US Tour 2001/NorthEast Loop
July 10 ~ 15, 2001
My important goal in this tour was to eat Lobster in Maine. I have already been to New York, Boston, Washington D.C. So, This time, I wanted to avoid big cities and traffic jams, and to explore the nature and historical sites in this area. But my friend told me "to be a tour to be around the US, you had to visit Washington D.C. and take photos of Washington and Lincoln Memorials..." I changed my mind to visit the capital of the United States of America.

Around Washington D.C.: Now I was driving alone, again. My first stop was the Gettysburg National Military Park (1). This was the most severe and largest battle ever fought on the soil of the US. They had a pretty good exhibitions and a museum about the Civil War history and backgrounds, as well as the battle itself. The National Cemetry was located in very ordinary country side of Pennsylvania. After learning how many soldiers died and how they fought made the scenery looked different. Next was another historical site, Harper's Ferry National Historic Park (2). This small town was once a hub of transportation in 1800s. It was also another fierce battleground during the Civil War. Put history aside, this town was located in a beautiful setting, where the Potmach and Shedonnah River meet. In Washington D.C. (3), I stayed only for 3 hours just to take photos of the Washington and Lincoln Memorials.

NorthEastern Coast: Without visiting white house, nor congress, nor museums, nor even the famous Smithonians, I headed to Cape Cod (4). I think I was getting tired and sick. In Cape Cod, I had stomach problem after eating a Lobster. I was not in a mood of exploring nor hiking the park. I also felt that Cape Cod was for people in a long vacation, not for a person who is rushing to see things. Acadia National Park (5) was another beautiful park, which just looked like Setonaikai in Japan. Well, that was how my friend described the park to me. I've never been to the Setonaikai. By the time I was even more tired. Also I found I could not digest Lobster well. Of course, such knowledge did not discourage me from eating lobsters...

Inland NorthEast: From the eastern most state of Maine, my journey turned to the west. I took the slow surface road, US-2. The first part went through Aparachia Mountains again. While passing through many interesting places such as White Mountains and Adirondack Parks, I arrived the Niagara Falls (6) at 10:00pm in the evening. The fall was beautifully illuminated. Surprisingly, I could take some nice photos in such dark. I was happy, and ready to go further west.

(Left) Niagara Falls from America's Side.