Chapter 32 – New England

It has been a couple of weeks, Dear Readers, and this area probably deserves a couple of different blogs, but be patient with me as I cram it all into one. It feels like a bit of a whirlwind but I think that has something to do with visiting all these little states. Because we have commitments later in the year, we had planned a rather rapid tour through this area. And when one of your travel goals is to golf in every state, well that means a LOT of golf!

It all started with our stay in Pennsylvania. We chose a KOA just Northwest of Allentown, PA because my half-brother Aaron and family recently moved to the area and we looked forward to a visit. As Aaron is a golfer, he was more than happy to help us meet our golf goals. We were only going to be in the area for three nights, which meant one full day to golf PA, and one full day to golf New Jersey, which is conveniently close to Allentown. So, our PA day included golfing 18 with Aaron’s father-in-law at his local course Wedgewood. And then Dale was done, so Aaron and I went to the beautiful Architect course in New Jersey to another 18 the next day. I can’t say my performance was worse than usual, but when compared to someone half my age, it felt pretty dismal. Two back to back 18 rounds, and I was a little pooped, but there was no doubt I had fun! Then we all met at Aaron and Kristyn’s new home and had a lovely Dale taco dinner with the kids and got all caught up. And then it was time to move north.

We had made reservations at the Normandy Farms RV Resort in Foxboro, Massachusetts. I had picked up a flyer to this place, I believe, in one of our stays in Alaska! I figured if someone had bothered to advertise it all that far away, they must have really enjoyed the stay. It was a very nice place. One of the largest resorts, with a huge community center with an indoor pool and an adult only area for games and lounging. There were two more pools, a disc golf course, a fishing pond (well used!), a barn with horses, donkeys and goats, softball fields and picnic areas. Over a third of the spots housed full time RVs that appeared to only be occupied on weekends, and yet the area we were set up in was virtually empty. We had five nights planned, the weather made us plan carefully, and we had three states to golf in….Connecticut, Those Island and Mass. We argent picky about our courses, so we scope for the one with the shortest drive from our campground. We found Raceway Golf in Connecticut, a fun little nine hole course that is also home to a NASCAR track. A very interesting combo that made the drive worthwhile. Our Rhode Island pick, Country View Golf Club, was written up as one of the top 5 to play in that state, listed for its affordable fun. We found it lived up to the write up! Massachusetts was an interesting challenge. It is FULL of golf courses that are all very nice – and if I’m honest, by this time we were both pretty pooped. But I found a cute little course near by that was no tee times required, so off we went. Thinking that early was better, we soon discovered that MANY others feel the same way. So after three holes and A LOT of waiting we decided that TECHNICALLY we had golfed in MA, I mean, we never set a minimum number of holes we had to play! Dale offered a quick trip over to Plymouth, and since he was offering a little history, I was not going to say no! So we went and saw the rock, toured the Mayflower 2, and had fabulous lunch. Then we headed back to Foxboro for a little pop culture experience and went to see Gillette Stadium, home of the Patriots, and coincidently, 10 minutes from our campground. Then a quick stop at the least crowded Trader Joe’s we’ve ever visited, and our visit was over.

Then it was time for Maine. We were so excited. This state was completely new for both of us. We had our stay booked at the Bangor KOA, and we showed up on their opening day. So other than us and a hearty couple sleeping in a car topper tent, the place was empty (except for the work campers setting up for the season). We had just enough time to enjoy a fire outside and then the rain set in. Its very PNW-like! So being the PNWers that we are, we set out early the next morning to visit Acadia National Park (number 47!!!) Once again, being just ahead of true busy season, we were able to drive the Park Loop Drive, take a 3.5 mile hike on the Beech Cliff Trail, visited Jordon Pond, and drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain without having to worry about crowd control and timed entry. I’m sure the views would be more stunning in the summer, but we are willing to forgo that if we aren’t fighting for a good spot for a photo. We had dinner planned in Bar Harbor and some time to kill, so we went off to find the Maine-based L.L. Bean outlet store to check things out. It was hard to walk away with just a few things, but to be honest, it appeared the outlet store sold things at 30% off a rather high retail price, so was it really a great deal? Ahh, it was worth it for the Maine experience. Dinner was quite good, we were there during slow season at senior dining hour of 4:30, and other than Dale not realizing the menu was primarily seafood (he had the chicken) we were treated well and treated ourselves.

The next day we had a private tour through Bangor, a tour of Stephen King’s Derry. Being a huge fan of the author (tho not nearly as big as my sister!) I was very excited for this tour. Much like the Walking Dead tour in Atlanta, it was simply a comfortable drive around town for Dale. But he does get a kick out seeing my excitement. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. King has a very long list of publications, starting with Carrie (published in 1974) and most recently with You Like It Darker (2024). By the 1980s, many of the books were set in the town of Derry, and for locals, they can recognize Bangor locations that served as inspiration. Our guide was one of those that study the books and go to find those locations. Most fans became aware of Derry as part of the book It, and the subsequent movie versions. Our guide was throwing so many factoids at me my head was spinning. But it sure was fun picturing what it would have been like growing up in this town, where sightings of Mr. King walking from home to office was a regular daily occurrence. By the time we were done I just wanted to go back and read his books all over again. Even back to back, I’m sure it would take me a year or two! The sun had come out for the afternoon, so we were going to be able to get our Maine golf in, after all! We chose the Bangor municipal golf course. It was so wet, that this was a walk only course. And after hole 4, we both realized we were way over dressed, and opted to check the Maine golf box right then and there. And with that, our Maine stay was complete. Altho, this just wet our appetites for more of the area.

I’m writing to you from the White Mountains/Mount Washington area of New Hampshire. Rain has been a constant companion, so we were thrilled when we were able to get out and golf yesterday. This area is truly beautiful and remote, so we were so lucky to discover a driver who could transport us to the course. He is a private service, informing us that neither Lyft nor Uber worked for him due to the ten minute radius to show up in our apps as an available driver. But good for him, he had just put his business card at the KOA and was available for us on the same day we called. So we got our FULL nine holes in at Waubek Golf Club and had a wonderful afternoon.

We head off to Vermont tomorrow, the last state that compromises “New England”. That experience will be in the next chapter, dear readers. Its pretty obvious to us that we need to spend some quality time in the ME, NH, VT area, so we know we’ll be back….hopefully in the fall timeframe. For now, though, we continue our route westward. Until next time, Lady Wanderingwise is thinking of you.