The Maine and Eastern Seaboard Trip, Just the Facts, Maam!

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We went to our last stop in Maine in Old Orchard Beach, or “OOB” as the locals call it. This park was billed as a RV Resort, but reality is it is more of a mobile home/seasonal park with a few over night spaces.  We were attracted to the park by the positive reviews, and the fact that they honored Passport America.  Since we have been running  into some pretty pricey RV parks in the New England area, a Passport America value was pretty attractive.  But now we know why.

The park itself had many family amenities, pool, kids water park, play ground, and even  an outdoor theater that played kids movies or cartoons most days. If you choose this park, be prepared for LOTS of kids, not always being monitored or supervised.  The electric scooters and bikes were most troublesome, often in the hands of 6 – 10 year old's. Not getting hit or run over during our week stay was an accomplishment in itself.  The roads of the park are paved but the sites are gravel. They are good size however.  We had an end site, #68 that we spread out it.  However that  didn't stop the neighbors and their kids from  strolling through on their way to the pool.  Weekends were particularly crazy, with tons of kids going every which way.  The noise level in the park was pretty loud most nights, and just about always it was the permanent residents whooping it up until the wee hours. And there was no one to complain to as most of the workers in the office were young teens. 

We had a full hook up site which was fairly heavily treed, but with the help of my android app was able to get satellite from the roof top satellite dish.

We didn't see any dedicated handicapped sites, and the restrooms although new, were fairly cramped inside.  Interestingly, the wash basins were on the outside wall of the restroom, and many mornings we were treated with watching various male campers shaving.  There were also 2 washers and 2 dryers available at bathroom area, but those too were outside under a roof overhang. 

There was WiFi available at the park, but we used our Verizon service when we could. Signal on the island was pretty slow during the day, but was better at night. The other thing that bugged me was that even though this was a huge park (nearly 300 sites) there was no pet walk area.  That left you walk your pet down the many permanent lined streets, with the residents keeping an wary eye on you.  It just didn't feel comfortable.  We paid just over $42 a night with the Passport America discount.  To get to the OOB beach area a shuttle picks up right in front of the entry into the park and I believe was only $1 per person to ride. 

We toured the OOB area, and mostly it was older and a bit run down in many areas.  In sharp contrast we drove to the Kennebunk area which was obviously the “high rent district”.  We also drove past the “Bush compound”, home of the senior President and Mrs Bush.  It kind of sits out on it own little spit, or island but is easily visible from the road. 

I think if we are ever back in the area we would look for someplace a little more RV oriented, and less mobile home community. 
 

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We stayed just down the road at Wild Duck Campground, 39 Dunstan Landing Rd, Scarborough, ME 04074, wildduckcampground.com, (207) 883-4432.
Smaller campground but no problem with noise or kids. The area known as Dunstan in Scarborough, Maine, has a rich history. Settled by Europeans in 1651
Bill
 
OOB is an old school summer resort area typical of places like that on the coast. We went to a rally at Moody Beach a couple years ago and it was nearly impossible to move on Highway 1. Any place on the shore is a prime destination in the New England area.
Bill
 
You are right Gary. My standards don't necessarily equate to other folks. But I do reserve the right to complain about it!!

Exactly right Bill. We found that any place on the NE coast was in high demand, and "beggars can't be choosers" as mom used to say.
 
Double OB is also a favorite of the French Canadians from Quebec which really strains the available RV spaces.
 
Wawaloam Campground
510 Gardiner Road
West Kingston, RI 02892
Sometimes you just can't go by what the brochure says (or the on line reviews).  This campground was also highly rated and reported to have many amenities.  Well this campground would also qualify as a very family friendly place, as long as your rig is not too big.  This campground is very similar to the one we just left in that most of the sites are long term/seasonal campers.  Diane made a reservation for this campground back in January when she was planning the trip.  She specifically provided our RV size and that we requested FHU and a ?lightly treed? site.  They assured her that is was no problem, and we made the reservation for a week stay. 

Upon arrival that wasn't exactly what we found.  The sites we were given was up at the end of a long narrow road in a cave of trees.  When I got backed in we quickly figured out that the site was too small for the motorhome to fit on the pad.  The site had a cement RV pad that was on a site that was uphill from the road. Only the pad itself was semi level, and the dirt at either end dropped off quickly.  No matter where I put the RV,  one set of jacks was not on the pad, and into the very off camber dirt. 

We went back to the office to discuss the issue with the staff (which were very friendly by the way).  They looked at their campground map and  declared that the site was ?too small? for our size rig.  With few options available, we took  another site, W&E only.  I  dodged some tree limbs to pull in, and found it too was pretty off  camber in both directions. I was able to block the jacks to get us level, but we still were not overly pleased with the site.  This one backed up to a large green moss covered water hole, and was next to the play area and campground store which made our site the ?pass through? for all the campground traffic to go through. 

We quickly decided to cut the stay down to 3 days, just long enough to get us through the weekend and move on down the road.  The site was $50 a night, which included a $3 a day pet fee, which I think is excessive.  The restrooms were clean, but old and not handicapped accessible. WiFi was offered for checking email only. The cell signal here was also very weak, so the Verizon air card struggled as well.

Fisherman?s Memorial State Park
1011 Point Judith Road
Narragansett, RI  02882
After deciding to cut the stay short, Diane went on line and checked Fisherman?s Memorial State Park. A really popular place she had tried to get into before settling on Wawaloam.  Surprisingly she found a site that was available for the 4 days that we needed to  fill.  It was in loop 2, a W&E site, but it fit or needs nicely.  The park is so in demand that most of the sites sell out year to year with the same folks reserving far in advance.  The roads and pads are paved, but the patio area is all grass.  When we arrived at the park, it was mostly sold out. We found our site and after a little shrub trimming by me, we settled in. 

While hooking up I had a nice surprise. The on line web site lists only loop 1 as FHU, 2&3 as W&E, and 4 as dry camping.  While hooking up I quickly realized that we had sewer as well! It appears that loop #2 had sewer added last year, and the web site has not been updated.

The sites were good size, and some had trees and shrubs between the sites. Even though the park is on the coast, only a few sites in loop 1 could actually have a small view of the bay area off of the main body of water. The restrooms are clean but small, and may be handicapped accessible to some extent. The Verizon air card worked pretty well here, and better with the antenna mast extended.

The prices were better too, we paid $35 a night for the FHU site. The worst part about this location is that we noted that some of the sites are extremely out of level.  The campground is slightly terraced so one end of the site is higher than the other.  If you get lucky enough to get a site here, try using Google earth to scope out the sites first.  Our site, #51 was one of the more level sites.

There were some pretty strict rules that applied to this park, although in the 4 days we were there, not one ranger or park employee came by or patrolled the park.  One that almost no one cares about in the east, is ?absolutely no parking on the grass?.  The other was ?no alcohol permitted  in the park?.  I did actually see folks not exactly adhering to either rule, but no one ever did  anything about it. 

While in this park we did a tour of the mansions in Newport, RI.  While many of the ?cottages? as the wealthy owners referred to them are pretty spectacular, it is interesting that many are now owned by the the state, or the Preservation Society. Apparently the owners couldn't afford to keep them, so they just let them go, or sold them on the cheap.  Many of the mansions are open and available for tours.

Either way, if you are going to stay in RI, this is a top choice to stay.

 

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Fisherman's is one of our favorite campgrounds, and we do make reservations a year in advance. Area 2 was redone last year, but they did a lousy job. Sites are not level, and some of the sewer connections are a foot or more above ground level.

Area 3 is tents only; Area 4 is W/E. We like Area 4, because the sites are large, level and secluded. It's a great home base to visit Newport and Block Island.
 
I have not been able to get in Fisherman?s Maybe next year. We have stayed a a place in Road Island on Warden's Pond. You are right Fisherman?s  is a good location.
Bill
 
HappyWanderer said:
Area 3 is tents only; Area 4 is W/E.

Thanks for the info, I was going from memory (which isn't great at times).  We heard some complaints from a neighbor that some of the new sewer sites were not installed correctly. Fortunately that was not our site. Ones across the road had some really steep drives that a motor home would have a tough time leveling on.  It doesn't seem to keep anyone away though, as the place was packed.

WILDEBILL308 said:
Maybe next year.

Better start early Bill, it sounds like trying to get into the Keys in January!
 
We just recently stayed at Wawaloam since we couldn't get a site at Fisherman's. We didn't have the problem with our site that you did, but we were in the front on a gravel/dirt site with no trees. While it wasn't the best place we've stayed, it wasn't the worst....just okay, I'd say. Our bad experience was we ate at the "restaurant" on Friday night as the lady in the office said they have the best meatloaf in RI. Well, I guess that's subjective because just like the site, it wasn't bad, but wasn't that good, either. DH got fried clams and got food poisoning. We had a horrible night until about 3:00 a.m.. So, our Wawaloam experience wasn't a great one either.
 
Sarge, This happened the day after we drove this road. I saw a bunch of rocks that you wonder how they stay in place.
http://fox13now.com/2016/08/10/zion-mount-carmel-highway-closed-after-huge-rock-falls-on-road/
Bill
 
Liberty Harbor RV Park
11 Luis Munoz Marin Blvd
Jersey City, NJ 07302​

It has been 6 years since our last New York/New Jersey experience.  We were hoping that the park had improved in that time period, as it was a bit rough last time we were here.  Well, not so much. In fact, things are in a little worse shape than the last time we were here.  For those that don't know, this park is a great place from which to visit New York city, as the Path train picks up about 5 blocks from the park and delivers you to a variety of stops in NYC, including the World Trade Center and Memorial. 

So they get LOTS of business here, even though this park barely rates ?parking lot? status.  Since we were here last, the park added RV site markers bolted to the ground to define parking spots.  Actually it just allowed them to wedge as many rigs into the available space as possible.  The park is W&E only,  with a dump station.  The sites are heavy small gravel, and the road is paved.  A RV site here is a whopping $90 a night.  We stayed for 7 days and got one day free, which brought the price down to $83 a night. There is a bath house on site, but is in serious need of updating.  It looks to be handicapped accessible, but there is NO AC in the building, so they are hot.

The electric service is easy to see, as all of the wires for the sites are strung overhead on a low wire. Even though we were connected to a 50 amp pedestal, we spent the whole week surviving on 30 amp power.  Apparently all of the sites are wired on the same line.  So with 50 amp electric consisting of 2- 120 volt feeds, line #1 is carrying all of the rigs in the park that are using a 30 amp plug, which is 1- 120 volt feed. 

That was apparent the first day when our Progressive Industries surge guard took us off line several times. When I checked the digital display, Line 1 was hovering around 105 volts, but Line 2 was showing 120 volts.  But that doesn't help me, if either line drops below 104 volts, the surge guard takes us off line to protect all our 120 volt appliances.  The first day I ran the generator for about 1 1/2 hours to get through the heat of the day.  The second day I started the rear AC unit early, and since the rear AC is wired on line 2, we never dropped below the 104 volt threshold on line 1. But for the rest of the week we were restricted to 1 AC unit in the heat and humidity, and doing laundry and cooking was a juggling act for Diane.  Not really acceptable for $90 a night and gravel.  The last day was a real stretch. The heat index was at 103 degrees and 1 AC wasn't cutting it. So turned off every possible draw  I could find in the rig, including the battery charger, and fired up AC 1.  It worked kinda, but we still went off line half a dozen times.  This and the park has many empty spots.

The surrounding area has boomed in the last 6 years, and views of The Statue of Liberty are difficult at best now. A high rise office building (60+ stories) on the back fence of the park creates a back drop of construction noise all day long. The road into the park is more ?mine field? looking than  road, and there are NO signs to let you know that the park is at the end of the road.  The office staff are security guards for the parking lot, and fill in registering people in.  They do their best, but not really well equipped for this function.  The Port Authority which owns the site and adjoining Ferry Terminal have abandoned maintenance on the area. Even though a dock area where various sail and power boats are docked is adjacent to the lot, foot high weeds and trash are everywhere.  If it sounds like I am being hard on this place, you would be right! This is one of those places best described as ?It is what it is?. 

We did make several trips into and around the city during our stay, so it was not a wasted stop. But given the state of the park, the cost, and the conditions walking the city streets, and the amazing lack  of signage on streets around New Jersey, it's a good bet this will be our last trip to NYC. Kinda ?Been there, done that?. 

 

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Wow, that really is a "you're there for the destination" sortof campground, isn't it?

Those tent sites are wonderful there, in your 2nd picture.....
and the upskirt photo of the hot chick in your 4th photo..... I just had to chuckle about that!

and I love the idea of the captions in your last couple of photos.... that would make a great pub crawl tour/trip..... George drank here and so did I!  Sign me up!!
 
We thought about staying at Liberty Harbor for convenience, but I'm pleased with our decision to stay up the Hudson at Croton Point SP.  Full hookups, much more scenic, and a 50 minute train ride into Grand Central.  We only made one trip into the City, though.  I may have felt differently if we were there for several days.

Edit:  Just read Diane's blog.  Re: NYC, we concur.  The lowlight was when I desperately needed to use the facilities after a subway trip, so I ventured into a NYC subway station men's room.  It was literally 120 degrees inside, it stunk to high heaven and the floor was filled with what I thought to be trash, but later discovered to be the earthly possessions of the gentleman in the single stall.  As I started to take care of business at the urinal next to the stall, said gentleman started aggressively panhandling me from underneath the partition.  I zipped up and beat a hasty exit.  I didn't bother to wash my hands because I figured further time in the restroom would be a less sanitary option.

Diane would not have liked it.
 
SargeW said:
BTW, Diane's blog was updated as well. Lots of pics and quite and interesting point of view there!

I got lots of chuckles from Diane's NY blog posts.  As a country girl, I would probably react the same way since I don't like crowds and I don't like rudeness.  I was feeling claustrophobic just looking at the pictures!  ;D
 

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