Epic Road Trip 2023

Though this might not have been as far as a trip as some of our past Epic Road Trips like 2017 and 2018, it was still an epic trip.

Jen was her three month sabbatical from work and I took some vacation time so we could take the family trip. For years we had promised Caile and Ella a trip to Broadway to see a show and for Christmas this year we had bought tickets. So the first part of our trip was based on this, so we started making our way to New York.

Paterson NJ

We stayed in Paterson NJ which is close enough to get into New York City pretty easily, but affordable, and a little less busy. We were meeting up with family friends who were going to go to Broadway with our family and hang out a little in the beginning of the trip, and then again on the way home. We had a day or so before they arrived so we explored the area a little including Paterson Great Falls.

New York City

When our friends arrived we all went in and spent a day in New York City hitting some of the common tourist spots. We took the train in which was really easy right into Penn Station. We walked all around going past the New York Public Library, Rockefeller Center, and into Central Park. The next day me and the boys hung around our AirBnb while they all went back in to see Chicago on Broadway.

When leaving NYC we stopped in Jersey City Liberty State Park which was pretty cool. You have some great views of the NYC skyline and are very close to the Statue of Liberty.

This is where we ended up separating from our friends for a bunch of the trip. We did stop in Philadelphia to grab some lunch together though first. After that we made our way to Martinsburg, West Virgina, where we had our next AirBnb booked and we’d make it our home base when we ventured out and explored.

Harpers Ferry

One of the first places we went was the historic town Harpers Ferry WV. It was beautiful though we were pretty hot and ended up walking up and down some good hills. We walked around the town some and also were able to jump on and do a tiny bit of the Appalachian Trail.

Washington DC Area

We made a day of heading into Washington DC. We’ve been here a number of times but it’s a nice city. We especially thought that Ezra would like the zoo as they have a lot of great animals. One of the things Ella really liked from one of previous road trips was the big sky wheel we went on in Chicago. They have one near Washington in National Harbor Maryland so we went and did that as well.

Luray Caverns in Luray Virginia

This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was an amazing huge caverns which you can go in and explore.

Frederick Maryland

One day we planned to meet up with one of Jen’s teammates and friends and visit a state park to go to the beach there. We made it there and they closed because they were full. So we changed plans and went into Frederick MD to explore a little bit. We first went to this cool little arcade Spinners Pinball Arcade. From there we explored a bit of the downtown.

Hershey, Pennsylvania

When leaving West Virginia we were headed to Hershey where we were going to meet up with our friends again. On our drive we stopped in Harrisburg PA and did a boat tour and little train ride on City Island.

The next day we went and met our friends in Baltimore MD to visit the National Aquarium. We had been once before a while back, but were excited to take Ezra there to see everything.

Hershey Amusement Park

The next day we spent the whole day at Hershey Amusement park. So many great roller coasters and other rides.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

On our way home Noah and I stopped in to the Basketball hall of fame which was a cool experience.

The trip home

On the way back we did a few stops. We of course had to stop in Boston which is Jen’s favourite city. They visited the Franklin park zoo, we went into the Public Gardens and Boston Commons, and stopped at a bakery Caile had wanted to visit for a while.