apple, but it was $11.99! The kids loved being able to finally try the hot glazed donuts (it only took us 10 months to have the right timing!).
At the end of the day, we had over 25,300 steps from walking. We were all exhausted, tired, and sore. The city was incredibly empty compared to what it used to be. It did get a little busier in the afternoon, but was still really down from what the city was pre-COVID. It did make for easier sightseeing though.
While we were in Pennsylvania, Ben really wanted to show the kids New York City. The city had just recently opened back up from COVID travel restrictions. We were worried about traffic and parking in NYC, so we parked in New Jersey and took the ferry over. We woke up about 4:30 am for the almost 2 hour drive to the ferry station. We wanted to get on one of the first ferries and make the most of our day in New York.
We bought our ferry tickets online and had our route all planned out. (It was as $104 for all of us. It was $52 each way.) We were boarding at Port Imperial (NJ) and debarking at Pier 11/Wall Street (NY) to see the Statue of Liberty and Battery Park.
The ferry station had a screen showing what slip each stop’s ferry would be in. However, after not seeing the boat move or anyone going to our slip, I asked one of employees and discovered that Pier 11 was not running due to COVID. We took the ferry to the next closest stop to Brookfield Place. The ferry was pretty empty, as it was 7:30 am.
You have to be at the ferry slip on time, probably a little early to catch the ferry. They move fast! They dock, unload, reload, and they are off again. There is no waiting around.
The ferry was a little bouncy going through the river, but the boys managed to fall asleep on the half hour ride.
There is an app to buy and show your tickets, or you can buy at the ferry terminals. However, as we discovered, the app was not updated with locations being closed due to COVID.
Have you ever heard of East Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania? We hadn’t either! We stayed in Timothy Lake South RV Campground in East Stroudsburg, in the Poconos.
The campground offered quite a few pull-throughs and some back-ins. The back-in sites seemed mostly along the edges of the campground. Many of the pull-throughs were very long. We could have stayed hooked up to the truck it was so long. They were a little on the narrow side though. There were plenty of trees throughout the campground, so once the trees have all their leaves, I’m sure it will be quite shaded.
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The campground had a laundry room and office/store. However, the store was closed for COVID. You could walk up to the check-in window to buy ice ($3/bag) and firewood. The campground had a sister site, Timothy Lake North, whose amenities you could also use (per the website, we did not go).
Laundry was $2.00 for washers (or $2.25 for super wash) and $1.75 for dryers. The laundry room was limited to 1 person at a time and you had to check out the key from the check-in window. Reservations were not accepted. They did not have quarters/change machine, although the machines were quarter run.
Our Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile were spotty around the campground and the mountain areas. We ended up paying for the campgrounds WiFi for the week to make sure we could connect for work and school. Even their internet was spotty at times. It was also not a very fast internet.
The campground was 12 minutes from Super Foodtown grocery store and 16 minutes from Price Chopper grocery store. There were several restaurants within a 20 minute drive. The Delaware Water Gap was also close (12 minutes to a close trail or 25-30 minutes to the hike we went on).
Getting There: I would take it slow on these roads. The roads are pretty narrow to fit two cars (especially one being a truck and RV) around some of the turns. The roads are hilly and twisty as well.
If you enjoy quiet with no electronics and lots of nature and hiking, you may enjoy this location. However, everything was closed in the campground (not including the laundry room) and there was just not a lot of things to do besides hiking (or kayaking if you had your own). We would not stay here again. If things were open, maybe it would have been a different experience.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile (all of our connections were slow/spotty depending on where we were in the park)
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull-through and Back-in (grass)
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Yes
Amenities: picnic table/fire pit/grill at sites, playground, pool (closed for season while we were there), shuffleboard. (Paid for cable and WiFi)
Cabins: Yes
Tent Camping: No (sister site Timothy Lake North does)
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps: 20/30/50
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No
Camp Store: Yes, closed due to COVID
WiFi: No free WiFi, Paid WiFi (a little slow, not what I would call high-speed internet)
So our initial plan was to go on another hike (not part of the Park Service). We got to the trail and were told it closed at 4:00 (it’s 4:30). It worked out in the end, since this placed charged to hike. We were a little hungry, so we headed back into town and stopped at Alaska Pete’s for dinner. It was a large restaurant and we had seen a lot of signs in the area for it.
It had a fun interior and an interesting menu, although the prices were not cheap. (Milkshake $8.95. Cheeseburger $13.95. Hamburger $12.95. Chicken Sizzler $19.95. Side of Mac & Cheese $3.50. Water $10.) We ordered waters for everyone, but were told that they were not “allowed” to give out cups of water. We had to buy a bottle of water at $2.50 (soft drinks were $3.50). This is the first time we had heard of anything like this, but it’s not like you are going to eat your entire meal without a drink!
It had a neat name, an interesting interior, and a huge outdoor patio that had its own separate bar. The food was ok. They brought some toasted bread to the table while we waited for our food. The burgers were well done (not medium as ordered), the Mac & Cheese only tasted like Velveeta, and the chicken was plain on the sizzler plate. However, the fries were really tasty. The shake was good, although it did not look like what was advertised on the menu. We were full, but I would not go back there again. It was too expensive for what we got.
I finally made a separate website for some of my photographs! You can find it at www.sarahtepe.com. I also have photographs (prints and items) for sale on Redbubble or Fine Art America. Eventually I hope to add a section to buy the image directly from me so you can print it yourself. 🙂 Thank you all who have encouraged me to do this!
If you know us at all, you know we are big Costco fans. Why, you may ask. Well, we like the quality of some of the items we get there, the cost savings on others, and the fun of seeing the stock change multiple times a year. Although we can no longer store the huge amounts of toilet paper or some of the other things we used to buy, we still love finding a Costco near us to get some of our essentials. Some of our favorites include protein drinks for Will, organic chicken and ground beef, precooked turkey breast and chicken strips, frozen burgers, and bottles of water. I am also a huge fan of the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes for an easy side to move day dinners. It’s a great place to find shoes and clothes for the boys now that they are growing like weeds. Will has sprouted several inches just on this trip, so we have had to replace a lot of clothes.
Costco is like a treasure hunt for us. We like to find what is different at each one; not every Costco offers different items, but we can usually find at least one new thing. In Texas, it was the Texas-proud reusable bags. In Florida it was guava topped cheesecake and flan.
Of course, it’s hard to go wrong at the Food Court too. The hot dog/drink combo and pizza are good deals for a quick meal.
Along our trip, we have tried to take a picture outside of each one. Sometimes I forget, so these are a few of the ones we have been to!
Here are the ones we have been to since moving into the RV:
Ohio: #1185 Dayton, Deerfield #384 (our favorite one back home). Updated to add #1226 Boston Mills (had diesel), #334 Mayfield Heights/Cleveland
Montana: #96 Bozeman
Colorado: #1030 W Colorado Springs, #629 Thornton, #1014 Colorado Springs East, #439 Aurora
Utah: #672 St. George (had diesel)
Nevada: #1320 SW Henderson, #673 Henderson
California: #781 Chula Vista, #401 Morena Blvd, #488 Mission Valley, #460 Rancho Del Rey (had diesel)
Louisiana: #1147 New Orleans (No self service stations or pizza order phone number.)
Florida: #1235 S Orlando, #1023 Kendall/Miami
South Carolina: #360 Charleston (How are there none near Savannah?), #1319 Mount Pleasant, #338 Myrtle Beach (had a garden center)
Virginia: #247 (Williamsburg/Newport News), #202 Norfolk, VA
Costco is even international! According to their April 2021 sales report “Costco currently operates 809 warehouses, including 559 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 29 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, three in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.” As you can tell, we have many more to go, even in just the US.
Below are some of the cool things we have seen along the way.
