Road Trip back to D.C. area

4/19/2017

Having checked the house and done some dock prep work to bring Sunset Delight home, we departed for our return trip to Washington, D.C.  On route, we made a necessary stop in South Jersey which took us a little out of our way. To get back to Route 95, we needed to take the Atlantic City Expressway to 295. However, to get on that route, we had to travel some local roads first.

As a result, we passed through Wharton NJ State Forest and directly by a portion of Batsto Village which is an historical, preserved village dating back to 1766. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, this spot was chosen for its natural resources (bog ore) lending itself to iron smelting. Ironworks were established here to make cooking pots and kettles. During the American Revolutionary War, the ironworks manufactured supplies for the Continental Army. The village thrived until mid-1800s when the demand for iron declined and the village went bankrupt.

Some twenty years later, Joseph Wharton purchased the town as well as a number of other properties in the area for use in forestry, agriculture, and cranberry farming businesses. The state of NJ purchased the Wharton properties in the 1950s. In 1989, the last house was vacated at Batsto Village. Today, the site contains the Batsto mansion, a sawmill, carriage houses, and more. As we did not stop to explore the area, we only saw the part of the village visible from the road. Although I had heard of Batsto Village, I have never gone there and enjoyed the drive-by visit.

Wharton State Forest - NJ

Batsto Village

Our backroad’s trip to gain access to Route 95 also took us through Hammonton, NJ. I was surprised that this off-the-beaten-track town is nicknamed the “Blueberry Capital of the World”.  This town is located within the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve – an area classified as a U.S. Biosphere Reserve. The mostly sandy soil of the area makes it an ideal spot to grow blueberries. Since the area also consists of low, marshy areas, cranberry cultivation is popular here as well.  As we drove through Hammonton, we wished we had been quick on the draw to pull out cameras. Sadly, the noteworthy scenery passed by too quickly for either of us to react.

We eventually gained access to the Atlantic City Expressway headed for the Route 295 interchange, only to learn via Google Maps that 295 contained a huge traffic slowdown. We decided to follow the suggested, alternate route 76 to 95 which took us over the bridge into Pennsylvania. Once again, I found myself in unfamiliar territory as I have never needed to travel this stretch of road before.

To my surprise and delight, this route took us past the stadiums for the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies as well as those for the 76ers basketball and Philadelphia Flyers hockey teams. A little late on the draw, I did manage to pull out the camera to grab some pictures here. Shortly afterwards, we passed by the Philadelphia airport – another first for me.

Eagles Stadium and Phillies Stadium

Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers -- Wells Fargo Center

Finally, we found Route 95. Since the territory now was familiar, I lost interest in the scenery. As Clark was driving, I eventually nodded off. Although a nap is lovely, whenever I nod off while Clark is driving, eventually I deeply regret it. Today was no different.

I generally drift in and out of sleep when dozing in the car.  When I heard instructions from Google Maps to take what I thought was a detour, I thought it was due to traffic congestion. As we passed a school with children at recess and men in camouflage in attendance on the playground, I came fully alert. What the heck!?

Studying our route, I discovered that Google Maps was taking us on a joy ride and not a detour. Somehow, and neither of us have a clue how, Google Maps added a stop at Fort Meade to our route. I deleted the extra stop, but the damage was done. We now had to fight our way back to the highway through local traffic. Growl!

Once back on our proper route, I decided to search Maps for a grocery store for us to stop at before returning the rental car. Since the car had to be returned early in the morning, we needed to do our grocery shopping today. Clark had tried to convince me to shop two days ago, but I did not want to buy produce and leave it in the fridge for several days before consuming it. Consequently, we needed to go shopping tonight.

Looking at the grocery store choices in Oxon Hill, Maryland near National Harbor and reading some of the unsavory reviews led me to look on the opposite side of the Potomac for shopping options. I decided to target a Harris Teeter in Alexandria Virginia as our destination. We found the store without any difficulties. Fortunately, we found street parking since the reported parking garage location was not obvious to us.

Since I had depleted many of my food supplies, we had a full cart by the time I finished selecting items. When shopping, I use reusable bags, which have greater capacity and are much sturdier than plastic grocery bags. I filled six of them. Since the shopping cart had a lock on it, we left the cart in the store and carried the bags to the car.

While visiting D.C. we did not get the opportunity to see Old Town Alexandria. Clark suggested that we since we were in the area, we should drive around a bit to get an idea if we wanted to come visit tomorrow. The most obvious thing I noticed in Alexandria was the number of row houses populating the streets.

Row houses in Old Town Alexandria, VA

King Street in Old Town Alexandria

While I found it somewhat interesting to see the sights as we drove up and down the streets, I was concerned with the time. We left Rumson at 11:00 this morning. With the various detours, planned or otherwise, plus the shopping stop, it was now after 7:30. Clark asked about exploring down by the water, and I said no to that as I needed to get back to the marina, unpack the car (luggage and groceries), carry the stuff back to the boat, and then make dinner. I thought touring should be concluded pronto, so we made our way back across the bridge into Maryland.

When we arrived at the parking garage, Clark went off to look for one of those carts often found at marinas. Alas, he came back empty-handed.  Besides our six full bags of groceries, we had two laptop bags, a backpack, bags of food we brought on the trip, and coats. Clark decided we could carry it all at once to avoid multiple trips from the car to the boat.

Since Clark loaded himself down like a pack mule with backpacks, laptop bags, and food bags, I was hard-pressed to argue. I ended up carrying six bags myself – three in each hand. As we made our way down the steps of the parking garage, we stopped twice to allow others to go ahead of us. Clark said, “Go ahead! We’re moving slowly!”

The walk from the parking garage to the car is not short. Devon said she counted 890 steps on the Fitbit to the restroom and that was a lot closer than the third floor of the parking garage. By the time I got halfway back to the boat, I thought my fingers would break off and my arms would give out. Fortunately, when we did get to the gate for the docks, we found the elusive cart we had hoped to find at the parking garage, so for the last few feet of the walk, my arms got a reprieve.

When we finally got back to the boat, it was well after 8:00.  I still had to unpack the groceries and cook dinner before we could eat. What a long day we had! Clark suggested we might want to Uber into Alexandria tomorrow to walk around. Since all I wanted to do was collapse, I told him we could talk about it in the morning as I was in no mood to make a decision right then.