The Final Stop: NEW YORK CITY

If I ever want to restore my faith in humanity I will head straight to the NYC, specifically the subway.  When we were in NYC almost 7 year ago we were in awe of how overwhelmingly nice strangers were.  This trip I was equally impressed.  I wish I thought my kids were old enough to pick up on the fact that it always seems to be people who have less who are willing to share more.  There were an awful lot of people who offered to stand so my kids could sit even thought they themselves looked pretty tired.  A man on the subway saw that Gabby had a cut that started bleeding and went up to Dan who was standing across from her and handed him two bandaids.  We stayed in our friend’s apartment and his downstairs neighbors sent up a plate of food from their Iftar, which was delicious.  I am incredibly grateful for all of these random acts of kindness.

I had soooo many things I wanted to do in NYC, however by the time we got there my will to be on a tight schedule and cram everything in was broken.  Perhaps that was for the best.  We got to spend time with amazing high school friends.  The girls got to walk dogs, which reminded them of the book their preschool teacher wrote called “Gigi’s Window.”  We spent lots of time in Central Park.  We also spent a lot of time explaining the differences between a park and playground.  We found plenty of playgrounds to keep everyone happy.  We saw the 9/11 Memorial, which was incredibly moving.  We took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  I wish we’d taken less time at the Statue of Liberty and more at Ellis Island.  We didn’t make it to a Broadway show, but I’m pretty convinced if you stuck any of us in a dark theater we’d have fallen immediately to sleep.  We also didn’t make it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but there has to be something to go back for right? 

Professionals at work

Hands free walking

Gabby^2

Time Square at night is incredible and overwhelming

Wandering around Prospect Park

Grand Central Station

Sometimes you just need to sit down with a good book.  NY public library is just the place for a rest!

Way too fast for my taste!

She read the book in his hands much to the delight of the people standing near us who insisted I get pictures

Shared food from the downstairs neighbors.  DELISH!

Doesn't everyone go to NYC and ride around the subway with dogs?

Beyond words

Memorial for Orlando

Stay classy

Major toe jam

Audio tours are our fave!  Ellis Island's was especially good.

This may explain why a broadway show was out of the question :(

Final leg on Amtrak

An Endless Walk on the Freedom Trail in Boston

Under no circumstances will I ever drive a car in Boston again.  I am apparently the last person alive to find out that Boston is a horrible place to drive.  I thought surely it couldn’t be worse that Costa Rica or Ireland.  The problem is that here in my country of origin I assume (and we know what they say about that) that there are set traffic laws.  I am fairly certain in Boston there are no rules for drivers or pedestrians and it is terrifying.   
In Boston the goal was to cover the Freedom Trail.  Luckily I found a reasonable (by east coast standards) rental in the North End.  Our apartment was a minute away from the North Church and Paul Revere’s statute, and a walkable distance to Faneuil Hall.  We headed straight for Faneuil Hall the day we got there to pick up ranger books and get a map of the trail.  We realized at that point we were in for quite a bit of walking.  We were also a little dismayed to realize that many of the historic sites on the trail charge an entrance fee and our newly purchased National Parks Pass would be of no use.  We recharged with enormous slices of pizza at Ernesto's and gelato at Gigi's Gelateria.  Then we mapped out day two.
The next morning we started off with some scrumptious treats at Mike's Pastry before the lines started.  We then checked out the North Church and Paul Revere House.  Those were our two paid locations for the trail.  We then tried to catch a ranger program at Faneuil Hall, but school groups had the hall tied up.  We continued on to Boston Common and kept walking to see the "Make Way for Ducklings" statue.  Our final destination for the day was the Charlestown area.  We opted to take the water ferry rather than walk.  We checked out the USS Constitution Museum and got to board the ship because it was in dry dock.  The girls earned their badges at the Bunker Hill Museum.  We decided against the monument because at that point no one was interested in steps.  It was then time for our harrowing walk across a bridge back to the apartment.  Stop four of our trip was complete.  The next morning it was back to the train.

First stop on the Freedom Trail

These slices rival the size of Costco's

Just like in "Olivia Goes to Venice" we all needed some gelato

YUM!!!!

Checking out the North Church from one of the pews

Paul Revere House

Lottie was the only one of us familiar with the book :(

Walking around Old Ironsides

The ship in drydock

More badges for the collection

Trains are great places to catch up on reading

Relaxing in Maine

Maine was our break from the crazy.  We stayed in central Maine surrounded by trees and without cell service.  This short respite may be the only reason we lasted through the full two weeks.  However it may have been better placed at the very end of our journey.  Perhaps if we'd ended here then we'd have returned home more refreshed.  Mental note for next time to end with R&R not the most fast paced stop. 

Our primary goal while in Maine was to see Acadia.  I’d hoped to also fit in what would’ve been a three hour drive to Baxter State Park to see where the Appalachian Trail ends, however the weather didn’t cooperate.  We made it to Acadia on two out of three of our full days.  The colors, the rocks, the oceans, and the lakes en route to the park and inside it all make for beautiful driving and hiking.

On our first visit we drove up to Cadillac Mountain.  We were told the mountain was a must see, but a ranger suggested we save hiking for a less crowded trail.  We instead hiked Homan Path, which ultimately led us to  the top of Dorr Mountain.  We were all pretty proud of ourselves for making it to the top.  The girls were channeling their inner American Ninja Warrior (that seems to be the only summer TV show available in hotels that’s appropriate for for kids).  After that we checked off all the must see spots with a drive around the park loop road.  In an effort to complete as many essential Maine activities as possible in our first 24 hours in the state, we stopped for fresh lobster at Young’s.  Our children were disgusted that we ate something they’d recently seen swimming.  I pointed out multiple times that they eat meat and shouldn’t be so judgey.  They were having none of it.  
The next day the weather was a little suspect, so we took a quick and traumatic kayak ride first thing in the morning.  The initial placing of ourselves in the kayak left one child slightly hysterical for the entire trip.  The other child is lucky not to have a concussion from my unfortunate paddling skills.  We promised them a trip to the doll circus to make up for it.
Little did we know the awesomeness we were about the encounter.  How there has not been a travel show special about this place I don’t understand.  The Bryant Stove Works is the quirkiest place I’ve ever been, and we are people who routinely visit a nun doll museum.  Their main business is of course selling stoves, but in a part of the building they house a doll circus and collections of calliopes.  You walk into a back room and flip a switch and everything comes to life.  It is complete sensory overload.  The moving parts and music were both terrifying and fascinating.  The room is on a timer and the girls begged to have it restarted after the 15 minutes were up, but we instead moved on to the calliope room (a natural progression when in a stove shop).  The calliope room was overflowing with player pianos, calliopes, and old cars among other things.  You were allowed to play them and flip switches and it was fantastic!  I cannot think of a better place to spend a rainy afternoon. 
The last day we went back to Acadia to do the bubble rock trail.  After our hike we found our way to Atlantic Brewing Company for blueberry soda and blueberry beer.  I then insisted we head for the Penobscot Observatory and Ft. Knox.  Sadly it was a little overcast or the views and pictures from this part of the day would be better.  Finally it was time to call it quits and pack up.  We had an early departure planned for the next day to connect with family and check out geometric shaped rocks and hunt for sea glass.  We will be back to Maine someday for sure!

This trail was in a lot of the brochures for the park and I was dying to do the steps!

We had to follow cairns to the top!

Victory!

This ranger was way more accommodating than the one at the visitor center prior to our trip up the mountain.  Thank goodness!

Thunder hole wasn't quite as thunderous when we got there.

Mesmerized by dancing barbies

The horse was attached to a calliope.  It was AWESOME!

We tried to push over the bubble rock to no avail

Zoning out with some blueberry soda

This view was especially cool because you could see the lake sitting up above the town

We got to ride up this in an elavator

Running in circles around Ft. Knox

Bucket 'o rocks that we found in our mailbox when we got home a week later :)

Philadelphia Was Neither Sunny Nor Hot As Hell

I agonized over how to fit in as many cities as possible on this tour of the northeast.  Philadelphia made the cut, but we were there for less than 24 hours.  My dream was to walk through the city singing songs from the musical 1776, but the weather didn’t quite cooperate.  Getting from DC to Philly was our first leg on Amtrak.  If I could never get on a plane again and only take trains I’d do it in a heartbeat.  Trains are FAR less hassle.  They have more room.  Sadly trains out of and into Cincinnati are ridiculously inconvenient.   
After a quick two hours on Amtrak we hopped on a Philadelphia commuter train into the city.  We then walked with our excessive amount of luggage to the wrong location because I trusted my smart phone instead of looking at my paperwork for the hotel address.  We were dressed for the 80 degree weather we’d had in DC.  Philadelphia was cold and windy.  Right as we made it to our hotel with our 10 bags and two kids it started to pour and trees were losing branches.  We were too early to check in, but the Alexander Inn graciously stored our bags and let us play cards in the lobby until the rain died down enough to go explore. 
We headed straight to the Betsy Ross House because Gabby had been dying to see it after reading a book about Betsy.  Gabby essentially provided us with a guided tour.  We spent way too long talking to the Betsy Ross reenactor.  I think she confused the girls because she was young Betsy and so when they asked questions about Betsy’s later life she acted like she didn’t know what would happen in the “future.” 
Right next door to the Betsy Ross house was the Philadelphia Mint.  They have free self guided tours and also provided shelter from the weather, so we walked through and learned all about making money.  The girls may yet be numismatists. 
It was finally warming up a little when we went to the NPS visitor center to get badges.  There was thankfully no line at the Liberty Bell so we were able to get in and out quickly.  We looked at Independence Hall from across the street because we would’ve had to get into Philly earlier in the morning to get tickets for a tour. 
Finally it was check in time so we could dig jackets out of our luggage before heading off for Philly Cheesesteaks and ice cream.  We then had to be up at 4:30 am to walk once again with all of our luggage to the train.  This time we had an Amtrak to catch at 6:45am.  The next leg from Philly to Boston was 6 hours and then we had a 4 hours drive in a rental car to get to our rental in Maine. 

So much roomier and no extra baggage fees!!!  We LOVE Amtrak!

Young Betsy Ross taught us how to cut a 5 point star by folding paper and making one cut.

Listening to the stories of George Washington's slaves.  Very interesting given the history we'd just been told at Arlington House. 

The Liberty Bell

Philly Cheese Steak!!!  YUM!!!!

Awesome mosaics all over on South St.  Wish we'd have had time to check out the Magic Gardens. 

Old school train station in Philly.  They even have the board that flips all the letters to update arrivals. 

More comfortable train travel!  Headed to Boston.

Next time maybe we'll get here early enough for tickets.

Soft serve is the BEST!!!!!!