I’ve been travelling throughout the United States my entire life. With multiple trips each year, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have travelled to 19 different states—all with my family.
My parents, two brothers, and I pack ourselves into the truck multiple times every summer as we tow our trailer across the eastern United States. I spend anywhere from a few hours to a few days side-by-side with my brothers, only to spend another week or so in a trailer when we get to our campsites.
Needless to say, travelling has made my family very close.
My first road trip in the States was to Virginia in 2004—I was 10 months old. My brothers Ben and Grady weren’t born until 2005 and 2008. It was just my mom, my dad, and me, strapped to my dad’s back.
As the years went by and my family grew, we’ve traded in old trucks and trailers for new ones. For a three-year stint, we had a permanent trailer on Pike Lake, near my hometown of Perth, and we bought a second 15-foot trailer for travelling. Try squeezing two adults and three teenagers in a 15-foot trailer. It’s not always fun.
We always put a lot of miles on each truck and trailer before getting a new one. Now, here are my favourite destinations those miles have taken us to.
South of the Border, South Carolina
Located just across the border from North Carolina, South of the Border first started as a beer stand to supply residents of the dry state of North Carolina in the late 1940s. It was soon turned into a drive-in motel. Later capitalizing on selling fireworks to North Carolina residents (as they were illegal then), the site expanded to what it is today.
In fact, since its expansion in the 60s, not much has changed; it feels like you’re stepping back in time.
The first time we visited, my brothers and I were curious why our parents would take us to such a place. It looked almost abandoned. We got out of the truck and walked around, looking in the shops, restaurants, and arcades. We stumbled across a reptile zoo, which had the most impressive—and dangerous—reptiles I’ve ever seen.
Any normal person driving down the interstate wouldn’t even think to stop; however, motocross fanatics would be surprised to see the brand-new track around back of the attraction site and the artifacts they have collected, including one of Travis Pastrana’s bikes. Pastrana is a household name in my family, so that discovery was very cool.
Driving by South of the Border, you’d probably question your safety—something we did when we stayed in their campground as kids. It’s become a bit of a family joke, and a required stop any time we’re driving through.
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Home of Dolly Parton and Dollywood, Pigeon Forge is located a few hours east of Nashville.
Dollywood, Parton’s theme park, is one of the most beautiful parks we’ve ever been to—and we’ve been to a lot.
Parton’s music has had a big influence on me and my values. Going to the park, which she built in the same town as her little Tennessee Mountain Home, is inspirational. Seeing how little Parton had while she made the best of what she was given is a very important message that I’m reminded of whenever I visit Dollywood.
Rooted in Tennessee, country music solidifies a bond within my family, but I believe Pigeon Forge touches on that more than Nashville ever will.
Pigeon Forge borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. With beautiful trails you can both walk and drive through, you understand why so many country singers mention the Smoky Mountains in their songs.
The last time we were in the Smoky Mountains, we stumbled upon some historical sites. We visited the remnants of small log home along the side of a creek. The site explained how the homemakers lived off the land and spent their days in the mountains. It made me want to go back in time and live the way they did with my own family.
Ocean City, Maryland
I was a certified horse girl growing up, and all horse girls know about the wild horses of Assateague Island. Once you cross a bridge, you enter a conservation area where wild horses continue to roam the island like they have since the 17th century.
On our most recent trip, we kayaked around the island, watching the horses graze along the beach.
Assateague Island is one of the many places we’ve visited on our trips to Maryland. We always camp close to Ocean City and take day trips to anywhere else we want to go.
Our favourite campground is Frontier Town, a wild west resort. There are stables located within the campground, with a western theme park off to the side. Throughout the day, showdowns would take place between the cowboys in the park using fake weapons, but on real horses.
Of many adventures you can go on, we went on a horse-drawn carriage ride through the woods. As our family got in the carriage, we were tasked with one goal: protect the gold they gave us. As the ride progressed, we were robbed by “hillbillies” and didn’t complete our goal.
During the evenings, western shows entertained guests in the arena with roping tricks, roman riding, trick riding, and impressive gunmanship.
Outside the campground, Ocean City has a beautiful beach and wooden boardwalk that feels like a fair all summer long. The Maryland beach is much cleaner and quieter than most beaches on the American Atlantic Coast but doesn’t skip out on touristy pastimes.
My family isn’t big on spending days and days on the beach. We’d much rather fill our days with fun activities. I’m from a rural area, so when we go on trips, we try to go to places that offer more than our hometown. We live in lake country, so we can go sit on a beach anytime we want. We’d rather go do something different, hit attractions that can’t be done anywhere else.
But for days when we do just want to relax by the ocean, Ocean City allows this. We’ve been three or four times now and keep coming back because it offers it all.
Lake George, New York
This is the finale, the top of all our lists—a place my brothers and I would move to if we had to move anywhere.
Lake George, New York, located in the Adirondack Mountains, has been a location we’ve been travelling to for the past 18 years. We always hit Lake George in the summer at least once a year (except when travel restrictions were imposed due to COVID-19) and have made many trips in the winter.
Some people have cottages where their summer childhood memories live. This is where mine are.
My family stays in the Lake George RV Park, just outside of the Lake George Village. The park is massive and offers a trolley to get around it. There are multiple amenities, all within the trees and hills, to make it seem like you’re in the wilderness when you’re on your site.
My favourite amenity has to be the French Mountain Playhouse, where entertainers take to the stage performing for the guests. There’s no fee for campers to attend, but the entertainment is world-class.
My first memory of this was with my dad watching Michael Mills, a local magician, perform magic tricks as my mom stayed at the trailer with my baby brother.
The Lake George RV Park and surrounding area is home to so many childhood memories, as is every location that we have travelled to. Many of these memories my family shares and bonds over, even as us kids will be turning 21, 19, and 16 this year. We continue to go on these trips, fighting back against growing up.
Tags
bonding, family, Road Trips, Travelling
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