12 States to Maine

50 States of TravelTravel
Written By Jane Vazquez

Twelve States to Maine, from Florida to Portland. It was the Spring of 2015 and my husband and I were sitting in our hot tub discussing our summer vacation plans.  We typically went to the Keys every summer with our neighbor/best friend at the end of the summer during lobster season. In addition, we tried to also do something as a family. 

My husband says (without realizing how quickly I'd respond), "How about a Road Trip to Maine"?  Right away I said, "Are you serious? Yes!".  So I immediately began planning.

Fast forward 2 months and I started to talk about dates, and the timing I need to figure out how long we should plan to be gone. And, roughly when we'd schedule our departure, etc. so that I could make sure my office was prepared for my absence. 

Planning our Road Trip to Maine

My hubby started asking - "What's our Plan B?" He'd begun expressing his change of heart because of all of the driving.  He wasn't sure he was up for it.  I told him we didn't have a Plan B and that Alex (our son) and I had been looking forward to the trip for 2 months.  So, I really just didn't even let him believe there was a chance we weren't going on this Epic Road Trip.

So, we planned to leave on June 7th and be home around June 21st (allowing 2 weeks to make the trip).  I wanted to drive along back roads as much as possible, avoiding interstates and major highways so that we could see as much scenery as possible.  We didn't have an itinerary, but planned to sort of 'wing it' every day.

First Stop - St. Augustine, Florida

We drove to St. Augustine, Florida the first night. We spent the night and explored a little the next day, enjoying the quaint feel of this oldest city in the US.  We saw a lighthouse (which is always a highlight for me - I love lighthouses) and walked through the shopping village. 

As we were heading North, out of town, we were approaching an old landmark looking building and our son (11 years old) speaks up from the back seat and says, "Hey, that looks like the San Marcos Fort.  We just studied that in school last year." So, we decided to check it out. 

It was, in fact, Castillo de San Marcos, a 17th Century Fortress, complete with drawbridges and cannons.  As we walked through this old fortress, Alex kept telling us about what we were seeing - we were both very proud of his knowledge of this place of history.

  • St. Augustine
  • Castillo de San Marcos
  • Castillo de San Marcos
  • Castillo de San Marcos
  • Castillo de San Marcos
  • Castillo de San Marcos
  • Chief Osceola
  • The Barracks
  • Family_St. Augustine

We left St. Augustine that afternoon and headed North towards Maine.  Since we had no actual plan or itinerary, I used my iPad Google Maps to sort of guide us.  I knew the general direction we needed to go and we'd come up with a spot to head towards. Without actually using the maps for direction, just as a guide, the 1st two days on the road were a bit dicey. 

We kept missing exits and/or turns, trusting what I could see from the electronic map and my husband was getting a little cranky.  After 2 days of "winging it" we decided we needed to at least determine each day how far we planned to go and select a landmark with an address to plug into Google Map to give us specific directions.  After that, things went much more smoothly.

Next Stop Virginia Beach, Virginia

We drove through the Carolina's and into Virginia Beach, Virginia.  This was an enjoyable stop.  Virginia Beach had beautiful beaches.  We live on the coast - the West Coast of Florida, much different than the Atlantic side.  We rented a bike and rode it down the Boardwalk - 3 miles.  Whew, Alex had to take over for me, 3 miles was a little long for Mom's legs to pedal.  Virginia Beach was very relaxing.

  • Virginia Beach
  • Lunch on the beach
  • Boardwalk
  • Boardwalk

Ocean City, Maryland

Next stop - Ocean City, Maryland.  As is typical during our vacations, we had to get a game of miniature golf in.  This coastal town was much like Virginia Beach with the wide beaches and a boardwalk.  We had lunch at a beachside restaurant and took a Trolly down the boardwalk that evening.  The Trolly took us past the carnival rides where it got very busy and had dinner at a popular place called Harrisons.  Ocean City was a cool stop as well.

  • Mini Golf
  • Mini Golf
  • Lunch at Ocean City
  • Trolly ride down the boardwalk

Heading out of Ocean City we followed our navigation towards New Jersey when we come up to some signs indicating the approach of an Auto Ferry that would take us across to Delaware.  My husband began understanding where we were headed and wasn't quite sure he wanted to put our car on a ferry and cross the Delaware Bay.  I, on the other hand, was excited - we'd never done this before. 

I'm all about adventure, Hubby is all about safe and controlled procedure.  By the time we realized what was happening, we were in line to board the Ferry.  It was due to set sail within about an hour so we had time to eat lunch.  This was a cool experience for me and our son.

  • Yey, taking a Ferry
  • Waiting to board
  • Crossing Delaware Bay

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Next stop - Atlantic City, New Jersey.  We stayed in a nice hotel near the coast.  This was our 3rd night stopping in a city with a boardwalk.  Atlantic City was cool as well.  We were too close to Caesar's Palace for my husband not to try his hand at a card table.  While he gave it a shot, Alex and I played miniature golf. This area of Atlantic City was nice. By now, we were anxious to get to our final destination.

  • More Mini-golf
  • More Mini-golf
  • More mini-golf

Next Stop - Philadelphia, PA

From here, we drove into Philadelphia.  We decided to visit the Philly Zoo - and found out that this Zoo was the 1st zoo to open in the US.  I love to visit places that have some sort of significance.  After the zoo, we found a small lunch café and had a Philly Cheese Steak.  We expected the cheesesteaks here to be the best we'd ever had - unfortunately, we've had better, but this too was cool.  The restaurant was interesting. 

  • Philadelphia Zoo
  • Philadelphia Zoo
  • Philly Cheese Steak
  • Philly Cheese Steak
  • Liberty Bell
  • Dad and Alex

From Philly, we headed to Gloucester, MA.  I'd been there before, years earlier on a trip with my Mom and daughter and was excited to take my husband.  One of the first movies we saw together after meeting was The Perfect Storm, and he's an offshore fisherman so he was looking forward to this stop. 

Gloucester, MA - a very cute, fishing town

We had lunch on the water, drove around and observed the small fishing town.  We even stopped into the Crow's Nest Bar (depicted in the movie) and Alex and Vic played a game of pool.  The manager wasn't thrilled with our 11-year-old being in the bar, but it was daytime and they just played one game.  We also saw one of the boats shown on the reality TV Show, Wicked Tuna - very cool for my hubby.

  • Lunch on the Water
  • Gloucester, MA
  • Lobser Rolls
  • Crows Nest Bar
  • Coast of Gloucester
  • Coast of Gloucester

Finally, Portland, Maine

Final stop, Portland Maine.  By now, we'd been on the road for a little more than 1 week.  We were getting tired of a different hotel every night. 

It was right about at this point, getting ready to head into Maine that my son said to me - "Mom, wouldn't it be cool if I could visit every state in the USA?". I thought about it (for about 5 minutes) and told him that I thought we should make that a goal - to visit every state by the time he graduates from college. He would graduate in 11 years, so that's how long we had to accomplish this goal.

We got to Portland and were honestly ready to start heading south towards home after seeing some of what Portland had to offer.  After exploring a little of Portland that afternoon and evening, we decided we were ready to head home. The next morning we decided we should see at least one Lighthouse before leaving Portland. 

We realized that the 1st Lighthouse in Maine was in Portland so we drove to it 1st thing the morning we were heading out.  It was so early when we got there that the shop wasn't open so we just walked around and enjoyed the scenery.  Did I mention, I really like Lighthouses.  It was beautiful, even through the fog.

  • Portland Head Lighthouse
  • Portland Head Lighthouse
  • Portland Head Lighthouse
  • Portland, ME

Heading home - from Maine to SW Florida

From here, we headed home.  The trip south was without adventure.  We'd had a great time seeing the East Coast of the US but we were ready to be back in our own home, own beds, own kitchen and back to routine.  We didn't quite make it to 2 weeks.  We were home on day 10.  I realized on the way home that I was REALLY going to miss being with my boys, Hubby and Son 24/7.  We had really enjoyed being with each other.  Great trip!

With Serenity,

Jane Vazquez
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