Travel Monkeys

Australia 2025 Trip Report

July 17-August 6, 2025

Earlier this month, we returned from a 20-night trip to Australia via Singapore. As in my previous trip reports, “we” is me, a 40-something professor; my husband, D, a 40-something teacher/pet sitter; and P, our 12-year-old son. It tends to take me a while to finish these trip reports, so I will start with an overview of the trip and some general thoughts. Then, I will add each day of the report as I write it.

Itinerary

Day 0 – drive to New Jersey

Day 1 – Singapore Airlines flight 21 from Newark to Singapore, one of the longest flights in the world

Days 2 -4 – Stopover in Singapore staying at the Pan Pacific Marina Square

Day 5 – flight to Sydney on Scoot

Days 6-9 – Sydney, staying at the Intercontinental

Day 10 – flight to Yulara

Days 11-12 – Uluru & Kata Tjuta

Day 13 – Bus to Alice Springs

Day 14 – Alice Springs and Kangaroo Sanctuary

Day 15 – Board Ghan train to Darwin

Day 16 – travel on Ghan, arriving in Darwin around 8 pm

Days 17-19 – Darwin staying at the Vibe

Day 20 – flight home on Singapore Airlines with a layover in Singapore

Why travel via Singapore?

If you are looking for the most direct way to travel from Boston to Sydney, driving to New Jersey for a flight to Singapore isn’t it. So, why this flight route? The short answer is that we flew flights SQ 21 and 22 in 2022 and enjoyed them. The longer answer is that there’s really no comparison between the level of service on Singapore Airlines and any US-based airline.

In 2024, we had a particularly bad experience flying Delta, the airline that offered the most direct route to Australia. The seats were so uncomfortable that we were not able to sleep at all for the entire overnight flight, the vegetarian meal was literally unseasoned white rice – and just white rice, and the customer service was offered with the apparently-standard attitude of US-based airlines that “you’re lucky we even allowed you lot to buy a ticket for this plane.” In comparison, Singapore Airlines offers comfortable premium economy seats, exceptional customer service, and multiple hot meals that actually taste good. And our premium economy tickets cost less than economy seats on a Delta flight to Sydney.

To illustrate how much Singapore Airlines cares about customer service, in 2022, I completed a survey about my experience on our flight. I rated everything excellent. In the comments section, I asked them to consider offering ice cream to those who order special meals because it was only offered to those with standard meals on our flight. Within a day, I received a phone call apologizing for this deprivation. In contrast, when I suggested that Delta consider serving actual meals to vegetarians, I was told that I should know better than to expect food on a flight and it was on me to buy something in the airport before boarding.

So, why Singapore Airlines? The better question is why did I spend even a minute considering the Delta flight.

Why this itinerary? (Or why didn’t you visit the Great Barrier Reef?)

When putting together this trip, I first considered the weather. We were hoping to avoid both extreme heat and real winter weather (snow, gloom, etc.). Sydney was a must see for me. From there, I added Uluru – a place I had long wanted to see that is best visited in winter. Darwin made the list because it was on the way back to Singapore. From there, the task was to figure out how to string these locations together with minimal flights. That’s how I discovered the Ghan as a travel option. Booking it necessitated traveling to Alice Springs, so our itinerary was set. We skipped the reef – something that shocked many Australians we spoke with – for the simple reason that it would have required 2 additional flights.

Why the fixation on avoiding flights? We really don’t like flying. D and I have always been afraid of flying, and P developed a new fear of flights after all of the bad news about planes over the past year or so. Skipping the Great Barrier Reef meant that two days of our vacation that would have been fairly miserable for us were instead spent happily enjoying Australia.

Overall thoughts on trip and itinerary

We loved Singapore when we visited in 2022, and we loved in just as much the second time. We’ve now spent a total of 8 nights there, and there is still a ton we haven’t gotten to see and do. I don’t think we would stay at the Pan Pacific again because we didn’t love the neighborhood. (After staying on the river at the Fullerton during our first trip, being essentially in a shopping mall was a bit of a letdown.) But we are already looking for another opportunity to return to Singapore.

We also loved Australia. During our trip we enjoyed excellent food, met lots of friendly people, and saw amazing landscapes and wildlife. The itinerary we chose might not be for everyone, but it worked well for us. We prefer to take it slow and see the sights at a leisurely place – even if it means we can’t see everything. So, skipping some of the big-ticket sights like the reef in favor of a route with less internal travel was the right choice for us. Hopefully, we will have an opportunity to visit Australia again and see some of what we missed.

General Tips

I recommend looking into transportation options before booking hotels, especially if you are going to more remote places. Just because there is a plane, bus, or train between two locations doesn’t mean it runs every day.
Also check availability for any tours or activities that are must-sees for you before finalizing your itinerary. Two of tours that we did (a day trip to Kangaroo Valley, and the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs) don’t run every day. So, we mapped out our itinerary based upon a combination of the transportation schedule and the schedule for these two tours.
I had multiple fellow-Americans tell me that Australia is really expensive. It’s certainly more expensive than travelling in some parts of the world, but we found that it wasn’t any more expensive than travelling in the US. (Don’t forget to account for the exchange rate and the fact that there is no tipping when looking at prices). That was particularly true for things we booked in advance. When we were in Uluru, for example, the cost for a room at Sails in the Desert popped up on my phone – and it was 2x what we paid for the same room by booking it a year in advance.
The instructions on the e-Visa app for scanning US passports are incorrect. Look up where to find the chip in your passport before starting the application, and save yourself a headache.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip

As is probably apparent from my long hiatus, I decided to stop blogging about our US National Parks road trip. I write this blog because it’s fun for me and hopefully helps other travelers from time to time. Given the recent cuts to funding for our National Park Service and efforts to censor the history that can be told at these sights, I was no longer finding any joy in writing about this trip. And I suspect that my experiences in 2024 are not an accurate reflection of what traveling to these parks is like now. I’ve thus abandoned this trip report and will be starting a new report about our recent trip to Australia soon.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 6

Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC – Monday, July 28, 2024 (Author: J)

Several of the major attractions in Columbia are closed on Mondays. I didn’t anticipate this being a problem because we planned to visit Congaree on our only full day in Columbia. But as I mentioned in Day 5 of the trip report, we scrapped that plan and visited Congaree on Sunday due to predicted rain. So, when we woke up on Monday, the second order of business (after more instant oatmeal) was figuring out what to do with ourselves.

The weather forecast for the day now called for showers instead of downpours, so we decided to risk an outdoor activity. From the Hilton, it was a short drive to the Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park. The park has several miles of walking trails along the river and canal.

The first thing that we noticed about the park was how very Southern it looked — from the vegetation to the historic waterworks buildings. The second thing we noticed was that the humidity was back. Withing minutes of leaving the car, we were sweating. We still managed to enjoy our walk by keeping a slow pace and turning back when P started to get testy.

Our next stop was the University of South Carolina. The University’s McKissick Museum has permanent collections on natural history, culture, and decorative arts. More importantly, it is open on Mondays. When we arrived at the university, we were welcomed by a member of the museum staff who chatted with us about our trip and gave us an overview of the current exhibits. The highlights for us were a display of presidential campaign memorabilia and an exhibit on the logging and furniture making industries in South Carolina and their connection to the founding of Congaree National Park. Seeing the latter just a day after visiting Congaree drove home how miraculous it is that the park still exists in its untouched state. The McKissick Museum isn’t large. We saw what there was to see in under 2 hours. That timing was perfect because we were done by lunchtime.

Lumber company scrip (company currency issued as pay to employees)

At the Fireflies game the previous evening, we had received coupons for discounted meal combos as Rebel Dogs, a hotdog place. My first instinct was to pitch the coupons because I assumed they would be useless to us. (If I haven’t yet mentioned it, P and I are vegetarians and D is pescatarian). However, I decided to check the Rebel Dogs menu before throwing out the coupons. I was surprised to see that they had a menu that catered to a variety of different dietary needs from vegan to gluten-free. So, after the museum, we headed to Rebel Dogs with coupons in hand.

D and I ordered pimento chili cheese dog combos with meatless dogs and meatless chili. P had a plain veggie dog. The combos came with a choice of sides and drinks from a drink station that let you mix and match lemonade, sweet tea, and fruit punch. It was a fun, tasty, and reasonably priced meal.

By the time we finished our hotdogs, the forecasted rain had started. We ran back to the car and returned to the hotel to wait out the storm. We didn’t have long to wait. After a lobby reading break (while we waited for housekeeping to freshen our room), we returned to our room and peeked out the window to find clear skies. For P, clear skies meant just one thing: swim time.

After pool time, our thoughts turned once again to food. Monday is a popular day for restaurants in Columbia to close, so our options were somewhat limited. We ultimately decided to visit the Columbia location of Mellow Mushroom, a pizza chain founded in Atlanta. The primary appeal (other than pizza) was that Mellow Mushroom was a short walk from the Hilton on Gervais Street. Gervais Street runs through Congaree Vista, a historic industrial neighborhood that was redeveloped in the 1990s without compromising the area’s historic character. Unlike the sleepy street the Hilton sits on, Gervais Street was jumping. We were still seated at the Mellow Mushroom immediately, though, mostly because not many people eat dinner at barely 5pm.

We enjoyed the Mellow Mushroom. It had comfy seats, a nice drink menu, and pizza that was good enough for my New Jersey tastebuds. (We also had some salad because pizza and hotdogs does not a day of balanced eating make). As we finished our pizza, we debated ordering dessert, but my gut told me we could do better than Mellow Mushroom’s limited menu. I asked Google Maps to find me some ice cream. That’s how I learned we were just a block from a dessert café called Kaminsky’s.

At Kaminsky’s, we were again seated immediately. D and I shared a slice of Hummingbird Cake, a pineapple spice cake with cream cheese frosting. P had cheesecake. Then we waddled back to the Hilton to watch the Olympics before bed. It had been another good day. Unlike some places I have visited, I didn’t fall in love with Columbia at first sight. Once I took the time to explore, though, the city won me over.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 5

Cyprus trees and their knees (roots that protrude up from the ground as little points) at Congaree National Park

Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC – Sunday, July 27, 2024 (Author: J)

I was up before the rest of my family as usual, so I used the opportunity to visit the Ballantyne’s fitness center for a short workout. By the time I had finished my workout and gotten ready for the day, D and P were up. We packed up and then headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, which was included in our room rate.

The Ballantyne serves weekend brunch in its Gallery Restaurant. The restaurant has a classy, casual vibe and serves elevated versions of standard American breakfast fare, e.g., not just French toast, Fancy French Toast. The meal started with a pastry basket. For our mains, I had the French toast special (pear and cream), P had pancakes, and D had the crab cake benedict. How do I remember everyone’s meal orders 6 months later? It’s because P and D are very repetitive in their ordering patterns. The food was delicious. It turned out that “breakfast included in package” meant that we received a $75 credit to spend on breakfast. The credit just about covered the meal; we wound up paying a portion of the tip out of pocket.

After breakfast, it was time to check out and head to the grocery store to restock our picnic supplies. D vetoed stopping at the Harris Teeter near the hotel, and insisted we drive a bit further to shop at Food Lion because it had a “better name.” I rolled my eyes and went along with it. At Food Lion, we purchased fruit, cheese, bread, and chips. Then, we continued our journey south.

As we were driving, I checked the weather in Columbia and saw that rain was predicted the following day – the day we had planned to visit Congaree National Park. We decided to reroute and head directly to the park to take advantage of the dry weather.

The drive from Charlotte to Congaree is just over two hours. Before too long, we were crossing into South Carolina and D was shouting, “Holy s*!+.” I looked up from the weather report to see a tremendous Confederate flag billowing over the highway. Holy s*!+, indeed.

Congaree National Park was established to preserve one of the last remaining tracts of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. At about 11,000 hectares, it is one of the smaller national parks. And despite its proximity to a state capital, it is one of the less visited national parks. In my pre-trip research, I learned that it is also one of the more reviled national parks; indeed, we were warned against visiting in the summer because of the humidity and mosquitoes.

I am glad we ignored the negative reviews because we really enjoyed the park. While the other 4 parks we visited on this trip are undeniably amazing, they all have very similar habitats with similar fauna and flora. Congaree was something totally different. (It certainly helped that we visited on a summer day that somehow had low humidity and few mosquitoes).

The famous Mosquito Meter offers good news.

We began our visit with a picnic in the parking lot. It was nicer than it sounds. The lot is in a wooded area with lots of shaded picnic tables to choose from. After lunch, we changed into long pants (in the restroom) and generously applied insect repellant. We were then ready for a hike.

The most popular hike in the park is the Boardwalk Trail, a 2.6-mile loop that starts near the Visitor Center. It’s just the right length for getting a taste of the park without inducing too much whining from children, so I knew it was the right trail for us. We picked up a guide for the trail at the visitor center and started our hike. Along the way, we saw an interesting variety of wildlife, including water birds, turtles, and racoons. The trail guide that we picked up helped us to also appreciate the plants that we were seeing, which really are what makes the park special. There are markers along the trail that indicate points of interest. They match up to entries in the trail guide that explain what you are looking at.

As we approached the end of our hike, we heard the distinctive grunting of a pig. Wild boars are not native to Congaree, but they have invaded the park in recent years. Indeed, the park was closed to camping while we were visiting for several nights of hunting to try to reduce the boar population. We got excited and followed the grunts. They led us to … a guy wearing a speaker around his neck that played boar sounds. I don’t know if he was there to entice the boars ahead of the hunt or to disappoint tourists who were hoping for a glimpse of a hog. He certainly succeeded at the latter.

more wildlife along the trail and some Cypress knees

After our hike, we spent a bit of time in the small museum in the Visitor Center. Then, we purchased our magnet and ornament and made our way back to the car. Before too long, we were arriving in downtown Columbia and checking into the Hilton.

My initial reaction to the Hilton was confusion. The hotel advertised itself as “downtown,” but the neighborhood seemed almost deserted. And the low, industrial buildings that surrounded the hotel didn’t match my expectations of “downtown” anywhere. Wrapping my head around downtown Columbia would have to wait, though. We had tickets to a Columbia Fireflies game.

We changed out of our hiking gear and piled back in the car for the 10-minute drive to Segra Park. Attending a minor league baseball game was another suggestion that we took from the Tripadvisor Road Trip forum. We weren’t able to see the Rocket City Trash Pandas in Huntsville because they were on the road during our visit to town, so we chose to see the Fireflies instead.

We don’t go to many sporting events, so the restrictions on carrying bags into Segra Park came as a surprise. The little paperback novel sized bag that I brought to carry my phone and wallet was slightly over the size limit. However, the security guys let me off with a promise to invest in a clear bag for future games, and we made it to our seats behind home plate before the first pitch was thrown.

This evening, the Fireflies were playing the Lynchburg Hillcats. Though some members of our family felt that Lynchburg had the better mascot, we agreed that rooting for the home team was the right call. P went so far as browsing the Fireflies jerseys, but he ultimately decided against making such a pricey purchase.

I wasn’t sure how P would feel about minor league baseball after attending a major league game earlier in the summer. (I know that I said I don’t go to a lot of sporting events, and that’s true. It just so happened that P and I saw our first major league game and our first minor league game in the same month). The good news is that P enjoyed the minor league game almost as much as rooting for the Red Sox. The ability to sit right behind home plate and the antics of Fly Guys, who show off their dance moves while grooming the field, compensated for the weak pitching. Both teams did have some very solid hitters, which led to a high scoring game that went into extra innings. P gets very invested in the team he is rooting for, so it was a great relief when the Fireflies clinched a win in the 10^th.

When the game ended, we speed walked back to our car in a successful bid to beat any traffic leaving the park. Back at the Hilton, we squeezed in a swim in the hotel’s outdoor pool before heading to bed.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 4

Shenandoah National Park to Charlotte – Saturday, July 26, 2024 (Author: J)

Because of the bizarre aerobics of our nocturnal upstairs neighbors, we woke up on Saturday happy to check out of Skylands and start our journey to our next national park. Congaree National Park is about an 8-hour drive from Shenandoah, so we spread the journey out over two days. But we still had a 6-hour drive ahead of us, so we wasted no time packing and hitting the road.

We turned in our keys, bought some overpriced lattes (and our traditional souvenirs – an ornament and magnet) at the Skylands Visitor Center, and continued driving south along Skyline Drive. Even though it was now the official weekend, there weren’t many cars on the road. That meant we could stop off at a few more viewpoints as we made our way through the park. We exited at the Swift Run Gap entrance. This put us on the most direct route to the Carolinas but meant that we did not explore the southern 3^rd of Skyline Drive.

It took a little over four hours to reach our first planned stop of the day – the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. We learned about the zoo via the recommendation of a poster on the Tripadvisor road trip forums. (Their advice was along the lines of, “If you insist on going through with your silly plan to skip the Blue Ridge Parkway, then you can stop at the North Carolina Zoo.”) The zoo advertises itself as the largest natural habitat zoo in the US. Its exhibits on North American and African wildlife are spread across 500 acres, with animal habitats set in the natural landscape. The whole concept sounded like it was right up our alley. Once we learned that the zoo was part of the reciprocal admission program with our local science museum, stopping was an easy choice.

As we approached the zoo, we debated whether to start in North America or Africa. That turned out to be a moot question. If you arrive at the zoo in the afternoon, the North America lots will be full, and you will park near Africa. After some initial confusion when we presented our out-of-state museum card, we received our admission tickets and entered the zoo. (If you are doing a US road trip, it’s worth checking whether your local museums and zoos offer reciprocal admission. The free and discounted admissions we got with our museum pass on this trip were enough to cover the cost of the annual membership).

The Africa section of the North Carolina Zoo

A summer afternoon is not the ideal time to visit the North Carolina Zoo. A visit entails a lot of walking – something that poses a challenge in the summer heat and humidity, even on the zoo’s well-shaded paths. We explored most of Africa and then decided to take a tram to North America to cut down on walking. Unfortunately, everyone else who had entered the zoo that afternoon had the same brilliant idea. The line was long. The trams were slow to arrive. We soon regretted our decision. When 20 minutes of waiting hadn’t put us much closer to the front of the line, we gave up and started walking.

P’s energy flagged before we reached the first exhibit, a glass-domed building full of desert plants and animals. We agreed that we would peek inside and then head back to our car to finish our drive. The desert exhibit turned out to be a highlight for us. It had free-flying birds, interesting reptiles, and adorable sand cats. After seeing how well-done the desert was, I was a little disappointed to miss the exhibits on local Carolina wildlife. I consoled myself with the knowledge that we would have the opportunity to see some of the same animals in their natural habitat at our next national park.

From the zoo, it was only about a 90-minute drive to the Ballantyne, our hotel in Charlotte. (Although Asheboro was the halfway point in our drive to Columbia, I decided we would push on to Charlotte because it had a broader range of accommodations and restaurants).

The Ballantyne was our favorite hotel of the trip. However, it was also the most expensive hotel of the trip. So, although we got what we paid for, we also paid for what we got. The hotel sits in a neighborhood of the same name on the outskirts of Charlotte. It sits next to “The Bowl,” a redevelopment project that converted a corporate park into a mixed-use project with a lovely park, restaurants, shops, and apartments. It was a great place for a one-night stopover because everything we needed was a short walk from our hotel.

As we were approaching Charlotte, I put our name on the online waiting list for Postino, one of the restaurants in the Bowl. Postino, a chain with locations in the South and on the West Coast, specializes in bruschetta and cheeseboards. It was quite popular on a Saturday night, so we had plenty of time to check in, get cleaned up, and relax in our room before we made it to the top of the waitlist. Once we were in the top 5, we made the short walk to the restaurant so that we wouldn’t miss our table. D and I shared an assortment of bruschetta, a cheese board, some crispy cauliflower, and some sweet potato wedges. P got the kids grilled cheese board. It was too much food, but we did our best to eat it. After dinner we returned to the hotel, where we had a swim in the beautiful indoor pool before turning in for the night.

Overall, we really enjoyed our little peek at Charlotte. It certainly beat my trip to Charlotte earlier in the month, when I was stranded at the airport during the global IT outage. We would consider revisiting to see more of the city.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 3

Shenandoah National Park – Friday, July 25, 2024 (Author: J)

After a fitful night of sleep in our vibrating room at Skylands, I woke up to a beautiful morning in Shenandoah. The park recommends keeping food locked in your car to discourage late night bear raids of your room, so my first order of business was heading to the car for breakfast. Our breakfast provisions were an assortment of individually wrapped muffins and donuts, instant oatmeal and cream of wheat in disposable cups, juice, and fruit. I carried a selection of items back to the room, used the hotel coffee pot to make coffee and some hot water for my oatmeal, and went out on our balcony to enjoy my breakfast.

The private balconies overlooking the valley are, without a doubt, the best feature of the hotel style rooms at Skylands. I had a peaceful breakfast with my dining companion, a cute little bird who was apparently accustomed to receiving handouts from tourists. Unfortunately for him, I don’t share food with birds – or anyone else for that matter. By the time I was done with breakfast, P and D were up and about. We decided that we would make our way to the Big Meadows area to see the Visitor Center there and maybe join a guided hike.

For anyone who is not familiar with Shenandoah, the park is long and narrow. Skyline Drive runs the length of the park. If you enter the park from the North, as we did, then Skylands is the first lodging area you will pass. But the second major lodging area, Big Meadows, is only about 10 miles further down Skyline Drive. Even driving slowly and stopping at outlooks along the way, it didn’t take us long to reach the Byrd Visitor Center at Big Meadows.

The exhibits at the Byrd Visitor Center focus on the history and development of the park. D was quite taken with the display on Herbert Hoover, who has a retreat in the park during his presidency. Hoover is, of course, remembered as one of our worst presidents, but “if he’s good enough for Lindy, he’s good enough for me.” At least, that’s what the campaign jingle they play in the visitor center told me.

We finished with the exhibits well before the start time of the ranger guided hike of Big Meadows. Rather than wait, we decided to ask a ranger for his advice on a good day hike. He gave us suggestions for hiking to summits or waterfalls. We made what, in hindsight, turned out to be an unfortunate decision to head for the water.

Given the amount of time that has passed since our trip, I no longer remember the name of the hiking trail that we selected. I do know that it was between Skylands and Big Meadow, so we backtracked to reach it. I also know that – after parking – we crossed the road to the trailhead.

Our hike started out pleasantly enough. It was an easy downhill hike on a shady trail. Because it was early in the day, there were relatively few people on the trail with us. Things took a turn when we reached a stream. D went down by the water to sit on a rock – something that he does as a matter of course whenever he sees water on a hike. P and I stopped for a moment to examine a hitchhiking bumble bee that had climbed into P’s pocket and was steadfastly refusing to leave. One minute we were laughing, the next P was screaming like he was being murdered.

“What’s wrong!” I screamed.

“He bit me! He bit me!” P shrieked in reply.

“I don’t think bumble bees bite.”

“Not! The! Bee!” P shrieked again as a second black fly bit his hand.

It took some time to calm P down, a feat made more challenging by my own panic (spurred not out of concern, but rather fear over what other hikers would think of my hysterical child screaming “No, don’t hurt me!” on the trail). In the ensuing panic, D was also attacked by black flies. We did eventually convince P that he would have to hike back to the car on his own power. And once he got going, he really went. We made it to the road in no time.

At the top of the trail were two barrier poles with a metal chain between them, presumably designed to prevent cars from driving onto the trail. P and I walked around the poles. D decided he would go over the chain. His first foot made it over without incident. The second foot caught on the chain and D pitched forward. D has a real talent for falling; his head has been in contact with the ground on multiple continents! This time, though, he caught himself with his hands.

“Why didn’t you go AROUND the poles!”

“Mom, why are you sympathetic when I fall, but mad when Dad falls?”

“I, uh, let’s just cross the street. Please no one get hit by a car.”

Back at the car, as I used our first aid kit to bandage P’s bitten finger and D’s bloody hands, I realized that we hadn’t even managed to find a waterfall.

It was now lunchtime, so we drove back to Big Meadows for a picnic of peanut butter sandwiches and potato chips. Then, we returned to our room to recover from our morning’s misadventures. It wasn’t until late afternoon that P agreed to another hike on the condition that we go somewhere with no water in a several mile radius. We drove to the Stony Man Trail (which is walking distance from Skylands).

The Stony Man Trail is a 1.6-mile hike to a scenic overlook. It’s a popular trail, but we had no trouble finding parking because those who had started their hikes just after lunch were leaving as we arrived. The trail was crowded, but not enough to detract from the hiking experience. More importantly, no injuries were sustained on this hike. Indeed, it was not until we returned to Skylands for dinner that D took his next tumble. How he managed to fall on the smooth paved trail between our room and the restaurant is beyond me. However, because his hands were already bandaged, his new injuries from the second fall were minor.

After dinner in the dining room, we went to a ranger talk in the Skylands amphitheater. It was a slideshow about nocturnal wildlife. In keeping with the theme, an owl and a group of bats fluttered around the amphitheater as the talk started. After learning about the sounds of Shenandoah’s nocturnal creatures, we went back to our room to turn in for the night.

“I hope the elephants upstairs have checked out,” I said as I turned out the lights. As if on cue, the shaking started.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 2

Gettysburg, PA & Shenandoah National Park – Thursday, July 25, 2024 (Author: J)

Thanks to a great night’s sleep at Hotel Gettysburg (which has very comfortable beds), we woke up on Thursday refreshed and ready for more exploration. The first order of business was deciding whether to eat some of our road trip provisions or splurge on a hot breakfast. Once we realized that we were only half a block from the Lincoln Diner, our decision was made.

The Lincoln Diner is, well, a diner. And it’s a diner in the old school sense of that word: basic menu options at affordable prices. The bill for our three breakfasts – pancakes, an omelette, and an egg and cheese sandwich with juice and coffee – just barely exceeded $20. Our meal was quick and tasty, and we were soon back at the Hotel Gettysburg to complete the always tedious task of packing up. The upside of a short stay is that there isn’t much time to make a mess, so our bags were soon repacked. Then, we replenished the ice in our cooler and checked out.

The plan for the day was to explore more of the National Military Park and then continue on to Shenandoah. We decided to start at the visitor center so that our explorations would have more context. The visitor center has all the basics (maps and information, a gift shop, a cafeteria, restrooms) along with three paid attractions: a film, museum, and cyclorama. We sprang for the combo ticket that included all 3 paid attractions. It was well worth the $20.75 for adults and $15.75 for children.

We were lucky to arrive just a few minutes before the next movie screening, so we headed directly to the theater after purchasing our tickets. The movie, A New Birth of Freedom, provides a 22-minute overview of the Battle of Gettysburg and its place within the larger war. It is narrated by America’s most prolific source of fatherly-sounding voiceover work: Morgan Freeman.

After the movie, you proceed directly to the cyclorama. A cyclorama is a 360° painting. Apparently, cycloramas were popular entertainment before movies were invented. Lighting and sound effects, music, and narration were used to convert the paintings into a multi-sensory experience. The cyclorama at the visitor center is Paul Philippoteaux’s 1883 painting of Pickett’s charge on the 3^rd day of the Battle of Gettysburg. I was expecting to just look at a painting, but the cyclorama is presented with light and sound effects just as it would have been in the 1800s. You are on a platform in the middle of the painting during the show, with freedom to walk around and take in the details of the painting. I haven’t had an experience quite like it anywhere else. Together, the movie and the cyclorama provide great context for exploring the battlefield; we were glad that we decided to see them.

A soldier’s haversack, in which he wrote the names of battles in which he fought.

From the cyclorama, we proceeded into the museum. The museum covers the events leading up to the Civil War, the War (with lots of detail on the Battle of Gettysburg), and its aftermath. There are relics from the war, interpretive displays, and lots of interactive touch screens that allow you to explore things like maps and primary source documents (such as the Declarations of Causes for the Seceding States, all of which more or less say, “cause we want to keep owning other people”). I most enjoyed learning about the civilian experience during the Battle of Gettysburg. That’s where I learned about my new hero, Elizabeth Thorn, who – 6 months pregnant with 3 young children to care for – helped the Union generals scout their position for the battle by walking next to the general’s horses and pointing out places of interest.

After exploring the museum, we made an obligatory stop in the gift shop and then used the NPS App to start a driving tour of the battlefield. The app is really well done; it provides GPS directions between stops on the tour and narration at each of the stops. We made it as far as the Virginia Memorial (coincidentally the location of Pickett’s charge, shown in the cyclorama) before we decided that it was time to head towards Shenandoah. We had a quick picnic in the car, fueled up, and then continued our journey south. To my surprise, P and D had really enjoyed their time in Gettysburg. We all agreed that a day was not enough time to spend there. Hopefully, we will be able to return and give the town and Military Park the time they deserve.

Scenes from our driving tour of the battlefield.

It takes about 3 hours to drive from Gettysburg to Skylands Resort, our next homebase. In the interest of time, we made the tough call to skip a planned stop in Harper’s Ferry, but we did notice how picturesque it looked as we sped by. After about 2 hours of driving, we entered Shenandoah National Park at the top of Skyline Drive. (There are entrance booths here where you either buy a park ticket or show your pre-purchased park ticket, available via the park website about a week before your trip.)

I was in for a couple of surprises once we entered the park. First, P wanted to stop at every scenic viewpoint we passed in the park. And he got out of the car and took pictures at each one. Second, Skyline Drive was nearly empty. I had been expecting crowds, so having the park to ourselves was a treat. We were able to stop at each viewpoint and then easily merge back onto Skyline Drive. Along the way, we also saw our first wildlife of the trip, a groundhog waddling along the side of the road. We all love chonky animals, so this was a real treat.

Around 5 pm, we arrived at Skylands and checked in. It was at this point that I realized that my research on park accommodations had not been thorough enough. I booked a hotel-style room instead of the cabin that P requested because I expected the hotel rooms to be near the restaurant. However, Skylands’ rooms are located in multiple motel-like buildings, many of which are some distance from the dining room. Needless to say, P was disappointed by the clear lack of cabin at this stop, especially when we later walked past some of the cabins on our way to dinner at the restaurant.

After settling into our room and relaxing for a bit, we headed up to the restaurant to eat. Skyland has two choices for a sit-down meal: the Taproom and the Pollack Dining room. The dining room has big windows overlooking the park, but we chose to eat in the Taproom because it features live music every evening. We enjoyed veggie burgers and local beers/root beers while we listened to the evening’s music act. The food quality and ambiance made the relatively high price of our meals worthwhile.

After dinner, we walked back to our room to turn in for the night. It was at this point that our room began to shake. The people staying above us were on the move, stomping back and forth across the room. We made jokes about staying underneath elephants, but those jokes were unfair to pachyderms, who apparently walk quite quietly. It is unlikely, then, that our upstairs neighbors were elephants. Whatever they were, they walked back and forth in their room for hours, quite literally nonstop. It was hard to sleep with the noise and vibration, but I eventually succumbed to a fitful sleep. That brings us to the most important tip of the day: listen to my son and book a cabin at Skylands. Don’t risk sleeping below a herd of elephants in the hotel-style rooms.

Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 1

Massachusetts to Gettysburg, PA – Wednesday, July 24, 2024 (Author: J)

We woke up early on July 24, packed the car, hugged our dog and cat goodbye, and hit the road by 6:30 am. (Pro tip: Have just 1 kid. It leaves extra room in the backseat for road trip snacks). The early start was essential because we had a 7.5-hour drive ahead of us. I confess that I selected Gettysburg as our first destination because it was somewhere that I had wanted to visit ever since my US history nerd elementary school days. I figured that P and D would not have much interest in a Civil War battlefield. But I also figured that they would not have much cause to complain since no one wanted to drive the 11 hours to Shenandoah without stopping somewhere. And Gettysburg is certainly somewhere.

The first 3 hours of our drive passed uneventfully. Then, we missed an exit somewhere in New York. At that point, D realized that turning on the sound on the navigation was a good idea. That way he could ignore both the image on the screen and the verbal instructions telling him where to go. (Sample dialogue: “It’s not my fault I missed the exit. The instructions were confusing.” “How is ‘take the next exit confusing!’”) This added about 30 minutes of driving and several minutes of carping to our drive. (Sample dialogue: “I don’t understand why the GPS sent us this way.” “Maybe because you left it no choice when you missed the exit, and then the next exit, and then ….”).

At this point, P expressed disappointment in his decision to join us for the trip. This was our signal that it was time for lunch. We decided to picnic at one of the lovely rest stops on the Garden State Parkway. I say this without any hint of irony. I am a Jersey native and fierce advocate of Jersey style rest stops with free bathrooms and copious food options. (This one even had *oh joy* a cake slice vending machine).

After lunch, we finished our drive without incident. As we reached Pennsylvania, I queued up an episode of the Addressing Gettysburg podcast that promised a high-level overview of battle for noobs. What it delivered was an in-the-weeds look at the battle for Civil War fanatics. Not quite what I hoped for, but I still learned some interesting factoids about the foreign policy implications of the Emancipation Proclamation. Happy times. We switched back to D’s road trip playlist without finishing the podcast.

We arrived in Gettysburg around 3 pm and quickly located our hotel, the Hotel Gettysburg. It’s located in Lincoln Square right in the heart of town. We found parking in the municipal lot near the hotel; paid using Pay by Phone, the same parking app our hometown uses; and headed inside to check in.

The Hotel Gettysburg is in a historic building from the 1700s, but it was recently renovated. While the lobby and common areas preserve some period touches, the rooms look quite modern (in a non-descript hotel renovated in the 2020’s type of way). We had a suite on the 3^rd floor, which was ready when we arrived.

After dumping our bags and moving our perishables from the cooler to our in-room fridge, we decided it was time for that most pleasant of road trip activities: snack time. Thus, we set out on foot in search of junk. After rejecting a chocolatier’s wares as too melty, we wandered into Sweeet!, a retro candy and soda shop. Sweeet! has an extensive selection of everything from penny candies to the hair of once and future presidents. We selected some taffy, an assortment of moon pies, and some local sodas, then settled on the bench outside for some people watching while we ate.

Apparently Trump Hair tastes like fruit punch, and not — as I initially anticipated — spray tan and fried chicken.

Then we headed back to our room to stash our candy and rest before dinner. P is usually a fan of long rest breaks, so I was surprised when he suggested that we head out for further exploration just 20 minutes later. I guess 8 hours in a car was rest enough. We decided we would visit Cemetery Ridge and then continue on to the Dobbin House when we were ready for dinner.

Cemetery Ridge, a ridge located just south of town, was one of the Union’s primary defensive positions during the battle. It is an easy 20-minute walk from the Hotel Gettysburg. We took a bit longer to get there because we stopped and read just about every historic placard we passed along the way – and there were plenty of placards.

I decided to lighten my load during our walk by carrying only my camera and leaving my cell phone in the hotel. (Yes, I have a camera that does not send text messages). This was a mistake. I had downloaded the National Parks app on my phone before we left home, and I quickly realized that the app would have been great to have as we wandered around on the ridge. Even without the benefit of narration, though, Cemetery Ridge is an evocative place. After reflecting on Cemetery Ridge, we popped into Soldiers National Cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place for veterans of multiple wars, not just the Civil War; we poked around a bit reading the grave markers of those who served. When the heat began to get to us, we knew it was time for dinner.

This prayer from the American Legion seems as timely now as it was in 1955.

We had dinner at the Spring House Tavern at Dobbin House, which is inside the oldest standing structure in Gettysburg. The Dobbin House also has a fine dining option, the Alexander Dobbin dining room; we selected the tavern based upon its menu. We enjoyed our meal, the historic rum punch (for education purposes, of course), and the tavern ambiance. After P and D shared a slice of cheesecake, we hoofed it back to the Hotel Gettysburg for relaxation and bedtime. The trip was off to a great start.

Trip Report – Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024

July/August 2024 (Author: J)

This is the beginning of a long overdue trip report for our 2024 summer vacation: a 3-week Southeast US road trip. I initially delayed writing the report because it felt odd to write about the trip right after Hurricane Helene impacted some of the places we visited. From there, inertia set in. But with a new year and new destinations ahead, I finally feel ready to look back on last year’s adventures.

Cemetary Ridge, Gettysburg National Military Park

Trip Backstory

I know that our family vacation time is limited (18 years, or maybe less if P boycotts family vacations as a teen). So, I would gladly let P pick our vacation destinations from now until he moves out. D does not feel the same way. After our 2022 trip to Singapore and Malaysia, D declared that he was “done with jungles.” P, a lifelong monkey fanatic, was by no means ready to be done with jungles – and has very little interest in the European history that D would gladly make the focus of 100% of our vacations.

So, I dictated a compromise. We now rotate selecting vacation destinations, meaning that we each pick the trips every 3^rd year. D had the first pick in 2023, and selected Italy and Colombia. P surprised us with his pick for 2024 by requesting a road trip to Alabama (to see where our cat, Tarzan, was born), stopping at as many national parks as possible on the way.

With that mandate and help from the Tripadvisor road trip forums, I put together a couple of possible routes that included 5 national parks: Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, Congaree, New River Gorge, and Mammoth Cave. Once I had finished my research, we had a family meeting to select our final route. We agreed that our priority was to loop the destinations together in a way that minimized driving time. This meant skipping the Blue Ridge Parkway – a decision that I am sure some will question. But the reality is that P – like most kids – is unimpressed by scenic drives. And since this was his trip, cutting something that didn’t really appeal to him was an easy choice.

Cave formations – Mammoth Cave National Park

Here is what we wound up with.

Itinerary

Day 1: Drive from our house just north of Boston to Gettysburg, PA

Day 2: Drive from Gettysburg, PA to Shenandoah National Park

Day 3: Explore Shenandoah

Day 4: Begin driving from Shenandoah to Columbia, SC; stop in Charlotte for the night

Day 5: Continue on to Columbia, SC (and Congaree National Park)

Day 6: Explore Columbia area

Day 7: Begin driving from Columbia to Huntsville, AL; stop in Atlanta for the night

Day 8: Continue on to Huntsville

Day 9: Explore Huntsville

Day 10: Drive from Huntsville to Mammoth Cave National Park

Day 11: Explore Mammoth Cave

Day 12: Drive from Mammoth Cave to Gatlinburg, TN

Days 13-15: Explore Gatlinburg and Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Day 16: Drive from Gatlinburg to New River Gorge National Park

Days 17-18: Explore New River Gorge

Day 19: Begin driving from New River Gorge to Massachusetts; stop in NJ (to visit family) for the night

Day 20: Finish drive home

Views from an overlook in Shenandoah National Park

Highlights

Overall, we were very happy with the itinerary. We loved all the national parks, and we were pleasantly surprised with the bonus stops we added to break the drive up into manageable chunks. It was sheer luck that the way we structured our itinerary also ensured good weather. We very often arrived in a location just before or just after rain. Most notably, when Tropical Storm Debby hit Charlotte and Columbia during the 3^rd week of our trip, we were west of most of the rain.

Our favorite destinations were:

D: Gettysburg

P: Rafting in New River Gorge

J: Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A black bear in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Trip Report: Italy with Adventures by Disney Day 7

July 10, 2023 (Author: J)

The best feature of the Hilton Molino Stucky is undoubtedly its air conditioning. Even when it is 95 degrees outside, the Hilton’s rooms are cool and comfortable for sleeping. Thus, I woke up well-rested on the final day of our tour. I immediately opened the window, inviting the stifling heat into our room. Our window overlooked the Giudecca Canal, and I was curious to hear the sounds of Venice in the morning.

The sun sparkled on the water, boats whizzed by, and from below me drifted the sweet sounds of … a group of American tourists waiting for the hotel shuttle boat to take them across the canal. Apparently, our room was right above the shuttle boat queue. I quickly shut the window and the blinds so that we could dress without an audience.

D got ready first and headed downstairs to sign us up for pool time later in the day. Once P and I were ready, we also went downstairs. We passed the pool signup line on the way and joined D as he inched closer to the signup sheet. After securing an afternoon swim time, we set off in search of breakfast, stopping only to say hello to Gabby and Massi. Like the other hotels on this trip, the Hilton had a buffet breakfast that was included in the tour price. But, unlike the other hotels, the Hilton is a large hotel with hundreds of rooms. That increase in hotel size translated directly to an increase in buffet size. The Hilton had the most elaborate buffet breakfast of the trip, with easily triple the selection of the other two hotels.

After our meal, we gathered in the lounge area of the hotel to meet Gabby and Massi. Once our group was assembled, we boarded a private shuttle and made the short journey across the canal. Although it was early, Venice was already thronged with tourists. Fortunately, we had priority access to our first sight of the day: the Doge’s Palace.

The Doge’s Palace was the residence of the doges, Venice’s elected rulers (no relation to the Shiba Inu who appears on certain cryptocurrency). The palace was just a short walk from where the shuttle boat dropped us. But even a 5-minute walk in the heat was long enough for P to enquire hopefully about air conditioning. “Well, we are going inside a building,” I said without confidence.

Our guide explaining how to rat out law breakers at the Doge’s Palace.

Once inside the Doge’s Palace, which is not air-conditioned, we were divided into groups. Adults and teens went on a tour of the palace with our step-on guides, while the youngest of the junior adventurers – including P — did a scavenger hunt activity with Massi and Gabby. After an interesting tour, we found P (and the other two scavenger hunt participants) happily eating snacks on benches near the café with Massi and Gabby. The kids reported that they were the best behaved and cleverest group to ever participate in the scavenger hunt activity, which checks out as far as I’m concerned. I was grateful to join the kids on the bench for a rest. Although it was another scorching day, I had started to shiver and shake by the end of the palace tour.

Once everyone in our group had the opportunity for a break, we set out on foot for our next activity: mask making at Tragicomica. The walk took us on what seemed like a meandering route through Venice’s streets and allies. (Every walk in Venice feels like wandering through a maze). The longer we walked, the worse I felt. By the time we arrived at the mask shop, about 25 minutes after we had set out, I was feeling weak, nauseous, and unsteady. I would love to tell you that – had I known how long the walk was – I would have skipped mask making. But the truth is that I probably would have stubbornly powered through either way. I had been looking forward to my arts and crafts time.

At the shop, there was a quick opportunity to look at the masks on display and select a blank mask to paint. Then, we were herded upstairs to an area that had been set up for mask painting. D, P, and I found 3 seats together and sat down. By now, D realized that I wasn’t doing well, and he was making his best effort to help. Our whispered conversation drew the attention of one of the girls who worked at the shop, and she came over to chastise us for failing to pay attention to the instructions. I was momentarily filled with a middle-aged person’s indignation at being lectured by some young whipper snapper – about a vacation art project, no less. But heat exhaustion won out and I simply said, “Cut me some slack. I’m sick,” and put my head down on the table. Incidentally, if you miss the instructions at the mask painting activity, they are: use a brush to apply paint to your mask.

By this point, Gabby had noticed that I wasn’t doing well, and she came over to check on me. I told her I just needed some water and rest. This was a mistake on my part. There were apparently snacks set up downstairs. I’m willing to bet that Gabby would have let me know about them if I hadn’t been so sure about not needing help. And I’m also willing to bet that a sugar infusion would have been a good thing.

I spent most of the mask making activity with my head on the table trying to recover from my heat exhaustion. In the last few minutes of painting time, I requested some paint and applied it to my mask. Then I requested a second color, applied that, and immediately hated the results. Meanwhile, D and P completed their own masks. (P’s mask is now displayed on my shelf at work. Mine is in a landfill somewhere in Italy. D’s is in our basement). When everyone was done painting, we left the masks at the shop for final touches and ventured back out into the heat.

Our first order of business was to find a place to eat lunch. We stopped at the first pizza shop we saw and requested an indoor table. This was easily the worst meal of the trip, but the restaurant’s air-conditioning did allow me to successfully stave off full blown heat stroke.

After lunch, we continued walking. Our goal now was to get back to the hotel shuttle, which meant that we were following arrows pointing us towards St. Mark’s Square. As we were making our way through a particularly narrow alley, I heard a loud noise behind me and then a scream. The first sound was D falling. (Don’t worry. He caught himself when his head hit the cobblestone.) The second was the sound of P watching his father fall.

“I’m okay,” D said as he picked himself up off the ground.

“I think I’m going to cry,” said P.

“Me too,” came a voice from behind us.

Another family in our group had caught up to us. And while none of them was bloodied, they looked like they were doing about as well in the heat as we were. We all continued in the direction of St. Mark’s Square. When we finally arrived at the hotel shuttle, we were dismayed to find that the shuttle runs hourly – except at midday when there is a 2-hour gap in the shuttle schedule. (Relatedly, I don’t recommend the Hilton Molino Stucky to those on their first visit to Venice). We briefly entertained the idea of finding a café and having a drink, but that seemed like a lot of effort. So, we found a shady alley and sat for a while, staring forlornly at our hotel just across the canal.

Gabby had warned us that the shuttle often fills us, so with 45 minutes to go, we decided to head down the pier to the shuttle waiting dock. Inside, we found Gabby drinking frozen slush. As soon as I saw the slush, I knew I absolutely had to have one. So, D ran top speed up the ramp to procure one. While we waited for D to return, several more families on our tour arrived to board the shuttle.

“I hope your dad gets back in time,” I said to P.

“Don’t worry. He knows what time the boat’s leaving,” one of the new arrivals assured me.

Apparently, D had shouted the shuttle schedule information at them as he ran by in pursuit of frozen beverages. And D did, indeed, make it back in time to catch our boat. The frozen slush was everything I dreamed it would be.

We spent the early part of the afternoon at the Hilton’s rooftop pool. After our swim, we decided on gelato. My attempts to find a gelateria on Giudecca bore no fruit (or dairy), so we dined at the gelato cart in the hotel’s lobby. The gelato was not much by Italian standards, which meant it was still much better than anything we can get back home in the US.

While eating our snack, we all agreed that we were feeling well enough for the final activity of the trip: a farewell cruise. So, after eating, we went upstairs to change and then came back downstairs to board our pirate ship. Then, we set sail with drinks in hand to see the sun set over the islands of Venice.

This was another trip highlight. We had absolutely perfect weather for a sail and everyone in the group was in high spirits eating, drinking, and admiring the views. As the evening progressed (and more prosecco was consumed), the adults in the group turned the main level of the ship into a dance floor. “Cringe,” P pronounced. D and I knew what we had to do. We busted out our most embarrassing parent dance moves and then pointed at P. P responded with his own dance move. Dance off challenge accepted!

Our delight was short-lived. After giving us his best shimmy, P doubled over in pain. He had somehow scraped himself against something sharp and his stomach was now bleeding. If you are keeping track, this completed our family’s punch card. We are now entitled to one free injury on our next ABD! I found the guides, obtained a Band-Aid, and dressed P’s wound. Once P had been assured that Italian pirate ships don’t cause tetanus, we all went back to enjoying the cruise (with a moratorium on dance offs). In a day that had had many lows, we were so glad that we were able to end our time in Venice on a high note.