CA/FL/ME/MO Summer

[Charlie H]

Actually, Erie Canal would be on the trip AFTER Maine, not on the way up. One place that my husband never got, when trucking, was north of Boston. Even there, he only went to Boston once (I think). So that's one reason he wants to head for Maine, because he's never been there. I haven't seen Acadia since I was 10 years old...um, too many years ago.

Donna

You may already be aware of it but at Lockport, NY, you can take a nice little cruise on the Erie Canal. Here's a little info:

Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises [in/near Lockport, NY], warehouse at 210 Market St. off SR 31. Two-hour narrated cruises along the Erie Canal are offered where boats are raised 50 feet to overcome the difference in elevation of the Niagara Escarpment. Passengers cruise past historic sites and five of the original 1825 locks. The Canal Heritage Interpretive Center also is in the warehouse and offers canal exhibits. Food and picnic facilities are available.

A Google search will bring up some more possibilities but this is the only one I'm personally familiar with.

[DonnaR57]

I found a perfect forum to get all of my questions answered about the Florida Disney parks, and even some about Harry Potter World at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida. It's an unofficial WDW site called wdwmagic.com. Still to be figured out this trip is how to squeeze in a visit to my Chicago relatives ... or even how many of them are still in the area. I found out that one of the cousins that I'd been closest to, no longer lives in Illinois. :-( With that info, maybe it's a question of Chicago vs. a conference that I want to go to that is close to my daughter's house in MO.

Thanks for the info on the Erie Canal. There's actually more than one place to take a cruise on the old canal. One is a 90 minute tour, one is a 30 minute tour, but neither take you through a lock like the one Charlie mentioned. (We're cutting southwest at Syracuse to try to fit Corning in.)


Donna

[CAnative]

Donna, you could spend more than 2-3 hours in Vicksburg with the battlefield park (visitor center and 16 mile drive through site) and the historic homes. On the way to Atlanta with my husband, we spent almost an entire day there and then four days later almost another entire day with my 22-year old son on my way home with him. We're not Civil War or battlefield buffs so yes time could have been shorter. You might also enjoy The Museum of Natural Science in Jackson with displays on flora and fauna of Miss river basin. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit Natchez.

[DonnaR57]

Our route will be taking us from Vicksburg on I-20, then we'll be using US-49 to get down to I-10 via Hattiesburg and Wiggins. We'll probably wing the overnight somewhere in that area. So a stop in Jackson wouldn't be for this trip -- sounds like a good Museum of Natural Science!

Still working on the plans ... planning to spend the better part of a day at Kennedy Space Center and driving through Cocoa Beach. Hubby and I have both followed the space program since we were youngsters. (When we were in elementary school, each of us spent at least one or two Apollo lift-offs sitting in front of the television set!) Also, one of my all-time favorite TV shows had a fictional location of Cocoa Beach, so a stop there is a "must-see".


Donna

[Lifemagician]

... planning to spend the better part of a day at Kennedy Space Center ...

The entrance tickets for the space centre are good for two days... and for good reason. You might like to consider.

Lifey

[CAnative]

Yes, the museum in Jackson is a stop -- about an hour of plants and animals. If you enjoyed Edwards and Dryden in CA then you're going to love, absolutely love, the Kennedy Space Center. Hope you'll be able to pick wild blueberries and raspberries in Maine.

[DonnaR57]

Well, we're getting closer to departure. Heck, I'd go NOW if I could, but work dictates.

Family and friends connected, check.
Reservations at PopCentury in WDW Florida, check.
Special military promotion tickets for WDW Florida ordered, check.
Reservations at a place in Trenton, ME, with a cottage, check. Anniversary weekend!
Checked out places for good lobster for hubby in ME, check. (I can't eat shellfish! Boo hoo!)
Reservations at a professional mid-summer conference 5 miles from oldest daughter, check.
Promise to babysit granddaughter while daughter teaches at a summer camp, check.
Camera purchased and starting to learn it, check.
Vehicle checked over and base sticker finally obtained, check.
New coffeemaker for the road ordered and expected any day. (Old coffeemaker leaks.)

There are still a few little things that need to get done, but nothing major. One is to go down to AAA and get the TripTik done. Another is to try to decide what to do with the kitty cat. (Last year, younger daughter took care of her for the most part. This year we're going to be gone longer, so we checked into a kennel. Oh my goodness, $600 to board one cat for 50 days????!!!!! I hate to think of what we'd have to pay if this was a dog!!!! We'll ask the neighbors -- cat practically lives over there sometimes anyway.)

What do you guys do about mail when your post office declares that it has a limit of a 30 day vacation hold???? The last time we did this, we had to practically beg them to hold it for the 60+ days we were gone.)


Donna

[Charlie H]

One is to go down to AAA and get the TripTik done.

Donna - If you don't live close to a AAA Office, you can get most evrything by mail over the internet and it usually takes less than a week.

[glc]

Can you get a relative or neighbor to pick up your mail every day? That's what I do - my stepdaughter and my grandson both have keys and they bring my mail in and feed the cat.

[DonnaR57]

Five miles to the AAA office, so that's not a big deal.

The neighbors will probably take care of the cat. However, I'm not sure I trust them to bring in the mail ... they have well fed cats, but their newspaper and mail often sits out....


Donna