October 4, 2008 - A True Coast-to-Coast Trip

This evening would be my last evening away from home. I would be in five states in one day. The events of today would also cause this to be a true coast-to-coast trip.

The Drive to Delaware
I left Martinsburg, WV, headed for a coastal city in Delaware. I plugged Lewes, DE into my GPS. This is not at the southern border of DE but is on the coast. This would be about three to four hours away.

Until this day, I have not been to Delaware yet. It has been a bit annoying as it is so close to my home (compared to places like Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, etc.) yet it always seems to be out of reach in these trips. Even in this trip, I was questioning whether I would really have time to go as far east as Delaware.

Having already been to the Pacific Ocean in mid-August, I really wanted to squeeze in a visit to the Atlantic Ocean before the trip ended. This would make it a true coast-to-coast trip.

However, I also wanted to see Assateague Island which is in Maryland. There are wild horses that roam this island. Wild horses are expected out west (and I saw some in North Dakota's Badlands), but not on the East Coast.

The GPS had some problems. It started taking me down local roads when it was obvious I needed to go down a nearby highway. Finally, I just turned there and let the GPS pick up the route from there. It added about twenty minutes to the arrival time. I only had half a tank of gas. This really concerned me as there did not seem to be a lot of exits on the highway.


View Larger Map

Charles Town, WV
I passed through a place called Charles Town, WV. This seemed almost silly considering the fact that the capital city of WV is Charleston. Wouldn't Charles Town and Charleston be ripe for confusion?

As I drove further, there were many beautiful sites. I went over bridges and saw people whitewater rafting below. It was an absolutely beautiful day.


View Larger Map

Virginia Was Not a State I Planned to Include on This Trip
As I drove along further, I noticed a sign that said "Welcome to Virginia." I was a little astonished. I had not planned to visit Virginia on this trip and really did not expect my route would bring me that close. Only a few minutes later, I saw a sign that welcomed me to Maryland. So, I never got out of the car when I was in Virginia. Do I count this as one of the states I visited on this trip or not? I decided to count it. Still, like Oklahoma and Illinois (and maybe even Mississippi), it was just a token visit. In any event, I've been to Virginia on previous trips with actual destinations (several presidential homes are in Virginia).

My path took me through US 301/US 50, on a long bridge near Annapolis. The views were absolutely beautiful. I was so happy to be this close to the ocean. This was a toll bridge and drivers were required to stay in the same lane. (On the much longer Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, drivers were not restricted to the lane where they started.)

I Finally Entered Delaware
Finally, I saw the sign welcoming me to Delaware. It was a great feeling to have finally made a visit to DE. I have now visited 45 U.S. states in my life. DE is the 29th state on this trip.

At a certain point, I decided I ought to see Assateague Island first and then work my way back up. This is past Delaware's southern border with Maryland. I plugged that into my GPS.

There are a number of farm areas in Delaware. I almost thought I was back in the Midwest. It was interesting to see. I expected that with a state this small, it would consist of a lot of cities.

Assateague Island
Finally, I crossed into Maryland again. There was a short bridge to Assateague Island. Seeing this bridge, I wondered how the wild horses were kept off the bridge. Once I got there, I found the answer. The forest areas of the island are surrounded by an electric fence. In my opinion, this is nothing like the West where the horses can just roam free and undisturbed. Yes, they may be wild in that they eat their own food, but they are basically in what amounts to a large pen.

I never saw any horses, though I did see signs warning people not to feed the horses.

I spent some time on the beach. It was great to see the Atlantic Ocean. Officially, it was now a coast-to-coast trip. At least one person was actually swimming. Someone else was water skiing on a glider. The water was a bit cool, but warmer on October 4th than it was along the beaches of Washington and Oregon in mid-August. On the West Coast, it was absolutely freezing at that time. I waded in the water a bit but did not actually swim. See the other photos.

I wanted to stay here longer. But, I also wanted to actually do something in Delaware rather than just drive through it. So, I decided to head up to Rehoboth Beach. That was near the MD/DE border but most importantly, it was in DE. It was about 45 minutes away.

Ocean City, MD
I passed through Ocean City, MD. This is a resort area with all sorts of activities including restaurants, amusement park rides, etc. There were people everywhere. Parking areas were available but each one cost money. Besides, I didn't have time to stop as I wanted to get to DE. Finally, I saw a sign welcoming me to DE. It indicated that DE was the "home of tax free shopping." That's nice. I remember Montana also did not have sales tax.

Expensive Parking
There were a few public beaches. However, it cost $8 to park there! I was not going to spend $8 for probably only fifteen or twenty minutes. I began to think that perhaps my trip to Assateague Island would be my only visit to the Atlantic Ocean on this trip.

I noticed some neighborhoods that were along the beach. When I visited the southern states last spring, I remember being able to park along the road in neighborhoods in western Florida. I looked around. At first, I didn't find anything. There was a stop sign at every cross road. When there is a stop sign, one must stop. I had a very angry person behind me who kept raising his hand every time I stopped. He tried to go around me but there wasn't room. I pointed to each stop sign and he seemed very angry. Finally, I gave up and got back to the main road. I almost thought he was going to follow me and perhaps ram my car. But thankfully, he drove further in the neighborhood.

A Free Beach in Delaware
I tried another neighborhood and found a public parking area. Permits were required from May to September. I got to the beach and found the water was actually warmer than it was at Assateague Island. Of course, Assateague Island was further south, so this was surprising. I wish I had found this spot sooner and I wish I had been prepared to swim. It was definitely warm enough for swimming. I spent some time here and then had to leave as I had a three hour drive to my hotel in Lancaster, PA. See the photos.

I drove north through Delaware's Route 1. As I got to the northern part of the state, it became a highway with toll charges. Every so often there would be a toll booth with a $2 fee.


View Larger Map

Cheap Gas
Gas in DE was the cheapest I've seen on the whole trip. I purchased gas as low as $3.21. But, after filling up I found one for $3.17.

The Last Evening
I finally got into Lancaster, PA. There was a bar inside the hotel where I stayed. The clerk seemed to slur her words quite a bit. She could have been overly tired. She may have had a cold. Or, she may have just been drunk from the bar....

My final hotel room for the trip was very large. There was plenty of space to work on the computer for a little while. But I also wanted to get some sleep as I had a LONG drive ahead of me the next day....

Lancaster, PA is an Amish area. The next day would primarily be focused on driving home. However, stay tuned for the next blog entry as there will still be more sightseeing reports. There will also be more postings following that which contain my concluding thoughts for the overall trip.