After all of the mountain living and quaint seashore towns, it was time to move on to the big cities. The big cities presented a major operational obstacle as we tried to figure out how we could get close enough to visit and still sleep in our camper. Just to make it fun, we started with some of the biggest and most complicated cities on the east coast: Boston and NYC.
Boston was the first big city on our list after leaving Maine. As we had discovered through the northeast, we are at the butt end of camping season and many of the RV resorts shut down between Columbus Day and the end of October… but there’s always a few remaining.
To search for campsites, we use the app “All Stays”, the most popular app in the camper world and provides lots of information on places to stay (including Wal-Marts and Cracker Barrels). The majority of Jocelyn’s time while I drive is spent searching through the app for our next stay even though it is quite inaccurate.
We found a place just outside of Boston that’s open all year and just happens to be one of the top-rated RV resorts in the world… at least according to them (Normandy Farms). We’ve always been somewhat against these fancy places with the “campers” who have a satellite dish and a big screen T.V. However, we quickly jumped on the bandwagon after we spent some time in their indoor pool and hot tub! It even included a dog park, baseball fields and a recreational lodge and provided a nice break from roughing it the previous month. I guess we’re glampers now.
The train station was close, so we hopped on and explored Boston for the day. We stuck to the main tourist track, the Freedom Trail, as we explored the city and the uprising of the pesky American colonists (said with a British accent). It was pretty clear to Britain and France from the beginning that North America was going to turn into a huge opportunity, and both of them tried their best to strategically command it. In the end, it just became too powerful too quickly and (we) were able to break away from the competing empires.
Between Boston and NYC we spent a weekend in Rhode Island where we took up another offer to stay with a friend (be careful what you offer to us, we might just take you up on it!). We stayed with one of my former bosses and mentors from Accenture for two days as he toured us around the smallest but significant state of Rhode Island. We loved Newport and touring the mansions of industrial titans who competed for the most impressive estate (Vanderbilt won).
After Rhode Island, we stayed a free night at a casino in Connecticut where we once again lost more in gambling than we saved by staying for “free”. It did give us a chance to explore Connecticut which we wouldn’t have done otherwise and from what we saw, it’s another beautiful state with rolling hills/mountains and picturesque waterside towns.
Next, it was on to New York City. As we headed to our first destination on Long Island, we headed down one of the major highways but didn’t take the “passenger cars only” sign serious enough as we drove Penny Lane through traffic… after all, we were driving a passenger car! However, things got pretty serious when we started seeing the “low clearance” signs on the upcoming bridges and did a quick visual assessment before moving to the middle lane where the bridge was higher. Cleared it. As we drove farther, the situation became more dire as the bridges got shorter (seriously people, when were these built?!). We “decided” to exit after two cars honked and motioned to exit before the next bridge – something about the panic on their faces told me Penny Lane was about to get a haircut… but luckily we got off the highway before we tested it.
We spent two nights on Long Island and headed out to the Hamptons for one of the days. First off, we didn’t know Long Island was so long (name should’ve given it away) and secondly, it was fun to visit the Hamptons and see the newer location of “who can build the biggest mansion”.
Now, it was off to the Big Apple – New York City. Jocelyn found a RV park with “views of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty”. To get there, we had to drive from Long Island, through Brooklyn and on to Jersey City. Once again, we ran into the short bridge issue. This meant I got to drive Penny Lane through Brooklyn. Need I say more… okay, sure, I aim to entertain. Imagine driving through New York City streets with crazy cab drivers, pedestrians everywhere and confusing streets. Now think about me trying to do it with a 20ft camper on the back.. and add in some rain!! I reverted to my Dallas driving – very aggressive – as I quickly darted from lane to lane to avoid getting stuck behind a turning car or missing my own turn. I think Jocelyn got to the point of closing her eyes, but she did a good job of guiding me through! It was pretty dang crazy and hopefully the hardest of my driving (until I get to the mountains at least).
This is what driving through Brooklyn with a camper looks like!!
Oh yea, and the RV resort did actually have views of the Jersey skyline and the Statue of Liberty! It was so cool to walk Lucy over to Liberty State Park with great views of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Sure it was twice as expensive of any place we had previously stayed at $90/night, but it was five blocks from the metro station and a quick ride to Manhattan! We spent four nights – even though it broke the bank – just because the location was incredible and obviously there’s so much to see in NYC. The majority of our time was spent sight seeiing the most famous and touristy sites and we were able to catch up with some friends as well.
Although challenging with the logistics, I’m glad we still made it to the big East Coast cities. It gave us a chance to explore without spending big bucks on a “regular vacation” where we’d stay in hotels and eat at restaurants all of the time… instead we slept in Penny Lane and brought sandwiches whenever possible!
Through Martha’s Vineyard and Boston
Some of Jocelyn’s great pictures in Central Park – NYC
More pictures throughout NYC
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