Beach Week 2006: What happens at Beach Week; Some final thoughts and reflections

I had a great time and a great trip. As much stress as it can be, it was still wonderful, joyful, and filled with happy chaos! For me the stress is about being outside of my routine ... although the days at the beach had their own kind of routine. 

What happens at Beach Week 

Each morning would start with coffee. I was not the first one up, and whoever it was started the coffee. I would grab a cup and go sit on the porch with whoever was there. Some times, some conversation, other times just comfortable silence after morning greetings. Eventually, someone (usually my eldest sister) would say: "Ready?" And whoever wanted would head out. It was slightly more than one-tenth of a mile to the gate to the private beach. We'd drop our towels (and foot-gear). Then we would walk the beach ... down to the stone jetty at the estuary, and then back to the rock ledge that defined that part of the beach. At this point at least a couple of us would swim, while others headed back to the house. After the swim, back to the house. The total walking portion was just over a mile. It was a restful, peaceful part of the day. For me, being near salt water has some healing properties. I need to remember that, and to get to the beach more often - I need to not be so imprisoned in my daily routine!

The rest of the the day was totally unstructured ... people would get up as they wanted. Some would go out on expeditions or adventures. Often there was a shopping trip, sometimes for that evening's dinner, or for the next night. Lots of time is spent on the front porch, reading and conversations. There are games played in the living room. There are occasional trips to the beach -- some longer some shorter. It is very loose and relaxed. Oh, and did I mention naps? One page in the family calendar often features naps at the beach house.

Several lunches were more organized than in the past, and there will be a further conversation about that. That happened because some folks wanted to participate in the food prep/delivery, but all the "dinner slots" were taken. We'll see how that develops. Dinner is the only "must do" event of the day. A spreadsheet is posted in advance and folks (usually in a pair) would sign up for a night and take responsibility for providing the meal. It's a system that has worked out pretty well over the time we have been doing this. 

Final thoughts and Reflections

For me there are two parts of Beach Week: the travel, and the week itself. This year, much of my preparation was focused on the travel there. That served as the inspiration for posting this series of blog posts.

Being with family in an unstructured environment is psychologically important to me. My siblings are the people in my life who have known me the longest. I am the eldest, and I have memories (especially of the youngest ones) coming home from the hospital! Being with my children and their offspring is also important. This year, I got to spend some time with the fiancee of one of my children and their three children -- and begin to get to know them.

The journey, the physical journey, was also an important reminder about our country and both the differences and similarities. Driving across the country on Interstates gives one impression of the country. One wag noted that, like the railroad tracks, the Interstates do not go through the best neighborhoods. Therefore, what we can see from the highway is affected by that. The US numbered highways tend to be older, and are often the main street through a community. They will go through the business district (with the associated traffic signals), and sometimes past some of the better homes in a community. the view from the highway can give a totally different impression than travel on the Interstate. That is a part of why I chose to do that this year. 

Road Trip 2026 -- The Return

First, some humor. At one point, I headed to the basement of the house to do some laundry. (Remember this was not built as a "beach house," but was built as a home for a family in the early 1900s. The laundry is, as is often true in New England houses, in the basement. I was amused to see the two chairs sitting facing the washer and dryer, as if they those two household appliances were providing entertainment!

Saturday

We checked out of the Beach House, and I was among the last to leave at about 10:00 am. I headed to Costco (near Waterbury) to get gas, and stock up on some snacks for the journey. I traveled a little bit on I-95, but otherwise was on familiar roads from having lived and worked in the area. Post-Costco, it was back on I-84 to head towards Scranton, and I-81/US-11. I thought I had completely gone through Scranton and was in Wilkes-Barre ... but I was wrong. But that is where I spent the night.

Sunday

Headed out with an initial stop at Dunkin (of course). Then down US-11. As with other stretches, the road was similar with rural two-lane 55 mph stretches and then portions which are city streets. The geography was much different. This route follows the Susquehanna River, and thus is not as close to I-81. The Wikipedia article describes it from South to North, and I drove it North to South. [US-11 in Pennsylvania] Somewhere outside of Wilkes-Barre, I missed a sign (or two) and wound up driving through the city. There are some great buildings along the river -- and the river levee made me feel at home, it was similar to those in South Louisiana! It was early Sunday morning, so very little traffic as I negotiated through the city, trying to pick up US-11. 

 

Driving through an industrial area, I looked to my left, and there was Mr. Peanut and a sign saying that this was the original home of Planters Peanuts. I later checked my favorite pop-culture source (Wikipedia) and it is true! (I may have to plan a return visit!) 

 

I found US-11, and followed it on to Harrisburg. Much of that route with the river prominently visible on the left, and sharp hills/cliffs on the right. (Some closer to the road than others.) After Harrisburg, I got back on I-81, until I was approaching the Mason-Dixon Line. I was hoping to find a sign, monument, or some designation along US-11. Either it is very small, or does not exist. As usual, Wikipedia has a great description of the Mason-Dixon Line, the Radius and the Wedge.

 

I returned to I-81, a little disappointed, and continued through the rest of the little bit of Maryland, and "all" of West Virginia to spend the night in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

      

Monday

This was a mostly uneventful day. However, at one point, Waze suggested (and I followed the suggestion) getting off I-81 to avoid traffic(?) or an accident. It took me cross-country along a number of country roads to pick up I-40 in eastern Tennessee. Thence I proceeded to I-75, taking that to Chattanooga and on to I-24 to connect with I-59. From there, it was 20+ miles of Georgia to return to Central Time in Alabama. Spent the night in Fort Payne. No adventures ... just dinner and sleep.

Tuesday 

The final day of travel ... the simplest day ... just driving. 

• Total distance driven, including side quests both along the way, and during the week: 3,333.
• Average mileage: 28.4 mpg
• Total gasoline cost: $311.60
• Highest price per gallon: $4.199 (Gettysburg PA)
• Lowest price per gallon: $3.16 (Cleveland TN) {excludes Baton Rouge}
• Total gallons: 117.007 

Road Trip 2026 - First leg reflections

The first leg of the journey is complete. While I did not travel exclusively along US-11, I did drive some extended portions of that route. As a reliable source for popular culture, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the highway, with links to specific descriptions of each state's section.

Wikipedia article 

Here are some of my observations based on a data set of one, and a journey of approximately 1,700 miles -- so far.

Roads 

Because these highways go from community to community, they do not always take the shortest route, and as a result mean that the travel takes longer. This is the way we (as a nation) navigated around the country after the development of the automobile and prior to the construction and completion of the Interstate highway system which so many of us take for granted.

Traveling these routes have some important reminders:

• There is still a great deal of rural America where it is more than a 5 - 10 minute drive to the nearest commercial establishment.
• There is still a great deal of agriculture going on -- even in places where you do not expect to see it. The agriculture will vary with region. (I started in the warm South where cotton and sugar cane are grown, and ended in the north of corn, soybeans, and other vegetables.

The roads themselves are not monolithic. There are a variety of styles/structures:

• Two-lane (double yellow line), small shoulder, often curving highways through agricultural and forest areas;
• Four-lane with median, often through agricultural areas, and connecting larger communities;
• Four-lane limited access highways, these can be with limited cross-traffic and with no cross-traffic; 
• Four-lane, double yellow line roads often through spread out commercial areas, the edge of an urban area;
• Two-lane roads through a community, often with housing and commercial establishments on the side of the road, and often with parking (usually parallel) along the road; normally these also have sidewalks.

Any given highway can shift from one style to another in a very short distance - and with corresponding changes in speed limits.

Institutional Names 

In each of our communities there are institutions whose names are family and symbolize certain attributes or products. One thing I noted was the changes over the geography. Some national brands were not geographically dependent. For example, Target and Walmart in the store category, MacDonald's and Burger King in the fast food area. In the South, Waffle House is a familiar and reliable site while Dunkin' is spread across the north. (They are both favorites of mine, and unfortunately for me there seems to be only a small sliver of geography which has both.) Gas stations are an interesting arena. There are the national brands (Exxon/Mobil, Shell) and then there are others which seem to be large but regional in nature (RaceTrac is a Southern one which comes to mind). Banks are a different anomaly. While there are some which claim to be national in service and scope, there are parts of the country where any given bank can be under- or un-represented. There seem to be many local and some regional banking systems. I suspect that this is an area of flux.

Hotels, generally the major chains are reasonably well-represented along the Interstates, and less so in the smaller communities. Areas that have longstanding travel destinations also seem to have fewer national chains and more local establishments.

Personal reflection 

Driving the "old roads" takes longer. Between the lower speed limits, and the drop in speed limit for more heavily developed areas, and the longer distances, it simply takes longer. It can be a wonderful view and a great opportunity, but when time is of the essence, the Interstate is the way to go.

 

I also noted that my fuel efficiency was better on the "old road." I was regularly getting 30-31 mpg when traveling exclusively on the US highway, and 27-29 mpg on the Interstate. I wondered why...but I think I know. Back in the days of the first gas shortage (late 1970s) speed limits were dropped to "force us" to improve our fuel efficiency. It seems that automobiles are engineered for maximum efficiency at a certain speed, and that speed is less than what I drive at on the Interstate. [Again, please remember that this is a data set = 1 ... and technically is an anecdote, and not even "anecdata"!]

 

I have greatly enjoyed this part of my journey ... I recently picked up a brochure on the Great River Road, which I am committed to drive all or part of over the next year or two! 

 

 

 

Road Trip 2026, #5 & 6

Not many photos ... some may be found on my Facebook page, but it was a light photo part of the journey.

 Day #5

After arriving in Gettysburg for the night, I got up the next morning with a Dunkin' stop and headed to the battlefield visitor center to visit the gift shop. Mission accomplished, I headed out to Connecticut. Initially the trip was along US highways (2 and 3 digit roads) until reaching Harrisburg. The remainder of the trip was Interstate. The only precipitation of the trip (and it was sporadic and light) was while driving in New York State. It was generally uneventful. Arrived at my daughter's home and spent a nice quiet evening with the family there.

Day #6

Up and moving relatively early, and headed to get gas ($3.99 a gallon, thanks US Government and war in Iran) before heading to the beach. Traffic was pretty uneventful -- even the stretch in I-95 which can be notoriously crowded on summer weekend days. Now settling in for a week at the beach. The park across the street is where our mother used to visit in her childhood. In preparing to link to articles about this, I found that the Wikipedia article (usually pretty authoritative) talks about the park being started in 1940. However a local news article refers to the City as purchasing the land in 1893 -- that was before either our mother or her parents were born!

Next

I'll post some general reflections and observations ... with the trip resuming in a week-ish.  

Road Trip 2026 #4

 Items I should have noted yesterday ...

Drive-in movie theaters! There were several, the one pictured to the left was convenient to stop and take a photo. And it is still active!

 

While I have seen a lot of cows, I did see at least one herd of sheep. I had to take a second look, because it was clear that they had been recently shorn! The second agricultural item I forgot to mention was the poultry barns. Suddenly, I began seeing poultry barns - which I recognized from having seen them growing up. These were different, they were constructed of blocks rather than the wood-framed shingled barns of New England. I am guessing that this was to help keep the poultry cool. From the size, I am guess that they were for chickens, and most seemed abandoned. I did see a couple of newer metal clad ones currently in use, and at one intersection there was a chicken processing facility which let me know that this poultry was raised for meat rather than for eggs -- although the latter is still a possibility.

The morning was devoted to Luray Caverns. A separate set of photos will be mounted on Flickr later (Luray Caverns photos). The caverns were amazing, and needless to say, it was much cooler underground. It seems to me that they are still developing ... there were many places which were damp (more than condensation from warm air hitting cold air), look at the photos.

After leaving the Caverns, the next decision was where to spend the next night. I chose Gettysburg. Waze took me via back-roads on a circuitous route. Among my revelations was how close the Caverns are to Maryland, and also how close Gettysburg is to the Maryland border. The route took me through Harpers Ferry, and if I had planned a little better, I might have spent some time there either at the National Park or at the headquarters for the Appalachian Trail.

 

Dinner was at a "real" diner in downtown Gettysburg! {Formatting note: I am having difficulty getting the text to wrap around the photo the way I want. Right now I am suspecting that there was an "upgrade" to the software which makes that less intuitive - or no longer possible.}

Day 5 will be the last day on the road for the trip north!