Roadtrip Adventures

Lately, I had been feeling a bit burnt out, so skipping town and like, going out to dinner with my sister on a Tuesday night in Brooklyn seemed like the perfect antidote. So last week, we did just that. 

Well, it wasn't terribly inpromptu-- we had a wedding to attend in the Outer Banks*, so we decided to turn it into a bit of a roadtrip. Neither of us had ever really seen the East Coast south of, oh, maybe Connecticut? so it seemed like a perfect opportunity. Our only rules: stay as close to shoreline as possible, and no interstates. And if you see a thriftstore, stop. So on Tuesday, we dashed out of work early like a bunch of madmen, and hit to road to Brooklyn. We had a delightful dinner with M and one of our other favorite people in the world, G.

I would love to only visit places during the week -- it's so much quieter and less touristy. On Wednesday morning,  we met up with my old Crown Heights roommate D, then we drove over the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island (our trip could be subtitled "Hartley and RJ Cross All Bridges on the East Coast")  and then slowly worked our way down the coast, spending all of Wednesday in New Jersey. I had no idea how big that state was! Wow. While were were there, we got made fun of for our accents (which, um, you have a JERSEY accent, bartender). Some of our Jersey snapshots: 

 

(top to bottom: first dip in the Atlantic at Sea Bright, NJ; looking for a bathroom in Seaside Heights; sorry, I couldn't help it; more toe-dipping; all closed up.)


Wednesday night, we stayed in Cape May, which is both the southeastern tip of New Jersey and considered one of the country's oldest vacation destinations. It reminded me a lot of Nantucket or Thousand Islands Park -- just filled with ornate Victorians with big porches and gingerbread detailing. We ended up there mostly because we missed the last ferry to Delaware, but it was so delightful, I would certainly make another trip there directly.

Some snapshots of Cape May (all interior, you'll just have to take my word with the Victorian houses):

We have a sort of deal, money wise, worked out: I pay for lodging, mostly because I like to stay in fancier places and am willing to pay for a big fluffy robe, and RJ pays for food/drinks/activities and we split gas. I haven't done the breakdown of that, but I feel it's pretty equal, or at least, it feels equal to me. 

We then zoomed through Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia -- Delmarva -- we actually drove down the entire Eastern Shore. I had no idea how poor the Virginia portion is though -- there is some supreme poverty down there. Lotsa crab shacks that look more sad than anything else. 

Once we got to Nags Head, spent as much time as we could with RJ's sisters, niece and nephew, and the whole wedding crew. But that's for another post!

 
 * I refuse to shorten that to OBX because to me it just reads OBNOXIOUS.
** N, some of this might sound a biiiiit familiar. It's not plagarizing when you do it to yourself, right?