Virginia is for lovers… and US road-trippin’ families. At the Virginia/Maryland state line on US Route 13 on the Delmarva peninsula, New Church, Virginia. Day 9. October 7, 2018.

One of the slower parts of the day. Epic tailback heading south on Interstate 476, Pennsylvania. September 29, 2018.

2018 STEED || Our 2018 US Road Trip steed. New York Stewart International Airport, Orange County, New York. September 29, 2018.

An Illinois-registered Kia, just like our 36-day, 26-state, 9,510-mile Epic US Road Trip 2016 steed, at least until such time as it – the poor thing – succumbed to Colorado Rocky Mountain highs. No such toils for this year’s ride meaning it saw it through to the bitter end.

DINGMAN’S FERRY BRIDGE || The Historic Dingman’s Ferry Bridge spanning the Delaware River as seen from Sandyston Township, New Jersey. September 29, 2018.

We weren’t relishing the idea of crossing over into the dirty Jerz, probably our least favourite of all the US states. We could have easily avoided doing so, but thought maybe a brief crossing from Pennsylvania over the mighty Delaware River (which acts as a natural boundary between the two states) would give us the opportunity to capture the NJ state line picture we failed to capture after many attempts last year. No such luck in what was just the latest New Jersey letdown, but we did at least get to cross the Historic Dingman’s Ferry Bridge. Connecting Pennsylvania’s Delaware Township with New Jersey’s Sandyston Township, the present-day 2-lane 530-feet-long (160 metre) bridge is one of the last few privately owned toll bridges in the US and the last remaining privately owned toll bridge on the Delaware River – it’s $1 to cross in each direction, although it’s free for all on Christmas Day and, as per its charter, free passage is afforded to ‘churchgoers, schoolchildren, and funeral processions’ at any time. It’s named after an Andrew Dingman who, in 1735, was the first to operate a ferry service across the river at this point. The first bridge, constructed by the Dingman’s, was built in 1836 – the present wrought iron truss structure with wooden roadway opened in 1900 and is the 4th iteration of the bridge, and a rather photogenic one at that.

TAILBACK || Downtime during an epic tailback heading south on Interstate 476, Pennsylvania. September 29, 2018.

The reward for missing a junction was to almost immediately find ourselves in a bit of a jam. A serious incident further ahead necessitated helicopter intervention to airlift the casualties which stopped traffic in both directions on Pennsylvania’s busy Interstate 476. We didn’t move for quite some time which gave us ample opportunity to chat with fellow discommoded locals about our good fortune in missing the junction for the 222.

Dazzling. Fronting the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C. September 30, 2018.

UNITED STATES CAPITOL || Looking resplendent, save for an ugly skin of scaffolding covering the bronze Statue of Freedom at the apex of the famous cast-iron dome, the hulking United States Capitol building, hosting the legislative branch of the US government (Congress), at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington D.C. September 30, 2018.

WHITE HOUSE || Having peered at the less-photographed northern facade last year, this year we got as close as we could to the southern facade of the White House, with its famous semi-circular portico of 6 Ionic columns seen here from The Ellipse, the green expanse separating Washington’s most famous facade from the National Mall. September 30, 2018.

The Washington Monument, the world’s tallest stone structure & tallest obelisk, & the cupola of the United States Capitol building as seen from the edge of the Reflecting Pool of the National Mall, Washington D.C. September 30, 2018.

Ocean Hall. The National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY || The rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

With free access to the public for 364 days of the year, Washington’s National Museum of Natural History pulls in some 7 million visitors a year. That’s sufficient footfall to give it the title of the most visited natural history museum on earth, and to place it high on the Top 10 list of the world’s most visited museums. Opened since 1910, the museum is housed in a building built specifically for the job of displaying a collection of over 127 million plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains and human cultural artifacts, all overseen by a staff of 1,000-plus (185 of the museum’s employees are professional natural-history scientists, the largest group of scientists dedicated to the study of natural and cultural history in the world). The museum boasts some 140,000 m² of exhibition space spread over three levels, the nexus of which is the museum’s central rotunda, seen here, easily the building’s defining architectural feature and its most photographed area. The star attraction here since its introduction to the rotunda in 1959 is the museum’s iconic 12-ton, 14-foot-tall African Elephant, probably the most photographed elephant in history.

An iconic hardened volcanic ash ancestral figure, or moai, ‘collected’ (that’s the term they use whereas some might deem the term ‘stolen’ more apt) by Paymaster Thomson from Rapa Nui/Easter Island in 1886 and today on display in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

In the Minerals & Gems Gallery of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

HOPE DIAMOND || The Hope Diamond on display in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

While it may not be the world’s most valuable diamond (I hear that’s the priceless 105-carat Koh-I-Noor, part of the British Crown Jewels and on display in the Tower of London’s Jewel House), this – the famous Hope Diamond – still has a great shout as the world’s most famous bit of bling. The cornerstone of the National Gem Collection and probably the National Museum of Natural History’s preeminent piece, the text accompanying it informs all that they are ‘… looking at one of the world’s most famous gems – renowned for its flawless clarity, rare deep color, and eventful history‘. Once owned by Louis XIV of France and supposedly cursed, it was gifted to the museum by New York gem merchant Harry Winston, a.k.a. the King of Diamonds, in 1958 (one of the most prominent jewelers of his time, Winston had purchased it 9 years earlier in 1949) & has been on rotating display behind glass here ever since (the continual rotating, the glass and the crowds means it’s a hard dazzler to photograph). The rare-blue diamond was believed found in India’s Kollur Mine in the early 1600s. It has been recut & reduced in size twice since to its present weight of 45.52 carats, but has steadily increased in value – it’s valued today at approximately $350 million (& is reportedly insured for the tidy sum of $250 million).

The United States Capitol building again, this time as seen from Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

Taxation Without Representation. Where have we heard that before? Wasn’t the city’s very founding in 1791 the result of a need to have a capital city/district for the new country, the country itself borne out of a conflict – the 1775 to 1783 American Revolution – the catalyst for which being colonist no-taxation-without-representation disgruntlement with the then ruling British & its distant parliament? Yes, yes it was. Interesting that. Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

FORD’S THEATRE || The facade of Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St NW, Washington D.C. October 1, 2018.

The crowds outside told us this was somewhere of interest, it being Ford’s Theatre, the site of the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln on April 14 1865 by John Wilkes Booth. Opened in August of 1863, restored at least twice since and today a National Historic Site – the Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site – the theatre is still an active regional performance venue with a capacity of over 650.

TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER || At the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. October 1, 2018.
Arlington’s memorial to US service personnel who have fallen and whose remains have not been identified is as sombre as you might expect. The monument, dedicated in 1921 in the plaza of the new Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Amphitheater (it completed a year earlier in 1920) and which has no officially designated name, serves as the final resting place for four Unknows, one from each of the World Wars (the WW I Unknown was interned in 1921, the WW II Unknown in 1958), one from the Korean War (also interned in 1958) & one from the Vietnam War (interned in 1984). The memorial’s white marble sarcophagus, seen here, is inscribed with the words ‘HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD’ and is ceremoniously guarded by Honor Guards, active soldiers of the US Army who do not wear rank insignia so as not to outrank the Unknowns. Their meticulous, repetitive & somewhat theatrical routine is both a fascinating and hypnotic spectacle of sharp about-turns, heel clicks, shoulder-arm movements & 21-step marches (signifying the 21-gun salute, the highest military honour that can be bestowed) along the 63-foot-long (19.2 metre) black rubber mat laid across the Tomb. We had the good fortune to witness the last changing of the guard ceremony for the day, a massively symbolic ceremony conducted in accordance with Army regulations.

IWO JIMA MEMORIAL || The United States Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia. October 1, 2018.
Officially the United States Marine Corps War Memorial but otherwise known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, this iconic bronze sculpture of 32-feet-high (9.75 metre) figures atop a Swedish granite pedestal by Felix de Weldon depicts the famous Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, who captured six Marines raising a US flag atop Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945 during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, a small (8 square miles, 21 km²) Japanese volcanic island some 750 miles (1,200 km) off the Japanese mainland (three of the 6 Marines captured in the photograph would be killed in action over the proceeding days). Dedicated to all US Marine Corps personnel who died in the defense of the US since the US Marine Corps’ inception in November 1775, the memorial’s importance is highlighted by the fact that it is one of the few official sites where a proclamation states a US flag must fly over the memorial 24 hours a day.

For Sale in Shenandoah National Park during a stop on the Skyline Drive. October 2, 2018.

On a (still vibrantly green) 30 mph portion of the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. October 2, 2018.

Suffice it to say, Skyline Drive is billed as one of the nation’s premier drives, especially in autumn. The drive should take about 3 to 4 hours, although the scenic overlooks, visitor centres and a reduced speed limit on some stretches of the road do their upmost to delay progress. Most of the drive is subjected to a 35-mph speed limit. This is obviously due to the narrow & twisty nature of the drive but also to ensure sufficient time to stop should any of the wild animals that frequent the park decide to dart across the road. We were on the lookout, but we didn’t see any Black Bears, that despite the Entrance Station Ranger’s assertion that the probability of sighting one of the small & plentiful resident bears was ‘high.’ And nor did we see any fantastical fall foliage, a vibrantly green summer-esque hue still lingering into early October along most of the route – it would seem we were just a few weeks too early to sample the best of an autumnal display, the official park brochure confirming that ‘crisp fall days bring brilliant leaf colors, usually peaking between October 10 and 25.’ Oh well.

Duke of Gloucester Street, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. October 3, 2018.

COURTHOUSE || Outside the Courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. October 3, 2018.

One of the most impressive of the hundreds of restored edifices that comprise Colonial Williamsburg, the settlement’s original redbrick Georgian-style Courthouse was built between 1770 and 1772, acquired by Colonial Williamsburg in 1928, and restored in 1932. Built to serve both Williamsburg and James City County, this was where Benjamin Waller read aloud the Declaration of Independence on July 25, 1776, after it arrived from history heavy Philadelphia. Today it’s one of the more popular paid attractions of Colonial Williamsburg – while it’s free to wander the Colonial Williamsburg site, a trait unique among similar living-history museums worldwide, most buildings charge an entrance fee to allow visitors fully immerse themselves in 18th-century British America.

Mary Dickinson Store, the place in town to stock up on an array of 18th-century ladies jewlery, toiletries & fashion (petticoats, short gowns, cloaks, mitts, caps etc.). Duke of Gloucester Street, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. October 3, 2018.

RALEIGH TAVERN || The Raleigh Tavern, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. October 3, 2018.

The unassuming Raleigh Tavern bags the Colonial Williamsburg bragging rights as the site’s very first attraction – restored on its original foundations, its opening to the public in September 1932 marked the official opening of the Colonial Williamsburg site. Believed first built in the early 1730s, it was said to be one of the largest taverns in colonial Virginia and gained quite a reputation as a gathering point for pre-American Revolutionary movements. Unlike other ‘taverns’ in Colonial Williamsburg today which operate as restaurants or inns, the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern – named after Sir Walter Raleigh, an important figure in the English settlement of Virginia and whose portrait hangs outside & whose bust sits above the entrance door – serves as a museum showcasing to visitors what the tavern would have appeared like way back when.

On the streets of Manteo, Roanoke Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina’s number 1 family-friendly beach rental haven. October 4, 2018.

Blue skies. Blue water. Bluegrass. Mile Twelve performing on Day 2 of the 3-day 2018 Outer Banks Bluegrass Island Festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park (a.k.a Bluegrass Island), Roanoke Island, Manteo, Outer Banks, North Carolina. October 5, 2018.

Enjoying the music at the 2018 Outer Banks Bluegrass Island Festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park, Roanoke Island, Manteo, Outer Banks, North Carolina. October 6, 2018.
Last year’s memorable Bluegrass Island buzz was the catalyst for this year’s visit. It was just as enjoyable second time around, familiarity doing nothing to diminish the experience.

We didn’t even have to leave our Sea Foam room to capture a Nags Head sunrise. Jennette’s Pier waiting for sunrise as seen from the oceanfront balcony of our Sea Foam Motel room. Nags Head, Bodie Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina. October 6, 2018.

JENNETTE’S PIER || Jennette’s Pier as seen from the sands of Nags Head Beach, Nags Head, Bodie Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina. October 6, 2018.

The Sea Foam is in the vicinity of Jennette’s Pier, 2 miles north of the smaller & younger Outer Banks Fishing Pier that I visited last year. At 1,000 feet (305 metres), it is one of the longest & longest running attractions on the Outer Banks – it was first propped up on stilts in 1939 making it the Outer Banks first fishing pier. The devastating Hurricane Isabel of September 2003 wreaked havoc on the Outer Banks and all but destroyed the pier as it then stood, necessitating the construction of the present-day hurricane-resistant structure with solid concrete pilings. It opened in 2009 and is known, as it always has been, as a foremost Outer Banks fishing location while also offering modern facilities for functions (marriages etc.) and a fantastic on-site educational center with seasonal programs for visitors of all ages.

OUTER BANKS NATIONAL SCENIC BYWAY || The Outer Banks National Scenic Byway, North Carolina Highway 12, Bodie Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina. October 7, 2017.

A 137-mile (221 kilometre) stretch of North Carolina Highway 12, designated as the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway, skirts most of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, one of North Carolina’s 2 National Seashores, coastal areas federally designated as being of natural and recreational significance as a preserved area. Granting access to a region not accessible by road until the 1920s, this, one of America’s great drives, is a drive billed as leaving the mainland (& roads) behind to sample the simple maritime living of the Outer Banks, where hectic schedules and tourist-driven cities are nowhere to be found. Driving (& boating) between historic Down East communities of rich maritime culture, one encounters an estuarine system of shallow, fertile sounds & wetlands; the aforementioned National Seashore; two national wildlife refuges (Pea & Cedar Islands); beautiful beaches; towering historic brick lighthouses; early US Life-Saving Service & US Coast Guard stations; fishing; wildlife; and, of course, scenic views of barrier islands bracketed by the Atlantic Ocean. This is one National Scenic Byway that deserves time, requires effort and is so far off the beaten path that in places there’s no path at all, beaten or otherwise – portions of the drive (Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Island & Ocracoke Island to Cedar Island) are serviced by ferry and ferry only.

CAPE HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE || The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Buxton, Hatteras Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina. October 4, 2018.

The Bodie Lighthouse is more conveniently located to Nags Head and was visited last year, but it’s not as tall nor as iconic as the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (none are), visible from afar when approaching towards the end of the scenic 50-mile (80 kilometre) drive south from Nags Head. This is one of the country’s most iconic lighthouses, arguably the centrepiece landmark of the wider Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the towering OBX beacon that’s most likely to get the pulse of a pharologist racing – at 210 feet (64 metres), this is the tallest lighthouse in the US (although only the 15th tallest light in the country, the other 14 towers are all built on higher ground). Originally built in the late 1700s, roughly 1.25 million bricks were used to build the present tower in 1870, moved here from its 1870 location, 0.5 of a mile away, in 1999 in a bid to save it from the encroaching Atlantic shore (this was just 1 year after its 1998 addition to the register of National Historic Landmarks). Its beacon lights up every 7 seconds and projects a beam visible for nearly 20 miles (32 kilometres) out to sea protecting passing shipping as they navigate the so-called ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ – over the past 500 years, more than 2,000 ships have been wrecked on sandbars in the area known as the Diamond Shoals.

Off the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, destination for Day 9. October 7, 2018.

CHESAPEAKE BAY BRIDGE-TUNNEL || Northbound on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel spanning Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. October 7, 2018.

Officially called the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge–Tunnel since August 1987 but still widely known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel, this engineering marvel, which required the creation of 4 artificial islands, runs for 17.6 miles (28.3 kilometres) shore to shore, from Virginia Beach in the south to the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula in the north, via a combination of parallel low-level trestle bridges (each supported by some 2,500-plus piles) & 2 1-mile-long single-tube tunnels (the tunnels were required to allow maritime traffic to continue to use the dredged Chesapeake Bay shipping channels leading to the Atlantic, although not without incident – three major ship accidents over the years have caused the bridge tunnel system to be closed). One of only 10 bridge-tunnel systems in the world and replacing a ferry service that had crossed the bay since the 1930s, the present northbound carriage, seen here, opened for passage in April 1964 after 42 months of construction and at a cost of $200 million. A first expansion, costing $250 million, was completed in April 1999, the new present-day southbound carriage opening after a 46-month construction period and allowing, for the first time, 2 lanes in each direction on the bridges (the two tunnels are still only 2-lane). A second expansion is presently underway to add a second parallel tunnel at the southern end while a third expansion to add a parallel tunnel at the northern end is earmarked to begin in 2035, the completion of which will see the entire length become four lane highway shore to shore. Built with private finds and financed solely by toll revenue (our south to north crossing cost us $13), the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel has been crossed by some 130 million vehicles as of May 2018. Unlike the 23.8-mile-long (38.5 kilometre) Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, which we crossed on Day 17 of our Epic US Road Trip 2017, options for stopping while crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel these days are non-existent (a popular stop near the southern end, the Sea Gull Pier, closed to the public in 2017 to facilitate the present expansion project), meaning pictures of the crossing are limited to dashboard point, shoot & pray captures, just like this effort seen here.

DIXIELAND || Dixieland – The South Ends/Starts Here. At the Virginia/Maryland state line on the Delmarva peninsula, New Church, Virginia. October 7, 2018.

While some larger retailers – among them Walmart, Sears, Amazon and Ebay – are falling over themselves to be politically correct and thus no longer sell Confederate flag-branded merchandise, Dixieland owner J. R. Pikulsky continues to do so – his convenience store and gas station, located on the Virginia side of the Eastern Shore’s Virginia-Maryland state line, even uses the ‘Stars and Bars’ as a logo in a celebration of Southern heritage. The massive Dixieland sign fronting the property is certainly something of a Delmarva Peninsula landmark and a great photo op.

Thumbs-up under the Boardwalk Arch in Ocean City, Maryland. October 7, 2018.

Obviously we took many a thumbs-up picture – at state lines, monuments etc. – but this is my pick of the lot captured on the last night of the trip on a beautiful evening in OC.

Early morning by the OC Fishing Pier, Ocean City, Maryland. October 8, 2018.

THE OCEAN CITY BOARDWALK || Early morning on The Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. October 8, 2018.

Ocean City itself extends for over 9 miles, south to north, an almost continuous string of hotels, motels, apartment houses, shopping centres, residential communities and high-rise condominiums covering the narrow spit of Atlantic-facing Fenwick Island. The Ocean City Boardwalk occupies the 2.25-mile (3.6 kilometre) southern portion of the spit, its numerous shops, resultants, bars & family-friendly attractions making it both the nexus of OC’s tourist offering and the city’s main shopping & entertainment district. Originally called Atlantic Avenue, it was first constructed in 1902 and has been rebuilt or refurbished following storm damage in 1962, 1985 &, most recently, 2012 when Hurricane Sandy, a.k.a. Superstorm Sandy, had the audacity to blow through as violently as she did.

OCEAN GALLERY || The Ocean Gallery on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. October 8, 2018.

‘It’s astounding!’ It’s ‘Wild & Crazy!’ And it’s ‘Globally Famous!!’ (2 exclamation marks). That’s just some of the hyperbole employed by the Ocean Gallery themselves in describing what is the ‘#1 Boardwalk attraction’, that latter claim by none other than USA Today. Having recently – August 2017 – celebrated 50 years in business, the eclectic gallery (which has a very popular Boardwalk webcam) started when its extravagant owner, Joe KroArt, came to Ocean City one summer with his paintings to sell them on the Boardwalk. Now a city & Boardwalk institution and easily one of OC’s most instantly recognizable fixtures, the one-of-a-kind facade of the gallery, adorned with recycled pieces of buildings from all around the country, is designed to grab attention, and grab attention it certainly does.

BEACH BALL WATER TOWER || The Boardwalk Arch & the landmark Beach Ball Water Tower in Ocean City, Maryland. October 8, 2018.

Another attention-grabbing OC landmark, the massive Beach Ball Water Tower is a relatively new fixture on the city skyline having only been erected in 2016, its distinctive paint job an effort to ‘brighten up the views’.

The OC Fishing Pier, Ocean City, Maryland. October 8, 2018.

A fixture on the OC landscape for over a century, there has been a fishing pier here since 1907 when its erection was considered a big achievement for the then developing resort. However, and as one might imagine, any pier here leads a perilous existence – it has been damaged or destroyed several times in its history, most recently by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012 when huge waves demolished much of the seaward end of the iconic structure. Anchored by the Jolly Rodger Amusement Park and its iconic Ferris Wheel, another OC landmark, and rebuilt, yet again, following Sandy, the rickety-looking structure extending out in to the Atlantic surf today is the only dedicated fishing pier in a city with a long history of fishing, both commercial and recreational, and one which bills itself as the ‘White Marlin Capital of the World’, something the numerous displays of preserved trophy catches near the very southern end of the OC Boardwalk will attest to.

Fueling up. Breakfast in Denny’s in Ocean City prior to hitting the road for the 324-mile (521 kilometre) drive north to New York Stewart International Airport. October 8, 2018.