Hotel and Meals Chart

 

DAY	BREAKFAST	LUNCH	DINNER	HOTEL
1	Dad made sausage and livermush biscuits	Chic-Fil-A Salem, VA	Tommy's Pizza Gettysburg, PA	Day's Inn Hagerstown, MD
2	Hotel Breakfast	City Limits Diner Greenwich, CT	Mystic Pizza Mystic, CT	Hampton Inn Warwick, RI
3	Hotel Breakfast	Brick Alley Pub Newport, RI	Italian (Federal Hill) Providence, RI	Hampton Inn Warwick, RI
4	Hotel Breakfast	Bagel Authority Vineyard Haven, MA	Shanghai Chinese Hyannis, MA	Holiday Inn Express Middleboro, MA
5	Hotel Breakfast	Shinetti's Hot Dog Plymouth, MA	Friendly's Middleboro, MA	Holiday Inn Express Middleboro, MA
6	IHop Raynham, MA	N/A	Thai Taste Salem, MA	Holiday Inn Tewksbury, MA
7	Hotel Restaurant	Helen's Restaurant Concord, MA	Long Horn Steaks Tewksbury, MA	Holiday Inn Tewksbury, MA
8	Cracker Barrel Tewksbury, MA	Bova Bakery Boston, MA (North End)	Cambridge, MA	Holiday Inn Tewksbury, MA
9	Cracker Barrel Tewksbury, MA	McDonalds Freeport, ME	Ground Round Bangor, ME	Days Inn Bangor, ME
10	Hotel Breakfast	Thirsty Whale Bar Harbor, ME	Family Restaurant Bangor, ME	Travelodge Lewiston, ME
11	Friendly's Lewiston, ME	McDonalds Conway, NH Shell Station Montpelier, VT	Primara Burlington, VT	Days Inn Burlington, VT
12	Hotel Breakfast	Von Trapp Inn Stowe, VT	Carini's Wallingford, CT	Holiday Inn Philadelphia, PA
13	Penrose Diner Philadelphia, PA	N/A	Penrose Diner Philadelphia, PA	Holiday Inn Philadelphia, PA
14	Penrose Diner Philadelphia, PA	N/A	Round The Clock Diner York, PA	Hampton Inn Chantilly, VA
15	Hotel Breakfast	Five Guys Charlottesville, VA	Little Richard's BBQ Winston-Salem, NC

Day 15: July 11, 2009

We slept a little late and ate breakfast at the hotel before we left. We stopped for lunch in Charlottesville, VA at Five Guys. We made it to Greensboro to A. Adalene and U. Buck's plumbing shop around 5:30pm. Dad and I took the rental car back to the airport and then we left Greensboro. We decided to go to Little Richard BBQ in Winston-Salem for dinner. Everyone went to Morganton, except me; I came home.

Day 14: July 10, 2009

We left the hotel and decided to eat breakfast at, you guessed it, the Penrose Diner (the only place we ate in Philadelphia while we were there). Today's food was just as good...but a more stereotypical waitress showed up to wait on us today.

We drove down to Wilmington, DE to see where Katheryn used to live. It was good to see the house, but it really didn't ring any bells for me (mom remembered it).

Next we drove over to York, PA. This is where some of granddaddy's family came from in the mid-1700's. We went to city hall, but it was the wrong place. Next we went to the library, but they referred us (me) to the York Historical Society. There, mom and I found several records of the relatives we were looking for, including where they were buried and the church they were married in. We found the church in town and then drove over to the cemetery. The office was supposed to be closed, but they had worked late and were walking out when we got there. I explained why we were there and that we were from NC/SC and one of the workers offered to go in and try to find the records of our relatives. He found the records and had us follow him to the graves. It really couldn't have worked out better.

We ate dinner in York at a diner before we left for Washington, DC. We got to the hotel about 10pm (Hampton Inn).

Day 13: July 9, 2009

We went to the Penrose Diner for breakfast. It was near the hotel and on the way into the city. Good place (more to come on that). We drove into the city on the surface streets, which was a good way to get a feel for Philly's neighborhoods and row houses. We passed Geno's Cheese Steak Stand on Passyunk Ave (it didn't work out to eat there while we were in town).

We made it to Independence Hall and thought we weren't going to be able to tour it because all the timed tickets were gone for the day. We saw the copies of the Declaration of Independence (the one read to Philadelphians after it was written), the Articles of Confederation, and The Constitution, all written in Independence Hall.

Next we went to the Congress Building for a guided tour. While we were there, dad came in with tickets to tour Independence Hall. We couldn't finish the upstairs part of the Congress Building Tour, because we had to leave to get to Independence Hall.

This tour was really good. We saw the room where the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and The Constitution were written. The park ranger who gave the tour was very good too.

Next we went across the street to see the Liberty Bell. They've set up an museum for the bell and it was done really well. We drove over to the Philadelphia Art Museum to see the Rocky Steps. Jimmy and I ran the stairs before we had to leave for dinner.

We met Theron, Wyndee, Matt and their kids at the hotel and all went to dinner. We had planned to go to a buffet, but found out it was closed. We decided just to go back to the Penrose Diner since it was close and it had been good for breakfast. We had a good time seeing everyone and it was the first time any of us had seen Joshua.

The hotel we stayed at was in front of the Phillies Baseball Stadium and there was a game. After the game, there were fireworks. I was the only one who got to see any, but it was a good show.

Day 12: July 8, 2009

We ate breakfast at the hotel before heading over to check out Lake Champlain. It was rainy and foggy, so we couldn't really see much of the lake and couldn't really appreciate it's size. Then we drove to Stowe, VT to the Von Trapp Inn. We looked around for awhile and then ate lunch.

Next we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's Factory and took the 30 min tour. They gave free samples and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Dad didn't go on the tour with us. Then we left for Philadelphia.

We stopped for dinner in Wallingford, CT at an Italian restaurant. Good food, but everyone's servings were too large. Mom and A. Mae couldn't even eat half their calzone and Jimmy didn't care for his pizza. I loved this place though...real Italians running this place.

The trip through NYC was a little smoother this time. We made it to Philly about 1:30am and checked in to the hotel (Holiday Inn).

Day 11: July 7, 2009

We got up this morning and left the hotel (def. the worst place we've stayed so far). We decided to skip the continental breakfast and head over to Friendly's before we left Lewiston.

We drove to New Hampshire toward Mt. Washington. We stopped for a bathroom break near the ME/NH border. Everyplace they went to try to find a restroom, they struck out. Finally we went to a Chinese Restaurant and had some luck. Jimmy and mom bought drinks so they were customers. The people who ran the restaurant kept watching us...

We made it to Mt. Washington after stopping at McDonalds for a snack. When we got to the entrance to the Mt. Washington Auto Road, we found we had to pay to drive up. It was going to be $55 for all of us. The sign said the conditions at the top were; temp - 44*, wind - 24 mph, visibility - 50 ft. We decided not to drive to the top.

We crossed into Vermont and drove through Montpelier. We stopped and saw the capital and the government district. We stopped for food at a Shell Station.

We got to Burlington early and checked into the hotel (Days Inn). We ate dinner in downtown Burlington at a Thai Restaurant. Everyone else did laundry at the hotel.

Day 10: July 6, 2009

We ate breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We drove over to Stephen King's house which was very close by. Then we left for Bar Harbor.

When we crossed onto the island that Bar Harbor is on, we called Nancy Prince Tucker, someone mom knows from church. She directed us to her house where we visited for a while. I found out the name of the pink flower we had been seeing from CT or RI on was called ragosa.

We drove into Bar Harbor, and Ms. Tucker gave us a quick tour of a church and it's Tiffany windows. Then we went down to Cottage St. and had lunch at the Thirsty Whale. I walked around town for about 1.5 hours and everyone else drove around and then went to the pier. They bought tickets for the 1 hour Oli's Trolley Tour.

The tour left at 3:30pm and lasted more like 1.5 hours. We went to Acadia National Park and drove to Cadillac Mountain. The views from there were great. You could see the entire island, the ocean, and the surrounding islands. It was also pretty chilly at the top (was only 64 down in Bar Harbor). We finished the tour driving around Bar Harbor and we were back to the pier.

We walked around for a little while after the tour, and got some ice cream before heading out. We ate dinner in Bangor before heading south to Lewiston. We arrived at the hotel around 11:30pm and checked in. This was not a nice place (TravelLodge).

Couldn't get in bed fast enough, really tired.

Day 9: July 5, 2009

We checked out of the hotel (Holiday Inn) and ate breakfast again at Cracker Barrel. Then we left for Maine.

We drove along the coastal highway for a while (Rt. 1) once we were in Maine. We went through Kennybunkport and saw the Bush's home. Then we went to Freeport, but I was the only one who really did any shopping.

We got to our hotel around 8:30pm (Days Inn). We ate next door and then went to Wal-Mart for more supplies. I also did some laundry.

Day 8: July 4, 2009

Today we ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was nice to get sweat tea to drink. Dad decided to stay at the hotel today because he didn't want to miss the race which was at 8:00 pm tonight. We were going to take the commuter train down to Boston today to avoid the parking garage fee and the hassle of driving in the city. When we got there, we found out the next train wasn't for 2 more hours, and decided to drive to the furthest out T stop. We caught the T at Oak Grove.

The T was a little bit of a hassle because we had to find elevators at each stop for A. Mae's wheelchair and they were always in out-of-the-way or strange places. We made it work, it just took a little more time. We were heading in to Boston to meet up with Molly Hayes and her parents. They texted us to tell us to come to L. Pace near one of the T stops. We had some trouble finding the place, but eventually did. We stayed with them about 1/2 hour before we headed off to the North End to go to the Old North Church. We took a group tour of the church and then walked over to a bakery a block away for a snack.

We got back on the T, and this time it was jam packed. It was tough to stay together and ride to our next stop. We went back to the Granary, since it was closed the day before, to see the graves of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Mother Goose, and others. We walked across Boston Common by the Frog Pond and went over to Cheers. Then we caught the T over to Harvard Square. Molly, Shirley, and John Hayes were standing at the top of the elevator waiting on us and we all went to dinner.

We decided we were too tired to go to the fireworks and that if we did it would be really late when we got home. We walked through Harvard University on the way back to the T. We made it back to the car and home, but it was late.

Long day...

Day 7: July 3, 2009

Today we ate breakfast at the hotel (Holiday Inn Tewksbury) before heading out to Lexington. We walked around the town and saw the Visitor's Center and Battlefield Green. We saw the house where Paul Revere was heading and the taverns that housed both the Patriot and British headquarters for the battle on April 19, 1775.

We drove over to Concord next. We stopped at the Concord Museum that had information about the battle that took place there as well as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson's work there. We went over to the Old North Bridge and walked across.

We ate lunch in town at Helen's before driving on to Boston. We took a trolley tour of the Freedom Trail and then walked from Fanieul Hall by Quincy Market, the Old State House, the Granary, the Irish Potato Famine Memorial, The Old Latin School, and the Mass. State House.

I walked back and got dad and the car at the parking garage (3 hours/$31) and we drove over and picked everyone else up at the Mass. 54th Regiment Memorial and headed over to the North End for dinner. We lucked up and found a parking place beside Paul Revere's house. Dad and I walked over to find Giacomo's Restaurant before everyone else did the walking. We found it and dad stayed in line while I went to tell everyone else where it was. We decided they should just stay where they were to wait, since I knew the line would move slowly. When I got back to dad, he hadn't moved. We decided to try to find someplace else, but everything was either really crowded, expensive, or both. We even tried to get pastry at Mike's, but the line there was out the door too. We ended up coming back to Tewksbury and eating a late dinner at Long Horn.

Day 6: July 2, 2009

We slept late today since we stayed up so late last night. We ate breakfast/lunch at I-hop in Raynham before driving on to Boston and our hotel north of the city in Tewksbury/Andover. We checked in and then decided we should go to Salem for the afternoon.

We drove over to Salem and went to the Witch Museum first. After we finished at the museum, we walked down past the Hawthorne Inn and to the Cemetery Memorial for those hanged as witches. We were going to eat at Red's (a place I had eaten before), but it closed after lunch. We walked over to a Thai restaurant instead. I ate the best Pineapple Fried Rice and Pad Thai I've ever had there.

We made it an early night and drove back to the hotel.

Day 5: July 1, 2009

Today we went to Plymouth, MA. It was a short drive from where we were staying. We saw Plymouth Rock, the harbour, and a replica of the Mayflower that was built in England and sailed to Plymouth in 1957.

Later we went to the Pilgrim Museum which was interesting. There was info on Stephen Hopkins (possible relative) and his daughter's hat was in the museum. We spent a couple of hours in the museum. We walked down the street and ate hot dogs and ice cream for lunch.

Then we drove from Plymouth back to the Cape. On the way, it rained so hard we had to pull over and wait until it slacked off. We drove to Sandwich and then to Forestdale on the Cape so I could show everyone where I worked at Camp Good News. We drove through the camp, but didn't stop and talk to anyone since it was raining. It was good to see the camp again.

We stopped by the Christmas Tree Shops in Sagamore and spent a couple of hours there. Mom and A. Mae bought a few things. Then we went back to the hotel for a few minutes before leaving for Walmart to buy supplies and for dinner at Friendly's. The food was good, the service was not. We were there for what seemed like forever.

When we got back to the hotel, I stayed up until 2:00am working on my Lit Review and mom and A. Mae stayed up until 4:00am washing clothes. Mom washed mine since I had to finish my paper.

Day 4: June 30, 2009

Today we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel and then left Warwick and drove to Woods Hole, MA to catch the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. The ferry ride is about 45 min. We rented a car (Subaru) once we were on the island and drove around to see the sights. Our first stop was for lunch at a sub shop in Vineyard Haven.

After we left there, we saw the West Chop Lighthouse, John Belushi's grave, the cliffs and lighthouse at Gay Head, and Edgartown and Chappaquiddick. We stayed about 4 hours on the island and then headed back to the ferry.

Once we were back on Cape Cod, we drove to Hyannis to see the Kennedy Compound. We had to hunt for the location for a little while, but we found it and the gates were open and you could see inside. That made mom and A. Mae happy.

That night for dinner we ate Chinese food in Hyannis. The food was good but the portions were huge, so most of our food was on our plates when we finished. We drove to our hotel in Middleboro, MA. It was a Holiday Inn Express. When we got there, we found there was going to be one bed per room even though we'd said 3 people per room (strange they'd think 3 people would sleep in one bed). We got it sorted out, but it cost an extra $10 per night.

Day 3: June 29, 2009

Today we drove down to Newport, RI. We were going to look at the mansions along Naragansett Bay. We took a bus tour so we'd know what we were seeing. The houses were big enough, but I guess most weren't quite as big as I thought they would be. Still, one reminded me of Biltmore. Of course, it had the same owners and architect, so I guess it should have. We also saw the church where JFK got married in 1953.

Mom ran into a lady she graduated high school with; Frankie Walker. She was at the visitor center in Newport. She was up here with Christian Tours.

We ate at a pretty good restaurant in Newport; The Back Alley Pub in Newport. Then we drove down to the cliff walk and walked some along the cliffs overlooking Naragansett Bay. From there you were able to walk along the backs of some of the mansions, so that was a different view than we'd had before.

Next we drove to Providence. I went to City Sports to get a shirt from there. Then Jimmy wanted to find H. P. Lovecraft's grave. He asked for directions at a CVS, but they told him the wrong cemetery. We looked in that cemetery for a few minutes, but ran into some walkers who told us he was buried in another cemetery a few miles away. We drove over there, but that cemetery closed at 7:00pm and it was after 7:30. We waited around for a little over an hour trying to see if the security guard would let us in, but had no luck.

We had diner in Federal Hill at Aldino's Italian Restaurant. The food was pretty good, and not too expensive for the type restaurant it was. The portions were huge and I left a lot on my plate.

We spent the night at the Hampton Inn again.

Day 2: June 28, 2009

Today we left Hagerstown for Connecticutt and Rhode Island. We had to drive through NYC, where we were stuck in traffic at the toll booths and on the road. We were trying to make it to New Haven, CT by 1:30pm for a tour of Yale, but we didn't make it.

We stopped to eat in Greenwich, CT at the City Limits Diner. The food was good, but it was a little expensive. We made it to New Haven and just took our own tour of Yale. I bought a Yale shirt to go in my collection. Then we drove on to Mystic, CT. This is a seaside town that has become touristy. We walked through the downtown and found a Black Dog Shop (I didn't know there were any off of Martha's Vineyard. I bought a new shirt (with 2008 on it because it was almost 1/2 price). We ate dinner at Mystic Pizza (from the movie), which was better than I thought it would be. Our waitress was a little more typically CT than our waiter earlier in the day.

A. Mae wanted to go by the sub base that Jeff had worked at back in 1989, so we found it and went to the gate; but couldn't get it. We drove on to Warwick, RI to spend the night at the Hampton Inn.