We finally made it to our Northernmost Eastern Coast stop: Maine. For our stay here, we focused on being near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
We had never been to Maine and were eager to explore. Bar Harbor is a cute waterfront town. There are several parking lots and the streets are lined with parking meters. We saw a sign stating that paid parking was in effect May to October. The lots are pay by machine or app, and the parking meters are pay by credit card/quarters or app. The weekend was very busy and parking was hard to come by. I was not expecting it to be this busy so early in the season. The town itself didn’t really open up until around 10:00 for most stores.
Town: fountain, park overlooking water, playground and little library, shops
We found the one pressed penny machine in town inside a store. (The National Park did not have one, so if you collect pressed pennies, you have to go into town.)
There was a great walking path around the water called the Shore Path. There were also historical signs around the town called The Museum In The Streets. There was some interesting information on them and are found throughout Bar Harbor.
We stayed in Rochester, Massachusetts at a Thousand Trails campground called Gateway to Cape Cod.
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The laundry room was open. Laundry machines ran off of credit cards or an app. Washers costs $2.75/load, and dryers cost $2.50/load. The camp store was open but was limited in their selection. The store sold ice for $2/bag and firewood for $7/bag. The pool was closed (supposed to open Memorial Day). The campground was located behind a neighborhood, near a cranberry farm, and had a walking trail that led to a lake.
The campground was within a 15 minute drive to grocery stores (Walmart and Target) and some restaurants. There were several homes nearby that sold firewood (we found one for $5 for soft wood and $10 for hardwood). Cape Cod was about an hour way, Salem was about 1.5-1.75 hour drive, Plymouth Rock about a 30 minute drive, and Boston about an hour.
Sites were decent sized with lots of trees. Sites were a first come/first serve policy, as with most Thousand Trails. Some of the turns were tight with larger rigs. The interior roads were also a little rough with potholes. The rest of the campground seemed pretty well maintained and the campground staff was nice. There was visitor parking by the office that many people took advantage of. However, with the visitor parking and the island, it made leaving tricky for larger rigs. We had to drive down the campground, turn on one of the other lanes to work our way out.
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)
For our stay in New Jersey, we stayed at Lake & Shore RV Resort. The campground was located close to an Acme (Safeway family) grocery store. It was pretty conveniently located: about 1.15 hours from Philadelphia, PA (with toll roads), 40 minutes to Atlantic City, NJ (with toll roads), and 30 minutes (depending on beach) to the Jersey Shore, but otherwise not a lot in the area.
The pool area looked neat, but was closed while we were there. They were cleaning it and getting it ready for summer. The arcade was also closed (COVID reasons). The laundry room, store (limited hours), beach, and putt putt were open. The campground also had a nice walking trail around the lake with a fishing pier off of it.
It seemed like the campground was mostly permanent sites/homes. Everything was well maintained though. The map of the campground was ok, but did not have a lot of details on it (what was open/closed, when store was open, etc.).
Click To Enlarge: Lake & Shore Thousand Trails, Ocean View, NJ
The laundry room had quarter run machines, although there were no change machines at the campground. Washers were $2.50 (or $2.75 for super wash) per load and dryers were also $2.50. I did have one washer break down in the middle of the cycle and had to fill out a form online to get my money back. Supposedly a check is in the mail from the maintenance company (not the campground).
The bathrooms looked nice and clean, although we did not use them.
Lanes were marked with street names at either end on white poles and sites were marked at the electric boxes. It was dark at night, as there were not a lot of lights, which would make it challenging to situated after dark. The campground was typical Thousand Trails when it came to sites: first come/first serve, find your own site and then let them know. I really wish that they would just tell you which ones are open since everyone is supposed to tell them their site number once they choose one. Sites were a little shaded as there were many trees in the campground. Sites also seemed like a decent size, which we have found to be a rarity in Thousand Trails. If you have a site in the front row near the lake, you can see the lake from your picnic table. The campground was gated and you received a key card after checking in to scan at the gate to get back in.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 3 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Back-in (grass)
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Yes
Amenities: picnic table/fire pit at sites, playground, beach/lake, putt putt, basketball court, walking trail, shuffleboard, pool, arcade (closed), shelter with picnic tables
After being set up in the new campground, we decided to take a short trip into Atlantic City. Ben had been there years ago, but the boys and I had never been.
We found some pretty close parking near the boardwalk. Ben informed us that Monopoly was based on Atlantic City (history of Monopoly Wiki link), which I didn’t know! We found Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana signs along the boardwalk.
The ride area was really crowded, so we didn’t go in.
The boardwalk had a motorized train type of car that would drive you down the boardwalk for a fee. There were also hand-pushed carts that you could ride in. The beach looked pretty wide, so I’m sure it gets really busy when it is warmer out!
Although New Jersey was supposed to be one of the tougher states on COVID restrictions, we didn’t see very many people wearing masks on the boardwalk. We kept ours on the whole time, and I didn’t feel comfortable eating there with the lax mask wearing (even with food employees) so we were there less than an hour. It felt a little like Myrtle Beach; a little rough, a little sketchy. There was a smell around parts of the boardwalk that was not pleasant. I guess they get a lot of tourists in for gambling and the large beach. It was good to see it and cross if off our list, but I would not want to go back.
This cute little town was about 18 minutes from our campground. It is set on the water, so there was a beach area to enjoy. There was also the main street (Mason St.) that was lined with shops and restaurants. We really enjoyed walking around the town. Parking was free when we were there, mostly on-street, although there was a parking lot by behind the main street and also over by the marina.
There were some really cute stores, where we picked up some gifts for people. There seemed to be an ice cream store almost every block. We tried Brown Dog Ice Cream and tried the turtle ice cream (this turtle had a chocolate ice cream base instead of vanilla). As we walked further along, we stopped at the bakery and picked up a Nutella loaf of bread and some shortbread cookies. Our final treat of the day was at Cowlick’s Creamery where we tried a peanut butter ice cream (custard). Both of the desserts were really nice.
The boys loved finding the little libraries scattered around town. There were 4 listed on the map, but we found an extra one near the beach. They didn’t have much luck finding a book, but were able to drop some of theirs off for others to enjoy.
Sand Dunes at Chesapeake Bay, Virginia
We walked along the beach for a few minutes and saw a crab and a few shells. We also saw some small jellyfish on the beach, although I’m not sure what kind they were.
