Washington DC

A Day in The Capital

Washington DC

Dan Brown, in his thriller book “The Lost Symbol”, had his main character run around the city looking for clues in the buildings and memorials.  We followed in his footsteps on Saturday, ably guided by our hosts Jan and Herb.

Our friendship with Herb and Jan was the result of spending time with them in the mountain ski lodges in Canada.  We were privileged to be their guests at their house at Pooleville, where we met their two adorable Persian cats Selkirk and Halifax.

It was only an hour or so drive to DC.  The city is quite compact and in a day we wandered around the centre taking in the monuments, memorials, the Capitol, White House and Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  It was just an overview of the attractions and to see it all would take weeks.  Herb had lived in the area since 1992 and still was seeing sights for the first time.  There are no buildings higher than the Washington monument.  This gives the city a spacious feel that is quite different from the heavily built-up city of NY. 

On our second day in Pooleville we went for a walk around the beautiful forest paths on nearby Sugarloaf Mountain.   We were back well in time to watch the RWC final, delayed coverage on Herb’s Cable TV. Herb had never seen a rugby match before and was amused by the haka and a bit confused by the rules. Rugby in pretty much unheard of around here and we were surprised it was on TV at all.  A great result, well done AB’s!

Click here to see photos from Washington DC with Jan and Herb

Shenadoah

The Shenadoah Valley  and Blue Ridge Mountains should be familiar names to anyone who was listened to John Denver’s song “Country Road”.   They are close to and popular destinations for all the city people in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia who want a taste of wilderness.  They can experience the grandeur without even getting out of their cars thanks to President Roosevelt’s vision that the views should available for anyone to see.

The Skyline Drive as it is now called is 105 miles of incredibly scenic winding road with a speed limit of 35mph (55kph for those too young to remember the days before metric.  The Appalachian Trail (AT) walking track also winds along the ridge. 

We made the mistake of staying in Front Royal, at the northern end of the valley.  To put it bluntly the town is a run-down hole of a place.  The highlight was finding the tattoo parlour, which proudly advertised a “family atmosphere” above the door.  Right next door, conveniently, were the pregnancy centre and the bail bond shop.

The weather was terrible the day after we arrived and this was a good excuse to drive the Skyline Drive with all the local grey power following behind in tour buses and house busses.  After 33 miles we gave up as the mist was too thick to see anything.  Another opportunity presented itself on the way back to Front Royal as we passed a vineyard ............ wine-tasting!  A fortuitous find which cheered us up considerably.  The wines were excellent, especially the cabernet franc and viognier.

Fortunately the following day was fine and we headed in to the Blue Ridge mountains to climb The Old Rag.  While only 3200 feet high the top part of the climb involved some tricky scrambling up bouldery cracks and slippery worn granite slabs.  Loads of fun and at the top, the usual endless view of disappearing ridges coated in colourful autumnal forest.  We were treated to the sight of three wild black bears running across the road in front of us on the way home.

Next stop a day later, Maryland, which was only an hour or two east. First we did tour through the amazing Luray Cavern which exceeded expectations.  The route then took us through historic Harpers Ferry, where we walked a bit more of the Appalachian Trail, and checked out the old town where John Brown made his famous stand against slavery in 1859.  He was executed for treason and his efforts were immortalised in the song “John Brown’s body lies a mouldering in his grave, but his soul goes marching on”.

 My dad had a working flintlock pistol that was a replica of an original made in the Harpers Ferry Armoury in the mid 1800’s and was fascinating to see the site. Scarily, this armoury was considered the birthplace of modern techniques for mass-production of military weapons.  Previously each gun was handmade.

Next stop, Poolesville, Maryland, home of Surefire Sherfy and the Herbinator.

Click here for photos of the Shenadoah Valley

Driving South

Camden

It was time to head South, following the lines of honking Canadian geese we’d seen from the mountain tops of New England.  Our path deviated through the coastal town of Camden, which has a pretty port area full of sailing and lobster boats.

Why Camden?  Back in the 1980’s, a young Irish student studying English at Cork University came here for holiday work.  Now living and teaching in Oamaru, Tiernach Farrell had entertained us with many stories of his exploits in Maine.  He had recommended the lobster rolls served in Cappies Chowder Bar in Camden, and that was enough excuse for us to pay a visit.  It was worth it!

Winding down the convoluted coast reminds us of how much coast-line there really is on the East Coast USA.  It is massive.  Camden is a picturesque town right on the harbour.

The rest of the drive south, which was about 1200km and took 2 days, was pretty dull on the freeways.  The section through New Jersey was memorable for being so incredibly ugly.  Nothing but man-made structures, all industrial, cranes, tanks, pipes, chimneys, factories, power stations, under and overpasses, fly-overs, old concrete and rusty steel.  This is the other side of USA that we don’t hear about at home.

to see photos of Camden click here

Maine and Bar Harbour

Maine

Is a person who lives in Maine a Maine-iac?  We’d have to say that on the road at least Maine-iacs are very polite, drive slowly and always show patience to Kiwi drivers who have obviously lost their way.

Maine is the USA capital for blueberries, and lobster.  Our visit was directed by our stomachs rather than our sense of adventure.  Also there is a vast amount of beautiful coast both inland and sea.  The population is only 1.3 million so there is plenty of shoreline and wilderness for everyone -it is huge and very uncrowded.

We based ourselves in Bar Harbour for a few days and explored the Acadia National Park.  The hikes were extremely pleasant, small rounded peaks and a wild sea coast.  A highlight was the Precipice Trail, which was more of a rock climb, with iron rungs, rails and ladders fixed to the cliff in places to make it easier.  Like the Via Ferrata in Europe only without the ropes.

The most memorable part of Maine though was the lobster.  Lobster roll, Lobster on Caesar, Whole Lobster with butter, Lobster linguini, Lobster with sherry sauce.  And of course lobster ice cream.  We tried it all (except the ice cream!).   To go with the lobster, we had locally-brewed Atlantic Blueberry beer, Autumn Spiced lager, and Californian Pinot Grigio.  For deserts, the local speciality Blueberry pie, Pumpkin pie and the Indian Pudding - corn meal and molasses!  Delicious..............

Lots of interesting people were on holiday in Bar Harbour when we were there, including a Panty-Hose-wearing man,  the fully-clothed beach sunbathers, and loads of Harley riders without helmets.

We had deer wandering on the lawn just outside our motel in the morning, even though we were just on the edge of the town.

See you in the funny pages!  (traditional Maine-iac farewell, and no, we’ve no idea what it means either ...)

Thanks to Tiernach Farrell, who worked in Maine as a student, for directing us to the best lobster bar in Camden. And for giving us the lowdown on local language.

Click Here to see our photos of Maine

Motel New Hampshire

New Hampshire

It is hard to know what to expect when the state motto is “Live free or die”.  Also, Dara read in the Lonely Planet guide on her Kindle that the state logo was “The Old Man”, which was a rock outcrop that looked in profile like your great grand daddy.  This outcrop fell down in 2003 but the logo is still on the car number plates.

In actual fact, we haven’t felt it to be more liberal or right-wing here than anywhere else so far.  The drive over the state-line was seamless and we headed straight for the most famous loop track in the White Mountains – the “Franconian Loop”.  It is interesting to note the wild animals we’ve seen so far from the highway.

 Game-count so far...

 Deer  6

Turkeys 3

Racoons 1 (recently deceased)

Skunk 1 (recently deceased)

Porcupine 1 (recently deceased)

Mouse 1

Pelican 1

The Franconian Loop (which is not a German contraceptive device), was a 6.5 hour hike (9 miles) taking in 3 peaks on the famous Appalachian Trail.  If the Vermont Long Trail is The Baby, the Appalachian Trail is The Daddy.  It is just less than 2200 miles long and stretches from Georgia to Maine.

We however only managed a couple of miles of the actual ridge, taking in 3 peaks, the Little Haystack, Mt Lincoln, and Mt Lafayette.  There was some urgency in getting around the exposed parts as bad weather was due in the evening. All was still ok when we reached the end of the trail, and coasted down the I93 Highway to Lincoln through a colourful avenue of gold, red and green.

With sore feet, a rest day was planned.  All of you, who believe we may have been getting far too much exercise, and moving too fast, will be pleased to know that today we would be doing nothing but driving, indulging in gluttony and shopping.

So, the rest day started with a 30 minute drive to Polly’s Pancakes for breakfast. Fresh maple syrup, maple paste, pancakes made with home –ground wheat, buck wheat or corn meal.  Also with blueberries, walnuts, coconut & strawberries, and of course the bottomless cup of coffee.

Blood sugar and caffeine levels soaring, we headed over Route 112 to Conway. This scenic drive through the forest is completely free of buildings and was very misty and atmospheric in the pouring rain.  Despite the numerous warnings we have yet to have a moose jumping out on to the road in front of us.

On reaching North Conway, a minor orgy of shopping and eating continued.  Lobster Roll and Clam Chowder, followed a few hours later by pizza Supreme and a bottle of Californian Shiraz.

 Live free or die!.................

Click here to see photos of New Hampshire

Vermont and the Green Mountains

Vermont and the Green Mountains

To get to Vermont we aimed our Honda Civic towards the East, caught a car ferry at Essex and boated across Lake Champlain to Charlotte.  An hour or so later we were ensconced at the Snowdrift Inn at the mountain resort of Stowe.  This place is another perfect example of the classic US motel: and included self-help continental breakfast, which meant we could stock up on enough fruit, pastries and donuts for lunch as well.

There was time for a short walk up the Stowe Pinnacle that afternoon, which was perfect as the next day we’d planned a big walk around the “most difficult” Camel’s Hump circuit in Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains.

 Although not particularly high, at 4083 feet, the ascent up the South Track on Camel’s Hump was supposed to be “technical”.  As it turned out we found it OK with just some rocky scrambles, reaching the summit in unbelievably clear and warm weather.    Every man and his dog (literally) seemed to be up there enjoying the fantastic view from the bald rocky top.  The Camel’s Hump, and the track up the South Face, is a part of Vermont’s Long Trail.  The LT is about 275 miles long (no metric here) & stretch’s from the southern to the northern border. It is a hiker’s paradise, but just a baby compared to the next trail we were heading towards a few days later.

After the Hump, it was compulsory that we took one of the more popular tourist attractions in the area – the Von Trapp Family Lodge, from “The Sound of Music “ fame.  This is where they ended up when they escaped Austria, and now they have a massive tourism centre with lodge, delicatessen, Austrian-style beer microbrewery, restaurant, biking and walking trails.  We at this stage, of course, were only interested in their beer.  The Dunkel lager is a fine brew.

From Stowe, it is just a couple of hours drive, through lovely country-side, to New Hampshire.  And New Hampshire has NO sales tax (like our GST), so it’s a very sensible place to shop....

Click here to see photos of Vermont

Lake Placid

Lake Placid, The Adirondacks

About 2 hours further north from Lake George lies Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics.  Now a resort town, close to the skiing area of Whiteface Mountain, we were lucky to be able to get accommodation in a little separate cottage right on the lake shore.

 We stayed over a double holiday weekend, as it was Thanksgiving Weekend for the Canadians (only 2 hours drive away) and Columbus weekend for the Americans. Although it was quiet off the beaten track, the main part of town was packed with people and cars.  The weather was uncharacteristically fine, and so every man was out in his convertible or on his Harley.

Highlights for us were:

Climbing  Mt Algonquin, NY State’s 2^nd highest peak, at a breath-taking 5114 feet.  We got away early enough to avoid the crowds (the road-end car-park runs out of spaces) and enjoyed great views from the granite dome which caps the summit like a bald head.

Climbing Cascade Mountain, the easiest of the 4000 footers, with the best view, early again to avoid the crowds.  We were alone on the summit, but on the descent must have passed more than 300 people on their way up. Dara's boots were given a final farewell today and now reside in a bin at Lake Placid.  A nice shoe repair man in Lake George had a go at re-glueing the sole with something that looked like chewing gum.  It lasted just 2 hikes before coming off again..  This led to a bit of retail therapy for some new boots at the local well-stocked Eastern Mountain Sports shop.  Prices are about half those in NZ. 

A long bike ride, on a rented road bike, around the Olympic half Ironman circuit.  While very scenic, it would have been easier with bike shorts and proper pedals.

Another beautiful forest hike to the top of Scarface Mountain, and nearly stepping on another snake.  This began very near the local correction facility so we were a bit nervous about leaving the car in the car-park.  The hunting season has just begun and we passed a guy in full camo gear with serious looking bow and arrow set.

We have really enjoyed the Adirondacks, with the incredibly beautiful forests, granite top dome hills, and calm tree-lined lakes.  Lake Placid has lived up to it's name and would be an OK place to spend more time. The autumn colours and unseasonably fine weather has helped. 


 Next stop, Vermont...




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Click to see photos of Lake Placid