Northeast Roadtrip

Introduction

Part of my quest to visit all fifty states, this road trip took me to the northeast where I was missing Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and possibly Connecticut and New Hampshire. Along the way, I got to see sights in West Virgina, Marlyand, Vermont and New York.

Toward the East Coast

Elkins, WV

Doing another, shorter, road trip. First stop Elkins West Virginia, just inside the NRQZ (National Radio Quiet Zone). Cute little town with a nice city park, and a small hopping downtown on the weekend. Seems like a lovely place to stop if you happen to be passing through or need a base for outdoor adventures.

I stayed at the ~120 year old Tygart boutique hotel, which was renovated as part of a downtown rehab that turned out very nicely. It’s bookable via Choice’s “Ascend” collection which features a lot of smaller independents. The room rate for a regular queen was $151 per night but it was available for just 16,000 choice points aka 8,000 Citi points. The night before they had a suite available for the same points price (this is a thing choice regularly does).

Green Bank Observatory, WV

Driving into the heart of the NRQZ (National Radio Quiet Zone), I got to visit the town of Green Bank where microwaves live in faraday cages and your friendly local observatory staff are always on hand to fix all your noisy electronics, whether it be a shorting electric fence or the excessively powerful automatic door sensor at the neighborhood Dollar General.

They only allow diesel around the telescopes (no spark plugs) and no cell phones. I had to buy a brand new camera just to take pictures along the telescope track. I’ll post those later… after I get them developed. Lots more telescopes…

Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge, DE

Most of these pictures come from Bombay Hook in Delaware with a few from the drive over through Maryland. My sister went to Bombay Hook last month and also saw lots of foxes. So many foxes.

Into the Northeast

Gillette Castle, CT

Continuing on the road trip, a few days ago, I stopped at the Gillette Castle State Park in Connecticut.

Gillette was the son of a senator and became famous for playing Sherlock Holmes on stage. He designed the castle which was bought by the state after his death in the 30s. It’s a strange and impressive place on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut river. The whole estate is like a wooded garden with artificial ponds. Lots of old money.

Fort Adams State Park, RI

This journey has been in part an effort to visit all fifty states, with just Alaska remaining when I get home. Here are pictures from Rhode Island, specifically Newport and Aquidneck Island. Mostly these come from the southern public beaches and Fort Adams.

I didn’t include any pictures, but I stayed at The Pell which is a Hyatt / JdV, using a free night certificate. It was fine, and my first JdV so now I only need three more checkboxes on my Hyatt / Subway card for another free night. Yay!

Portland, ME

For Maine, I just had one night in Portland. I stopped at some of the coastal sights, two lights state park and the Portland head light, plus I enjoyed a lobster roll.

Interestingly two lights state park has no lighthouses and is instead a defensive fortification built for WW2 in case things went bad. The name two lights probably comes from the way they planned to get firing solutions from two nearby lighthouses/towers.

The Portland Head Light is a nice big lighthouse, and fort, part of a much larger city park.

Homeward Bound

New Hampshire and Vermont

St Lawrence and Tibetts Lighthouse

Hyatt Regency Ontario Suite, NY

On the way home, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Rochester for 5,000 points (think $50-$100). They upgraded my room for free, unasked, to the 2,100 square foot top floor Ontario Suite which has seating for around 18, two balconies, two bathrooms, a conference table, kitchen and wall to ceiling windows. On a clear day, I think you can see Lake Ontario.

I’ve gotten some nice upgrades before, but this was off the charts, especially for the cheapest point stay Hyatt offers.

I tried to figure out what the price would have been and I didn’t see it in the regular booking UI but did find a “call for pricing” note on one page.

The video has a full walk through.

Summary

Todo…