We drove off under bright sunshine the morning we left New Jersey.
We had more days with rain than not. It was quite humid the entire time we were there. Fortunately there were some cool days mixed in, so it wasn’t completely unbearable.
Our first stop was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, site of the famous Civil War battle. The three-day battle is considered by many as the most important engagement of the war. It marked the turning point in the war, giving the Union army the drive it needed to eventually win the war. The battle was costly in terms of manpower for both sides. Of the casualties, 7,058 were fatalities and 33,264 were wounded. Nine generals were among the dead.
We stayed that night at a Comfort Suites hotel that was built in the middle of a cemetery. I know this sounds a little crazy, but I kept waking up all night hoping to hear sounds of battles taking place in the fields around us.
We did have a good meal in old town Gettysburg. The Dobbin House Tavern was built in 1776. Diane was very pleased with the scallop dish she ordered. I had pork
tenderloin that was pro-
perly named.
The next morning, we headed for the city of Baltimore. We found it to be a picturesque city. I wanted to go there to see my good friend, Charlie Vascellaro (son of the letter writer). The younger Charlie used to work at The Times as a sports writer. He now is a nationally recognized sports and travel writer.
Something else I wanted to see was the Babe Ruth Museum, which Charlie ran for a couple of years. It is located in the building where the fabled and famous ball player was born.
As Charlie led us around the museum, he attracted a small crowd of people who were listening to his stories about “the Babe.” And he has plenty of them.
After the tour, we went to lunch at his favorite hangout, the Havana Café.
We left Baltimore and stayed in Woodbridge, Virginia, the next night.
Our next destination was Williamsburg, Va. Boy, did we pick the wrong time to see this attraction. The afternoon we went there, was the muggiest day I have ever experienced. It had to be a 90 percent humidity combined with a 96 degree temperature. We took the bus to the first drop off point. Getting off the air conditioned bus I thought, “This must be an exhibition of life in hell rather than life in the days of colonial America.”
I walked about the length of a city block when I said to Diane, “I’m sorry, but I’m out of water and I can’t go any farther. The heat is killing me.”
Being the good wife and caretaker of me that she is, she said she would find me another bottle of cold water.
After drinking that and feeling somewhat recovered, we headed to the nearest tour bus stop.
We spent the night in Stony Creek, Virginia, on our way to Myrtle Beach, S. C. I awoke feeling much better.
We stayed in a very nice and newly refurbished Doubletree Inn in Myrtle Beach. The big hurricane that went right through Myrtle Beach the next week left us wondering how the hotel had faired.
We stopped in Charleston on our way west across South Carolina. We drove down the waterfront street with all the big mansions and toured an old plantation.
We asked ourselves what we had missed on the trip, but we both agreed we were getting travel weary and wanted to get back home.
We found the quickest way back to I-40 and back to Arizona.
We arrived in Fountain Hills on Sept. 5 with 8217 miles added to our car’s odometer.
Whether we do that again remains to be seen. But we do have to keep track of our grandkids.
