The Final-Final Destination: Milford, PA

Day 35:

Sadly, yesterday was our last stop to the home base of Milford. We left Virginia first thing in the morning at around 10:00 am. We drove through multiple places such as Washington D.C. and I believe Baltimore. We also spent 3 hours of our trip to go to the Gettysburg National Park, where the biggest battle of the Civil War took place. We read up on all of the events on the significant 3-day battle and then we were on our way. Two hours later we ended up about 30 minutes from Milford, picking out familiar places and doing a little bit of shopping and restocking. The Wal-Mart there was apocalyptic, with almost all check-out machines out of order and the shelves were nearly wiped out. Sadly, the trip of 2010 has come to a conclusive end and I would just like to say how lucky we were to be doing this, especially in this time and age. I would just like to thank my parents for thinking of this, and multiple friends who inspired this blog and support it. This is Aidan and the Rubenstein family, signing off for good. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!! (8/27/10) 21 YEARS!!




******Day 6:******


We spent the last four days in Omaha because of this:

The weather was so nice and we were in such a remote town....ahh forget it!


The real reason is classified and no one will get to know it. It was a real and important event very close to us, and this will remain classified for as long as this blog lasts. There is the truth.

This blog is officially over.

Final Destination - Williamsburg, Virginia

Day 34:
Today we hit the long awaited and final stop of the trip: Colonial Williamsburg. The prices of the tickets and souvenirs were extremely overpriced, and the women at the front desk were incredibly rude, so we decided to just get shuttle bus tickets and see what there is to see before committing. There were a lot of very unique shops and very interesting characters and reenactments. The whole mile long area was intact from the 1700s. We went to a Church that George Washington would visit whenever he was in Williamsburg and his wife Martha is even buried on the grounds in the courtyard. It is the very church that inspired the separation of church and state rule. I managed to get a three-cornered hat, and a hand-carved maple fife both of which I promised my parents I would get great use from. There was a British marching band around 5:00 that played fifes and drums. The hardest part about that I would say is growing some hair and staying in formation as they march through multiple horse droppings the whole way! We ended the night with a brownie sundae and made a list of all the very funny quotes and experiences from the trip. We laughed all night. Sadly, the trip is starting to come to an end unfortunately. But fear not, there will be one last day of adventure (hopefully) and a deep reflection of the trip AND the surprise from day 6. Hang tight people!

The Wright Stuff

Day 33:
Today we left Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. On our drive north we stopped at the Wright Brothers Museum in Kitty Hawk, NC which is where the famous brothers flew their very first plane. They picked Kitty Hawk because of the wind conditions and the fact that it was a beach so that if they fell the sand would be a soft landing. We were a part of the first in flight, or first in Wright! We learned all about the mechanics of the first glider and airplane with hip-cradles and rudders and all that jazz. Once again, my sister received a junior park ranger patch (with help from me, of course.) There was a demonstration of the flight of the Wright brothers making history and we stood on the actual site of the first take off (which lasted only 12 minutes). We would have gone up to the obelisk, but it was too far, and we already saw a time-capsule of the first century of flight, to be opened in 2103. While we were driving, we encountered a strange alien saucer that looks like it's occupied by very alien-like owner. We drove to Williamsburg, VA, but missed the WELCOME sign as it's the smallest thing you could possibly see. We had very good Italian food at a restaurant called (I'm not kidding), "Sal's next to Victor's". After dinner we went mini-golfing and sadly, my dad won, then my mom, then a dead-tie between me & my sister. I wish I could have crushed her under my heel. Tomorrow we will visit the Historic Quarter of Williamsburg and stay for one more night and then make our way home.

No Joke Okracoke

Day 32:
Yesterday we visited one of the most pirated places back in its day: Okracoke Island in North Carolina. It was very attractive to pirates such as world renown Blackbeard, or Edward Teach. We took a 45-minute car ferry from Cape Hatteras, which was really fun! It made me remember the time I once drove a ferry like that with my mom's cousin, Jeffrey who is a boat captain. Once we got to Okracoke, the sun was blistering at a high 90 degrees, but the experience of being on a pirate-infested island was really cool! There were tons of ponies and a lot of info about Blackbeard. He suffered about 25 mortal wounds before being beheaded, and the actual battle was about 6 minutes. They were defeated by being outsmarted and outnumbered by the British. We got a neat book for me about the history of the island and famous pirate tales. Speaking of British, did you know we actually visited Great Britain, while also visiting the U.S.A today? It's true! During the second World War, a British naval force was destroyed by a German U-boat, and about only 4 of the bodies were recovered and identified, leaving many of the crew unidentified. A cemetery was built to honor the fallen soldiers and the cemetery is technically part of Britain and a British territory. We visited the site, so I guess we have bragging rights to say we were in another country this summer. We have about 2-3 more days left! Today we are driving to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and will spend at least a day there and leave the next morning and be home in time for dinner. Milford, ready or not, here we come!

The Inner Outer Banks

Day 31:
It's been a full month since we left on July 21st. Today we went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, where we saw our first draw bridge and waited for the ship to pass through. Not too many of them in NY. We got a very cool villa of our own, where we did a little home cooking and took it easy after a day of beach swimming. The Atlantic Ocean was very rough today, and we were nearly killed by the waves but we had a blast swimming for hours. They rose nearly 11 feet high!! The water was really clean and you could see fish all around us. We are staying in the town of Hatteras which is at the very bottom of the Outer Banks. It is so narrow on the island that from the road you can see water on either side. There were little markets and stores and a marina, which had strange funny T-shirts and trinkets. Don't even ask what tomorrow is, we're so loosey goosey about it. Go J-E-T-S!!!

Trading South Carolina for North Carolina

Day 30:
Today my mom went to the famous Charleston Marketplace and saw all the neat stuff there. There were woven pottery made by the Gullah people (descendants of slaves) who still live there. We hit the road and went to Wilmington, NC. We had a nice lunch at a place called "The Eat Spot", but had to leave before the free riverside concert of Satisfaction, a Rolling Stones ripoff. We left Wilmington hoping to make it to the Outer Banks of North Carolina but found out that everyone else had the same idea. We spent almost 2 hours trying to find a hotel but there was no availability. My parents are not big on planning ahead and we found out that this is the last weekend for people in SC and NC before school starts on Monday (kinda like our Labor Day weekend) which is why every place was booked. We decided to stay in Washington, NC (established in 1775 and the first place in America named for George Washington) and leave for the Outer Banks tomorrow morning. We DID get a condo for tomorrow night in Cape Hatteras. We took the back roads to get to Washington and drove on a 2 lane road through Tobacco County and saw really poor mobile neighborhoods and also really nice homes and tons of Tobacco fields which look like big brown leaves. In Washington there was a nice Dairy Queen...that we couldn't find. It was the smallest joint that was in a strip mall next to a Piggly Wiggly, which would only take some good pair of eyes (mine) to find. As we ate our blizzards and ice cream, we received word a friend of ours has left PA to go to California to finish his last year of college today. We wanted to make a shout-out to you Ben: Good luck and we'll see you around Christmas (Boo Phillies!!) Class of 2011!!!!!

Chewin' on Charleston

Day 29:

We headed out of Hilton Head, but not without taking a look at one of the houses of our current neighbors who owns a beach house, so we took a drive to see it and it was pretty cool (invite us over Tracey!). We were all dying of hunger and couldn't find anything to our liking in Bluffton (which was a big bluff) or Beaufort. We had to take an emergency pit stop at Wendy's, but me and mom refused to eat fast food, so I was a trooper and waited until we went to Charleston which was originally called Charles Town. We took a walking tour of all the colonial houses and it is unbelievable that they are still the same as they were in the 1700 with very small cobblestone streets and real gaslight lamps outside each house. There are also posts outside the house where people would tie up their horses and a random stone step near the curb that we are guessing people used to step off of their horse. We walked along Bay Street with all of the historic houses and saw Ft. Sumter, which is exactly where the Civil War began against North and South. We were imagining that all the people in the houses along the water were pretty terrified just looking out the windows from their mansions. We wandered around the downtown area which is very young with a lot of college kids and we ate at this really superb sushi store, I was so hungry I could eat a horse! Today we will go to North Carolina, and stay for a while and progressively make our way to Milford.

Cars with Holes and Pirate's Souls

Day 28:
It's been about 4 weeks since we left. This has been one of the greatest days of the journey, and the most repetitive. Our car broke down AGAIN and there was a crack in the hose of the reservoir box, which supplies the coolant and keeps the temperature to a low. Thankfully it was fixed at around 2:00 and we got on our way to Hilton Head, SC. Before that, and since we had time to kill in Savannah (courtesy of Ginny the car) we had lunch at The Pirate House which is the oldest house in Georgia and where Robert Louis Stevenson got his material for Treasure Island. It is known as a huge hot-spot for paranormal activity. The pictures we took turned us skeptics, into believers. There were three photos that I posted that were the most paranormal. The first one shows one of the windows in the Herb House, the original house owned by a gardener. It was said that many people see orbs of some kind when taken from that view. We found that everything was black and white when we took the photo, although without the window, the pictures come out fine. The first picture shows a cloudy figure in the far left with 2 eye like spheres and is assumed to be a young boy who died. The second picture shows 1-2 orbs and was taken from inside a restricted cellar that was a tunnel which led to the Savannah River a block away. The tunnel was used to hide sailors when they came off of their ships, We weren't allowed to go down but got a tour guide to take some and couldn't believe what we found. You can see in the very right of the picture. The last picture we took of the same window as the first picture, except it was coming inside, rather than outside (people happened to be dining in that room and got totally freaked!) and we found what looks like a face. If you look closely you can make out a mouth, eyes, and what looks like a hat. Many of the non-believers have had haunting like pies being mysteriously thrown against walls and paintings falling on people's heads. Believe?? We made it to Hilton Head Island which is great and we were serenaded by a very talented musician named Jordan Ross at Harbour Town. There was a marina that we walked about and the island seemed pretty lively. Tomorrow we will go to the beach and see more of the Island before heading to Charleston and hanging out there. After South/North Carolina our next major destination is Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Georgia on my mind.

Day 26 & 27:
The reason that I haven't blogged yesterday is because we encountered the daughter of Donna in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Earlier we went to the St.Augustine Beach, and it was great! the town looked like something from the Italian Renaissance. There was free wi-fi, but "It doesn't go through the concrete very well..." Anyway, we LOVE St. Simons Island which is right off the coast of Georgia not too far from Jacksonville, FL. They have the most beautiful Spanish Moss trees everywhere which hang down and look a little creepy. We hit the beach and I recently found my father's new fears. We drove to Savannah, and got another awesome sweet suite that was $500 for only $89 it's in the historic district but brand new (less than a year old) and sleek and modern. August seems to be off-season in Georgia as school here is already open. We walked for nearly 6 hours today touring the old plantation houses and churches and cemeteries from the 1700s Revolutionary War era. We visited the oldest church since the Colonial era. The cemetery that patriots were buried in. We went to Paula Deen's restaurant (Lady & Sons), which has the best fried, salty foods ever! The Savannah River is great, and found some neat stuff that is quite funny. Tomorrow we will head out to Hilton Head, SC, which will probably be our last beach day, but we will still be doing pretty cool stuff, so don't turn away, we're just at the last neck of our journey, sliding across third base and heading for home. Stay with us!

Driving across the state of Florida looking for signs of life

Day 25:

Today we took a very long walk on the beach to see the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert being set up. They were scheduled to play at 5:00 (nice) rain or shine. We walked on our first sand bar. Unfortunately there was an 80% chance of rain, and there were heavy clouds rolling in, and we didn't want to risk staying another day especially if it rained all day. We also saw these 2 crazy dolphins, who were extremely close to shore. Miss Shelby thought it was a shark, but we must have got Punk'd by them. We took the scenic road (of course) and drove all along the entire Florida panhandle along the Gulf of Mexico which was so beautiful and the road goes extremely close to the water with no guardrails, it was like we were driving on the beach. We went over a million bridges that connected all the small beach towns. We stopped in a place called Mexico Beach on our way to Perry for the best ice creme in Florida, and a giant pothole that scared the bejeesus out of us. Perry was also dead as a doorbell, so we hightailed it to Gainesville (home of Gatorade), which is very much a young person's town - YAY. The best part I would say is the upgrade to a presidential suite in this exquisite hotel we were in. Our rewards program gave us free popcorn, which I objected after a brief war with my sister. And we had a very nice dinner. After dinner Jade chased a frog in the parking lot and then almost dropped it down a sewer grate. St. Augustine will be tomorrow and we will maybe stay for 2 days, then make our way to Savannah,Georgia and the Carolinas. We hope to make the best out of the rest of the experience going up the east coast and enjoy the time we have left. Blog on Augustine tomorrow.

Big Easy Over - Headed for the Panhandle - Destined for Destin

Day 24:
Hurricane Donna strikes back!!! She screwed up once again. She called my mom Miss Shelby instead of Jolie, and brought no English muffins and only one coffee mug. We decided that everyone should call my mom Miss Shelby. We heard that the hotel was once a former morgue which was sufficiently creepy for Friday the 13th. So we booked it and drove though this historic Garden District to see some old time Plantation Houses. We took the scenic highway 90 along the gulf coast and drove through Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama. We stopped at a wood hut on the side of a country road in Mississippi and bought sno-balls. We saw the little towns along the gulf coast that were severely attacked by BP and saw the cleaning crews with our own eyes. We went to Pensacola, Fla which was more dead than Deadwood. The liveliest place to be in that town was the cemetery. So we took the "scenic" highway to Ft. Walton and Destin Beach, which turned out to be a much nicer place to stay on the beach and found a great Italian restaurant. Today (sorry for late posting) we will visit Tallahassee, therefore missing the free Lynyrd Skynard concert, also being paid for by BP. That's too bad. We will be in St.Augustine in less than two days. Five days earlier. FuBP

Who Dat on Friday the 13th

Day 23:
This morning, aside from the tropical storm, which attacked us, we encountered a hurricane of our own: Donna. She is the one who provides room service for breakfast for us. We asked for it to be brought in between 8-8:30 am. At 7:30 she called and told us she was already making it. At 7:55, she called and said it would be there in five minutes. One hour later all we got was China plates left at our door! Donna had forgotten about our breakfast. We are still laughing about Hurricane Donna.
Anyway...the storm cleared, we went on a Cemetery/Voodoo tour and we found one of the funniest tour guides of all time. He looked like the Old Spice guy and was as funny as Dave Letterman, ranting all about how stupid the people were in New Orleans and their obvious names. Later we walked around Bourbon St. One of the most craziest streets you will ever step foot on. Everyone carried hand-grenades, a drink where the glass looked exactly like a hand-grenade. In the French Quarter, we tried our first beignets, kind of like a zeppole you would get at a carnival in Little Italy. Our server was really nasty, and the only thing he said was: "Ordah!" and we were a little freaked out. We made a little joke of how he just sat there sleeping, pretending like he was working. Tomorrow we will sadly leave New Orleans, and slowly make our way to St. Augustine by next week, and have a rough 80-90% chance we are returning exactly on Aug. 27. That's all for now, hope you all enjoy hurricane-free weather.

Goodby Memphis - Hello Big Easy

Day 22:
Today we finished the rest of Memphis, finished the musical town with Stax record company. It was very good to be inside on a scalding 100 degree day. The museum was all about the birth and evolution of Soul music, starting in the late 1800s and began as Gospel in the churches. Soon, many white folks started to record with many black artist, and the Stax label took off from there. Most of the artist there had many #1 hits and won awards for their singles, and Stax was very popular around the world and Memphis soon became very well known. Though, once Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, then came the downfall of Stax. By 1975, almost 85 employees working for Stax received the pink slips, and then came the closing of Stax. Soon, in 2002-03, Stax was reopened as a museum and declared a historic landmark of Memphis, sharing Soul with the many hearts of Tennessee. We drove on the highway 55 until we came to Jackson, Mississippi(felt like actually spelling it for kudos) and stopped for lunch. I had one the 'award winning' fried chicken dinners in the top ten of USA Today. It was surprisingly sweet and delectable. After our late lunch we hit the road again to New Orleans, LA. A lot of the hotels are smoking rooms, which isn't great for us, even one hotel didn't have a window. I bet the AAA discount for that hotel is a window with a view of a brick wall. However we got a very sweet suite, and soon realized that the Times Sq. of New Orleans is something I would be more interested when I turn 21. Tomorrow would conveniently be Friday the 13th, and I thought it would be fitting to do a Voodoo tour, including ghosts and vampires and the New Orleans cemetery, where the tomb of the voodoo queen lies. Voodoo is very popular aspect of New Orleans, maybe even a cult. Tomorrow there is flash flood warnings for tropical depression Danielle, but is said to be 90 degrees out. I'm gonna rest up for a long heat walk tomorrow.