The East Coast road trip we just completed was by far the longest we have experienced in our 37 years together.  And we certainly learned some things along the way:

1.  Trip Advisor rocks.  The Trip Advisor web site  provides reviews of hotels, restaurants, attractions, flights, and cruises from travelers.  Not an endorsement (with who knows what perks exchanged) from a travel guide like Frommer's but everyday people like you and me tell about their experiences.  We found the reviews to be almost 100% spot-on correct.  Consulting TripAdvisor before we booked our hotel rooms proved to be an excellent filtering system to eliminate inadequately maintained properties. We also found it quite useful in finding good restaurants.

2.  We really like Canada.  (see Canada, eh? post).  We definitely intend to return to this hospitable country... and soon.

3.  Everyone has an Atlanta connection.  As we traveled in the U.S. (this was not true in Canada), we were amazed that almost everyone we talked to had a relative or knew someone who lived in the metro Atlanta area.

TRIP SUPERLATIVES
  

Best Food:  PF Chang's vegetarian lettuce wrap (Atlantic City and Asheville)
  

Best Meal (Ken):  Pan fried haddock at Old Triangle Irish Ale House in Moncton, NB
  

Best Meal (Dianne):  Eggplant Parmesan at Bravo Cuccina in Cranberry Township, PA
  

Best Soup:  Lefteris Gyro in Tarrytown, NY
  

Best Lodging:  Lantern Hill and Hollow, Ingonish, NS
  

Best Hotel:  Homewood Suites, Cranberry Township, PA
  

Best Natural Scenery:  (tie) Acadia National Park (Maine) and Cape Breton National Park (Nova Scotia)
  

Best Cityscapes:  Quebec City, QC; Ottawa, ON: and Pittsburgh, PA
  

Best Letterbox:  (tie) The Flying Boat and Pennies from Heaven (both by X Marks the Spot, both in Virginia)
  

Most Scenic Drive:  Cabot Trail, northern Nova Scotia
  

Best Tourist Attraction:  Lucy and Desi Museum, Jamestown, NY
  

Most Interesting Person Met:  Hank, the Kite Man, Portland, ME
  

Most Humorous Experience:  Waiting for the praying ladies, Virginia Beach, VA
  

Most Impatient Drivers:  New Jersey
  

Least Road Kill:  Maine, Vermont & New Hampshire
  

Best Information:  No poisonous snakes north of New Jersey
  

Best City Park:  Victoria Park in Truro, NS

TRIP STATS

• Miles driven:  8,484
• Letterboxes:  201 found, 10 planted
• States visited:  16
• Provinces visited:  5
• Countries visited:  2

The bottom line:  It was a great road trip, a superb odyssey in our Odyssey.  Two months was not too long.  We can't wait to head off in another direction.