Or I should say, “We’re back!” It has certainly been a while since we posted about our 2019 exploration of Slovenia. We were so disappointed to cancel our planned sojourn in September-October 2021 to the southern coast of Spain—including a Basque Country tour—and to the British and Scottish Isles. We were also geared up to do a first-time  home exchange with our doppelgänger couple from Denmark (who have a second home in Marbala, Spain). While we have only a “first” home, we were bound and determined to leave it for a while, so we decided on a U.S. “tour du nord-est.”

This Northeast is less familiar to me than the South. For me and my family, vacations typically meant heading to the beach or to the Great Smokey Mountains, which still call up vivid memories of Tweetsie Railroad and the politically incorrect Indians jumping on board and scaring us little kids to death! The beach trips were many, including Myrtle and Carolina Beaches, Emerald Isle, and the Outer Banks. So heading north is different for me.

Of the two of us, I am “new to the North,” while Bob is a returning native; he’s from the Hudson Valley area. And, God love him, he planned out our itinerary for the whole 3 weeks (I did talk over his shoulder of course), including securing us hotel and small-inn reservations and tickets to various events along the way.

So, I will be reporting as a novice to the Northeast and he as a prodigal son. You will thus get two perspectives, as usual. As I type this, we are at our first stop: Kennett Square, PA, the home of Longwood Gardens, which we’ll visit tomorrow, Our reservations for a tour of the N.C. Wyeth home and studio, associated with the Brandywine Art Museum, have been canceled due to flooding from Hurricane Ida. But I’m sure we’ll find a good alternative. From here, we’ll head north as follows:

• Storm King Art Center & Harriman Park in Newburgh, NY
• Newport RI, where we’ll get a narrated sightseeing cruise of Narragansett Bay and a Trolley Tour of Newport.
• Wellfleet, MA,  and Cape Cod’s outer arm–we’ll walks along the Cape Cod National Seashore and biking along the Cape Cod trail.
• Hyannis and Woodshole, MA (one of my favorite places in the world because I, like Seinfeld’s George, always wanted to be a marine biologist), with reservations for a whale watcher cruise.
• Lincoln, NH, with activities TBD (any suggestions?)
• Lenox, MA, with reservations for the Lenox Art Walk and guided tours of The Mount (Edith Wharton’s home) and the Norman Rockwell Museum.
• Delaware Water Gap and a 10-mile kayaking trip.
• Philadelphia, PA, with an Independence Hall guided tour and a Philadelphia sightseeing bus tour—I am a sucker for bus/trolley tours. We’re also visiting the Barnes Foundation Collection and doing a Spotlight Tour titled “Van Gogh and the Avant-Garde.

So, as you can see, much is planned. Check back here and see