We drove up to CT a few days ago. We skirted around the heavy populated areas. The drive up there was like driving on a Dallas freeway all day long. And it was raining the whole time. Not a relaxing day driving a 5th wheel.On the way up to CT we stopped at the New Jersey shore and went to the beach. Our view from the beach was New York City. The picture doesnt do the view justice. It was very awesome looking across the bay and seeing NYC.
(Click on picture for panoramic view.)
In some old movies they talk about Beach Clubs, having cabanas and having cabana boys. In one of the towns by the beach they have about 8 Beach Clubs. We went on the internet and read about the ones we saw. They are much like Country Clubs to us. You join for the season, have a cabana, restaurant, swimming pool, beach access, and activities for the children. It can cost $1,700 and up to $18,000 for the SEASON depending on the beach club and what you want to pay. $1,700 gets you a season pass and a locker for your stuff. A nice cabana is like an efficiency apartment. Because of the price of $18,000, up to 4 families share a cabana. The main idea of a Beach Club is that you can have an access to the ocean.
New Jersey has some strange driving patterns. There are no left turns or U turns on city streets where we were. All left turns were made from the right side lane. You would circle around to the right 180 degrees and be perpendicular to the street you just left. Sometimes that right 180 degree turn would circle to the right, sometimes to the left, sometimes it before the light and sometimes beyond the light. It really keeps the traffic from backing up but confusing. The other thing we noticed about NJ highways is they do not spend a lot of the budget on directional signs. One day we drove around and missed quite a few turns. So the next day we went over the same roads and quickly saw why we made so many mistakes. They will have junction signs. No advance warning to which lane you need to be in to turn. Then right at the junction they will have the signs to go north or south. You are always in the wrong lane or miss it completely. If they just happen to have an advanced sign about a turn it will be obstructed by tree branches. Tolls are very high in the east. It cost $5 to go across a bridge. In one day we spent over $30 in tolls. CT was up and down hills, very New England and beautiful. Most of the roads we traveled on were 2 lanes and busy. On our return trip to VA we went a different route away from the populated cities. It was a much easier trip and it wasnt raining except for one rain shower in PA. PA was very pretty. On the trip down to VA we could see the countryside and the entire sky. We didnt get claustrophobic with tall trees right beside us and only seeing the sky right above.We are heading to the Outer Banks of NC and SC for a few days. Then we will spend a few days in Savannah, GA before heading to Daytona and then to the Tampa, FL area for a few weeks.
This is a platter of corn, potatoes, and spinach.
