Day Fourteen

I drove 663 miles today but we made it home. We stopped for lunch in Fayetteville, NC at Fuller's Old Fashioned BBQ Buffet. It was the best southern cooking I have ever had. It was a welcome home meal if I have ever had one. Any southern food you can think of was not only on the buffet but cooked to perfection all for only $6.99 (lunch) a person, amazing! Usually if the food on a buffet is great the deserts are not so great, but this was so not the case here. I ate so much I was still full when it came time for dinner. I seriously considered moving to North Carolina so that I could eat here regularly. And the best part is they have one in Lumberton, NC too. I highly suggest that if you are anywhere near either city that you stop in. Come hungry because everything I had was fabulous.

My car hit 50,000 miles in Holly Hill South Carolina. I of course could not help but take pictures of this milestone for our ride that made it to Canada and back.

Below is a picture of the trip that we took highlighted in yellow on the map.

Hope you enjoyed the journey. Here are some statistics:

Miles driven: 3,968

Countries visited: 2

States/Districts/Provinces visited: 18

Fill-up's: 16

Gallons of gas used: 130.6

Average MPG: 30

Hotels visited: 8

Restaurants eaten in: 23

Ice Cream shops visited: 3

Temples seen: 5

Sessions done: 3

Crazy people seen: 4

Postcards sent: 120

Tires used: 3

Day Thirteen

We started the day with a drive to Jersey City to the beautiful Liberty State Park. Somewhere between there and the hotel I hit a major pot hole in the road and should have stopped and had it checked out. If you go to Liberty State Park head towards the ferry parking and drive past it there is a lot on the river that you can park at for 2 hours for free. The best part is that you are right along the Hudson River and you can pay $10 to take a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We chose to take the pictures we could instead of the ferry. The brick walkway on closer inspection was actually pieces of wood cut to the size of bricks and laid to make a path. Below are some of the pictures we took.

Next we drove to Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Where we had a late lunch at the Good' N Plenty to sample some Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and sweet corn. It was very good.

Then we drove to the Bird in Hand Farmer's Market. Luckily we were there on Wednesday as they are only open 3 days a week. We shopped around and I ended up buying a new purse and wallet. We were the last ones out of the parking lot.

Lancaster County Pennsylvania is home to 28 covered bridges. So when I found this out I had to see at least one, and when I was told that they had some that are still working bridges I had to find one. Deb took some pictures of me driving on the bridge and let me tell you to a covered bridge enthusiast this was an experience not soon to be forgotten.

After the bridge we headed home or at least started in that direction. We passed the DC Temple and Deb shot some pictures out the window as we drove by.

We stopped for the night in Virginia. Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.

Day Twelve

So we started off the day in the wrong direction, meaning we totally walked away from NYC and the transit to get us there for at least 30 minutes, in the rain, before we figured it out. Nevertheless, today was a day of firsts for me. My first ride on a public bus came via the NJ Transit and only cost me $3.20. Then I hopped on the Subway which cost another $8 and change for an all day unlimited pass. Pictures below:

I mentioned it was raining, but I failed to mention that it rained all day long. Here are some photos we snapped of each other walking around. Deb looked hunchbacked due to her back pack and I either looked pregnant as pictured below, or like I had an abnormal stomach with one side bigger than the next. Deb was told she looked fetching in her rain poncho.

It took 2 hours to get from our hotel to our first stop and to be honest by then I was cold, wet, tired and hungry so we had breakfast at the European Cafe. I had a quiche and Deb had a breakfast burrito. It was pretty good.

When we finished eating we headed next door to try to catch our 11 am session at the Manhattan Temple. It was so nice to leave the rain and noise of the city behind even if only briefly.

When we were done there we walked around Chinatown a bit and then headed over to Little Italy where we ordered the Mixed Family Pasta. They weren't kidding when they called it mixed it was a trio of pasta dishes, but they were all on the same plate and it was quite easy to get the flavors of one coming through on the other. The food was ok, but I think I have made better. The total cost for lunch for two was right at about $22 with tip.

Next we took Jac up on her recommendation of Ferrara's. We couldn't decide what to order so we decided to each order something and get some gelato to share. I took Jac up on her recommendation of the Pasticiollo Ricotta. Imagine if you will a mini pie crust with a cheesecake like filling. It was pretty good the menu said something about fruit, but sadly mine did not have any in it. We also decided to get some gelato since there was a display case and it looked fabulous. We chose Strawberry, Chocolate, and Pistachio. It was not as good as it looked. There was only one piece of strawberry in all of the strawberry portion, no nuts to speak of in the pistachio, and the chocolate tasted a little funny so we pretty much didn't eat it. Deb's Chocolate Mousse cake left us wishing we had gone to IKEA. The total for our visit was $26 with tip. Kinda pricey for just dessert.

At some point in the day we did get to see the Empire State Building or at least most of it. There was a lot of rain which made a fog. We tried to go to Top of the Rock as a coworker of mine suggested, but the rain and fog made visibility dim at best and I didn't wanna pay $21 to not see anything. So now I have an excuse to come back.

Many of those that know me know I am a huge Project Runway fan. So what trip to New York would be complete without a trip to Mood. Unfortunately I am not yet a New Yorker. I thought that the D train went to Penn Station so we hopped on it only to discover we wanted the 1 train. Of course we didn't realize this until we got off at Fashion Ave. So we got back on the one train and took it up one more stop to Columbus Circle where we were able to transfer to the 1 train.

Of course by this time it was 5 pm and the trains were getting full we had to wait because the first train that came by was so full we could not both get on. Below is a pic of Deb pointing at where we wanted to go.

Mood was awesome. Two floors of fabric, what could be better. It took me back to when I was a girl and my Mom would take us to Fabric King in the Palatka Mall. Sadly they did not have a button bin for me to run my hands through, but they did have a wall of buttons. Which was pretty cool. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I just wish we had more time. We arrived about an hour before closing and let me tell you I could have spent all day there. I feel like maybe I got to look at 10% of what was there. I have no idea how the designers on Project Runway can decide what to buy in only 30 minutes. We snapped some photos for those at home.

After saying thank you Mood. Yes they had t-shirts that said that for $17, we went back out into the rain and back to Times Square where we found the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. It was a blast looking around the store.

Here is a video that Deb shot of Times Square enjoy.

Check back tomorrow for more of the Adventure.

Day Eleven

We had breakfast with Bob at the Fairgrounds Cafe again this morning. We almost started to feel like regulars after 3 mornings. Then we headed off towards the big city.

We stopped for lunch at a place I had seen on Diners Drive ins and Dives called Crazy Burger. The burgers were good, but I will be honest I was a little disappointed with the Milkshake and Fries that I ordered as well as the total $36 with a lousy tip since the service was also less than stellar.

Then we drove to see what Rhode Islanders call a beach. It was beautiful, below is some pictures:

We made it to our hotel about 6:30 and got settled in and then decided to venture into the city. We headed for the famous Gray's Papaya which also did not live up to my expectations. We had the recession special 2 hot dogs and a drink for $4.45. I have to say the Papaya juice was way better than the hot dogs, and Deb agreed. Below are some of the photos we took while wondering around.

Day Ten

So we got up and had breakfast and went to church. Once we got back, Bob was ready to head out on our next adventure. This is a picture that I snapped of Bob while he was driving us around.

We made a trip to the Lobster shop. We got a dozen for 5 people. I thought it sounded like a lot, but I had no problem eating both of the lobsters that were purchased for me, and I have to say that they were fabulous.

We got the Lobsters at a place in Topsham. Above are a picture of a sign on display in the shop and the girl working hard to pull our lobsters out of the tank. After picking up the lobsters we drove over to David's to cook em up and eat em. Below are some pictures taken by Deb from left to right and top to bottom are: David and Bob preping the pot for the lobsters, a plate of cooked lobsters, Deb looking at the lobsters trying to decide wether to have one (just kidding, she had a cheeseburger), and then us with our feast.

After leaving Davids we drove back to Bob's and then headed out towards Popham Beach. We stopped along the way for ice cream and it was fabulous. Deb and I had peanut butter soft serve ice cream in a waffle cone, and Bob had a small coffee ice cream. We went to the Popham Fort first there are some pictures below.

Bob and I are looking out the window at some seals playing in the sea. Deb went outside on the beach and got some great pictures and videos of the seals, there were about a dozen total.

Next we drove to Popham State Park. Here Deb and I took a walk while the tide was out to an island and climbed to the top of the rocky hill barefoot to get a better view of a nearby lighthouse. Below are some pictures:

Check back tomorrow for more of the adventure.