Port Towns & Lobster Rolls

The morning started with getting a new spare tire for the camper. Once we got that task accomplished, we headed east to Salem, MA!

We arrived at Cape Ann Campground near Gloucester around 2:30 and set up full camp! We are here two days so it’s a full camp set-up! Full camp means everything gets set up. 😁

We again had magnificent weather! We headed over to Gloucester for a bit before taking in the sights of Rockport. We love both of these great port towns in Massachusetts, but Rockport is our favorite. After roaming around the town and visiting a few shops, we headed back to Gloucester for some fresh seafood! The lobster up in this area, of course, is amazing! And for the record, the lobster rolls at the Blue Collar Lobster Company is as good as it gets!

After a quick bite we headed back the campground to make a quick change into my first of two “Salem Halloween Outfits” I brought for the trip! I think I chose wisely. 😁 Jeff planned it so we could be in Salem for the full Harvest Moon! It did NOT disappoint! The skies were clear and the moon was brilliant! Wow!

Not sure how we too this day, but tomorrow we are sure going to give it a try!!

Up next, Salem (day 2) and Marblehead!!

Just a bump in the road

Day Four

Wellll…today started off rather challenging. We had our first tire blowout on the camper. We were fortunate that we have a dual axle and only one tire went on the left (back) side. But, it did do some damage to the tire well and ripped off the fender piece when the tread separated and beat the side of the trailer to pieces. Ugh!!

We were a bit concerned that this would wipe out our big plans for the day and that we would miss a ticketed event for the afternoon, but AAA came to the rescue in the person of Rico and he had us back on the road in just over an hour. (Good thing we carry a new spare tire.)

So, the day started out rather ominous, but ended strong! We had just enough time to stop by Sleepy Hollow, NY and visit some of the great town references from the book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving and also visit his gravesite.

From there, we headed up to Hartford, CT for our 3:20 tour of Mark Twain’s (Samuel Clemons) home! It was so beautiful! I can see why Clemons once stated “It was the loveliest home there ever was”. The dark wood throughout the home is magnificent. Although photography was not allowed in the home, we got some great shots on the property after the tour.

We ended the day setting up camp in Lake Compounce Campground (aka Bear Creek Campground) and then running quickly over to see “America’s Oldest Amusement Park” - Lake Compounce, before they closed for the day. It was right at park closing, so they let us just wander in and have a free look around and grab some quick photos!

Whew. That was quite a day.

Now, on to Massachusetts to visit Salem and the lovely seaports that line its northern coast!

Lakota Wolf Preserve

Day Three

Another, mostly, day of driving heading east. But, we were able to spend the night in one of the coolest campgrounds we have ever came across - Camp Taylor in Columbia, NJ. The Lakota Wolf Preserve is on-property. We had a great evening of just hanging out at the campsite and visiting the wolves.

Since we were surrounded by wolves, we thought it only appropriate to throw up there screen and watch The Wolf Man outside under the almost full moon.