November 2024
East Coast Exploration
The month began with a tour of The Octagon House in Irvington, NY. It was a unique building that we appreciated seeing the interior of. The first weekend of November was spent with friends we made while on a group trip to Morocco in April/May of 2023. Marsha and Warren live in Guildford, CT, and graciously hosted us for a couple of nights. We carpooled to Providence, RI for the WaterFire Festival. It was the last event for the season and it honored US Veterans. There were booths that were selling arts, crafts, and food. It was a neat community event and it's free to the public.
Although the van was built to go off-roading, boondocking, and we're prepared for dispersed camping, we instead spent a week at Skyline RV Camp in Brooklyn, NY. The location was great as it was only a 30 minute subway commute into Manhattan. Even though we worked during the day, we did a ton in the evenings. Here's a partial list to what we saw and did in The City That Never Sleeps:
Had frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3
Had donuts from Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop (their red velvet donut was my favorite)
Wandered through FAO Schwarz
Saw the skating rink at Rockefeller Center
Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island (Josh found his paternal great grandfather's records)
Central Park
On the way to Maryland we stopped in Philadelphia for a couple of days. We stayed in New Jersey but commuted into Philadelphia for the work day. The Philadelphia Museum of Art was impressive, as was the Rodin Museum. Reading Market was the only other place of interest that we stopped at. Hailey also enjoyed the Schuylkill River Trailfront with Lucky. Philadelphia seemed like a working man's town, made more relevant to us by watching the first two Rocky movies. It does seem like the locals take a ton of pride in their city. We saw a lot of people wearing Philadelphia Eagles apparel.
Before staying at Josh's aunt and uncle's house we parked overnight at a brewery in Delaware. In the brewery's parking lot was a food truck that happened to be open for breakfast. On the menu was a breakfast sandwich made with scrapple. We had heard of scrapple being a local dish but hadn't found it or sought it out. This seemed like an opportune moment to try it. Per the Internet, scrapple is known as a "meat pudding" and it's "a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish made from fried pork scraps, cornmeal, flour, and spices." We ordered two of them and are not eager to try scrapple again.
We spent a few hours in Alexandria, VA. The highlights there were the Torpedo Factory Art Center (a former torpedo factory that now houses over 70 artists' studios), and the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum. What was fascinating about the apothecary is that it's been kept in original condition. The glass jars have labels written in Latin and the contents have been untouched from when they were used generations ago.
A few nights were spent at Shenandoah National Park. It was very gloomy and overcast for a couple of days, and the campground didn't have any electrical hook-ups. Instead of a morning spent hiking and exploring the park we had to drive to another town in order to charge our electrical system. We did hike a few shorter trials, but since we were at the park during the work week, we were constrained by meetings and daylight hours.
Two nights were spent in Raleigh, NC, and we enjoyed the city. Of particular note was the North Carolina Museum of Art. The People's Collection is free and open to the public. We appreciated all the pieces and how accessible the area is. The buildings are nice and so are the grounds. There are even multiple outdoor pieces of art for people to discover.
The remainder of November was spent in South Carolina. We stayed near Myrtle Beach for a couple of nights but found the town soulless and lacking charm. It was neat to see the beach but that was about it. Our favorite Harvest Host that we stayed at in Charleston was Tideland Brewing. Their beers were good, the atmosphere was lively (they had musical bingo the night we were there), and they had a great assortment of merchandise. It was unique that they had a beer milkshake - the month's special was their pumpkin ale with vanilla ice cream. Thanksgiving was spent at a primitive campsite in Santee Coastal Reserve. The area was beautiful, surrounded by old trees and Spanish moss. We used the air fryer to cook a piece of turkey that was stuffed with cranberries and cheese. It sounded and looked better than it tasted, but Josh made a gravy to go with it that helped, and we had pumpkin pie for dessert.
Although we loved Charleston, we discussed how the beautiful scenery, architecture, and history can't be viewed without acknowledging its roots of slavery. We learned that "40% of enslaved Africans who came to North America during the trans-Atlantic slave trade passed through Charleston Harbor" (Charleston County Public Library). While touring the Boone Plantation we heard that the average lifespan of a slave was 26 years. It was also jarring to read how plantation owners' wills included how to divvy up their slaves. To learn more about the city and see some of the architecture we booked a carriage ride through Palmetto Carriage Works. Our guide, Ian, was hilarious, and the company goes to great lengths to ensure their horses are happy and healthy.
We wrapped up the month by visiting Congaree National Park. There's a boardwalk loop that goes for several miles through the park, but some downed trees are obstructing a section of it. Any hikes there are currently out and back. We did about three miles total and enjoyed the scenery. It was also nice that Congaree is dog friendly. Lucky liked going on our boardwalk hike with us.
The Octagon House - Irvington, NY
A portion of the WaterFire Festival in Providence, RI
On top of the Empire State Building in New York City
One of Josh's photos of the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty
Philadelphia, PA
The statue of Rocky outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria, VA
An outdoor sculpture at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC
Myrtle Beach, SC
Circular Congregational Church - Charleston, SC
White Point Garden - Charleston, SC
Our Thanksgiving campsite at Santee Coastal Reserve
The drive into Santee Coastal Reserve
A section of the boardwalk at Congaree National Park
Congaree National Park