We have explored the Eastern Seaboard

 and this is what we learned.

• We are not “beach people.” What is there to do at the beach if one doesn’t swim, surf, kayak, or have a boat BIG boat, except walk on the beach and look at the sunset, maybe take a bike ride (if it isn’t too windy or raining,) and sweep sand out of the coach?

•  Don’t plan to eat out or shop on Mondays or Tuesdays, you may or may not find anything          open. (During this time of labor shortage, check before you go as hours and days open seem to change daily.) 
• If one is planning a trip to the beach around a holiday, make it at the end of the holiday and avoid the traffic returning to the city.

• Take the Go Pro on a bike ride. You never know what you might see, and besides there needs to be some documentation. Great ride from Delaware Seashore State Park to Rehoboth Beach, 17 mile round trip, no photo.

•        If the peddling is easy going out, expect a pay-back on the return
•        East Coast is bike friendly with wide bike lanes even in congested areas.
• ·    Exception; Bike paths in resorts and urban areas are not the most relaxing ride for tandems; due to many stops and sharp curves.     

•     Dogfish Head Beer is good,

But Thompson Island Glazed and Confused is better (think donut infused pastry stout brew.)

•     It is perfectly okay to zig back in-land for a little bit of history; even if it means crossing the           Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

            So we zigged back in-land to revisit Monticello

Thomas Jefferson was a most interesting man. Monticello was designed in the Neoclassical and Palladian style and appointed with his finds in Europe. His inventions include the polygraph and multiple book stand as shown in the photo. The bed was designed in an alcove so the air could flow through.

This was our 2^nd time to visit Monticello; we noticed the tour now includes information on Sally Hemings. Apparently she was a half-sister to Jefferson’s wife. The story is, she accompanied Jefferson to Paris to care for Jefferson’s young daughter. Since France did not recognize slavery, she could have stayed there and been free. However she agreed to return to the states if she did not have to do hard, field work and if any children he fathered in the future would be freed upon his death. He kept that promise. She was 16 at the time she returned to Monticello and was pregnant. 

Although Jefferson was anti-slavery, he owned around 600 slaves during his Monticello days. On his death 5 were freed, the rest were sold to help pay off the his huge debt. (He lived way above his means.)

Monticello is well worth a visit. 

• Harvest Host stays are not necessarily the least expensive,

     but they tend to lead to more interesting stays and finds.

Goat Climbing Tower

            Tipsy Tuesday friends, look forward to Wine Slushies next summer.

•   One never knows where one will find inspiration. Inspired (well that would be ABN) at a Harvest Host stay at Dirt Bag Brewery in Hope Mills, NC.

We do have the bikes!

  

• There are more bugs in the east than in the west. Keep a cover on your wine glass if sitting outside.

•  Light houses no longer have “keepers”, the signals are triggered by photo cells that turn on the lights at dark. We could see this one flashing from our campsite at Oregon Inlet Campground in Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

 

Bodie Lighthouse
N.C. Outer Banks

Our Eastern Seaboard excursion ends and our Friends and Family Tour continues in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Eastbrook High School Class of 1967, look who we found on the Island!

We also caught up with former Paducah friends, Jill and Carl. (To be clear, Jill and Carl are current friends who formerly lived in Paducah.)

Sunset from Carl and Jill's patio.

 

Number 44

The Wanderer is now pointed toward Texas.

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