September 2022

Presque Isle, Lake Erie

We traveled along the shoreline of Lake Erie, working our way back to the east coast. In Erie, PA, we stayed at Lampe Campground and Marina, a private campground close to Presque Isle State Park.

The state park is the home of Perry’s Victory and International Peace Monument, commemorating the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

In September of 1813, this major battle was fought between the Americans, led by Master Commander Oliver Hazard Perry, and the British fleet led by Commander Robert Barclay. The Lake Erie Squadron was outnumbered and outgunned, but Perry’s sailing strategy won the day and importantly secured U.S. control of the lake. Perry is also remembered for his quote, “We have met the enemy and they are ours…” and for his ship’s banner that read “Don’t give up the ship.”

Presque Isle State Park is lovely, with lots of woodsy places to hike, bike, and picnic. Our nearby campground was also an enjoyable find.

The pier next to the campground was good for strolling and observing boat traffic heading into Lake Erie from Presque Isle Bay, as well as watching herons patiently waiting for fishermen to toss a snack.

Niagara Falls

Our stop here was brief, but the park will always be memorable for both its beauty and its magnetism for tourists.

The park was packed with visitors from all over the world.

We walked along a riverside trail and admired the mighty power of the falls. All the tours and boat rides were already sold out for the day, so we took a few pictures and hoped to return another time.

As the Maid of the Mist tour boat drew close to the falls, we watched the passengers – all dressed in red plastic ponchos – get soaked.

Among old photos back home, now tucked away in storage, there’s a tiny black and white photo of my mother on the Maid of the Mist. It was probably taken in the late 1920s. That iteration of the Maid of the Mist, with updates, was in service from 1885 to 1955. Numerous subsequent versions followed, up through Maid of the Mist VII.

After a huge infusion of funding from New York state, in 2020, the two current Maids of the Mist were launched. They’re fully electric, emission-free, and as popular as ever. Their passengers still thrill to getting soaked by spray from the falls.

Adirondacks, New York state

We made our way through the Adirondacks, camping along the way in Old Forge and Hague. Camping in the Adirondacks isn’t elegant; it’s pretty rustic.

You’re more likely to find unlevel, muddy campsites here and friendly spiders in the bath houses. But the scenery is beautiful.

We scrambled up a rocky trail at Rogers Rock, for a bird’s eye view of Lake George. We also enjoyed the lakeside trail at Nick’s campground.

Finger Lakes, New York state

Keuka Lake has become a favorite return destination.

The campsites are spacious and the nice, clean bath houses have oodles of hot water. We have used this park as a base for activities around the region: hiking the Watkins Glen Gorge, visiting wineries and restaurants, shopping, and taking in the terrific scenery of the area.

And the wineries are fun…

The Keuka State Park campground has hiking trails and a pretty lakeside park with a swim beach. It rained for part of our stay and it was a little chilly for swimming, but we love being near the water.

Surprisingly, there were very few other campers during our stay, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Nice.

Coastal Maine

The rains followed us to Sebago Lake in Maine. So did the ducks, who decided our flooded campsite was a perfect spot for a dip.

We did some hiking in between chilly rain showers and had very expensive lobster rolls (holy moly, you don’t want to know…) in nearby Raymond, ME.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Next, we headed over to the coast and visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor.

We tried to visit last year, but tickets during our time in the area were sold out due to Covid limited ticketing. This year, we visited on a picture perfect day. Sunny skies and tee shirt weather, but not too hot. What a great garden this is!

We walked through the various gardens, all the way back through the woods to the water’s edge.

Each themed garden area is well-thought out and well-tended. I loved the colorful, flashy areas – like the Dahlia and Zinnia gardens – as well as more quiet areas like the Hillside Garden and Meditation Garden.

The Children’s Garden is one of the best I’ve seen; it’s educational with lots of clever, nooks and crannies to explore. Tiny kid-sized workshops, secret fairy houses, arbors covered with vegetable vines – all designed to encourage curiosity and engagement.

Currently, there’s an exhibit of giant trolls made from recycled materials, such as wooden pallets and discarded lumber. They’re huge sculptures.

The artist, Thomas Dambo, is Danish. All of his projects are made from recycled materials. The trolls are placed strategically, in order to lead you through the whole garden. Each troll is named and has a story associated with saving the earth.

While walking in the woods, we saw crews installing Christmas lights, getting ready for their holiday display. A reminder to come back and visit in other seasons!

Acadia National Park

We camped at Lamoine State Park, close to Acadia. We spent several days exploring and hiking in Acadia. The pleasant weather stayed with us, and we had a great time.

We discovered that Hannaford, the local supermarket, had live lobsters for sale, reasonably priced. In addition, they would steam your lobster purchase while you waited. Score! We bought cooked lobsters to enjoy back at our campsite. And went back the next day for more! It might not be conventional to use pliers to open cooked lobsters, but it works! (I’m glad John keeps a small collection of tools in the van…)

Visits with Friends and Family

We spent a night in South Burlington, Vermont, with our friends Richard and Susan. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been together, and catching up had us talking non-stop during our visit. Conversations with these folks are always fun. We had drinks harborside in Burlington, and then enjoyed a wonderful salmon dinner back at their condo.

They fixed us breakfast and sent us on our way with even more food for the road. We’ve been friends since our days in Woodstock, Vt., which makes it around 40 years that we’ve known each other. They’re gracious hosts and their friendship is an absolute treasure.

In Pittston, Pennsylvania, we stayed with John’s cousin Mary Ellen. Her brother Bernie, who lives nearby, joined us for much of our visit. Here, too, we were treated to yummy food and good conversation. On our arrival, Bernie treated us to a platter of ripe figs from his garden.

Sliced and topped with bleu cheese and balsamic reduction – wow! what a treat. Then, that first night we went out for sushi, which was so much fun. The next night, Mary Ellen made a delicious seafood boil with all kinds of seafood and corn on the cob.

Along with all this, we were treated to tomatoes from Mary Ellen’s garden, made into tomato salad laced with garlic and basil. Visiting here has always been a happy time…with lots of good food. (Sorry that I don’t have a photo of our cousins…we must have been too busy gobbling fresh tomatoes!)

To work off a few calories, we went hiking with Mary Ellen at Ricket’s Glen. What a pretty state park. There are lots of hiking trails and waterfalls.

The trees were just starting to take on some early fall color. We’d like to visit again next time we’re in town.

Hershey, PA for the RV Show

As one of the country’s largest RV shows, the one in Hershey is worth visiting. All of the big manufacturers (even some that are not so big) have displays.

The outdoor lots at the Giant Arena are jammed with RVs to walk through and get ideas. Trailers, Class A, B, and Cs. All sizes. Tear drops and pop-up campers – all are here to cruise through. (You quickly learn how to sidestep the eager beaver sales reps.)

And there are lots of vendor booths with every kind of accessory you can imagine: waterproof rugs, water softeners, bamboo bedsheets, chairs, gas grills, cooking gear, insurance companies, clubs, and resorts you can join. It’s always an interesting day of window shopping.

In order to spend the night close to the show, we stayed at a wonderful Harvest Host location: Grapevine Farms near Hershey.

This place is destination-worthy. They have a wine cellar, bistro, and the most expansive gift shop I’ve seen at a spot like this.

Seriously…there are three floors of quality merchandise. Jewelry, food, clothes, home decor, and a bakery. Plus, everyone who works here is friendly and welcoming.

This will be a definite stop next time we come through this area!

We spent our last night in this area at Gifford Pinchot State Park. Gifford Pinchot was a former governor of Pennsylvania. He was also the first Chief of the Forest Service and an unrelenting champion for American forest conservation.

This park is a little off the beaten track, but we were very surprised and pleased by its beauty.

Our campsite was right on Pinchot Lake. We fixed dinner, sat on the beach, and watched the sunset over the water.

It was a delightful evening and a fitting end to our September travels.