Conneticut 2016

July 21, 2016

Yale University is located in the town of New Haven, CT about 50 miles from us.   We arrive and find the visitors center and learn that we can take the 12:00 PM tour.   To get inside the main campus, you have to be with a tour guide, a student, faculty member, etc.  They have extremely tight security in the housing and most building areas. 

The person at the visitors center suggested we take a walk up Hillside Ave.  Mark Twain called this one of the most beautiful streets in America.  It's a street with old homes that are now dorms and/or offices.

The tour last about 75 minutes and is a walking tour.   You get to see where the freshman live, they all live in a common area, a big square.   The school also has what they call 12 colleges inside the school, this is so that the students learn about different ethnics, languages, etc.    When you arrive as a student, you are randomly assigned a college, this is where you spend the 90% of your time, while living on the campus.  

You do get to go inside the main library, which holds 15 million books, however the public only gets to go in and take a peek.   You must have the proper credentials to see where the books are located.  The area we did see, is striking and worth you time to see. 

History  and architecture abound here.   The buildings are spectacular and so striking.  You just want to stare and reflect upon the designer that created them, but the tour keeps you moving.   In fact, it moves so fast, it's difficult to take all the pics you want.  The church tower that Yale built on the 216 anniversary of the college is 216' tall, in honor of their anniversary.   It's incredibly beautiful and a must see.

Had lunch at a food wagon near the bookstore (last stop).   It was a slider that was delicious.

Got back home around 4, we'll stay in and listen to Donald Trump give his speech at the RNC tonight.

July 20, 2016

The first nuclear submarine is located in the Groton, CT, so decided to go see it.   We arrived at around 10 and found a parking spot.  This facility is actual part of the base but you don't have to go

through their security.  

The submarine Nautilus is located here and you get to tour it and the museum for free.   This is my first time touring a submarine and to think it one similar to the one my brother Roger served on, was so cool.  It was amazing to see the living quarters and working conditions, honestly not sure I could live on one of these for 5-6 months at a time.   Talk about a tin can!   In fact, one of the ladies in front of us, left as see was claustrophobic.  

They give you a walking tour and you listen to different stations that describe that area.   Very interesting.   We then toured the museum, in which we saw the two names of the subs that Rog served on:  USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Seadragon.  

Next we drove into New London, where we looked at two lighthouses, one was not open to the public and the other is located in the bay.   We then stopped by Fort Trumbull, not much to see.  They are remodeling and all the guns, etc. have removed.

On our drive home, we stopped at Gillette Castle, this was once owned by William Gillette.   He was an American Actor who portrayed Sherlock Holmes on the stage.   It's an amazing castle built alongside the CT river.   The views must have been incredibly back then, they still are but obviously the trees are much larger.   The only sad thing, we could not tour the inside as it's only open on Thursday thru Sunday.

July 19, 2016

Drove into Hartford, which is about 35 miles to our NW.   This is where the CT state capital is plus this is the insurance capital of the world!

Our first stop was the capital.  We took the guided tour, boy did we have a fun guide.   Elaine (told us to call her Mom, even though she's younger than us).   What a character, plus she made the tour very entertaining plus knew her knowledge of the capital.

Like so many of the capitals we've seen, lots of state history here.   It's a very uniquely designed capital, with lots of Italian, French and Spanish marble.   Most of the statues, give you history about important individuals in CT history, ie:  Nathan Hale, Prudence Crandell and Mark Twain.

At the end of the tour, we even got to meet the Governor!

Next we headed to the Supreme Court Building, where of course we saw the Supreme Court plus their state history museum.  Inside the museum, you learn more about the history plus they had a great display of Colt firearms.

After grapping some lunch, we headed to Mark Twain's home and museum.  You are not allowed to take photos, so all we can show you is the outside.  The inside is amazing for it's time.   They had running water, flush toilets, 12 fireplaces plus telephone, although Mark Twain hated the phone.   The home is very dark so it was difficult to see some of the furnishings (very few windows in the home).   It's a tremendous part of our history, as he wrote 5-6 books here, of which included Adventures of Huck Finn.

Across the lawn is the prior home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Tom Sawyer.   We did not tour her home, as it's was too late in the day.  It is much different than Mark Twain's home, as you can see from the picture.

July 18, 2016

Went to the local mall and walked around for a couple of hours, as we can get into our next stop until after 1 PM.  

Left Ludlow, MA around 12:00 and arrived here in East Hampton, CT at the Nelson's Family Campground around 1:15.   On the drive in, we passed Lake Pocotopaug, the largest fresh water lake in CT.  It's a beautiful lake with homes and docks around every bend.

Got settled into our site and then I decided to go into town and look around at the local nursery (we had passed it on our way in).   Looked around and then decided I needed a pedicure, so got one. 

Took a long walk after dinner, very nice campground.  Has lots of full time trailers with great patios added to them.   They also have a lake for fishing plus your regular amenities.

Mass 2016

July 31, 2016

I ran some errands and then came home.  

The Massachuets State Elks Picnic was today, which was held at the Saugus-Everett Lodge.    Great gathering and we had the opportunity to meet the GER (Grand Exalted Ruler) Mike Zellen and his wife Donna.   Wonderful people.  We agreed that when they come to AZ in May, we'll catch up with them.

Later in the evening we went to the lodge and had a drink with them and their daughter Michele, she's a lovely person.

July 30, 2016

Took the train into downtown Boston, great way to get in and out of the city.   Got off at the Fenway Market stop, this puts in right in the heart of the city.   Looked around the market and then headed towards Paul Revere's home via the Freedom Trail.  The trail is marked on the sidewalk via red bricks, making it very easy to follow.  

Next stop was the North Church, famous for telling the locals that the British were coming with the lanterns.   This church is different than any we seen, in that, it has tall square box that families sat/sit in.   The box are about 4' tall, I could barely see over them.   The minister stands on a raised pulpit so that parishioners can see him.   Families would pay to own these boxes and would decorate them in any way the desired.  Obviously this was a rich man's church.

We then walked up the hill to the Copps Hill Cemetery.   Here you'll find the oldest grave in Boston.  On the way back to downtown, we walked through Little Italy, saying to ourselves we'd return for lunch.   However, we didn't!

Found Faneuil Hall, looked through it and some of the shops, then continued over to Quincy Square and some of those shops.  Decided we needed to continue on the Freedom Trail before I started shopping.

Old State House, Boston Massacre, King's Chapel and Old Granary Burial Grounds are just some of the sites we saw.   Once we visited the cemetery (this is where Paul Revere is buried), we headed back to Faneuil Hall to do our shopping and have lunch.   Had lunch at Oyster Bar, had clam Chowdar (they talk funny here) in a bread bowl, comparably to San Francisco.   Bought a few things while shopping and then headed to the open market, where you can buy incredible fruits and vegs at the best prices we've ever seen!

July 29, 2016

Samuel Adams Brewery was our first stop today.   Very interesting tour, much like any other brewery we toured but the oldest one here in Boston.   Got to sample 5 beers (pretty early for sampling for me...only 10:00 AM), this place is famous for its ales, which are NOT our favorites, ok Bobby's favorite...lol.

JFK Library is about 4.5 miles away, so we head there.   It tells the story of his life up to his election as president.   Sadly it does not show much on his assassination, you do see the date and those infamous words by Walter Cronkite that he was passed away.    The library it's self is beautiful, much different than others we've seen.   They do show much more on his earlier years and many movies with his family growing up.

Fenway Park is our next stop, for those that don't know, it's the home of the Red Sox.   The tour tells you all the history on the park.  We got to sit in the green monster area, famous for those home runs balls coming at you at 100 mph.   Also saw the press box where Brad Pitt sat while filming the movie "money".   The longest recorded home run is marked by a  red seat, 502' long.   Many home runs are hit out of the park, but they are unable to record them!

The drive home was long, only 13 miles but took us 1.5 hrs, welcome to the big city rush hour traffic!!!

 July 28, 2016

Went out to breakfast and then found a place to fix our screen on our front door.   Very nice company and only charged us $10.

Saugus Ironworks National Park is nearby, this place tells you about the blacksmith industry and how important it was to our nation.   There are several buildings you get to tour and see how the iron was created and turned into the necessary tools to create and build structures back in the 1700's.  In fact, a ranger made us a nail like they did in the old days and then gave it to Bobby to keep.  It was interesting to see the size of the billows and much stuff they'd make in a day.   A good blacksmith could make a 1,000 nails.

You might ask why so many?   The doors on these buildings had anywhere from 100 to 160 per door.   If you were rich, you had fancy nails with decorative heads, which this family did.

The witches are calling my name, so we head to Salem, MA.  We took the tour of the Salem Witch Museum, what a disappointing program they have.   First off, some of the seats, you can't see the displays they show you.   They do a good job of telling you the story but I don't think it was worth the admission fee.  

We then walked to the Maritime Historical Museum operated by the National Park.  Had lunch and then walked around town, seeing the cemetery, memorial to the witch trials and looked in a few shops.    Bobby is not feeling well, heat has gotten to him, so we head home around 2:30.   Rain is supposed to come tonight, so hopefully tomorrow will be in the low 80's

July 27, 2016

Headed to Saugus, MA, where we'll spend the next 4-5 days here at the Saugus-Everett Elks Lodge.   Very nice lodge with only 15 amp hook up, but they're not charging us, which is extremely unusual, however, they'll get it out of us in drinks...lol.

Traffic was a nightmare coming in on the I-95, couldn't take I-93, motorhomes are not allowed in the tunnels.  Once we got settled in, we headed to the Minute Man National Monument.   This is where Paul Revere  and others warned the Militia that the British were coming.  As most know, they fired the shot that was heard around the world!

It a strange feeling to stand on the road that helped establish our independence.  We saw the North Bridge, this is where the Milita turned the Redcoats and made them head back to Boston.  Also stopped at the Tavern, Bobby keeps asking, where's the beer!

On the return trip stopped at the prior home of Lousia May Alcott, author of "Little Women".   Brought back childhood memories of reading her books.

 It's very hot and humid so we get tired quickly these days.   Once we finished seeing most of the sites, headed back to the air conditioning.

Went to Lodge and met Michele, daughter of the Grand Exhaled Ruler, what an honor for this lodge.   She invited us to play trivia later in the evening (we went back an listened for about 30 min).   She also invited us to the State Picnic for Elks on Sunday, we'll probably stay.

July 26, 2016

Capital of Rhode Island is Providence, so that was our destination today! It's a very hot and humid day, so we started out early in hopes of doing our sightseeing before it gets unbearable.

We parked near the "Superman" building (movies were filmed here), which is about 1 mile from the capital.   We had heard on the news they are giving tours, but when we arrived, we couldn't locate the tours.   We knew they might not be every day, to bad as we think this would have been very interesting.   This building was built for a bank, so most of it involves the vaults, etc.   Something for our next trip.

City hall is close by, so we walked over there.  It's not as fancy as a capital but nice.   We did get to see some of the pics of the many floods (caused by hurricanes) that have caused havoc on this town.

The capital was our next stop, we were about 1/2 hr before the tour, but the tour person gave us a quick overview of the building.   Like so many other buildings in this era, it's beautiful and has lots of gold leaf.  The same architect that build the Vanderbilt homes in Newport, RI designed this capital.   We could definitely see his style.  The rotunda is being updated with paint, so we could get a good pic of it, but it's the 4th largest free standing rotunda in the world.  

July 25, 2016

Cape Cod is about 30 miles away so we headed out there.   We were told that traffic was a nightmare, but honestly it wasn't that bad, no different that Seaside, OR on a week day.

Found out way to Woods Hole, MA, home of the ferry that takes you to Martha's Vineyard.   I knew we need a reservation and I had not made one, so decided to just spend the day looking around the Cape.   When we arrived at the ferry landing, it was packed with people trying to get onto the ferries.   Makes for almost impossible parking in this area, but we found a spot about 4 blocks away. 

While looking at a park with some statues, I noticed that WHOI was located here.   WHOI (Woods H Oceanographic Institute) is the owner of "Alvin", the underwater rover that located the remains of the Titanic back in the 80's.   Some of the fascinating things we learned:  it cost $35,000 every time if dives, can only stay down 6-8 hrs, no bathrooms on board plus batteries die after 10 hrs; three people are on board, of which one is the pilot; it can dive up to 4 miles and takes amazing photos!

Atlantis was in port, so we took several pics of it too!   Atlantis is the ship that transports Alvin to its destination.   So cool that we got to see this and see some of the things they've discovered and are in the process of doing: tracking white sharks, studying algae, search for live in the depths of the ocean, etc.

Took a drive along the coast line to take in the cape, honestly it's not as beautiful as the Outer Banks but still nice.   One odd thing, most of the beaches are private so finding a public beach is difficult.  We then headed into downtown Falmouth, here we walked up and down the main street.   Looked in many shops, looking for that elusive gift I want.  Still haven't found the right thing!

On the way home, we found a mall about 2 miles from us, so stopped in.   Still didn't buy anything!

July 24, 2016

Plymouth Rock is out destination today.   It's not exactly what I was expecting but my friend Terry and told me not to get excited when I saw it.   Honestly, it could be any rock that someone put there.   Yes it has a date on it but it's so small I just wonder if it's the real rock?   When you see the pics, you'll understand.

Mayflower II is here, so we walked over to grab some pics, they've done a nice replication except it doesn't have the name on it, wonder why?

Plymouth has a wonderful bay and it's filled with many boats.   We walked around and admired many of them.  Also took a walk out onto the pier, to get better shots of the city.

After looking through the shops and taking in an art bazaar, we headed to National Monument of our forefathers.   What an impressive monument that took 11 years to build.  It's 182' tall and is made of solid granite.    It shows all the names of those that arrived on the Mayflower.

We are into geocashing, so we had to find one for MA, so we went into the neighborhood around the monument, found the geocash we were looking for.  The lady whose house we were at, came out and helped us find it.   She was the owner of the geocash.   Got to talking, and she graciously showed us her house, very nice.   Also informed us that her ancestor came over on the Mayflower and their names are on the monument.

July 23, 2016

It's Saturday and we decided that going to the Cape was probably not a good idea, as traffic would be a nightmare with this heat way and a weekend.  Weather is going to be in high 90's with high humidity.  What an ugly combination!

Newport, RI is our destination.   It's about 50 miles away and even though it's on the water, we feel it won't be as crowded.  

The infamous "Breakers" home, which was home to the Vanderbilt's. Cornelius Vanderbilt, II (Grandson to Cornelius Vanderbilt who created Grand Central Railroad) had it built in 1893, which is an Italian Renaissance style home.   This house is fabulous, it's extremely hard to explain that beauty that's inside this house, harder yet, it was their summer cottage!  

With over 70 rooms and 65,000 sq ft of living area, it's nothing like you've ever seen!   However with seven children, they need the space I guess!!!   Hopefully the pics will show you it's beauty and some of the details, it's absolutely striking! 

Our next stop was the Marble House, it was the home of

 July 22, 2016

Drove from East Hampton, CT to Rochester, MA, which took us about 2 1/2 hrs.  We are staying at the Gateway to Cape Cod RV park, part of the Thousand Trails system.  This location will put us within an hour of Providence, RI; Newport, RI; Boston, MA, Plymouth, MA and Cape Cod, MA.

Took us a while to get settled in, RPI made a mistake on our reservations and I had to get that straightened out, that took over an hour!

We finally got to our spot and I was leveling the coach, when Bobby told me he could get inside the coach, apparently the lock on the door snapped something and we couldn't get it open.   So, he crawled through the driver's side window over coach and tried to fix the problem.   We finally called Eric at Elite, who told us that it was a major fix.    Do to this, we called a local rv repair person to come out and see what he could do.   Ray Savaria from "On the Road RV Repairs" arrived around 4 and finally after about 45 min, got the door open. 

What a relief that was!!!  We still have to get the lock fixed, but at least we can come and go without having to crawl thru the window!!!

We were exhausted from this ordeal plus the weather is extremely hot and very humid.  So, we just stayed in and watched TV.

July 17, 2016

The town of Brimfield, MA is about 15 miles away and has the world's largest antique flea market going on this weekend.  We've been to the flea market in Canton, TX which is about the same size but it also has new stuff, where this one is entirely antiques.

We looked through about 1/3 to 1/2 of it, obviously not stopping in every tent.   Unlike Canton, this is mostly tents that vendors have set up, as it's only 3 times a year and for 4-5 days each time.  We saw lots and lots of silver, furniture, nick nacks, etc.   Nothing that we needed, that's for sure.

The Springfield Armory was our next stop, this was the only manufacturer of weapons from 1777 until 1968, when the private sector took over that industry.   Off all the buildings they operated, the National Park only maintains two.   The others are part of the local college.

Inside the main building, you get to see many of the guns the built and how they stored them.   You also get to see a little of the machinery that was used, but mostly it's a museum of the weapons the produced.

About 1 mile away is the Springfield Museums and the Dr Seuss Gardens.   They were so much fun to explore, however you could not touch the ones in the sun, as it burnt your fingers, etc. to touch the hot metal.   The museum that's on the ground, was closed for renovation, to bad!!!

We got home around 1:30 and will just goof off around here the remainder of the day.   It's very hot and humid, so tires me out quickly.

July 16, 2016

Boy is it a hot humid day!!!   However we have an appt to try and figure out electrical problem, so off we went.   When we arrived, we were met by extremely friendly and helpful staff of Long View RV Superstore.  They got us backed into an area, plug us in and the system worked just fine.   They determined that it was probably the plug at the Elks lodge that's causing us problems, as it has a GFI on it and our inverter stops it as it thinks it's not properly wired.   This business is so wonderful, they didn't even charge us for their efforts.   Extremely well run operation and highly recommend it if you have problems in this area.

So, we are starving so they recommended a place down the road, it was OK.  Got the coach back to the Elks, are all hooked up and now resting as we are dripping in sweat!!!

July 15, 2015

Traveled to Ludlow, MA where we'll spend the next 3 days.   It's very hot and humid, so not sure how much we see

Arrived at the Elks around 11:30 and had troubles with the electrical system again, keep pooping the GFI and the post.   Spent most of the afternoon talking to experts, trying to find a place to look at our system.   Finally found Long View RV Superstore in Windsor Locks, CT.   We'll take it there tomorrow.

Bobby talked to Dave Parish, he tried to figure out our problem once again, but no luck.  We even called Magnum, make of the inverter, they walked us through a check list, still no help.

Spent the evening watching TV in the bedroom, only have 2 plugs that work on 120 system and they are both in bedroom.

New York 2016

July 14, 2015

Decided to take it easy and just goof around the coach.  Did laundry, had some ice cream and took naps...relaxing day

July 13, 2016

Martin Van Burien, our 8th President, home is in Kinderhook, NY so we headed there.   It's interesting to see the style and how they've match the wall paper, furnishing, etc. to that time period.   It was also fun to see the modern touches they had (obviously money can buy things?), like electricity, running water, flush toilets, etc.

Our next stop was the Vanderbuilt home in Hyde Park.  This is a National Park facility representing the Gilded Age.  It's one of the most stunning homes we've seen, very comparable to the Hurst Castle.  The home cost 2.25 million to build, which included the furnishings.   It's amazing that this was their summer home and only used for a few weeks each year, I would have used it much more!!!!

July 12, 2016

Internet service is horribly slow so will add the pics at a later date, sorry!

Drove into Albany, NY to tour the capital building.   It's a stunning building that took 32 years to complete.  Actually, it was not completed when Governor Theodore Roosevelt (whom later became Pres) fired all the workers and declared it finished.  

Our guided pointed out the minor areas that were not finalized.   The exterior is striking and looks like a castle.   There is no dome, as it was one of the items not finished, so has a square look.   The interior is the most intrigue designed sandstone that you'll ever see, you see faces, vegetables, fruits, plants, etc.   It was just remarkable the work that these craftsman did back in 1876.   Most of the Sandstone was brought over from Scotland, can't imagine that!   The granite is the most remarkable colors you've ever seen, you must see this capital if you ever get to Albany.

We also toured the plaza area, our next guide showed us the "egg".  It's a performing arts area, more than anything.   It was built in 1978.   When we drove into town, it looks more like a spaceship than an egg! 

It's lunch time so we catch a bite at a local food truck and then head back into the Capital look at the artwork, etc that we didn't have time to admire on the tour.   

We are 1 1/2 hrs from coach, so at around 2, we head home, stopping in Kingston, NY at the Camping World Store.

July 11, 2016 

Played golf at the local golf course called Rondout Golf Club.   Nice little course, played horrible but had fun! 

We then drove to Mohonk Golf Course to check it out.  It's a resort up on a hill, only nine holes but looked very nice.   We had hoped to see the lodge but must have a room or dinner reservation to even get on the property, strange! 

Came back to coach and caught up on some much need paper work.

July 10, 2016

Bobby found this museum called Motorcyclepedia, located in Newburgh, NY.  It houses over 500 motorcycles, cars, etc. in this building.    You won't believe this collection, it was stunning!!!!   Bobby was in hog heaven, even took almost 300 pics, which he never does!!

The motorcycles run from 1900's to the present.   They have lots of one off's plus some that were used in movies.   You can sit and take pics on several and if you're lucky, one of the staff member's (Peter) will come out and give you a tour of certain areas!   He told us all about the moped's!

Orange County Choppers (OCC) is just around the corner, so that was our next stop.  This is Paul Senior's place, juniors is close by but it was closed.   He has several of his bikes on display plus you can buy merchandise, if you like.

George Washington's headquarters' is nearby, so we went to take a look.  They have a nice visitors center plus the house that he stated in while commanding the troops in this area, which was about 8 months.

West Point Army Academy is about 30 min away, so we drove down to see it.  Of all the three military academy's we seen, this is my least favorite.   Probably because you actually get to see very little here. 

It's a bus tour, but you do see the museum, the main Chapel, parade grounds and the memorial area, which overlooks the Hudson River.   Only the museum can you want around, everything else is done with a guide.   You are NOT allowed to walk anywhere except to the museum, unlike the other academy's.    

We did learn that the cadets have to be between 17-22, can't be married and get married until they finish their 4 yrs.   You also learn about the infamous people that attended here:  George Washington, Eisenhower, Patten and McArthur.     They have one statue of General Sedgwick, he thought he was invisible (apparently not) and got killed in Civil War, but apparently if a cadet is struggling with a class, he supposedly (if he can) come out after curfew and spin his spurs, it will bring him luck and he'll pass that class.   Our guided did not know if any ever got caught trying this!!  LOL. 

The  bus took us to the chapel, where we were able to go inside and learn of its history.   is beautiful, I must say.   Attending services is no longer required, but most still do at this academy.  

On the way home, we stopped at the overlook to take a pic of the academy from hwy 9, it is beautiful.   Drive took us 75 min to get home.  Long day, but so worth it!

July 9, 2016

Another history day today!!  Yes, I do love history.   This time it was to visit President Roosevelt's Home and Presidential Library.   They are located in Hyde Park, NY, which is about 45 min east of us.   Had to cross the might Hudson River to get there! 

This is the first Presidential Library and was designed by Pres. Roosevelt .   It's located on land that his mother owned.   She wasn't thrilled about having it located there, but he usually got wanted he wanted from her.  

The museum tells the story of his four terms in office plus the challenges he had during the great depression, WWI and WWII plus his failing health.  It has lots of pics, letters, speeches, etc. of both him and Eleanor.   She was such an influential part of his career.   You also learn a little about his affair with  Lucy Mercer.  I especially like the portion about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the speech he wrote to inform America that we were now at war with Japan. 

It's an amazing library and everyone should take the opportunity to see. 

His family home is next door, so we took the tour (part of the entrance fee into the park).   You get to see the majority of the home.   You certainly realize that Eleanor and his mother Sally didn't particular care for each other and no wonder she wanted her own home (Val-Kill, we ran out of time and will have to see this on another day).  Eleanor room is more the size of a bathroom than a bedroom.

The house itself was quite small until President Roosevelt added two additional wings to house his family.  They had six kids, so need lots of rooms, especially bedrooms!   There are not wheelchair ramps, he didn't want to show his disability!  You do get to see the hand pulled lift (he had tremendous upper body strength), his wheel chair, leg braces, etc.    He had a terrible fear of fire, so we he remodeled the home, he installed state of the art fire doors, extinguishers, etc.   They are explained in the tour, really cool for that era.   

On the way back to the visitors center  you see the stables and the gravesites.   At the gravesites is a huge memorial with both his and Eleanor's names.  They are buried right in front of the marker, inside the family rose garden.    Also in this area are statues of him and Winston Churchill, who played a very important part in settling the war!   In fact, he came to the house for two separate meetings.

Top Cottage was our last stop of the day.   This was supposed to the house where he was going to retire after his 4th term, but died four months into his 4th term.   It's an extremely plain house, but here he didn't have to worry about hiding his disability, etc.  

July 8, 2016

Travel day, heading to Accord, NY, which is approx 1 hour south of Albany.   This is farming area and there are vegetable and fruit farms everywhere.  Most of them have u-pick stuff, which I really like. 

We got settled in and decided to go find a movie to watch, as the cable here at the park is being replaced and air system on coach doesn't pick up in this area.   Went to a town about 15 miles south of us.  On the way back, stopped at one of the farmers markets, got to see the world's largest Gnome!!!

July 7, 2016

Second day in NYC, this time however we got a much earlier departure and arrived in NYC around 8:30.   Found a place to have breakfast and then caught the Hop On Hop Off bus.  Today we decided to take the Upper Town Loop, which takes you around Central Park. 

On this tour we got to see where many of the Hollywood Stars live while they are in NYC, including Michael Douglas, Madona, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, etc.  We also saw the building that  Donald Trump lives in, he occupies 3 entire floors!  One of the buildings they pointed out is the most expensive apartment building in the world, someone just paid $100 Million for an apartment.   Think that should have bought the entire building vs. just one apartment!

Central Park is huge.   Next time we get into NYC we'll try spending more than 20 minutes in the park.  It's beautiful and filled with many activities.

On the east side of the park, it's called museum row, this street has many museums' including the Guggenheim, which we didn't get to see because it's closed on Thursday!  On the West side is Grant's Tomb, which we did tour.   Amazing that his grave site is right inside NYC.

Once we finished the tour which took about 3 hrs do to traffic, we headed to Times Sq.  We were going to stop at Carnegie Deli for lunch, but one sandwich was $29.99 (later learned it's huge).   Should be for that price!

Time Square is not exactly what you think, it's basically a city street with all the buildings with billboards on them.  Lots of restaurants, stores, etc. for you to look at, which we did go into.  We finally found a deli and tried one of their sandwiches, it was excellent.

 Went into Macy's, had to see their signature store!   Believe me, it's nothing like you've ever seen before.   First off the building is huge, I think Portland's entire store could fit on one of these floors.  The women's shoe dept takes up one ENTIRE floor, obviously women like SHOES!!!!  We counted 8 escalators on each floor!

Caught the train home around 4,went to the elks and had a few drinks and talked to the locals about our trip.  Amazing how many don't go into the city!

July 6, 2016

Got a late start going into NYC because Bobby was trying to figure out why our inverter won't allow us to plug into a 15 AMP circuit.   Dave Parish gave Bobby some suggestions, but they still didn't work but we were able to learn how to by pass the inverter and use the AC without starting gen....yeah!!!!

Got on the train around 10 and arrived in NYC around 11:30, normally it would take 60 min, but they had problems in the tunnel which delayed us.

We arrived at NYC Penn Station, which honestly is a zoo....very intimidating for a new comer to NYC.  Took us a little bit to find our way to the street, but once we got there, it was shocking to see all those people and how crowded it was.

Found a place to buy a Hop on Hop off bus, got our tickets and then had to walk to the first stop for us (#7 on map).   While walking we found Al's Deli and had a wonderful club sandwiches, YUM.

Got on the bus and headed out to learn about NYC, traffic is a nightmare and it takes us over an hour to get to the 911 Memorial where we decide to get off and tour the area.   The new One World Tower and memorial area are so impressive.   We located the plaque that has my co-worker (Kathryn Blair Lee) on it, very sad to see her name on the plaque, truly a very eerie feeling to realize she died on the tragic day.  After looking at the reflections pools (very impressive) we walked over to the new One World Tower (Freedom Tower) and went to the observation deck on the 102 floor.  They done a great job and the view are so impressive.  

Per our tour guide, this building has been built so that it will never collapse like the two towers on 911 did.

Our tour bus stops running at 6 and we know it will take us over an hr to get back so we decided to skip the museum and try and catch it tomorrow. 

Thankfully we did get on the bus as it took us almost 2 hrs to get back to Penn Station, traffic was horrible.   At least on the bus we learned about many sites, who lives where, etc.

July 5th, 2016

We left Marlton around 8 and arrived here in Warren, NJ around 9:30.   Realized that they only have 15 AMPs so we went to the Eagles Lodge about 6 miles away, as we were told they had 30 AMPS, nope, so we decided to stay at Elks.

Once we settle in and got coach set up, we headed to Liberty Harbor, where we could hopefully catch a glimpse of the State of Liberty.   While going to the Visitor's Center, we found the NJ memorial to 911.  Very impressive and gives you this eerie feeling about what should be visible across the way in NY.   Bobby said, he can't imagine what went through NJ residents as they saw those two structures come down.  So hard to visualize.

Once through with this area, we went to the visitor's center and I decided we should take the tour, so got on the boat that took us to Ellis Island.  Since we did not get there until 3:00, we decided we could only spend 1 hr, so we'd have enough time to look over Liberty Island.

When you get to Ellis Island you can take a ranger lead tour or a self guided tour, which we did since we had limited time.  Honestly we could have spent 2-3 hours there, learning about the history of the immigrants that passed through this area.   It was so interesting.

Got back on the boat and headed to Liberty Island.   Since we got there so late in the day, all the tickets to walk up the statue were sold out, so all we could do was take a self guided tour and walk around the outside.  We should have stayed on Ellis for 2 hrs, as this only took us about 45 min, but the boat won't take you back.

Got back to our car around 6:00 PM, thought it would be a nightmare getting home but once we got across the bridge it was a breeze get home.  Thankfully we didn't get into any BAD NYC traffic.

Philadelphia, PA 2016

July 4, 2016

While having breakfast, I saw a gentleman come and start to work on the float that the Elks lodge is going to put into today's parade, so you know me, went out to ask if he (Dave) needed help.  He said sure, so I proceeded to help him put this float together.  In a couple of hours, we were done!!!

Around 10:30 we drove to Marlton and found a place to sit and watch the parade.   Great little home town parade.

Afterwards we went to Old Navy and a few other stores.   Then headed home to wait for the fireworks.

We decided to watch the local fireworks as weather is supposed to get horrible, which it did.  We arrived around 8:00 at the Cherokee High School and about 15 later it started to pour.   We waited about 30 min and then I decided I did not need to sit in the rain and watch fireworks, I've seen enough.   Got home and about 30 min. later we could hear them but couldn't see them.  Oh well, we'll see them next yr!

July 3, 2016

First stop was the Liberty Bell, it's a free exhibit and well worth your time to see, but recommend getting there early, as the line can get blocks long.   It's amazing to learn how they attempted to repair the crack but only made it worse.   They explain all the details and the history on this very important piece of history.

We then bought tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus.   Took the entire route so we could then decide what we want to see.   They did a great job of explain the sites and the history of this city.  You get to see the Museum of Art, Penn's Landing, different areas of the town where they point out different historical facts, etc.

When we got back to our starting point, we went to look at Ben Franklin's gravesite.   Since it's 4th of July weekend, they had people playing him so we got to meet Ben Franklin.  Along with him, their are seven other individuals buried here that also signed the Declaration of Independence.

July 2, 2016

Our plan was to see the Franklin Square area, it's basically everything that the National Park maintains.   It's a lot of walking, so unless you want to put 6 to 6.5 miles of walking under your feet, you need to break it up into more days but we are only here for 3 days.

Our first stop was the visitors center where we got our tickets (free) to see Independence Hall at 12:45.   After looking around and watching a movie, we headed to National Constitution Museum.   Here we listen to a narrative (given by a young gentleman) about the history of the constitution.   It's a great performance and worth your 20 minutes.   The theater is great, not a bad seat in the house.

Looked around the museum and then headed to the car to move it, as we were in a 2 hr parking spot, found a lot near by and then headed to our tour of Independence Hall.   I had been here in Philadelphia back in 2005, but it has changed.   Independence Hall is basically the same except they've spruced it up with paint.   Looks great!!

Started our tour at Independence Hall, here you see where the constitution was created and get to see the area where the participants sat.   Across the hall is the court house, here they tried individuals of their crimes.   The individual on trial would stand in the barred area during the entire trail and that's why they call it "Standing Trial".   Great piece of history.

We also saw Congress hall, which was used as the white house from 1890 until 1900.   In the lower floor is where they held meetings and President Adams was sworn in as our 2nd president.

We then went to the Bourse Building and had lunch, while there someone tripped the alarm and made all of us leave for about 10 minutes.   Other than the alarm was very loud, it didn't cause us an concerns.

We then walked around the square and saw Carpenter's Hall, Todd House, Bishop White House (these house are extremely small and very expensive to purchase today), Merchant's Exchnage

July 1, 2016

Left Port Republic around 9, it only took us a little over an hour to get here.  Traffic was great, I was concerned about it being the beginning of a long weekend, but worried over nothing.  Yeah!!!

We are staying at the Marlton Elks, which is about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia.   This is a small lodge but they have 30 AMPS and water, all that I need.

Got settled in and then drove into Camden, which is just across from Philadelphia on the Delaware River.   Looked around the waterfront, went into the visitors center for the battleship New Jersey and took pics of the battleship, Ben Franklin Bridge and of Philadelpia.   I didn't want to get stuff in traffic trying to get out of Philadelphia, so we headed back home around 3, it was smooth sailing.

Got back to the lodge, went in and had a drink, like I said it's extremely small, only holds about 20.  Very friendly and we watched the Philly baseball game with the bartender, there were only to other individuals there so very slow.