We got a nice morning start, heading up I-295 / MD-295 through Maryland and the District of Columbia under a cloud-less sky. Road conditions were okay (I travel part of that route every workday, so I know where the worst potholes are located), and traffic was light for a Saturday morning.
Our first stop was the Caesar Rodney statue in Wilmington, Delaware, for a Tour of Honor memorial. We’ll be back to find his grave in Delaware for a future bonus location.
After Wilmington, we had a nice ride up I-95, to two stops in the Philadelphia, PA and Camden, NJ area.
Our stop in Philadelphia was to the Korean War Memorial.
The stop in Camden, NJ was to the Merchant Marine Memorial. The memorial is very close to the berth of USS New Jersey (BB 62), on the Camden waterfront.
Connie wanted to see a bit of Camden, so we took a somewhat circuitous route back to the bridge. We didn’t get to see ALL of the sights, but we saw quite a few.
From Camden, we headed west across the bridge, then west to our next stop – West Chester, Pennsylvania.
We found a bit of really bad traffic on the way to our next stop, so we took a bit of a detour north – up through an area that was known as Rittenhouse during the early days of Philadelphia. This is one of those locations that’s worth a return trip.
Our next stop was to a virtual geocache in West Chester, PA. West Chester was a happenin’ place while we were there – lots and lots of people on the streets, with quite a few sidewalk restaurants and a general welcoming feel. This is another place to which we want to return.
We next visited the Haym Solomon Memorial Park in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the location of Jim Croce’s grave.
We continued north to the rugged highlands of the Gettysburg-Newark Lowland Section.
There, we were destined to find the Spring Mountain Ski Area closed, regrettably, for the season. I thought the Tiki Bar was a nice touch. We couldn’t afford the time needed to completely scout the place, because we had to get back on the road.
Our original plan had us heading northwest to another ski area, but we were running out of daytime, so we headed for our last scheduled stop – an eatery in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. In yet another twist of fate, we arrived too late to visit “The Very Best Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Steaks in Pottstown since 1921”. Next time, as “they” say.
Aside from a stop at a Jimmy John’s for a sandwich, it was time to make tracks for home. What a great ride!
