Philadelphia, Boston, Salem, and Maine

 As we continued on our drive up to Maine, we made another quick stop in Philadelphia for the famous Philly Cheesesteak. As always we didn't have enough time to really explore, though once again this is another city I wish I had more time for.

The big debate with the cheesesteak is if it should be made with cheese whiz, or with swiss cheese. We got one of each so we could be thorough in our taste testing. Turns out we both prefer the one with cheese whiz. Who knew?

The next stop we made was Boston. We happened to be downtown on a Saturday, which makes it a nightmare of a city full of traffic to drive in. Needless to say we didn't get to see much. But we did stop and see the boat in the harbor recreating the Boston tea party. I also got a lovely little tea pot. We did want to do some more exploring, but unfortunately with things that happened throughout the day we had to keep moving on and didn't have time to stay as long as we'd planned.

On we went to Salem, where we did get to walk around a bit. I really liked Salem Massachusetts. And had the best clam chowder of my life. I still think about that clam chowder. It was so good. We wondered through the town and saw some of the Salem witch sites that are there to draw visitors. It's an interesting little town to explore. It was a chilly and dreary day which seemed only fitting. 

We left Salem late in the afternoon for Maine. We got there in time for dinner, where I was able to try my first ever lobster roll. I could eat one of these every day for the rest of my life and be good with that.

Originally the plan was to spend the next day exploring Maine - seeing lighthouses, countryside, all that good stuff. But due to a personal tragedy that had been escalating since the beginning of our trip, I ended up having to fly out early the next morning to get home to take care of an urgent situation. 

While this trip was not the fun vacation I had planned on it to be, it did give me glimpses of a few other places I'd love to explore more. Hopefully some day we can get back there and spend some more time.

Driving up the East Coast

 

After DC we wanted to drive up the East Coast, with our end destination to be Maine. Along the way I wanted to stop at the Hershey Factory. It was only an hour away, I love chocolate, so why not? The drive was beautiful and the candy store was every bit as packed full of product as I anticipated.

The whole store smelled liked chocolate, obviously, and if I could have my house smell like that all the time I would. We didn't pay to tour the actual factory, or make our own candy bar. We were just passing through so only stopped to shop.

For some reason I wanted to buy everything in the store. Something about the chocolate smell and candy makes you lose your mind. We got some candy favorites, a few internal treats, as well as some other little things. Because we were flying home we had limited packing space. Probably a good thing because I could have done a lot more damage.

After the sweet stop, we continued on our way. We stopped an Gettysburg for a minute, and then wondered through some Amish country. We stopped and a store to see what they have and got a few souvenirs. 

We saw some beautiful farms and covered bridges along the way as well. I'm always looking for painting inspirations, and this part of the world is full of ideas. I hope to come back to this part of the country and spend more time one day. So beautiful.

Washington DC in March

In March we went back east to visit family, but also for a quick vacation from the boring every day life. We got lucky and were in DC just as the cherry blossoms were coming out.

The partner in crime has never been to DC, so we did all the tourist stuff we could fit in a day. Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian museums, and walking. So much walking around town. We popped over to see the constitution and even the Washington Monument. 

We didn't get over to Arlington Cemetery in time, but we caught a glimpse as they were closing the gates. We did get caught in some rather cold rain here and there but we kept on walking.

Sadly a lot of the museums I really wanted to see where closed on the day we were there. We made the bets of it, but it was still disappointing to miss out on them.

The following day we followed up our time in DC with Mt. Vernon. I went there when I was in middle school many years ago, and not much as changed. We spent another day full of walking and getting our muscles sore yet again. the weather was nice and cool and it's still a beautiful place.

Goodbye Oahu

 

It is always sad when a vacation ends. For me it's a double edge sword. On the one had I love being on vacation. I don't want to go back to my real life of work, adult responsibilities, and the boring day to day life that makes up a working grown up. It's so not fun.

On the other hand I do find I'm ready to sleep in my own bed, not have to eat out every single meal, and be able to have more options in what I want to wear for the day. Plus having access to everything I need and not just the bare minimum.

At some point all vacations end. The last night there we went and watch the sunset on the beach. The sunset on the ocean is always a show stopper. Afterwards we went for dinner, and then it was back to the hotel as our flight left at 7am the next day.

It's always hard to leave a fun vacation, but it was an extra miserable trip home. 

Because we had such an early flight, and we were told the airport takes a very long time to get through security, we had decided to get up at 4am and head over there so we had plenty of time. I woke up about midnight so sick. As in I haven't been that sick in a very long time. It was miserable - as in I was very sick from both ends. 

I spent the rest of the night in that scenario. Water would make me sick, so it was bad. And the thought of having to fly home was not something I wanted to face. Every movement, any smell, set me off to the bathroom for a good 20 minutes. 

I was ready to pay a ridiculous amount of money to stay another day and change out flight tickets, but my husband had not flown on a plane for 20 years and didn't know how to do that. I was too sick to be able to look at my phone, or explain to him how to do it, and his work really needed him back to work the next day. I'm a pretty tough cookie.

I didn't want to be putting people at risk being sick, but I was confident it wasn't covid. This was a full on stomach flu. I have no idea how I got it. The husband and I had eaten the same thing the whole trip and he never got sick like I did. I just caught some fluke.

But he has to do everything. He made sure all the bags were loaded and everything in the room we needed was packed. He had to check out, get the car, load it, and do all the navigation to the airport. It took me 20 minutes to get from the room to the lobby, and I almost lost it on the elevator. 

We made it to the airport, and it was a very long slow walk for me through the muggy heat. There was no AC, and I was struggling. We had to wear masks, which was a good thing because I'm pretty sure I looked like death. I almost passed out waiting in the security line, but didn't. As soon as we made it to the gate it was off to the bathroom again.

It was a miserable flight to Phoenix, then a 3 hour layover in a crowded airport followed by another long flight to get home. I have never been so sick traveling before. More than anything I wanted to lay down on the floor of the busy airport and just not move. But I didn't. I gagged at the smells, and prayed for the day to end. 

3 days later the stomach flu finally passed and I felt human again. It was a far too dramatic ending to a vacation that I hope I never experience again.

But Hawaii was beautiful.