In mid-October we spent a weekend camping at Assateague National Seashore, a barrier island off the coast of Maryland (south of Ocean City) and Virginia that is one of my favorite places on the east coast. Since Assateague is only a 2.5-3 hour drive from the DC area (wow, did I just say only?) and campsites are booked solid through the summer, we usually just go out there for the day. Starting in mid-October, however, reservations start to dwindle as the temperatures drop, giving us an opportunity to book a campsite for the weekend.

Was it cold? Oh, yeah. Daytime temps hovered in the 60-70 range (with a heavy dose of wind) and dropped to the 40s at night. Thankfully, we had picked up plenty of wood to feed the campfire. It was a bit too cold to go in the water or just relax on the beach like we did in the Outer Banks the previous month, so we did some short hikes around the island, drank a lot of beer, grilled hot dogs, and toasted marshmallows for smores.

Here are some of the photos I took that weekend:

The bayside area

Duly noted!

Here you can barely see the remains of Baltimore Boulevard, a road constructed in 1950 as part of a plan to develop the island. In 1962, a large storm destroyed the road and several houses on the island. Further development was stopped and in 1965 the island was declared a National Seashore.

Maryland don’t surf

Campsites are close to the beach

We spotted the famous Assateague ponies while we were driving to Ocean City for lunch. No one is quite sure how these ponies came to live on the island, but one far-fetched theory claims they are the descendants of ponies who swam to the island after the Spanish galleon they were being transported on wrecked off the island. Nevertheless, they are here to stay…and stand in the middle of the road…and rummage through the coolers of campers who failed to heed park ranger instructions. It’s their island, and they know it.

Pony attacks Jay’s car.

More Assateague photos here.

Back in July we took a road trip through New England, first stopping in Hershey, Pennsylvania (yeah, I know that Pennsylvania isn’t New England, but hey – chocolate) and then driving through upstate New York and Vermont to Maine, with a final stop in Boston before heading back to DC. Despite living on the East Coast for ten years, this was my first time in Boston. And once we arrived in Boston, what was our first stop? The Samuel Adams Brewery, of course.

The tour was great, and I’m not just saying that because they provide you with a ton of free beer and a tasting glass to take home (OK, maybe I am).

We also walked the Freedom Trail and toured the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest floating commissioned naval vessel, launched in 1797:

The highlight, though, was seeing the Red Sox play the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park. I can now cross that ballpark off my list.

I had a great time in Boston (and the best clam chowder in my entire life) but I don’t think I could live there as it just gets too damn cold in the winter! If you live in DC, though, I would highly recommend a road trip up there. Boston flights out of National are pretty cheap, too, so if you don’t have the time to drive, that is another good option.

More photos here.

One of the great things about living in DC is that it is so close to some of the major cities on the East Coast, including New York. Short trips to New York from DC are quite easy – you can catch some of the cheap Chinatown buses or take Amtrak (I personally prefer BoltBus). My dad and brother flew out to NYC for a few days back in July 2008 so that we could catch a Yankee game at the old Yankee stadium before they demolished it, and while we were there we visited 30 Rock. This is a view from the top.

One of my favorite dogs at one of my favorite beaches. I’m heading out to Assateague Island this weekend for some well-deserved relaxation.

No far-off destination today – this is Great Falls Park, just outside of Washington, DC. It’s a great place to go if you are looking to escape the city for a day.

Two years ago I took a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with two of my college friends and have been singing the praises of OBX ever since. I had one last week of freedom before returning to the office life full-time, so Jay and I decided to spend it camping in the Outer Banks.

We spent our first night at the National Park Service campground at Oregon Inlet, which is a few miles south of Nags Head. Most of the tourists had cleared out of OBX following Labor Day, so the campground was rather empty.

The beach near our campground

The next day we drove further south to Cape Hatteras:

For the next two nights we camped at the National Park Service campground at Frisco, south of Cape Hatteras and situated in sand dunes near the beach.

Boardwalk from our campground to the beach

The great thing about the Outer Banks is that portions of the shore are open to off-road vehicles, so you can just drive up and find your own spot on the beach. As someone who spent my summers on the crowded beaches of SoCal, I find this to be pretty amazing.

You can also drink beer on the beaches of the Outer Banks. Again, I am amazed by this.

We drove even further south to the end of Hatteras Island and took the 40 minute ferry to Ocracoke Island.

Ponies on Ocracoke Island.

More deserted beaches.

At the southern end of Ocracoke Island is Ocracoke Village, population 688, with no McDonald’s or Starbucks in sight.

Ocracoke lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse in North Carolina.

These dogs have a pretty good life.

We rented a kayak that afternoon.

Local wildlife

Lots of pirate history in the Outer Banks

Boat on a boat!

Back to Hatteras.

My friends from California will probably think I am crazy for saying this, but I think I prefer the Outer Banks over the beaches of Southern California.

More photos here.

Despite living on the East Coast for almost a decade, I’ve seen almost nothing of New England. Sure, I had spent a very cold month in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire back in January 2004, but I had never ventured to iconic New England destinations like Boston or Maine. Obviously, this needed to be rectified, and since I currently have an inordinate amount of time on my hands, my boyfriend and I decided to take a week-long road trip to New England in July. First, we went to Hershey, PA to ride roller coasters and gorge ourselves on decadent desserts. Following that, we drove through upstate NY, crossed Lake Champlain via ferry, stopped at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory in Vermont, drove through New Hampshire and then spent a day at Acadia National Park in Maine. We spent the rest of our trip in Boston, visiting the Revolutionary War sites and taking in a Red Sox game at Fenway.

One of the highlights of the trip was definitely Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. The area is incredibly beautiful and I kinda fell in love with the place. Seriously. I want to move to Maine, become a park ranger at Acadia, and eat lobster rolls everyday.

Early morning fog

Bar Harbor

Islands off Bar Harbor

We went on a puffin and whale watching tour, but it was incredibly foggy.

Better view of the island with a lighthouse on it.

Hiking Gorham Mountain. Underneath all that fog is the ocean.

American pose on the summit.

View from Cadillac Mountain.

The sand and gravel bar from which Bar Harbor takes its name. At low tide you can walk across the bar to Bar Island.

More photos here.

On Sunday, Laura and I drove up to Pittsburgh for the day to see the Pirates play the Cardinals and scratch PNC Park off of our list of ballparks to visit. And yes, we did just go to Pittsburgh for the day. It’s about 3.5-4 hours from DC, and everyone thought we were absolutely insane for driving that far for a baseball game. It was worth it, though. My one complaint about PNC Park, however, is that the hot dogs there are probably the most horrible ballpark hot dog I have ever tasted. They could definitely improve on those.

With a capacity of just over 38,000, PNC Park is a rather small and intimate ballpark. Also, the ticket prices are ridiculously cheap. View from our seats in Row T directly behind home plate. Cost? $27!

After doing so poorly at skeet shooting in Illinois, I decided I needed some proper instruction in the finer parts of shooting a moving target with a giant gun, so back in June some friends and I took the “Learn to shoot” class at the Bull Run Shooting Center in Centreville, VA (does that qualify as real Virginia?). If you live in the DC area and have any desire to learn how to trap shoot, I highly recommend the class. Here are a few photos from that shooting session. I went back a few weeks later to shoot a few rounds with Wayne and Olga and even bought a fancy Browning shooting vest (I desperately needed the recoil pad insert, and the giant pockets to hold the shells). I gotta say I am pretty hooked on this new hobby. Now I just have to purchase my own shotgun. I guess that’s an important thing to own, or whatev.

Me

Laura

Liz

Nick

Olga

Wayne

Despite living on the east coast for eight years, I’ve never been to Philadelphia, so I decided to drive up there this past weekend and visit Moira, one of my friends from LSE.

The first thing we did was eat a cheesesteak from Dalessandro’s. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was gigantic and very delicious. After devouring our cheesesteaks, we toured some of Philly’s famous sites.

Rocky statue near the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Kids running up the Rocky steps

Independence Hall

American pose in front of Independence Hall

Liberty Bell

Elfreth’s Alley, one of the oldest continuously inhabited residential streets in the U.S.

Kind of odd to see someone flying the Union Jack…

After walking around the city for a few hours we had a few pints at the Dark Horse, a great pub in the Society Hill neighborhood. It reminded me a lot of some pubs we frequented back in London.

On Sunday afternoon we saw the Phillies destroy the Cardinals 9-2.

We are wearing leis because it was Shane Victorino day.

I had a great time up there and would definitely go again. Plus, I was seriously craving a cheesesteak all day today so I might have to run up there just to have another one.