Here's a post script from our trip
1. We wanted to be home by the middle of July. We planned to spend 3 - 4 months on the road. So we left home on March 29th. We thought that would get us up and back before the severe tourist season started. It seemed to be a good time to start the trip but we didn't realize two conditions existed.
2. We figured that we would take a month and we would spend May in Maine and June in Canada and then head home. We ran into cold weather in MA and ever though we had a LP gas furnace in the RV we should stop a Walmart to buy an inexpensive electric heater, just so we didn't have to use all of our LP gas. That was a great idea because we were overnighting in RV campgrounds which had 30 amp electric service that saved wear and tear on the furnace and we actually used the heater all of our time in Canada. It also made us wonder just how long was the summer season.
3. Speaking of season - we have seasons but every thing stays open during the off season. Not so, in the north. We didn't realize that their seasons are 'in season' and 'out of season'. We realized this a little bit on the way up but when we got to Cape May (which we liked a lot) it hit us in the face. As we called for reservations at the campgrounds we got mixed messages that they were closed, some would be open on May 1st, some on May 15th and others on Memorial Day weekend or some other date. As we drove north from Cape May all of the beach towns were empty, just like someone had given an order to evacuate. I was difficult to find anything open, in fact, one toll bridge had a sign on the door of the toll booth "No toll. Closed till the season opens, Thanks". We found out that most of the campgrounds take about 6 weeks to shut down and 6 weeks to open back up. So when we could find someone on the phone we let them know that we were from Florida, we didn't know about the seasonal stuff and could we stay in their park just needing power and water - nothing else. That worked pretty good even got one spot for no charge at all.
4. When we walk down Centre Street in Fernandina Beach people look at each other and usually exchange pleasantries. Not so, up north people look straight ahead and do not acknowledge anyone. I talk to everyone and after I said hello to one couple I overheard the guy say to his wife " What do you think he mean be that?". Strange! However, if you can engage someone in conversation it's like they won't shut up. We had a lot of fun not talking and talking to people on the street and in the shops and restaurants. The best opener was to let someone know that we were from Florida and could they do us a favor and let us know where ?? was.
5. One of our goals was to visit as many "working" waterfronts as possible. I'm not sure exactly what the term means. What we saw were waterfronts where they build boats and repair boats and have maritime museums, and some with restaurants, bars and shops and many that have harbor cruises from their docks and marinas. We saw a lot of fishing boats, some very heavy duty fishing boats, mostly tied up at the docks. At one RV park we met a couple who were working as campground hosts. They were from Plymouth, MA and they used to own a boat and were shrimpers until the government put them out of business with rules and regulations. We saw some fish processing plants but mostly the boats were tied up at the docks. The only lively fishing business, if you can call it that, was for lobsters. The lobsters were in season and the fishing was good. I hope that the government won't put them out of business, too.
6. We had a great trip except for the three times when it rained - rained for days and nights and when we didn't go out except to take Shadow for a pee or poop. We actually stumbled into a great pet shop in Mystic, CT., the best that we've ever been to and bought Shadow a great rain slicker. We followed the coast as much as we could except for driving around New York and Boston. We visited seaports, forts, lighthouses, museums, state parks, yarn shops and many local places for breakfast and lunches.
Would we go back again to the northeast? Probably not, we've been there, done that. For our taste in traveling we like the west best. We've already enjoyed two RV trips out west and next year our blog will be
North to Alaska
