Anniversary Trip

For our first wedding anniversary we decided to take a big trip up north. I have always wanted to see the north eastern states and Prince Edward Island in Canada, and Josiah has a plan to visit all the 48 states that are together in his lifetime. So we planned a trip to hit all the key places along the way. I chronicled the trip in photos and picked the best to share on here.

The above and below photo was are first stop, Horseshoe Bend in Altoona, PA. This site had some family ties and Josiah has always wanted to see it. His great-grandfather helped to build this track around the bend during the depression. Walking everyday for two hours to earn money! Now it is amazing to be standing there seeing and feeling the effects of a train on three sides of you. You can pay to go up by the track, but since we were passing through we decided to enjoy the entire view from the parking lot.

Our next stop that day was Philadelphia. Here we saw Independence Hall (pictured above), and the liberty bell. We stayed just long enough to get a feel for the city and then moved on north to stay overnight.

Second oldest bank in America; Philadelphia, PA.

I happened to come across a very quaint inn inside a village tucked back off the highway. Was definitely an inexpensive Priceline jem! We enjoyed a tasty supper at one of the restaurants and a nice walk along the brick pathways; the perfect way to relax and start our trip!

Day two brought us to NYC! It was quite something to drive into the city and realize where you actually were! Here we just drove around seeing different sights. The main one we wanted to see was Chinatown, since we saw Chinatown in San Francisco on our honeymoon. The taxis gave us a kick, they are the most impatient, loud and obnoxious drivers in our country!

Freedom Tower, a replacement for the World Trade Center

After much driving and lots of traffic jams in Connecticut, day three brought us to Boston. We decided to hit the city early before many people were out and about, our plan worked as by lunch we were walking back to our car and trying to dodge hundreds of people on the sidewalks. We walked the Freedom Trail all the way to the Boston Monument, about 3 1/2 miles. The trail winds you through the heart of the city, across the harbor, and out to the residential area to where the monument is located. Along the way you see all the old buildings and places involved with our country's beginning. I throughly enjoyed our walk seeing everything! Growing up history was a big thing in school, it was amazing to walk there and see the exact places all those stories had happened! The building pictured above was the old city hall. On the balcony the Declaration of Independence was first read, as well as other important documents. Also the Boston Massacre with the British happened right next to this building.

This cemetery had many famous people in it. Paul Revere, Mother goose, John Hancock (pictured below), Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin's family, and many more.

This church was my favorite out of all the buildings we saw. Up in the steeple was where Paul Revere hang the lanterns to say if the British were coming. The story of Paul Revere's midnight ride always enthralled me, and seeing the church in person was amazing!

Boston Monument at the site of the Bunker Hill battle. We climbed all 294 steps to the top but it almost did me in! After not eating a good breakfast and drinking enough water, plus walking 3 and 1/2 miles, I had a sugar crash. The top did not interest me at all, I was to focused on feeling good and making it back to the car. Thankfully Josiah took some nice pictures of the view.

View of Boston

After our morning in Boston we went down to see the place where the Pilgrims landed on America.

Last on our list for that day was the famous lighthouse in Portland Maine. It was really neat to see a landmark that I have grown up seeing pictures of in calendars, books, picture frames, etc. 

Day four was the border crossing into Canada. We were a little concerned with how that would go, but it was a breeze. Since we weren't on a major interstate there was no wait, and within 5 minutes we were on our way. Canada is a whole culture of its own, of course every country has their own but you kind of forget that when we are on the same continent. In Canada all of the signs are in English and French, the speed limit averages about 110; of course that is in the metric system, they have pictures for everything; many of the road signs we did not get because it was a picture of something we didn't recognize, grocery shopping can be challenging as everything is in the metric system, and lastly Canada can be expensive; for us we had the advantage on their dollar but for them it is very expensive. Gas ran about $5 a gallon (Canadian money) and groceries were more as well.

We drove through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, then crossed the strait on a ferry to the island. We enjoyed a 75 minute ride up on the deck while our car was safely stode below. It's actually below the water line of the boat, and above that is semi-trucks, dump trucks, and vehicles pulling trailers.

Somehow we managed to be the second car out, so this would be up front looking towards the rest of the boat.

View from our cottage! Josiah found a very cute beach farmhouse cottage that we enjoyed for a few days.

Day five was our first full day on Prince Edward Island. First thing I wanted to see was the Anne of Green Gables Heritage park. We toured the house, walked Lovers Lane, and walked in the Hunted Woods. Unfortunately the Lake of Shining Waters was at another place so we didn't see that. We also went to the beach that the author of Anne of Green Gables thought was the most beautiful, and would visit there to be refreshed.

Hunted Wood

Lovers Lane

Cavendish Beach

Day six we explored the eastern side of the island. We were staying in the south eastern corner so it made for a day with less driving. We saw a few lighthouses and visited the prettiest beach on the island.

The water is so clear and blue!

" Squeaky Beach" has rightly earned it's name, the sand squeaks as you walk on it. This beach was our favorite!

Day seven we explored the central part of the island. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the western side due to how far it was. If we go again we decided to get two cottages, one on the eastern side and one on the western side. The above photo is another famous picture that you find in calendars and books. Known as the teacup rock, it is amazing how well it has stayed balanced all these years. 

Ferries aren't the only way onto the island since this bridge was built awhile back. Known as the longest bridge over ice covered water, it crosses 8 miles over the Northumberland strait into New Brunswick.

Not all the shorelines are Caribbean looking beaches. The southen side has lots of red cliffs and even red sand!

View of Charlottetown, the biggest town on the island. 

This lighthouse is right next to ferry terminal, almost like a welcome to the island! There many many lighthouses on the island! I should also make a shout out to Subaru. If your in the market for a new vehicle, check them out! We have loved our Outback and how well it had done for us. In our first year of marriage it had gone to the west coast, east coast, FL, and up through Maine to Canada. Trips alone we traveled over 14,000 miles and not one problem from our Outback. It has required frequent oil changes but it sure pays to keep the maintenance up!

Can I say the island was beautiful!! Potato crop is big up there, I loved how the fields look right up to the ocean!

The ice cream to try while in Canada. To be honest I think our ice cream tastes better, but this cone was the best! Seriously it tasted like cake!!

Our anniversary dinner I put together on the island.

This lighthouse has some interesting history. When the Titanic was sinking it picked up the distress signal, and it has moved twice due to losing land in the ocean. Once in the 1950's (obviously this is nothing new) and again in 2015.

Day eight made another day of driving, slowly we were heading back to our home. We loved Prince Edward Island; its beauty and how natural everything is! For once there wasn't big hotels and commercialized tourism, the locals have been very good about keeping their Island. We crossed back over the strait on the bridge, and yes it was rainy and foggy the whole way! We missed the view but they built the sides of the bridge up, so it would have been hard to see anyway. When we arrived it was the end of a couple rainy days for the island, and when we left they had more days of rain ahead. We felt so blessed to have such wonderful weather while we were there, even if the first day was chilly!

The line between Canada and the United States.

Day nine we spent the night in New Hampshire and visited Mt. Washington. The tallest mountain in the northeast and due to its location, the place for the worst weather in the world. You know it's bad when companies try their products out up there, and if they endure it can be advertise to endure severe conditions! People do stay up there 365 days of the year so they can study the weather, it is a major data collection spot due to the weather conditions they see.

Mt. Washington is to the left, with a little snow on it. The mountain is usually in the clouds, over 100 days out of a year. We felt like God gave the perfect day to be there! He was continually blessing us with beautiful days whenever we would sightsee!

Traveling up the mountain.... since the mountain is somewhat buried in a range, the road to travel up it is rather complex. It's about a 35-minute drive traveling around 20 to 35 miles per hour.

Need proof that the weather is bad on the top of the mountain? This building has been around since the 1800s and was used as a weather station, it is literally chained to the ground so it does not blow away!

This is a very authentic replica of an old train. I'm not sure I would have trusted this going down the mountain, but with all its hissing and steam blowing it seem to be holding it's ground!

This building used to be a hotel on the top of the mountain, people really did stay up here just for a night or so. It was built out of rock so hopefully it would not burn in the wildfires, unfortunately one year it did but it has been restored and is now a museum. People would say that they could tell how bad the wind was blowing by what was moving inside!

Day ten was the final day of our long yet whirlwind trip. We spent another day in the car driving home from NH, marveling over how much we had seen and all the places we had gone to! We really enjoyed 10 days together, it came to a close to soon for both of us! But it felt so good to cross into Ohio again, Josiah felt it once we crossed into the United States but for me it was my home state. Here is where we belong, we don't have travel from place to place, everything is familiar, no one can tell us we have to leave or move on, this is home!