Launching Earth Shuttle Columbia

[Travels with Yoly]

Our first trip in our new 2013 T@B, the launching of Columbia, took us from our home in the north Georgia mountains to New England. We chronicled that adventure with our first blog ..... http://travelswithyoly.blogspot.com/

I posted this in my Introduction page (as a new member) but thought it was relevant in this Section as well.

[rowerwet]

sounds like a great trip! how would you rate the campground on cape cod? We're looking for a good campground on the cape to take our family to this coming summer, they love the ocean so having a beach right there looks like the place to go.

[Travels with Yoly]

We didn't look at any of the other campgrounds while we were there so I can't really compare it to others, and like all campgrounds, there are pros and cons. We liked the location of the campground because it was located fairly in the center of the developed areas but also on the beach. It was quite large and laid out like a small town (with Key Coded Gate) but didn't seem to cater to children particularly (no playground that I could see). We chose it partly because of its acceptance of the Passport America Discount. The vertical part of the landscape, the National Seashore has more natural beauty but doesn't have a lot of RV parks or campgrounds. When I did my research, I found campgrounds at the upper end near Provincetown but they didn't have very good reviews and require quite a bit of extra driving to get to. I did see favorable reviews of other campgrounds on the LG Forum however.

If you look at Dennis Port on a map, you can see that the campground makes a good basecamp to get to many of the attractions. I can see by your profile picture that you are already familiar with the area so I probably don't need to expand much more.

The campground itself was very nice with a variety of hook-ups. We had water/electricity and cable but not sewer hook-up. The bathroom near us was clean and the shower hot. The people were friendly but they did give me the wrong passcode for the bathrooms and I had quite a dilemma scurrying around trying to find someone who was willing to give it to me as nature was calling. It was after office hours and no one was there.

[rowerwet]

for our anniversary my wife and I stayed in Brewster (not far from Dennis) at sweetwater farm campground. The campground was Awsome, campsites were seperated by brush and trees enough to give some privacy, there is a playground for every bathroom, a lake for boating (no swimming (MA law requires a full time life guard for every pool or beach)) the bathrooms are very clean, and the great Cape Cod rail trail is just across the street. BUT, the nearest beach is a bike ride or drive away( too far to walk, even for my 3 mile a day wife) and a parking pass is $15/day. The $15/day seems to be standard for every beach on the mid or upper cape. Brewster is also on the cape cod bay side, so no surf (my kids love boogie boarding) and at low tide the water receeds over a mile from the high tide beach.
The camp map where you stayed, shows two playgrounds, but for my TV-less kids, a beach will keep them occupied until they are ready to drop every day.
Until this coming summer we have stayed for free on York Beach. (I hate to say it but you missed the best lighthouse in ME, the Nubble in York, ME) Now we are looking to go camping for vacation, as my parents cabin there is going on the market. The cape is the nearest warm water beaches for us, even in August we wear wet suits to play in the water and some days to play on the beach in York.

[Travels with Yoly]

We were winding down our trip and working our way back home (about 3 weeks in) so we probably missed quite a few noteworthy sights like the lighthouse you mentioned. I don't know if you watched the two videos from the area (the link at the bottom) but you can see some of the beaches we visited. None of them charged for parking so maybe it's a seasonal thing (we were there mid to late September). Our impression is that this area has a peak season and an off-season as about half of the local eateries were not open while we were there.

Cape Cod wasn't at all as I expected. It seemed to be much like any busy suburb of the Boston area with rush hour traffic and road construction. The National Seashore was more of what I was expecting and I guess we didn't spend enough time exploring it. One other thing we noticed that stood out as unusual for us .... traffic enforcement. For every 10 miles of driving, we saw at least 3 people pulled over and being cited for something. I'm talking about a dozen a day every day we were there Another peculiar anomaly was in construction areas. There was bridge construction on the main road leading away from the campground which we encountered a couple times a day. There were the typical road construction workers with the typical workers stopping traffic in either direction and then letting them through. It seemed as though almost every worker had his own police officer assigned to them, standing next to them ..... I counted 12 workers and 6 cops. I figured that being an affluent community, there were lots of cops and having a relatively low crime rate, there's nothing better for them to do

[rowerwet]

the extra cops thing is was a payoff to the police many years ago when they couldn't afford raises for them, like every other great idea here in MA it is a "gift that keeps on giving" long after the problem went away. now it is a way for cops to rack up serious overtime, it is all senority based and some cops wives drive around looking for any possible place their spouse can get a detail. The contractors pay for it all (meaning tax and rate payers) UGH!
You hit the after-season which is when construction in crammed into to avoid stopping vacation traffic. (memorial day to Labor day)
the rates all drop after labor day, but like you noticed many places close.
The cape was a much busier place for vacations until commuters from Boston considered a 2 hr drive to work reasonable, much of this is the Baby boomers buying their retirement homes early and still working. This has made the lower and mid cape not much of a vacation spot anymore, taxes have jumped making it too expensive for seasonal businesses to make it.
On top of that many towns passed laws to not allow motels, hotels, or timeshares to have kitchens in the units, to force people to eat out.
This past year was different though as many NY and CT families were back due to the damage from the hurricane done to the jersey shore area. We drove in on friday afternoon in the middle of august, Saturday (when the weekly rentals start) the traffic to the bourne bridge was all the way back to Plymouth MA.
The real cape for vacations today is the upper cape (from the elbow up) the drive is too far for commuters.

[Travels with Yoly]

Wow ! That explanation and description really explains what we saw and experienced and really makes a lot of sense. Wish we had talked to you sooner We would have spent more effort to get north of "the elbow". From our experience, Yoly and I both decided that Cape Cod was one of those places we probably wouldn't go back to, which is a good thing for you .... two less tourists tying up traffic and taking the last campsite Thanks again for your insight and anecdotes .... everything makes a lot more sense now

[rowerwet]

Upstate NY (Catskills, Adrondacks), all of VT, NH north of the lakes region, and ME (it's motto is Vacationland for a reason) outside of York county, are the places to go to get away from it all. Even then there are spots that are overrun durng tourist season (Acadia park), hitting most places in the afterseason is the best if you don't mind cooler weather and less tourist type places being open, the rates drop, some places allow nightly rentals that only allowed weekly before, lines are shorter, and everything is less crowded.

[Travels with Yoly]

We thought the Adirondacks were beautiful and that so many of the lakes had such crystal clear water. Unfortunately, our timing was off and we didn't spend the time exploring and enjoying the area as much as we should have. We also kinda blew through Vermont (after staying in South Hero) and New Hampshire due to torrential rains. Who knows .... maybe someday

We have great plans for next year looping the country to California via the southern route, then up to the Olympic National Park in the Pacific Northwest and taking in the LG Western rally at Ponderosa State Park in McCall, Idaho and then catch the Rolling Home Rally in Ohio on the last leg of our journey

[rowerwet]

my sister lives near Lake Placid, NY, we go canoe camping there most years the water is super clear and warm!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... dd291866d7

[Travels with Yoly]

Loved the pictures .... so nice to see kids actively engaged in outdoor experiences like that and also in the crafting of the mouseboats (I get it)

Man .... I thought Yoly had long hair !!

[KCStudly]

Thanks. I enjoyed seeing the kids having such fun! Nice job, both building and parenting.

[rowerwet]

30+ years the wife has never cut her hair
The kids love their boats, my son told me I needed to build him a pointy ended one as we were putting thogether his current one, I told him, He would be building his next boat.

[KCStudly]

I told him, He would be building his next boat.

Nice job, both building and parenting.

Said it before, so I am quoting myself again.

[Wi urban camo]

Our first trip in our new 2013 T@B, the launching of Columbia, took us from our home in the north Georgia mountains to New England. We chronicled that adventure with our first blog ..... http://travelswithyoly.blogspot.com/

I posted this in my Introduction page (as a new member) but thought it was relevant in this Section as well.

What great photos! My wife especially loved the photos of the lobster rolls. I personally liked the harbor view photos. Anyways, looked like you guys had a fun trip. Any advice for camping in Georgia..........any nice state parks?