After ten days in Tennessee, Kim and I made the short hop to northern Kentucky. We spent five days at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground on the outskirts of Lexington. We loved it!

What makes the Lexington area so special. Well, I think there are a number of things that drew us to the area:

• The rolling green grassy hills. Lexington isn’t nearly as wooded as the places we’ve visited over the last six months. Believe it or not, Savannah’s swamps and marshes actually contain tons of trees. And the first few stops on our trips — Asheville, Pigeon Forge, Nashville — were also wooded. Lexington has trees, but mostly it’s wide-open pasture-land. It made for a nice change of pace.
• Horse culture. Kim has loved horses since she was a little girl. I used to be afraid of them — I had a bad experience when I was young — but by watching through Kim’s eyes, I’m learning to like them too. Lexington is the horse capital of the country (and the world?), so Kim was in seventh heaven.
• Bourbon. I like whisky. While I prefer Scotch whisky, I can appreciate a good bourbon. Lexington (and nearby Louisville) produces vast quantities of the stuff, and there are lots of whisky-related things to do and see.
• Low cost of living. It was fun for me (as a financial writer) to see how cheap things are in Lexington. We could enjoy a nice meal for a fraction of what we’re used to. Plus, I had a lot of fun using the Redfin app on my phone to look at home prices as we drove around. Homes are cheap here!
• Location, location, location. Like Cincinnati (which is only ninety minutes away), Lexington enjoys a terrific location. It’s near enough to the Great Lakes (and cities like Chicago), within a day’s drive of the eastern seaboard, and also serves as a gateway to the South. If there’s a central hub for the eastern United States, Lexington could be it.

As always, we visited with friends while we were in Kentucky. We ate lunch with my friend Tash, with whom I worked at the family box factory back in the 1990s. It was great to see her. Plus, our friend Amy drove down from Cincinnati to spend a day with us. We had a lot of fun with her.

While drinking beer with Amy at the awesome West Sixth Brewery (which Kim and I visited three times in five days), I posed a nagging question. “Is Lexington really in the South?” I asked. “I mean, it’s just ninety minutes from Cincinnati, which clearly is part of the Midwest.”

Amy laughed. “Yes, it’s really part of the South,” Amy said. “So is Louisville. I know we’re really close to Ohio and Indiana, but trust me: the culture here is vastly different. The change occurs about half an hour south of Cincy.” (A few days later, when Kim and I drove west to Missouri, we saw why this might be the case. The Ohio River and the surrounding foothills create a natural barrier between Kentucky and its northern neighbors.)

For our fourth anniversary as a couple, Kim and I visited Keeneland, one of the most popular race tracks in the United States. I’d never seen live horse racing before, so this was a new experience for me.

Niether one of us really enjoys gambling, but we decided to make small wagers on each race. We’re glad we did. It added to the fun. I gave myself a budget of fifty bucks, which allowed me to make ten $5 bets over the course of nine races. I ended the day with $53, which means I earned a six-percent return in four hours. Maybe I should switch from index funds to horse racing?

As a whisky fan, I was eager to visit the local bourbon distilleries. While we had fun sampling the local wares, we learned that whisky tasting isn’t quite as fun as wine tasting. We’ve done a lot of wine tasting over the past four years, and we’re familiar with how that works: walk up to the counter and sample various selections. That not how whisky tasting works.

With whisky tasting, you have to take a tour first. Then you’re given three or four samples of specific products. Each distillery produces a wide range of whiskies for various markets, but they’re not about to share the bourbon they market in Japan, for instance. No matter. We still enjoyed seeing the process.

After five nights in Lexington, it was time to move on. On a quiet Sunday morning, we hitched up the Mini Cooper and drove west to St. Louis.

After resuming our cross-country roadtrip with a stay in Asheville, North Carolina, Kim and I made the beautiful drive along Highway 25 across the Appalachians to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Why Pigeon Forge? Two reasons. First, it’s home to Dollywood, the Dolly Parton theme park. Kim is a huge Dolly fan and was eager to see this homage to the place where she grew up. Second, Pigeon Forge is close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the southern extent of the Appalachian Mountains.

We weren’t quite prepared for what we found in Pigeon Forge. It’s one of three smallish cities — including Sevierville to the north and Gatlinburg to the south — that have merged into one long entertainment strip filled with go-kart tracks, mini-golf courses, and similar attractions. It reminded us very much of Wisconsin Dells. (It’s like “Las Vegas for kids”.) As a result traffic along highway 441 through these three towns is thick and slow.

Fortunately, our RV park was a few miles out of town in the quiet countryside of the Smoky foothills. When the crowds got to be too much, we could retreat to the motorhome for some quiet meditation.

Kim and I enjoyed our day at Dollywood. This theme park was more robust than I had expected; there are plenty of rides and other things to do, even for adults. Plus, the food prices were reasonable (unusual for a theme park).

We started our visit by wandering through the Dolly Parton museum, which was more entertaining and informative than I had expected. It was fun to see the actual “coat of many colors” that Parton sung about (along with the original hand-written lyrics to the song):

It was also fun to see that the average age of visitors to Dollywood skewed older than other theme parks. There were plenty of kids, sure, but there were also many senior citizens.

Kim and I spent two days driving through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On the first, we wound our way to Cades Cove, a small valley in the heart of the mountains. Once home to several dozen homesteading families, this area has now been preserved to show how folks lived 100 or 150 years ago. Scattered throughout the valley are mills, churches, and old log cabins.

On our second day in the park, we drove up the mountains to Cherokee, North Carolina to visit the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. On our drive back down to Pigeon Forge, we stopped to do the steep hike up to Clingman’s Done, which offers a panoramic vista of the surrounding mountains. (Apparently, on a clear day you can see into seven states!)

After a few days in eastern Tennessee, we moved on to the state’s most famous city: Nashville, the home of country music.

Walking through downtown Nashville, live music is everywhere. It pours out of every building. You can learn more about it in places like the Johnny Cash Museum and the Country Music Hall of fame. If you want to really absorb the experience, you can step into bars like Tootsie’s, where several bands play at the same time — all day long.

And, of course, you can take in the country legends by visiting the Grand Ole Opry. While we were there, one of my favorite modern artists — Erich Church — was playing a show. We debated buying tickets, but they were going for several hundred dollars each on the after-market, so we opted against it. The show we saw at the Opry was disappointing, I’m sorry to say. That’s okay, though, because we enjoyed the other show we saw at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

While in Nashville, I had a chance to meet with several people. First, Kim and I enjoyed a delicious supper at the home of Travis and Jessica. (Travis is a long-time reader of my money blogs.) Next, I met my colleague Dan Morris for breakfast. Finally, I met a cousin for breakfast as he was passing through town.

Apparently the Mini Cooper gene runs in my family

We enjoyed Nashville except one notable downside. The city has some of the worst traffic we’ve encountered on this trip. Nashville drivers are terrible — and they know it. (When I complained to folks who lived there, they simply sighed and agreed with me.) They drive too fast. They don’t allow others to change lanes or merge. And, most baffling, they constantly drift from lane to lane for no apparent reason. On one ten-mile freeway drive from downtown to the RV park, we counted more than a dozen cars that drifted into other lanes. (I suspect this is due to cell phone use. Nashville has many, many billboards asking folks not to use cell phones while driving.) So far, Savannah holds the top spot for worst drivers we’ve seen on our trip, but Nashville made a strong case that its drivers are in fact worse.

Aside from Nashville drivers, Kim and I enjoyed our time in Tennessee. We finished our stay with a quick jaunt into central Kentucky to visit the awesome Mammoth Cave National Park. Then, after ten days in the Volunteer State, we packed up and headed north to Lexington…

After six months of rest in Savannah, Georgia, Kim and I have resumed our road trip across the United States. We spent last weekend loading the RV (and shipping stuff home — expensive!) Then, at long last, on the morning of Tuesday the 29th we headed west.

Or northwest, I guess.

Here’s Bigfoot, patiently waiting to be pulled out of storage

The Return Plan

When we left Oregon last spring, we didn’t have much of a plan. We wanted to see as much of the country as possible, but our route was up in the air. On the return trip, we have a bit more structure.

For one, we can eliminate the places we’ve already been. That means there’s a lot less territory to cover on this leg.

For another, we have a better idea of the kinds of places we like to visit and how we like to visit them. We like national parks. We like funky towns. We like music and food. We like history. We don’t like big cities and we don’t like generic middle America. (What’s the point of spending time in a city that could be any other city in the country?)

During the two weeks before we left Savannah, I spent time reading about the places we’re going. This, in turn, led to me trying to calculate the optimal route. We think we’re going to make a sort of S through the south during April and May, explore the state of Texas in June, then make our way into the Southwest again. In August and September, we’ll hover around the Pacific Northwest. If our housesitters find a place before October 1st (our target return date), then we’ll probably make a bee-line back to Portland.

Based on all of this, we have a rough schedule mapped out. (This is something we didn’t do on the first leg last year.) We know roughly where we’ll be when. The first three weeks are actually scheduled — we’ve booked our stops in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. And stop number one was Asheville.

Asheville, North Carolina

“You have to visit Asheville,” our friends told us before we left Portland a year ago. “It’s a funky place. There’s lots of beer. You’ll love it!”

“You have to visit Asheville,” folks in Savannah said when we told them we were traveling the U.S.

“You have to visit Asheville,” readers have been emailing.

Got it. First stop: Asheville.

Asheville is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. Even in early spring, with the trees still bare, the place is beautiful. (We kept imagining what it must be like when all the trees have full canopies. And how amazing the colors must be in the fall.)

The Biltmore Estate is the best-known attraction in Asheville. George Vanderbilt — one of the lesser heirs to the Vanderbilt fortune — built this 179,000-square-foot mansion in the 1890s. For several decades, the sprawling grounds served as home for George and his family. Today, it’s a huge tourist attraction. It’s fun to stroll the grounds and imagine what it must have been like to live here one hundred years ago: sort of like Downton Abbey in the Carolinas.

Like Downton Abbey in the Appalachians…

My favorite part of our stay in Asheville was the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile road that runs along Appalachian ridges in Virginia and North Carolina. I like scenic drives, and this is one of the best. Part of the charm is that no commercial signage is allowed along the road. (And I think there are restrictions on commercial buildings too.) Instead of being constantly bombarded by signs and shops, you’re treated to wonderful views of unspoiled wilderness. I like it.

Kim and I also enjoyed the good food and the good beer. We enjoyed the beer a little too much, I think. We were in Asheville four nights, and we spent four evenings at four different breweries. Yum!

We enjoyed the rock garden at Green Man Brewery

Because we each gained weight (and girth) during the trip east last year, we’ve agreed to not stock alcohol in the RV. We think this will help keep the calories off. But it doesn’t help if we find a brewery for dinner every night! (Another difference? Last year, we tried to keep costs down. This year, that restriction isn’t in place. We’re not planning to go crazy with money, but we’re not intentionally trying to restrict our spending either.)

Getting a Feel for Things

Another aspect of this first stop was re-learning what it’s like to live in the RV. How do things work? Where do things go? What do we do to give each other space? We had a tentative first couple of days, but now things are humming along nicely.

We also had to perform a bit of maintenance. There were a few loose ends left over from September, and a couple of new things that had cropped up during the winter. Kim was very pleased with herself when she figured out how to replace the headlight (something I hadn’t been able to do). She insisted that I take this photo:

Kim was very proud to have solved this problem

Now it’s time to head over the mountains to Tennessee. We’re both eager to see what life is like in the Volunteer State. Our first stop will be Pigeon Forge at the base of Great Smoky Mountain National Park — and home to Dollywood. Kim is a huge Dolly Parton fan and has been looking forward to this particular place for the entire trip.

Kim and I were burned out on RV travel when we stopped in Savannah last autumn. We needed a break. And because we both had work projects in mind — Kim wanted to launch an online store and I wanted to start Money Boss, my new blog about personal finance — we figured a six-month break would be perfect. We were wrong.

Turns out that by Christmas, we already had the itch to be on the road. We were thinking and dreaming about the motorhome, and talking about what places we’d visit first when we resumed our travels.

“You know,” Kim said in January, “we could always get a taste for life on the road by taking a Florida vacation.”

“You mean a vacation from our vacation?” I asked.

“Exactly,” she said. And that’s what we did. For the past fifteen days, we’ve explored the Sunshine State. Here are some highlights.

Doing Disney

The first stop on our tour of Florida had to be Disney. We’d already visited lovely St. Augustine a couple of times, so we hopped straight to Orlando. In our previous two trips to the city, we’d intentionally avoided Disney World. Not this time. This time we booked three nights in a Disney Hotel (the Port Orleans Riverside) and bought tickets for two days in the parks. Not cheap — $1000 total for the hotel and the tickets — but a splurge we were willing to make.

 

We spent our first day exploring EPCOT, which has one of my favorite Disney rides: Spaceship Earth. (This is the attraction housed in the famous sphere that everyone associates with EPCOT.) Our second day was spent wandering through Magic Kingdom.

While at EPCOT, Kim was assaulted by an aggressive duck and squirrel. They wanted her funnel cake:

We had a fun time in both parks, primarily because we’d intentionally picked days with light crowds. We only had to wait in a line once — for the new (and disappointing) Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. (My advice? Skip it! Ride Space Mountain two or three or four times instead. Even the nearby Little Mermaid ride is more fun.)

From Orlando, we drove west to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. Kim had a weekend retreat in Holmes Beach with a small group of female entrepreneurs. That left me with a couple of days on my own in Tampa. I booked and AirBNB outside Ybor City, Tampa’s old Cuban district. Overall, I was unimpressed with Tampa. It seemed like a standard big American city with little to distinguish it from, say, Indianapolis or Cleveland. (I’d love for somebody to convince me that Tampa is awesome. I’m open to the idea, so make the argument if you have one.)

Magical Miami

I might not have been impressed by Tampa, but we loved Miami. In fact, Kim and I agree that Miami is one of a handful of places in which we could settle permanently. We love the food, the culture, the diversity, and the climate. (Although we might sing a different tune if we felt the heat of the summer.)

Once again we turned to AirBNB to solve our lodging issues. We booked five nights in a guest house owned by a Cuban couple in the suburb of Kendall. Kendall itself doesn’t offer much, but the location is ideal for exploring the Miami area. (Miami traffic is terrible. Couple this with the fact that Miami drivers are some of the worst in the country, and you’ve got a recipe for a miserable experience if you’re downtown and wanting to explore.)

Our days in Miami were packed.

• We drove downtown to see the Wynwood Walls, an organized exhibition of graffiti and street art. (Highly recommended.)
• We drove through Miami Beach and stopped for a stroll along the sand. It was fun to watch all the set-up for Spring Break. (We were glad we weren’t there to witness the debauchery.)
• We spent one day with Kim’s friend Liz, during which we visited Everglades National Park, enjoyed a passionfruit milkshake from Florida institution Robert is here, sipped passionfruit wine from the southernmost winery in the U.S., and played board games with Liz’s kids.
• We took a day-long sailing excursion through Biscayne National Park, during which both of us got sunburns. Well worth the $150 per person to spend the day on the water.

Although we spent five nights in Miami, we wished we’d allocated even more time. Our visit felt rushed. Oh well. I guess that gives us a reason to come back!

The Southernmost City

From Miami, we crawled our way south (with hundreds of other tourists) through the Florida Keys. We stopped in Marathon to visit the Turtle Hospital. We enjoyed the 90-minute behind-the-scenes tour — and I got lots of photos to use in the future at Money Boss. After a long day of driving, we reached Key West, the southernmost city in the continental U.S.

Through an accident of timing, we visited Key West during one of the busiest weekends of the year, the highest of high seasons. As a result, hotels were expensive. As a frugal fellow, I’m not willing to spend $500 per night just for a place to stay. But Kim really wanted to visit Key West (and so did I), so I got resourceful. I redeemed 100,000 airmiles for two nights at a bed and breakfast. (It almost pains me to write that! Those miles could have been used to purchase two round-trip tickets to Ecuador in November.)

We enjoyed our time in Key West, but we can see why many people don’t like the place. It’s a party town. Duval Street, the tourist heart of the city, is filled with bars and knick-knack stores. (To be fair, there are also lots of upscale shopping opportunities since Key West is a destination for folks with money.)

Key West does have a fun sunset celebration every night though. Like every other tourist, we gathered at the seawall and snapped photos while listening to the buskers sing their songs.

The Space Coast

On Sunday, we made the l-o-n-g drive from Key West to Titusville, home of America’s space program. We got an early start, which allowed us to stop briefly in downtown Fort Lauderdale and enjoy a picnic dinner at Jupiter Bay with Joshua Sheats, host of the awesome Radical Personal Finance podcast. Twelve hours after leaving Key West, we reached The Wayward Traveler’s Inn, a B&B just north of Titusville.

We didn’t know what to expect from the Kennedy Space Center, and were pleasantly surprised and just how much there was to see and do. I’ve been a space nut since I was in grade school (at one time, like many boys, I wanted to be an astronaut — astronomy was my favorite class in college).

Here’s a short video demonstrating what it’s like at the Apollo 8 launch exhibit:

We took the bus tour (highly recommended), watched the IMAX presentations, and visited the awe-inspiring shuttle exhibit. It’s hard to describe how awesome (and moving) it is to stand face-to-face with an actual Space Shuttle.

What’s Next?

“What’s next?” our hostess Karrie asked on our final morning in Titusville.

“Just now, it’s back to Savannah,” I said. “We have three weeks left on our lease, but we’re both itching to get back on the road.”

“Yeah, I miss it,” Kim said. “It seems crazy, but the RV feels like home.”

“I get it,” Karrie said. “Last night as we were lying in bed, Roan and I were talking about your trip. We’re excited for you. And envious. We miss being on the road too. We’d love to do something similar in Europe.”

“Us too,” said Kim. “But for now we have to finish exploring the United States.”

So, that’s what’s next. We have three weeks to prep the motorhome to get back on the road — and to say good-bye to Savannah. Come the first of April, we’ll head west. We’re not sure of our exact route — there’s so much to see! — but we know early stops will include Dollywood, Nashville, Keeneland, St. Louis, and New Orleans. We hope to have you along for the ride…

Although Kim and I have paused our cross-country roadtrip to winter in Savannah, we haven’t stopped exploring the U.S. While in the South, we want to do our best to learn about the region. Plus, we’ve scheduled upcoming trips to New York City and southern Florida.

Most of our trips are close to “home”. We’ve darted down to Orlando a couple of times (a five-hour drive) to visit friends, but that’s about the farthest we want to drive. (That means Atlanta is within reach should we decide to visit.) For the most part, we’re trying to stay within two or three hours of Savannah. That’s okay. There are a couple of great cities nearby.

In fact, you can create a worthwhile roadtrip by starting in Charleston, South Carolina and working your way down to St. Augustine, Florida. We didn’t do this all in one go, but we’ve seen this stretch in pieces during the past couple of months. Let me tell you about it.

Charleston

Two hours north of Savannah is Charleston — a sister city of sorts. Charleston was founded in 1670 by English colonists. Today it features stately old homes, plentiful shopping, and lots of restaurants. Plus, there’s plenty to do nearby.

I spent far too much time researching where to stay in Charleston. A lot of the downtown hotels are expensive because they put you in the heart of the city. At first, I thought it’d be best to save money by staying on the outskirts, but then I realized parking is costly too. In the end, I opted to book two nights at The Governor’s House Inn, a bed and breakfast (with free parking) in the former governor’s mansion. It wasn’t cheap, but it didn’t blow our budget either. Plus, the place was amazing. The rooms (and the entire house) are gorgeous, and nearly everything we wanted to see was within walking distance.

We loved the Governor’s House. We’d stay there again.

While in Charleston, Kim and I spent most our afternoons and evenings walking King Street and Meeting Street. This historic downtown area is less charming than it probably once was; it’s become a massive outdoor shopping center with stores like Victoria’s Secret and Anthropologie on every corner. But there are also plenty of amazing restaurants all over the place too, and that’s what we were after. Turns out Charleston has the best food scene we’ve encountered since leaving Portland. (We still think our hometown has the best restaurants in the U.S. We’re biased!)

As always, we asked locals for their recommendations. We couldn’t try every place, of course, but we did visit:

• The Rooftop at the Vendue, a standard bar at the top of a hotel. The food and drinks were meh, but the sunset view of the city was stunning.
• Burwell’s, which had delicious drinks and an interesting (and tasty!) meat presentation. Your server brings you raw meat and a hot stone. You cook your own food. Sounds odd, but it was awesome.
• Husk, a trendy place with a companion bar next door. This place is crowded, so get there early (or make reservations). Husk’s upscale southern food was yummy, but the service was iffy.

While afternoons and evenings were devoted to food and drink, our mornings were spent visiting sites outside the city. We drove out to see the famous Angel Oak, for example:

The massive Angel Oak is a Charleston landmark.

We spent three hours exploring Middleton Place, a former plantation (and home to the oldest landscaped gardens in the U.S.). We paid to take a tour of the grounds by horse and carriage, which added to the experience. (We actually wanted to visit the well-preserved Drayton Hall but balked at the price.)

On a previous visit to Charleston, we’d already driven through Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms (not much to see). We also enjoyed a short morning at Folly Beach, south of town, where we had a great breakfast at the Lost Dog Cafe.

Except for the alligator, we thought the mill pond at Middleton was beautiful.

Savannah

Savannah isn’t quite as old as Charleston. It was founded in 1733 (also by English settlers). What sets it apart, however, is that most of the historic buildings survived General Sherman’s march to the sea during the Civil War. (Or, as people call it down here, the War Between the States.)

During our time in Savannah, we haven’t played tourist as much as you might expect. Yes, we’ve done some — and I’ll get to those experiences in a moment — but mostly Kim and I have been focused on work. That’s a good thing. But at the same time, we need to be sure we visit a few more places before we leave here at the end of March.

Most of our touring was done at the beginning of November, when Kim’s brother Doug flew out to visit for a couple of days. While he was here, we took a walking tour of Savannah’s historic downtown, strolled the beaches of Tybee Island, boarded a riverboat, and sampled some of Savannah’s restaurants. (Savannah’s food scene isn’t on par with Charleston but it’s still very good compared to most of the U.S.)

Doing the tourist thing with Kim’s brother, Doug.

Kim and I agree that the walking tour of downtown Savannah was the highlight of Doug’s visit. (The tour was free, but everyone tipped the guide, of course.) The walking tour allowed us to get up-close and personal with some of the city’s most interesting buildings and stories. Plus, the slower pace allowed our group to ask about the things that interested us most.

It’s easy and fun to tour downtown Savannah by foot…

The riverboat cruise was less exciting. Savannah’s waterfront just isn’t that big (or interesting). Plus, this is one of the country’s largest working ports, so there’s mostly commercial traffic along the river, which means lots of factories and warehouses, etc. Don’t get me wrong. The tour was fun, but it seemed expensive for what we got. (This has been a common theme on our trip: Boat tours don’t offer much bang for the buck. The one notable exception is the river-based Chicago architecture tour, which was awesome.)

As you wander downtown Savannah, there are plenty of restaurants to sample. Some of our favorites include:

• Rocks on the Roof, a rooftop bar similar to the one we visited in Charleston (but with more seating). Again, the food and drinks aren’t great but the views of the river and downtown are worth the visit.
• Jazz’d, a basement tapas bar with live jazz and blues. Kim and I have been here twice, and we’ll be back. The food and drinks are good and reasonably priced.
• Treylor Park, a kitschy bar that serves fancified white-trash food like peanut butter and jelly wings, chicken pancake tacos, sloppy joes, and bacon brownies. We loved the food here — but then all three of us had a good buzz on by the time we sat down.
• The Olde Pink House is a Savannah landmark, a sprawling restaurant in an old pink mansion. The food is good, no question, but the prices are high because this is such a popular place with tourists.

One place we have not tried yet is Mrs. Wilke’s Dining Room, which serves southern food family-style. It’s only open for lunch on weekdays, which makes it tough for us to get to. Plus, rumor has it the place has lines. Locals love it just as much as visitors.

The interesting thing about Savannah is the city isn’t just the city. The downtown is what most visitors come for, but there’s plenty more besides. Because this is one of the oldest colonized areas in the country, you can drive in any direction and come to someplace interesting.

Kim and I live on Whitemarsh Island, which is midway between downtown and another popular location, Tybee Island. Tybee offers sandy beaches and a funky vibe. (Locals talk about “Tybee time”, which is fluid and flexible. They also point out that the place has a reputation as a part spot — as much for the residents as the tourists.) To us, this beach isn’t much — but neither was the beach in Atlantic City. Maybe we’re spoiled by the beaches on the West Coast?

Between downtown and Tybee is Fort Pulaski National Monument

That said, we do have some favorite restaurants on Tybee. In fact, we’ve begun doing more date nights there than in town.

The very first place we ate in Savannah was Sundae Cafe, and it’s still one of of our favorites. The bartender is awesome. The same folks run 80 East Gastropub, which isn’t quite as good (although I’m fond of the buffalo chicken mac and cheese). I think our favorite, though, is the Tybee Island Fish Camp, a tiny place (six tables and a bar!) with rich, delicious foods and terrific drinks. (Will, the bartender, recently won the bartending competition at the Savannah Food & Wine Festival.)

St. Augustine

The final city on our tour is also the smallest. And the oldest. In fact, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States. (Yes, that’s a lot of qualifications. That’s because other sites in Virginia and New Mexico claim slightly different “oldest” bragging rights.) St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565. There’s a lot of history to explore in this town.

The best way to get a feel for the place is to buy a pass for one of the several trolley rides that wind through the narrow streets. The tour guides point out landmarks and talk about the town’s history. When you’ve finished the loop, you can go back and explore the sites that piqued your interest.

We were fortunate to spend one evening with Allie O, who publishes Simply St. Augustine, a blog designed to help visitors make the most of their trip. She and her husband know all of the best places to eat and drink and visit.

For instance, we never would have known about Odd Birds if Allie hadn’t showed us. This tiny hole-in-the-wall bar offers craft cocktails and small bites. It’s a tight fit, but well worth a short wait. Allie also introduced us to The Floridian, a local favorite.

On our own, Kim and I found The Tini Martini Bar, which doesn’t get great reviews. We liked it, however, especially our bartender. The only place in town where we’ve eaten twice is Taberna del Caballo. Again, this place doesn’t get good reviews (they’re awful, in fact), but we found the staff friendly, the food good, and the atmosphere very much like a Spanish inn.

Touring the distillery. Ready for samples!

We didn’t just eat food while we were in St. Augustine. We also drank! We joined our friends Toni and David for a tour of the St. Augustine Distillery, which recently set up shop in the city’s old ice house. The tour was fun, the samples fine, and the food in the restaurant upstairs delicious.

It’s important to note that St. Augustine is very touristy. It’s packed with people like us, even in the winter. That means prices for lodging are high, especially near the historic downtown area. Kim and I found a fun solution. When we stay in St. Augustine, which we’ve already done twice, we opt to stay a few miles north of town at the Magic Beach Motel. This motel is quaint (and reeks of bleach) but it’s cheap. Because we spend so much on food when we’re in town, a cheap place to stay is the best option.

The Magic Beach Motel isn’t for everyone, but it’s perfect for us.

Final Thoughts

As with many cities, it’s the downtowns in these old settlements that hold the most charm. Outside the historic city centers, you could be anywhere in Middle America. (Well, anywhere in the South, I guess. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees is unique to this region, as is the predominance of brick buildings and the racial diversity.)

Locals in Charleston and Savannah aren’t that fond of the downtown areas because they’re crowded with tourists. (St. Augustine, especially, feels like one giant tourist trap. A fun tourist trap, but still a tourist trap.) Natives find it frustrating, so they don’t venture into the city center except for work, food, and beer. I get it. But for visitors, these three cities offer a peek at this country’s history, a vibrant restaurant scene, and architecture you can’t find anywhere else.

The ruins of the Old Sheldon Church between Charleston and Savannah.

Based on what I know now, I think a fantastic 10-14 day itinerary could be built around Charleston, Savannah, and St. Augustine. Here’s how I’d do it:

• Days 1-3: Fly into Charleston. Spend two nights exploring the area, including evenings dining downtown. Rent a car.
• Days 3-5: Drive to Beaufort via Highway 17, stopping along the way to visit the church ruins and other points of interest. Spend two nights, using this as a base to explore Hilton Head Island.
• Days 5-8: Make the short drive to Savannah, where you’ll spend three nights. Wander downtown. Visit Tybee Island for an afternoon and have dinner at one of its great restaurants.
• Days 8-10: Slowly make your way down Highway 17, entering the marshes, swamps, and sloughs of Georgia’s Sea Islands. Take time to explore St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island.
• Days 10-12: Bypass Jacksonville for St. Augustine. (Use either Highway 17 or I-95, as you see fit.) Spend two nights here. See the city by trolley. There’s lots to see and do. And eat.
• Days 12-13: Finally, scoot down to Kennedy Space Center, about 120 miles south of St. Augustine. (Kim and I haven’t done this yet; we’ll visit the Space Coast when we drive back from Miami in March.)
• Days 13-14: Zip back to Charleston and spend one last night enjoying the city.

During our time on the road, Kim and I have designed a handful of great roadtrips that we’d happily recommend to others. This is one of them. It’s an excellent way to see the Old South and get a taste for what the culture is like here. Interested in making this journey? Want more info? Ask!

It’s been more than a month now since Kim and I began to feel road-weary. To add to the fatigue, we spent a week in Charlotte, North Carolina for Fincon, the annual conference for all things financial. Then we spent a week driving all over the Southeast in the Mini Cooper, searching for a place to live.

On the Road Again

Last Monday morning, we piled all of our stuff into the Mini Cooper and drove south out of Charlotte. Initially, we were aiming for Jacksonville, Florida. Our idea was to explore the Sunshine State to see if we could find someplace to stay for the winter. (Yes, we’re well aware that many people have the same idea every year.)

Staying true to our motto as a couple — “go with the flow” — we changed course midstream. While stopped for lunch, I browsed for rentals on Craigslist. For some reason (I can’t remember why), I started with Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

“There are a lot of cheap places in Myrtle Beach,” I told Kim. “I don’t know anything about the city, but maybe we should start our search there instead of Jacksonville.”

“Sounds good,” she said, and so we veered east. As we drove, we continued to research. “I’m not sure there’s much for us to do in Myrtle Beach,” Kim said. “What about Charleston instead?”

“Charleston works,” I said, and we altered our path once more. Kim, who is a Priceline ninja, snagged a cheap hotel room as we drove, and by late afternoon we were exploring the city.

We liked Charleston just fine. It has some funky neighborhoods and interesting restaurants. Plus it’s filled with history (Fort Sumter!) and close to the beach. Still, it didn’t feel like home to us. In the morning, we drove south toward Georgia. We spent a couple of hours in and around Hilton Head, South Carolina before crossing the state line to visit Savannah.

Savannah! Now here was a city we loved.

Savannah, Georgia

First, Savannah’s setting is strange and wonderful. It’s lush. It’s swampy. It’s flat. The area is heavily forested, and there’s lots of Spanish moss hanging from branches, both in town and outside of it. The trees are filled with noisy birds whose songs and cries are completely unfamiliar to me. Plus, there are tons of turtles in the area. (I like turtles.)

But we loved more than just the city’s setting. Because Savannah is one of the few southern cities to have not been destroyed during the Civil War, there are many old buildings in the area. Plus, large parts have a sort of “seventies” feel that always appeals to me. There’s also a vibrant culture of diverse people in the city, which is something that our home in Portland lacks. The historic district is peppered with parks squares (much like London) and good restaurants and funky shops.

“I could live here,” Kim said. I agreed. (One downside? Except for downtown, Savannah is pedestrian-hostile. There are no sidewalks, cars don’t stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, etc. For a walker like me, this isn’t a good thing.)

Orlando, Florida

Our next stop was Orlando, where our friend Toni Anderson lives. “You should come down here and check it out,” she’d told us at Fincon. “My husband’s parents might even have a room where you could stay for a few weeks.”

We met Toni’s in-laws for lunch and then stayed the night at their house. There company was terrific and the room was perfect — but Orlando didn’t match our vibe. Maybe because we didn’t see enough of it, the place reminded us of any other sprawling, generic medium-sized U.S. city. It could have been Sacramento or Indianapolis or Spokane.

“I keep thinking about Savannah,” I told Kim.

“Me too,” she said. “Cindy and David are great, but I don’t want to live in Orlando. I want to live in Savannah.”

“Let’s go back!” I said. And so we did.

Downtown Savannah

As I sat behind the wheel for six hours, Kim browsed Craigslist and called property managers. We soon realized that our budget — $1000 per month for a six-month rental — wasn’t realistic. Places downtown were renting for at least three times that amount. Even on the outskirts, people were asking for $2000 in rent.

The first place we visited had an ideal location at the edge of the historic city center. It was surrounded by restaurants and shops and park and was only a few blocks from the river. The unit itself was a 500-square-foot loft with hardwood floors and quality fixtures. The downsides? It felt crowded with so much furniture in so little space. Plus, it was a little expensive ($1750 per month). My biggest complaint, however, was the mold we saw everywhere. “I know it’s humid in Savannah, but I’m worried that much mold will screw with my allergies,” I said.

We were tempted to take the place without looking at anything else. We filled out the rental application and paid our $40.

“How soon could we move in?” Kim asked.

“You could move in tomorrow, if you wanted,” the agent told us.

“That’s tempting,” Kim said, laughing. “But we should probably go look at least one more place.”

In the Suburbs

The second place we saw was completely different, a condo between the city of Savannah and nearby Tybee Island. The home was twice as big as the first place and much more modern. It didn’t have as much character, but it provided a number of other advantages:

• Free parking (for the Mini Cooper, not the motorhome).
• A community pool and hot tub. (We love hot tubs!)
• A fitness center just outside the front door. (Seriously, a thirty second walk from door to door.)
• Perhaps best of all, two bathtubs in the unit.

Plus, the unit would only cost $1325 per month (plus utilities).

“What do you think?” Kim asked after our tour of the condo. “Should we start a list of pros and cons?”

“I’ll be honest,” I said. “I love the place downtown and it’d be a lot of fun to live there, but it doesn’t match our goals for the next six months. We want to work. We want to eat right. We want to exercise. In town, there’d be too many temptations and distractions. Out here, we still have access to that stuff when we want it, but there’s a twenty minute barrier between us and bad behavior.”

“That’s true,” Kim said. “Plus, out here there’d be no excuses with the exercise. We’d have a gym outside our front door.”

“Exactly,” I said.

“And I’ll be honest too,” said Kim. “My heart sunk when I saw there wasn’t a bathtub in the apartment downtown. Here we’d have two bathtubs — one for you and one for me. Not to mention the community hot tub and pool.”

“See,” I said. “I don’t think we need to make a list of pros and cons. I think the choice is obvious. We can save $400 per month by living out here, and we’ll be better able to do the things we want to do. Let’s take it.”

Home Sweet Home

So, there you go. Kim and I will spend the next six months as residents of Savannah, Georgia. We plan to spend most of our time exercising and working, but we’ll make some weekend trips to Florida and the Carolinas and possibly even New Orleans. For me, it’ll be fun to live somewhere other than Oregon for a while. I’ve lived my entire life within a 25-mile radius of the town where I grew up. Now I can experience something different.

As you can guess, this means Far Away Places will be on hiatus for a while. In a week or two, I’ll publish a stats breakdown of our first six months on the road. Plus, I’ll post updates here whenever we take jaunts outside Savannah. But until the end of March, I’ll be focusing my attention on two places: writing about radical personal finance at Money Boss and writing about personal development at my personal site.

So, until the spring: Be well, my friends!

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Kim said the other day. “I’m tired. I love our life on the road, but I’m ready to take a break. I want to pick a place and stay put for a while.”

I could tell she was reluctant to say this. Our year-long RV trip is a shared dream, something we’ve both always wanted to do. Now Kim was suggesting we pause for a while, and she was worried that I might disagree with her.

But I didn’t.

“I’m so glad to hear you say that,” I said. “I’ve been feeling the same way. This road trip is a blast, and I want to see the rest of the country. But at the same time, I want to take a break. You know I’ve been frustrated because I can’t find time to work on the new website. Well, it also sucks to see my fitness fade. I worked hard for that, and all this moving around has made me soft.”

“Me too,” Kim said. “I haven’t been this out of shape in years. It’d be great if we could make exercise a part of our routine.”

“What should we do?” I asked.

“Let’s think about it,” Kim said. “Maybe we can come up with some sort of plan to park somewhere soon.”

So, we thought about it. The bottom line is that after five months of constant travel, Kim and I have become a little road weary. What do we mean by that?

At the start of the trip, each place we visited was new and exciting. We couldn’t wait to see the sights and talk to the people. Although we still have some of that enthusiasm, the constant change has become almost mechanical. We’re numb to the new. We find ourselves wanting to skip places and people we’ve looked forward to seeing. Some days we stay put in the RV to read and relax rather than see the things unique to the area around us. (Hell, we’re doing that today!)

This isn’t a problem unique to us Rothwards, of course. Many long-term travelers run the risk of burning out, if they’re not careful. That’s why so many seasoned road warriors have a policy of slow travel. They stay put for weeks — or months! — at a time. By doing so, they get the best of both worlds: They enjoy the novelty of new places but also experience a sense of belonging, of community.

When we set out on this trip, our plan was to cover the entire United States in about a year. Over time, that plan has evolved. For instance:

• Once we realized the U.S. was even larger than we’d thought, with so much to see and do, we changed our timeline from “about a year” to “about 18 months”. Even at that pace, things will feel rushed.
• Although our expenses remain lower than what they would be at home, they’re still greater than we’d like. As a result, we decided to pause for a few months so that we could both earn money. Kim would find a job, and I’d launch a new money blog. Naturally, this extended our timeline even further.

Now our plan has changed again.

Instead of moving from New York to New England now, we’re driving south. We’ll spend a few days in Pennsylvania, then ten days in New Jersey. In mid-September, we’ll be at a conference in Charlotte, North Carolina for a week. When the conference is over, we’ll put the motorhome in storage for a while so that we can take the Mini Cooper up to New England for the fall foliage festival. When that’s done, we’ll return to Charlotte and pick a place to set up camp for several months.

In a way, this choice seems even more exciting (and scary) than the decision to set out on the road. But we love it. Who knows where life will take us next?

After two weeks in Ohio, Kim and I were pleased to move on to new territory. We leaped across the northwest corner of Pennsylvania and set up camp near Niagara Falls, New York.

Kim had never visited New York before this trip. And although I’d been to New York City a couple of times, I hadn’t seen the rest of the state. As a result, we didn’t know what to expect. Turns out, New York is pretty darn awesome.

The northwest corner of New York is filled with rolling hills and farmland. It’s mostly rural with a few medium-sized cities — Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse — thrown in for good measure. The area is also an up-and-coming wine-growing region, particularly the land around the long and narrow Finger Lakes. Because of this, we decided now would be a good time to test out Harvest Hosts.

Harvest Hosts is a membership site that connects campers with farm owners. We, as travelers, decide where we want to stay. We check the Harvest Hosts website to see if there are any participating farms, wineries, or breweries nearby. If there are, we call to ask permission to camp on the property. When we stay, there are three primary conditions:

• We have to be self-contained. That is, our RV can’t require connections to water, sewer, or electricity.
• We have to support the place we stay by agreeing to purchase some of their wares. If we stay at a farm, we might buy veggies or eggs, for instance. If we stay at a winery, we buy wine.
• We can’t be a nuisance. We can’t put out awnings or build fires unless invited to do so. This isn’t a problem for most long-term trailerites. (From our experience, it’s the weekend campers who are noisy and messy.)

Kim and I joined Harvest Hosts while we were in Arizona last April. We love the idea of it. Because we buy (and drink) a lot of wine, this is essentially a way for us to find free camping. We hadn’t had a chance to use the service, however, until reaching New York.

Freedom Run Vineyard

As we left Ohio, Kim contacted a couple of wineries through the Harvest Hosts website. The first to get back to her was Freedom Run Winery, located about half an hour from Buffalo, New York. We had a great experience.

First, the staff was almost as laid back as we were. Larry, the owner, invited us to stay not just one night, but two or three if we wanted. After he decided we ought to have a fire for ambience, Larry brought us paper and wood and a torch to build one.

Our RV spot (and fire) at Freedom Run Vineyard

Second, Freedom Run has great wines. Kim and I can be fussy about the wine we drink. She grew up in central California wine country, and I’ve learned to love Oregon pinot noir and sparkling wine. On this trip, we’ve tasted wine in several states but have mostly been disappointed. The Midwest, especially, has lousy wine. (And for some reason, folks in Wisconsin and Michigan grow and love fruit wines. To each her own, I guess.) After months of mediocre wine, it was great to find a place that produced the sorts of wines we love. We didn’t just buy one or two bottles at Freedom Run; we bought almost a full case.

One afternoon we were put to work bottling Applejack…

Third, the location was fantastic. Freedom Run rests on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, a long line of bedrock running through the Great Lakes area. The softer rock to the north of the escarpment has eroded through time, which means the land to the south sits at higher elevation. (This delineation is most famously seen at Niagara Falls itself, where the Niagara River cascades over the edge of the escarpment.)

The incredibly beautiful Niagara Falls (click to enlarge)

We used Freedom Run as our base for a couple of days while we explored the area.

One morning, we packed up our bikes and crossed the border into Ontario, Canada. There we parked the Mini Cooper and cycled through town, following the Niagara River up to the falls themselves. We were fortunate to visit on a day with amazing light. Seriously, the photos we took here might be the best we’ve captured on this trip.

We were also pleased to spend an evening with Roy and Sue, a couple we’d met while camping near Canyonlands National Park in May. When they heard we were in the area, Roy and Sue motorcycled up from their home in Mount Morris to have dinner with us in Lockport. Larry at Freedom Run made us reservations at Danny Sheehan’s Steakhouse, where we had a delicious meal — and leftovers.

Taking Care of Business

Although Kim and I wanted to stay longer at Freedom Run, we decided it was time to move on. Over the previous couple of weeks, our motorhome had begun to exhibit a variety of problems and we wanted to get them fixed. We drove east to Rochester. There, we bought parts and tools to make several repairs ourselves, and we left the RV with the folks at Camping World to address the problems that were beyond our capabilities.

In the process, we solved (we hope) a mystery that has plagued us for months.

You see, I bought new tires for the Mini Cooper last autumn in Portland. I expected them to last twenty or thirty thousand miles. In Moab, Utah, however, we discovered the rear tires were almost bald. We had to replace them after only two months on the road. Then we had to replace them a month later while we were in Montana’s Flathead Valley. Then we had to replace them again two months later in Cleveland.

We asked tire people why we were burning through rear tires so fast. They didn’t know. We asked other trailerites why we were burning through rear tires so fast. They didn’t know. I asked my friends online. They didn’t know. Two folks — my ex-wife’s boyfriend and Mr. Money Mustache — came up with the same theory, however. “The car could be fishtailing subtly due to oscillation in the tow pattern,” they said. “Maybe watch it or ride in it to feel if it zig zags?”

Turns out they were right.

The Camping World mechanic shook his head when he saw the tow bar. “You’ve been towing this way for 10,000 miles?” he asked. It was clear he didn’t believe me. “I’m surprised you haven’t lost the car already.” He showed me what he meant.

When I took the tow bar apart and put it back together in March, I’d done it correctly — except for two pieces. I’d mounted a couple of brackets 180 degrees from where they ought to have been, essentially flipping them upside down. As a result, the tow bar was sliding in and out of its mount. I thought it was supposed to do this, to provide some “play” as we went around corners. Nope. Not supposed to do that at all. Instead, the tow bar is supposed to lock in place, firm and secure.

Translation? For the past five months, the Mini Cooper really has been fishtailing — and not so subtly. “The tow bar hasn’t been doing a damn thing,” the mechanic told me. “You’ve been towing the car by the backup cables this whole time.”

And that, my friends, is why I’m not a mechanic.

“Install tow bar right” = “You are stupid, J.D.!”

Cooperstown

After the RV repairs, we dove deeper into New York. Initially, we’d planned to spend several days exploring the wineries around the Finger Lakes region. But in a move uncharacteristic of the Rothwards, we bypassed the area and instead made our way to Cooperstown.

Cooperstown is famous for a couple of reasons.

First, it was founded by William Cooper, father of the famous novelist James Fennimore Cooper, who used this area as basis for many of his books, including The Last of the Mohicans.

Second, Cooperstown is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As a lifelong baseball fan, I was eager to visit Cooperstown and to visit the museum. The exhibits were fun and interesting, no doubt, but I felt a bit let down. Part of that is probably because I already know a lot of baseball lore; the hall of fame rehashed stuff I already know. Another reason might be the chaos created by so many kids running around on the Sunday we were there. Their rowdiness was a true distraction from the experience. Still, I liked the Baseball Hall of Fame much better than the almost-lame Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. (But not nearly as much as the excellent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.)

Randy Johnson is in the hall of fame!

Actually, the most enjoyable part of visiting Cooperstown was the surprising Farmers’ Museum. This attraction had far fewer people and much more interesting exhibits than the Baseball Hall of Fame. The main building offers displays about different crops and farming methods. But the highlight of the museum is the historic village and the living farmstead.

The historic village at the Farmers’ Museum includes maybe a dozen different historic buildings, which have been transplanted from their original locations around central New York to this spot in Cooperstown. There’s a schoolhouse, a tavern, a newspaper office, a blacksmith shop, and several family homes. All of the buildings are old — like 1820 or 1840 old. (We don’t get old buildings like that out west. In fact, one of my complaints about Portland is that everyone seems so eager to tear down buildings that are older than fifty or sixty years!)

Some of these buildings have been arranged into a small, operational farmstead. Here, volunteers (or employees?) grow flowers and vegetable crops. They raise cattle and horses and chickens and pigs.

Milking time at the Farmers’ Museum

And the best part of all this? The public is allowed to wander in and among the buildings and the farm, to interact with the animals and the people who tend to them. It’s a lot of fun!

Moving On

Re-reading this, it sounds as if Kim and I spent a couple of weeks in New York. We didn’t. We spent only six nights, and we saw only a small part of the state. But what we saw, we loved. In fact, we’ll probably return to see more of the area before this RV trip is done.

Now, though, it’s time to move on. Who knows where we’ll end up next?

After a few days exploring West Virginia, Kim and I drove north to Cleveland, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. Kim and I passed an entire week in and around Cleveland. There was lots we wanted to do — but mostly we stayed home. Why? A couple of reasons:

• First, lately we’ve both been bitten by the bug to work. After a couple of years off from writing about personal finance, I have the urge to return to the subject. I have an idea for a website, and I can’t let go of it. Meanwhile, Kim is eager to produce income of her own. As a result, we both find ourselves wanting to work more than we want to tour.
• Second, we’re a little burned out. After nearly five months on the road, we’ve become numb to the constant newness of everything. We’re not appreciating things as much as we did in the beginning. Sometimes it seems like too much effort to head out to another National Park.

As a result, we passed most of our time in the Cleveland area “at home”. We read. We wrote. We worked. We went for long walks. We talked with fellow trailerites. We laid out by the pool. But we didn’t see as much as we’d planned.

Still, we found time to do a few things.

While visiting with Phil and Kathy a few weeks before, they’d suggested we ride the roller coasters when we got to Cleveland. “Cedar Point amusement park has some of the best roller coasters in the world,” they told us. “You can’t miss it.”

By nature, I’m scared of roller coasters. It’s just not natural to get whipped around at 100 miles per hour (or more). I can’t help but think of all the things that could go wrong. But I’ve learned to use logic to overcome my fear. “Millions of other people ride roller coasters without getting hurt,” I tell myself. “Surely, I can do the same.” And so I ride.

Kim, on the other hand, has no such fears. She’s a born daredevil. She loves roller coasters.

When Kim heard about Cedar Point, she had to go.

We spent an entire day at Cedar Point had a hell of a lot of fun. Mostly. Although I’ve managed to overcome my fear of these rides, I still haven’t figured out how to keep from getting hurt. If I ride too many in a row, I invariably get a headache, and sometimes (no joke!) I come close to passing out. This time was the worst yet. One wooden roller coaster, in particular, rattled my brain so that I had a headache for several hours afterward.

Also in the Cleveland area, we visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I’ve heard about Canton, Ohio my entire life, and have always wanted to visit. I wanted to read about my football heroes and see exhibits related to my favorite teams. Perhaps because I’d put the hall of fame on a pedestal, I was disappointed by my visit. I’m not sure why. There just wasn’t as much there to see and do as I had hoped. Kim, who isn’t a huge football fan, was mostly bored. She liked it even less than I did.

On the other hand, we both loved the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is so fun because it’s easy to get into the audio-visual experience. The place is huge, and everywhere you go, there’s music playing all around you, and most of it’s music you’ve heard all of your life. Plus, there are plenty of video presentations about famous musicians and moments in music. There are exhibits about different genres, and about how certain cities have influenced the development of rock and roll. If you like music, this place is awesome. We wandered the museum for three hours and felt like we rushed it.

I was particularly pleased to be able to see the Paul Simon exhibit. Simon has always been one of my favorite songwriters, so I loved the look behind his creative process.

Although Cleveland’s prominence has faded in recent decades — it’s half the size it once was — there’s still plenty to do in the area. Kim and I didn’t sample all the city had to offer. Perhaps will return in the future?

Between southern Ohio and northern Ohio, Kim and I found the time to spend a couple of nights in wonderful West Virginia. Seriously, this state is gorgeous. It’s easy to see why John Denver called it “almost heaven”. At the start of this trip, we were blown away by the beauty of Arizona. Since then, we’ve waited for other states to wow us. Colorado has come close, and Montana, but the first place to really amaze us is West Virginia.

We’ve both noticed that there are often obvious differences when you cross the border from one state to another. Not just cultural differences, and not just crossing natural boundaries like mountains and rivers, but actual geological differences.

For instance, when you cross the border form Ohio to West Virginia, you move from (generally) flat farmland with scattered woodlands to rolling hills (and mountains!) with trees everywhere. West Virginia is a state that would not be out of place physically in the western U.S. And here it is on the edge of the Midwest.

The lovely misty mountains of West Virginia…

Anyhow, after exploring southern Ohio, we crossed the border to WV before heading north. (When we told people we intended to visit West Virginia between Cincinnati and Cleveland, they gave us funny looks. But no really, it makes sense on the map. Take a look.)

We wandered past the state capitol (Charleston, where the capitol building has a bright gold dome) and into coal country before we found a camp site in a remote state park. We parked the RV and went down to the river to see what there was to see. What there was to see was four drunk locals who were excited to see a couple from “Ore-ee-gone”. They seemed to be sincerely impressed by our travels, and were eager to offer suggestions about what to see in their state.

Our campsite in West Virginia…

As lovely as West Virginia was, we spent just one full day in the state. (We intend to hit the east side when we come down the coast in the fall.) In that day, we visited two popular attractions.

First, we toured the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. This used to be an operational coal mine but is now a tourist attraction meant to show the importance of the coal industry to the state. It’s pretty cool. As the Arizona copper mine earlier in the trip, we rode railcars into the side of the mountain to view staged exhibits meant to demonstrate what the work was like.

Even more fun were the authentic buildings around the site, which allowed us to see what it might have been like to live in a company town. Kim and I both agreed the coal miners’ family home was the perfect size (maybe 700 square feet). After living in an RV for five months, we have a different perspective on how much space people “need” in order to live comfortably.

Our second stop was the bridge over the New River Gorge. This bridge, completed in 1977, reduced a 40-minute trip to less than a minute. But I think it remains a tourist draw primarily because it’s beautiful.

While in West Virginia, Kim and I were treated to our first rain storm since…Montana? We had a thunderstorm in Indiana, but not much rain. In West Virginia, we had a day of rain. It was lovely.

After forty-eight hours in the state, we headed north to Ohio. Bur we weren’t quite done with West Virginia yet.

Just across the Ohio River, outside the town of Marietta, we set up camp in a small park (just five RV sites). From there, we drove northeast to Moundsville, West Virginia. As the name implies, the town is the site of ancient Native American burial mounds. These were cool to see, but we thought the tour of the (former) West Virginia State Penitentiary was more interesting.

The penitentiary building, as seen from the mound across the road…

Don’t mess with me…

We didn’t spent a lot of time in West Virginia, but what we saw was spectacular. In fact, we hope to spend more time here in October. We want to see what all of these trees look like when they turn from green to gold…