PLANNED vs. ACTUAL:

This trip was partly to make up for places missed during earlier trips, and, to explore for fun a seemingly remote part of the Mid-Atlantic states -- the entire peninsula of Delaware which also has parts of Maryland and Virginia.
Also, three cities I planned to visit -- Allentown, Newark DE and Annapolis -- are all on my list of possible retirement places. Fromm visiting, Allentown got knocked off the list.
Interestingly, all my original route plans basically got reversed because of rain in the forecast for days #2 and #3. I wanted some photo shots of the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean -- tough to do in rain. So no sunrises or sunsets seen at all this trip.
I did come to the conclusion that I have no desire to live in Virginia or Maryland or Delaware or New Jersey or anywhere in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. I will shift my focus to New England states. I would prefer to be within a two-hour drive on the Boston Back Bay.

PHILADELPHIA and ALLENTOWN: This is my third time to the City of Standing in Line (as I nicknamed it the first time I visited three decades ago, playing on their City of Brotherly Love nickname). And, with visiting the University of Pennsylvania, I have now visitied the campuses of all eight of the Ivy League schools (although I no longer have the photographs for Harvard University but I still have a jersey bought there).
I note that highway drivers in Philadelphia, for the 55 mph posted speed limits, drive 75 to 80 mph.
As for Allentown, I was disappointingly unimpressed.
NEW JERSEY: I have been to and through New Jersey several times in the past including spending eight weeks in the South Orange area in 1980 for business trips. I have also been here several times on vacation trips including visiting Princeton and photographing the state capitol. This time I am getting to some places missed before, mostly major universities. Well, that and visiting the homes of two US Presidents in Princeton. Cleveland (this time I got the correct house, got the wrong one a couple of years ago, and back then I did not realize that President Wilson, as president of Princeton, lived in the Prospect House -- wow, that is a gorgeous place). I really like to city of Princeton, gorgeous town with that Ivy League look and feel..
DELAWARE PENINSULA: Whereas most of the Mid-Atlantic coast seems so crowded and over-built and over-populated, the peninsula that Delaware sits on seems remote by comparison. No interstate highways. No major cities -- Dover is the biggest. I have long thought it would be fun to visit here. While planning the return visit to Philadelphia I noticed how close Delaware is so I expanded my trip.
I most likely would not be happy living in one of the numerous small coastal towns. For one, they will be underwater in a few decades. Two, they have only little Mom and Pop shops, mostly for tourists to buy trinkets and knicknacks. No big stores. No chains. No big grocery stores. And certainly none of the big city amenities. I would miss all of that. So this trip has helped me narrow down my list of places to live in retirement. I find that the type of places I want to visit are either a natural beauty thing or has historical significance.
I was surprisingly at how large Lewes DE is. Quite a number of large stores. The adjacent Cape Henlopen State Park is nice -- good accessible beaches.

MISSED VISITING:
--A beach with a sunrise
--A bay with a sunset
--Liberty Bell (although I had seen it decades ago)
--Tilghman Island MD -- I really was looking forward to seeing this area but the downpouring rain cancelled everything slated for Tuesday
--Deal Island MD -- I really was looking forward to seeing this area but the downpouring rain cancelled everything slated for Tuesday
--Janes Island State Park near Crisfield MD -- since I skipped going to the southern tip of the Delaware peninsula because of the downpour, visiting this place was cancelled
--Savage Neck Dunes State Natural Area Preserve near Cape Charles VA -- since I skipped going to the southern tip of the Delaware peninsula because of the downpour, visiting this place was cancelled
--Parkers Marsh Natural Area Preserve near Onancock VA -- since I skipped going to the southern tip of the Delaware peninsula because of the downpour, visiting this place was cancelled
--Baywood Bed and Breakfast in Charles City VA -- The downpouring rain, my five hours of driving from Newark DE to the southern tip of the Delaware Peninsula was taking twice as long. So this was skipped (since I was really going there to photograph a the sunset and sunrise) although I still had to pay for it due to the 48-hour cancellation policy.

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

• Very few PT Cruisers seen, five over the weekend including three in Allentown. One in Philadelphia and one in Newark DE. I did see half a dozen on Monday in various rainy places.
• The US States along the mid-Atlantic coast -- Virginia to New York, seem to have a lot of cloudy and/or rainy days.
• While driving the New Jersey turnpike, I noticed that if I did the speed limit of 65 mph that about 90% of cars would pass me. When I paced some of the in the middle of three lanes at 72 mph only about 60% of the cars passed me. Several times I slowed down fromm 72 to to 65 mph to see what would happen. Same thing each time -- a swarm of vehicles, like flies, would surround me within two minutes then "buzz off".
• I can see why New Jersey is the Garden State -- they do see to have more trees and bushes that surrounding states. Just a feeling of it.
• I hate toll roads, they are a rip off although I see why states charge them -- big bucks. What a time-waster, especially stopping once for a ticket a a second time to pay. At least Delaware's is better -- stop once and every vehicle pays $4.00 vs. how many miles traveled.
• Philadelphians drive about 20 mph over the posted speed limits

The Bests:

1. Princeton NJ, the town and the campus
2. Cape Henlopen State Park at Lewes DE
3. Ben Franklin National Memorial -- he is my #1 favorite person, and most admired person, in all of history

The Worsts:

1. Two-and-a-half days of downpouring rain (days #3 and #4 of six) cost me two days and several missed places to visit
2. Neither a sunrise nor a sunset seen
3. New Jersey Turnpike
4. The number of cloudy days in the Mid-Atlantic coastal states. Bad for photographing things. Seems like Mid-Atlantic coastal states are always cloudy/rainy when I visit them

The Totals:

• Miles Driven: 948
• Driving: 23 hours in 6 days
• States: 5 -- Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia
• Major Universities: 8 (or 9!) -- Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, Villanova, Princeton (again), Seton Hall, Rutgers, Delaware (does this one count as a major university???). I have now visited all eight Ivy League campuses although I need to revisit Harvard and MIT. I also visited Widener University in Chester PA. Never heard of it before but it was across the street from my hotel.
• Pictures Taken: 264 (and deleted 9 of them)
• National Parks: 5 (Independence Hall(repeat), Thaddeus Kosciuszko Monument, Edgar Allen Poe House, Assateague Island National Seashore, and, FINALLY, Benjamin Franklin National Memorial). That makes four new ones bringing my total of national park sites to 111. And now that I have turned age 62 I am eligible for the lifetime pass card for $10 vs the annual ones I have gotten for years that went from $55 to $85 over the years.
• Hours Wearing Sunglasses: 2