Thanks for everyone's contributions to help me get this vacation planned. I took over a year and a half to budget and plan for this trip; it was much anticipated.
Our background: we are in our late 30s and our children are 12, 10, and 6.
Our original plan was to take 16 days and visit Gettysburg, DC, Baltimore, Norfolk, Assateague Island, Philly, and NYC. I had lots of potential activities in mind, but I have learned that sometimes the spontaneous stops bring the most joy. That served us well for this trip!
Day 1: We headed out after work on Friday night. We wanted to stop at Gettysburg en route to DC Saturday so we needed to leave on Friday night to make it before the visitor center closed on Saturday.
We were delayed for about an hour of our 3 hour trip due to an accident. We rerouted with our gps and were 1 mile from the campground and the road was closed. Ok, it's after 10pm, and my 6 year old is exhausted and my 12 and 10 year old boys are hitting each other......let's find this place! 40 mintues later, we arrive at the campground. That 3 hour trip took us about 5.5 hours and we were toast when we arrived.
Day 2: We all slept well from Friday night. The drive to Gettysburg wasn't too far, 4 hours or so, so we slept in. We woke up happy and energized and ready to get the party started.
11:30am on Saturday on the Pennsylvania turnpike a car approached us and said, "Your camper tire is smoking!" Whoa. Ok, thanks to the person that alerted us. We pulled over hoping to fix a flat and continue on our way. No big deal, we have a spare and plenty of tools. Nope.
The bearings on the axle failed and when we stopped, it actually caught fire. Thank goodness for the fire extinguisher! We needed an entire new axle.
I made lunch and the kids were able to use the bathroom while we called and waited for a wrecker. Smart phones proved to be worth their weight in gold for this trip!
We arrived at the shop at 1pm only to have the mechanic tell us that he won't be able to look at it until Monday, then he'll have to order parts, then he'll have to fix it.........
That's life. I get it. I've had my share of broken furnaces and unexpected car failures while getting to work. But there's something so much more profound about having a poorly timed repair disrupt your only vacation for the entire year. If it had been Monday instead of Saturday, we would have been on our way that evening. But because it was Saturday, we were basically SOL.
I called every repair shop and camper store in a 2 hour radius and they all said the same thing, "Sorry, it's 1 on Saturday. We're all leaving and we don't work on Sunday." Let's just say that the kids all learned how to swear that day.
The first big day of our trip and now we're down for a few days at least. There is no pushing back the trip, our work schedules won't permit that. This is it, our only available time off. This is the only chance we'll have this summer.
We've decided our new family motto is, "Go big or go home!" We didn't want to go home, so we went big. We ditched the camper, went to Walmart for a cooler and totes for clothes, and headed off to stay in hotels.
This was not what we had planned and it cost a fortune. But having raised our kids in a camping environment, they knew very little about hotels and it was a fun experience for them.
Our background: we are in our late 30s and our children are 12, 10, and 6.
Our original plan was to take 16 days and visit Gettysburg, DC, Baltimore, Norfolk, Assateague Island, Philly, and NYC. I had lots of potential activities in mind, but I have learned that sometimes the spontaneous stops bring the most joy. That served us well for this trip!
Day 1: We headed out after work on Friday night. We wanted to stop at Gettysburg en route to DC Saturday so we needed to leave on Friday night to make it before the visitor center closed on Saturday.
We were delayed for about an hour of our 3 hour trip due to an accident. We rerouted with our gps and were 1 mile from the campground and the road was closed. Ok, it's after 10pm, and my 6 year old is exhausted and my 12 and 10 year old boys are hitting each other......let's find this place! 40 mintues later, we arrive at the campground. That 3 hour trip took us about 5.5 hours and we were toast when we arrived.
Day 2: We all slept well from Friday night. The drive to Gettysburg wasn't too far, 4 hours or so, so we slept in. We woke up happy and energized and ready to get the party started.
11:30am on Saturday on the Pennsylvania turnpike a car approached us and said, "Your camper tire is smoking!" Whoa. Ok, thanks to the person that alerted us. We pulled over hoping to fix a flat and continue on our way. No big deal, we have a spare and plenty of tools. Nope.
The bearings on the axle failed and when we stopped, it actually caught fire. Thank goodness for the fire extinguisher! We needed an entire new axle.
I made lunch and the kids were able to use the bathroom while we called and waited for a wrecker. Smart phones proved to be worth their weight in gold for this trip!
We arrived at the shop at 1pm only to have the mechanic tell us that he won't be able to look at it until Monday, then he'll have to order parts, then he'll have to fix it.........
That's life. I get it. I've had my share of broken furnaces and unexpected car failures while getting to work. But there's something so much more profound about having a poorly timed repair disrupt your only vacation for the entire year. If it had been Monday instead of Saturday, we would have been on our way that evening. But because it was Saturday, we were basically SOL.
I called every repair shop and camper store in a 2 hour radius and they all said the same thing, "Sorry, it's 1 on Saturday. We're all leaving and we don't work on Sunday." Let's just say that the kids all learned how to swear that day.
The first big day of our trip and now we're down for a few days at least. There is no pushing back the trip, our work schedules won't permit that. This is it, our only available time off. This is the only chance we'll have this summer.
We've decided our new family motto is, "Go big or go home!" We didn't want to go home, so we went big. We ditched the camper, went to Walmart for a cooler and totes for clothes, and headed off to stay in hotels.
This was not what we had planned and it cost a fortune. But having raised our kids in a camping environment, they knew very little about hotels and it was a fun experience for them.
Day 13, Wednesday:
Travel to Liberty Harbor RV park.
I had heard that Fort Delaware was pretty neat to see and it was directly on our path. Our original plan was to stop to see Philly en route to NYC, now that we had already done that, I thought maybe we'd check out Fort Delaware. Eh, again, nobody was enthused at all. We'd already seen a fort this trip, and a battlefield, and a prison, and......you get the picture. Fine, I don't want to force the issue and it's not like I'm driving past the Liberty Bell and not stopping to see it. So we drove directly to Jersey City.
Thanks to everyone that answered my questions about traffic and road ways. It really was uncomplicated to get to Liberty Harbor. We arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon and had zero problems with traffic, just as someone suggested. Perfect when you're completely out of your element.
I tell you what, I've never seen the Statue of Liberty. When we crested a hill and I saw it in the distance for the first time ever, I actually got goosebumps. It was a very exciting experience. I'm sure it's no big deal for those that live locally, but if you're an adult and have never seen it in your entire life, it just seemed significant to me. Suddenly, my kids were excited again too!
The campground is unimpressive, but I was prepared for that.
We set up camp and headed over to Liberty State Park just to check out the views and we got some amazing family pictures.
Maybe this will be our Christmas card this year.
There was a memorial in the park there from 911 and I appreciated that my children could have that unexpected educational experience. We planned to go to the 911 Memorial in NYC, but this was less crowded, easier to get to, and still powerful.
The kids played at the playground for a long while. It was a pleasant evening. I saw many families with young children and I realized that they had to come to the park to let their kids play outside, they have no yards. I can't imagine working all day and hanging at the park afterward so my kids could run in the grass. That made me feel fortunate too, I have a yard, trees, grass. I just open my door and let my dogs outside, I don't have to walk them. The playground was the most diverse mixture of people and races I've ever seen. I couldn't help thinking how much less sheltered my children will be because of this experience.
Travel to Liberty Harbor RV park.
I had heard that Fort Delaware was pretty neat to see and it was directly on our path. Our original plan was to stop to see Philly en route to NYC, now that we had already done that, I thought maybe we'd check out Fort Delaware. Eh, again, nobody was enthused at all. We'd already seen a fort this trip, and a battlefield, and a prison, and......you get the picture. Fine, I don't want to force the issue and it's not like I'm driving past the Liberty Bell and not stopping to see it. So we drove directly to Jersey City.
Thanks to everyone that answered my questions about traffic and road ways. It really was uncomplicated to get to Liberty Harbor. We arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon and had zero problems with traffic, just as someone suggested. Perfect when you're completely out of your element.
I tell you what, I've never seen the Statue of Liberty. When we crested a hill and I saw it in the distance for the first time ever, I actually got goosebumps. It was a very exciting experience. I'm sure it's no big deal for those that live locally, but if you're an adult and have never seen it in your entire life, it just seemed significant to me. Suddenly, my kids were excited again too!
The campground is unimpressive, but I was prepared for that.
We set up camp and headed over to Liberty State Park just to check out the views and we got some amazing family pictures.
Maybe this will be our Christmas card this year.
There was a memorial in the park there from 911 and I appreciated that my children could have that unexpected educational experience. We planned to go to the 911 Memorial in NYC, but this was less crowded, easier to get to, and still powerful.
The kids played at the playground for a long while. It was a pleasant evening. I saw many families with young children and I realized that they had to come to the park to let their kids play outside, they have no yards. I can't imagine working all day and hanging at the park afterward so my kids could run in the grass. That made me feel fortunate too, I have a yard, trees, grass. I just open my door and let my dogs outside, I don't have to walk them. The playground was the most diverse mixture of people and races I've ever seen. I couldn't help thinking how much less sheltered my children will be because of this experience.
Day 12, Tuesday:
Our last day on the ocean. It had been a magical experience for us these past few days, but something seemed off today. It took me some time to figure out what the problem was. Our 10 year old son was homesick. He was having a great time, but he missed his cat, his dogs, his own bed, etc. He wasn't complaining at all, but he had lost all enthusiasm. He didn't want to swim or do much of anything. This is the longest he'd ever been away from home.
We went out and did some laundry and grocery shopping to break up the routine we had developed and that didn't seem to help either. Then my oldest son said he didn't want to swim. He was bored.
This started those doubts again for us parents. Do you force the trip and finish off NYC as we planned? We're already over budget and bringing along two reluctant older kids is NOT my idea of fun. We had learned that we weren't exactly road savvy in the east side of the country. Lots of tunnels, some allow propane, some you have to turn it off, some you are completely prohibited. What should we expect?
In the end, we decided that we just needed to change location and that would solve the issue. Plus, after all of this trouble, I didn't want to have to come back east again. Let's just finish it off! So we told the boys they didn't have any options and we made them go swimming with us. Of course they had a blast!
The ponies visited us for our last bonfire.
We packed up outside and resolved to finish the vacation even if it made us all miserable.......but we really hoped it wouldn't!
Our last day on the ocean. It had been a magical experience for us these past few days, but something seemed off today. It took me some time to figure out what the problem was. Our 10 year old son was homesick. He was having a great time, but he missed his cat, his dogs, his own bed, etc. He wasn't complaining at all, but he had lost all enthusiasm. He didn't want to swim or do much of anything. This is the longest he'd ever been away from home.
We went out and did some laundry and grocery shopping to break up the routine we had developed and that didn't seem to help either. Then my oldest son said he didn't want to swim. He was bored.
This started those doubts again for us parents. Do you force the trip and finish off NYC as we planned? We're already over budget and bringing along two reluctant older kids is NOT my idea of fun. We had learned that we weren't exactly road savvy in the east side of the country. Lots of tunnels, some allow propane, some you have to turn it off, some you are completely prohibited. What should we expect?
In the end, we decided that we just needed to change location and that would solve the issue. Plus, after all of this trouble, I didn't want to have to come back east again. Let's just finish it off! So we told the boys they didn't have any options and we made them go swimming with us. Of course they had a blast!
The ponies visited us for our last bonfire.
We packed up outside and resolved to finish the vacation even if it made us all miserable.......but we really hoped it wouldn't!
Day 11, Monday:
We had another leisure morning. Wake up, watch the ponies while we eat, etc. We were feeling rejuvenated and so we decided to leave the campsite and try out the boardwalk at Ocean City.
Honestly, we were unimpressed. It was difficult to even find a spot to park. I think it was too hot for the kids to appreciate it. It was so commercialized and so packed with people that I can't figure out why anyone except teenagers would appreciate it. We did get an ice cream and visited a souvenir shop that the kids enjoyed checking out, I bought a shirt. I saw many families with wagons filled to the brim with everything they needed to spend the day at the beach. They had to walk through the crowded streets pulling that bloody wagon behind them in the ridiculous heat. It made me appreciate my campsite so much more. I felt spoiled and very fortunate....then I wondered, "Why am I here if I could be back at the camp?" Hmm.....
They indulged me for the picture, but they didn't want to do it.
They did like to play the carnival games though. We bought them each a round and they had to use their own money for more. It worked out nicely b/c since they were kids, they got a stuffed animal even if they lost. They love those things and now they had a souvenir as well.
And what little girl doesn't like the carousel?
I wanted to have an authentic seafood dinner so we stopped at Hoopers, or was it Hoppers? Anyway..we sat outside on the bay and they delivered us the all you can eat buffet. They dumped blue crab right onto our table. We learned they are a lot of work, and pretty gross, but tasty. The shrimp? Without a doubt the best shrimp I've ever had in my life. We must have gotten 4 baskets for the 5 of us.
We went back to the campsite and had a bonfire and smores. We never got into the water that day, but this is the night we found the ghost crabs, so we did spend some time on the beach.
We had another leisure morning. Wake up, watch the ponies while we eat, etc. We were feeling rejuvenated and so we decided to leave the campsite and try out the boardwalk at Ocean City.
Honestly, we were unimpressed. It was difficult to even find a spot to park. I think it was too hot for the kids to appreciate it. It was so commercialized and so packed with people that I can't figure out why anyone except teenagers would appreciate it. We did get an ice cream and visited a souvenir shop that the kids enjoyed checking out, I bought a shirt. I saw many families with wagons filled to the brim with everything they needed to spend the day at the beach. They had to walk through the crowded streets pulling that bloody wagon behind them in the ridiculous heat. It made me appreciate my campsite so much more. I felt spoiled and very fortunate....then I wondered, "Why am I here if I could be back at the camp?" Hmm.....
They indulged me for the picture, but they didn't want to do it.
They did like to play the carnival games though. We bought them each a round and they had to use their own money for more. It worked out nicely b/c since they were kids, they got a stuffed animal even if they lost. They love those things and now they had a souvenir as well.
And what little girl doesn't like the carousel?
I wanted to have an authentic seafood dinner so we stopped at Hoopers, or was it Hoppers? Anyway..we sat outside on the bay and they delivered us the all you can eat buffet. They dumped blue crab right onto our table. We learned they are a lot of work, and pretty gross, but tasty. The shrimp? Without a doubt the best shrimp I've ever had in my life. We must have gotten 4 baskets for the 5 of us.
We went back to the campsite and had a bonfire and smores. We never got into the water that day, but this is the night we found the ghost crabs, so we did spend some time on the beach.
Day 10, Sunday:
This day was similar to the day before. It was a more traditional camping experience for us. We relaxed, we grilled out, we relaxed some more. Typically, we participate in state park programs and national park programs. We did none of that during our four days at the beach. In fact, I didn't make anyone do anything. After the Saturday boogie board extravaganza, (and well frankly our entire vacation up to this point was rushed and exhausting) I told the boys that they could relax as long as they wanted. They didn't even have to leave the camper. At about 2, when Transformers and Green Lantern had been watched thoroughly, they came out with their suits on and played in the ocean for 5 straight hours again.
This campsite was perfect for beach use. The area of beach we were at was really only accessible from campers in our loop, so it was never very crowded; which was perfect for us. Very relaxing. It was easy to walk back to the camper to get drinks, snacks, or whatever you forgot. In fact, we just picked up our assembled easy-up and brought it back and forth from the beach to the site. Why take it down when you just have to walk it a little bit?
This is one of the loops. I'm standing on the dune. It's pretty close to walk.
We saw the Ponies all the time! Our camper is in the background.
They just come right up.
We saw deer too. This is not big deal for us as we have white tailed deer often in our yard at home, but we still enjoyed these guys. They did not come near the sites like the ponies did.
Even though my daughter is only 6, I'm quite certain she'll remember this campground for the rest of her life!
Quite possibly my favorite picture from the vacation. We woke up to see the sunrise. My son just happened to be awake too so he came along with us.
What a phenomenal experience.
This day was similar to the day before. It was a more traditional camping experience for us. We relaxed, we grilled out, we relaxed some more. Typically, we participate in state park programs and national park programs. We did none of that during our four days at the beach. In fact, I didn't make anyone do anything. After the Saturday boogie board extravaganza, (and well frankly our entire vacation up to this point was rushed and exhausting) I told the boys that they could relax as long as they wanted. They didn't even have to leave the camper. At about 2, when Transformers and Green Lantern had been watched thoroughly, they came out with their suits on and played in the ocean for 5 straight hours again.
This campsite was perfect for beach use. The area of beach we were at was really only accessible from campers in our loop, so it was never very crowded; which was perfect for us. Very relaxing. It was easy to walk back to the camper to get drinks, snacks, or whatever you forgot. In fact, we just picked up our assembled easy-up and brought it back and forth from the beach to the site. Why take it down when you just have to walk it a little bit?
This is one of the loops. I'm standing on the dune. It's pretty close to walk.
We saw the Ponies all the time! Our camper is in the background.
They just come right up.
We saw deer too. This is not big deal for us as we have white tailed deer often in our yard at home, but we still enjoyed these guys. They did not come near the sites like the ponies did.
Even though my daughter is only 6, I'm quite certain she'll remember this campground for the rest of her life!
Quite possibly my favorite picture from the vacation. We woke up to see the sunrise. My son just happened to be awake too so he came along with us.
What a phenomenal experience.
Day 9, Saturday: Assateague Island
Now, before I get into our experience with Assateague, I have to add the disclaimer that we had a site with electricity. I think my opinion of this place would have been entirely different without AC. Last October, I felt like I won the lottery when I got this site for 5 nights; and we fully appreciated our AC this last week. Even at 9am, it was already hot and humid and there was not much wind coming off of the ocean due to a dune blocking the airflow. The camphost told me it was 102 at her site last month......I would have left without AC.
Anyway, we are Michiganders. Big open water and beautiful clean sand is nothing new to us. I had been to the ocean, my children had not. I thought they wouldn't like the ocean that much just due to salt; and well...my 12 year old was quoting shark bite statistics the night before. No joke, we prohibited Shark Week from the Discovery Channel this summer. Ha!
This place, and watching my children discover the ocean and fall in love with it...it was beyond my expectations. Seeing the ocean through their eyes made my experience richer as well. This was our favorite part of the entire trip. It wasn't just the ponies, although they were pretty awesome too. This place is Simply amazing......
If the waves are this big in Lake Michigan, it's pretty darn cold and you don't swim long. The Atlantic in August in Maryland was warm! The kids fell in love with boogie boarding:
Not bad for a kid that was worried about sharks. He kept saying we had to go out deeper to get to the right spot where the waves would break. ๐
They discovered all kinds of life in the sand and water. It makes Lake Michigan look dead in comparison.
I read about these little ghost crabs from a tripadvisor report. Thank you to the person that wrote it. Who would have thought that little crabs came out of the sand at night and littered the beach? How bizarre! They were everywhere. What a unique experience for us. We grabbed flashlights and collected a bucketfull, which we released before we headed back to the campsite.
Now, before I get into our experience with Assateague, I have to add the disclaimer that we had a site with electricity. I think my opinion of this place would have been entirely different without AC. Last October, I felt like I won the lottery when I got this site for 5 nights; and we fully appreciated our AC this last week. Even at 9am, it was already hot and humid and there was not much wind coming off of the ocean due to a dune blocking the airflow. The camphost told me it was 102 at her site last month......I would have left without AC.
Anyway, we are Michiganders. Big open water and beautiful clean sand is nothing new to us. I had been to the ocean, my children had not. I thought they wouldn't like the ocean that much just due to salt; and well...my 12 year old was quoting shark bite statistics the night before. No joke, we prohibited Shark Week from the Discovery Channel this summer. Ha!
This place, and watching my children discover the ocean and fall in love with it...it was beyond my expectations. Seeing the ocean through their eyes made my experience richer as well. This was our favorite part of the entire trip. It wasn't just the ponies, although they were pretty awesome too. This place is Simply amazing......
If the waves are this big in Lake Michigan, it's pretty darn cold and you don't swim long. The Atlantic in August in Maryland was warm! The kids fell in love with boogie boarding:
Not bad for a kid that was worried about sharks. He kept saying we had to go out deeper to get to the right spot where the waves would break. ๐
They discovered all kinds of life in the sand and water. It makes Lake Michigan look dead in comparison.
I read about these little ghost crabs from a tripadvisor report. Thank you to the person that wrote it. Who would have thought that little crabs came out of the sand at night and littered the beach? How bizarre! They were everywhere. What a unique experience for us. We grabbed flashlights and collected a bucketfull, which we released before we headed back to the campsite.
