Homeward Bound

Our scheduled departure of 9am was delayed to the lack of setting an alarm in room 701. Ooops. Of course Bill was probably up at 6 wondering what to do with himself in a 10x10 room for 3 hours. Anyways, we got up and out of the hotel at like 10:30 and out of Manhattan by 11:30 and into Jersey by 12 (Thanks to Jozi’s guidance). We stopped somewhere to get Panera for lunch (Gosh I am sick of eating)

We are now in Cleveland almost home.

In conclusion: 3 or 4 rainstorms, the Heckel’s imploded about 38 times, we almost got in 8 accidents, there was 252 miles a day driven per average, 7,825 tissues were used, no tears were shed, three pairs of shoes were drenched multiple times, one pair of flip flops were destroyed and thrown away, the alcohol consumption was reduced by 68%, two ducks were eaten, one bush of pubes was sited, an EZ pass was purchased at a service station, and the Heckel credit card is melted and it’s embers are smoking. 

New York City, NY

For our first and only full day in NYC, we decided to split up and go our own ways since we wanted to see different things. So after a breakfast discussion on our plans, we departed on the subway and headed to Grand Central Station. On our way we stopped in a store that was selling “swampers” and I found a cute floral pair that was $28 and would match my yellow rain jacket. Frank was jealous because he couldn’t find a pair that would fit his giant feet. So we asked the lady where to go and she advised us to go to Modella’s next to Grand Central. We headed that way and wow we found Grand Central Station. It was indeed grand. Modellas didn’t have anything suitable for Frank either. Frank and I hopped back on the Metro and headed down to the Brooklyn Bridge and worked our way back up.

We subway popped us out right by the Brooklyn Bridge walkway, so we (against Frank’s lazy will) walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was indeed a long walk, but it was well worth the view. The view was beautiful. Brooklyn wasn't as bad as it is made out to be! Although the bridge walkway took us into the center of Brooklyn so finding the nearest subway was a little annoying. We shot up to Little Italy and putted around, called the parents and they were also on their way to little Italy. So we picked them up at the subway station (so they didn’t get lost) and while we were waiting I purchased a $3 black belt to hold up my ever falling down pants. Once we found them, we toted them to La Belle Vie restaurant.

The lunch was spectacular. I had eggplant Parmesan with sangria. It was the best eggplant Parmesan I had ever had. It was sliced really thin and topped with mozzarella. For dessert we all shared a cannoli and had a double shot espresso each. Quite a wonderful meal. Although the construction on the street was unsightly and loud, we managed. Once again, we went our separate ways.

Frank and I went to a spa in the Chinatown vicinity where he got his eyebrows waxed and I got a manicure. My nails are beautiful! He came out of the waxing room looking like he had been tortured, with bright red around his eyebrows. Poor little thing. His eyebrows looked great though. They still burn apparently. (on our drive home the next day). I got a bright pink mani with gel shellac so we shall see. So I had a manicure in Chinatown NYC. Big life.

Now we decided to go back to the Hotel and have a nap because we were dead tired. So we did that. I had an extra-long nap because I had a bite of a cookie I got at “pie face” which gave me a rancid stomach ache. Frank and Bill adventured around Manhattan for a little while, had a hotdog from a hotdog stand which gave Frank some really horrid gas for the rest of the day.

After my nap, we got a cab and went to the Theatre District. Frank and I went to “Roxy’s” to have a little bite to eat since I hadn’t gotten a hotdog. Man, this place was so overpriced I could even handle it. I got a chicken Caesar salad for $21… it was large and all, but not worth that much! Frank got a $7 rootbeer float… Anyway, full bellies made their way to the Barrymore Theatre.

This was a very odd and contemporary pull on Macbeth. It was basically an insane guy in an insane hospital making up the whole play in his mind. So he played every character, while running around the stage being a creep. It was really funny in parts but some parts it was wildly disturbing. Sooo I am not sure how I feel about it at this moment in time since I am very traditional when it comes to plays. Either way the man was really talented and knew the whole play by heart so that counts for something. It was just not what I expected.

We went next door to the Glass House Tavern. We had some late late dinner (even though I wasn’t hungry…) I decided I do not like Cosmopolitans or duck.

We split up again, and Frank and I hungout at Times Square Friday night, and watched all the people. We ran into a street artist who was spray painting really cool posters of the NYC Skyline. It was so cool! We bought one (Ill post a picture of it). He only wanted $20 but we gave him $25 I think. I mean, the guy is probably trying to feed his family, so whatever, we are starving). We made our way back to the hotel and crashed.

Also, the whole day I was prepared for intense rain (Rain coat, swampers, and an umbrella attached to my belt) only to be let down with pure sunshine the entire day. Oh darn!

Groton, CT

I left my stomach on the side of the interstate 95 somewhere in Massachusetts. How nauseating this drive is. I think it has to do with in silly driver, but the Kia Sonata does not have the best shocks, so it is the bumpiest ride I have had in a long time. Stop-Go traffic didn’t help either. Luckily I did not actually throw up.

I was rudely awoken this morning by all the furniture being scooted around in the room above me. Thank you Marriot for your lovely hospitality at Six AM. I am shocked that a hotel would start construction that early. Today was the day that we would get to sleep in until 7:30 too. Oh well. I laid there like a slug until 7:15, it was my only defense. So until 8, when we were ready to leave, it was loud and slightly irritating noise coming from upstairs. Everyone knows how I am when I am not happy with my method of wake up, let alone that method continuing for 2 hours. So this morning was a little rude.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and some dry apple jacks for the road. Ate some apple jacks but by the time the coffee was cool enough to drink, it was no use. Car sick. So I instantly attempt to meditate myself to sleep while listening to my “chill” playlist as to not jump out the car window.

We arrived in Groton, CT around 11am (thanks to the rush hour traffic). We went to the Submarine Museum and toured a 1954 Sub. That was really cool, but I got claustrophobic down there… ick, I have no idea how frank is going to survive down there for months at a time. That is going to be rough. But of course this sub was from the 50's so there have been many many advancements since then. At the Museum Submarine School Graduation was taking place and a few sailors (now bubbleheads) were graduating. That was cool, since Frank will be doing that in October or so. I feel bad I won’t be there to see that, but we will survive. Frank bought me a little pin that I picked out to hang on my mirror of my car. It is a sailors hat that says “I <3 My Sailor”.

We went to “Flannagans” for lunch. It was good, then we got back on the road, and I plugged myself into the Sony XB’s and listen to P!nk as to save my soul. But I won’t go into details. We are currently driving through Connecticut on our way to NYC which Crystal thinks will kill us. It’ll be fine. We must keep to the mantra of “Keep Calm and Drive On” which has not been the case for today. So we revisited the mantra. Unfortunately I need to pee again. Are we there yet?

We arrived without trauma to Manhattan through the Bronx. It was an easy arrival compared to the rest of the day. We got to the hotel (Hampton Inn on 35^th and 5^th), washed the road grime off of us and went out to strut around the city and see Times Square. I warned Bill not to take directions from locals, as they rarely know what they are talking about since they typically do not drive. He asked the man at the front desk how to get to Times Square… wrong. I realized after about 2 blocks were going in the wrong direction, so I attempted to speak up but was shot down. So we carried on about 10 more blocks. Once we arrived to Madison Square Gardens, they decided to listen to me and concurred that the man at the front desk was bonkers. So I directed us to Times Square which was about 30 blocks the opposite direction. Hahaha. Crystal couldn’t stand the smell of the streets (since it was garbage day) so she kept spitting in order to not throw up.

We got to Times Square, took pictures, and looked around. It has expanded so much! Even compared to what was on TV for the past few years. We decided to pop in somewhere and have a drink and maybe an appetizer. So I spied The Hard Rock Café just across the street. This was the biggest Hard Rock Café I had ever been into! It was really quite cool. So after some confusion on where to sit, we sat in the next to the bar in a spot under a vent eventually causing me to shiver violently. I got a cute little drink that came with a “souvenir glass” (emphasize the glass part) and we ordered an order of nachos with pork. The nachos were much better than the nachos I got in Dublin. Those were vile. After we feasted on Nachos for an army, we decided to go our separate ways and find adventures in the Big Apple. I got my souvenir glass on the way out, it was in a box, in a bag. So Frank and I made our way up the street, and Crystal and Bill went down the street.

After we got our fill of the many screens in Times Square, Frank and I jumped on the subway and made our way back to the area of the hotel, which was also the area of Macys. While we were walking to the Metro, a gust of wind, or someone shoulder checking me on the street caused my Hard Rock bag to skyrocket in front of me and promptly land on the concrete. And just like that my $10 cup was shattered to oblivion. Sorry, Jenna, that was supposed to be your souvenir but now it is in the NYC Dump.

We popped out of the subway and it was pouring rain. POURING, big, fat rain. Frank and I were unprepared for rain with no rain gear. So we run out and stood under an awning of sorts to figure out what we are going to do with ourselves. I was looking around to figure out where the metro actually dumped us out. And I glace behind me and peer in the big doors only to realize where we were. We are stand right outside one of the many entrances to the biggest and my favorite store in the world J Macys. I said “Frank Frank Frank! We are at Macys!” He says “ooooh joy”. Hey man, it is better than fat rain. So we tour ourselves around Macys NYC up the 7 escalators, some of which were made of wood, and peered around. I had no desire to actually buy anything because the store itself was very overwhelming. It was like the Harrods of NYC. We went downstairs and there was a touristy portion of Macys which sold “Macys NYC” gear. I was tempted by a couple things, but then I recalled I have no finances for that. So we carried on and went to exit. Through the fat rain, across the street we could see a store that was likely to have umbrellas and such. I picked out a purple umbrella and Frank picked out a white I <3 NYC poncho that is likely to never be worn again. Although it served him well for the evening.

Frank got the bug to find a pair of “swampers” to wear around and prance around in. By now it was probably 8 and there is not much for two underage people to do in NYC at this time. But we attempt to find some swampers because I want a pair for myself for London. After what seemed like 2 hours, with sloshing loafers and wet jeans, we threw in the towel and headed back to the hotel. We crawled into our room, got dry clothes on. Frank decided to blow dry his shoes because he had no others. While he was doing that I searched for and ordered a classic NYC Pizza. He was surprised when the man came to the hotel door, and although he said he had not been hungry, he ate about 3 giant pieces. We took two pieces over to Bill and Crystal (who had also fought the rain back to the hotel). The later called and said the pizza was “completely fabulous darling”. It was. It was such good pizza! Really greesy, but super delicious. I was snooping around on my Broadway App for my iPhone when I came across tickets for Macbeth tomorrow night at 8 for $50 each! So we ran it across the parents and we booked it.

After our pizza pie and ticket booking, we watched some TV and fell asleep. 

Boston, MA

The morning started off by visiting the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, MA. Rebecca Nurse was the oldest woman to be hanged for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Her house still stands but with quite a few additions built on through the centuries. The homestead was really neat to see. The low ceilings weren't because the people were shorter, but because it kept the heat out, was easier to build, and some other reason that I don't remember. Either way, we walked down to the cemetery and saw here's and many other people's grave. Who is John Proctor? I need to look that up. Whatever.

As franks FB status said, he ripped a greasy one in her house. Nice, now she is going haunt us.

Now since we have missed all the morning commuter trains that we insisted to ride, we had to kill some time (2 long hours). So I became navigator, and found a really great restaurant. Tiny, but great. Blue Moon Grill in Wakefield, Ma which is the station/stop we needed to get on the train. 

We got our tickets at a Shaws Supermarket and headed to the station. We got on the train and made our way I to Bosom at the North Station (which crystal insisted was not our stop, until the conductor said "final stop") anyway, we got off and headed for the orange subway line to take us to Park Street, the Boston Common. Boston is such a beautiful city! The streets were clean and the people were tolerable. 

We walked the freedom trail and saw so many historical spots. At Granary Burial Ground many founding fathers are buried. Paul Revere's headstone was covered in pennies because he was a silversmith, blacksmith and copper(smith?). Crystal and I added our own pennies to the collection. It was really neat. The John Hancock headstone was really big and for some reason I almost cried. I am such a need but I was sort of overwhelmed by the fact that those men made this country! (Too bad it is going to shit) mostly all of the smaller headstones had a skull and angle wings on them which is traditional to graves in the Boston area. (One was at the Nurse Homestead). 

We proceeded to see many churches, meeting houses, state houses, statues, memorials, ships, museums, and houses. It was cool! I wish we did not have to leave Boston so soon since I had never been there. One day is not enough to absorb this city that is so rich in history. 

We took a ferry from the USS Constitution (which was my 2nd favorite stop next to Granary Burial Ground) to a other harbor more central to Boston. We had dinner at Legal Seafood and it was much better than the "Seawitch". Our server was extremely nice too. 

After dinner we walked down to the state street subway entrance (which is under the old state building where the Declaration of Independence was read off and the site of the Boston Massacre) and got on the orange line to North Station. Waited for the train, which we were early to. So we got on the earlier train (not the one I planned on) and well, it didn't stop at our stop, so we had to get a cab but whatever, it was fine. 

Ok that's enough writing for today, since We are now on the way to Groton, CT and I am getting whiplash from Bills driving.

Danvers, MA

Bill calls at 6:15AM “Hi this is your wake up call!” me: “Ummm aren’t we leaving at 8?” I am so bewildered because I can be ready at a moments notice (frank is another story) Bill says “Ohhh umm well you see umm I was thinking we could blast out of here a little earlier and get to Boston sooner”… Me: “OH. Ok, well we will get up”. So we left the room at a quarter to 7. (Bill and Crystal were not ready before me or frank so we waited for them even! Silly sods) IHOP opened at 7, so we loaded the car then went to eat. I give this IHOP a 9 on décor and cleanliness of the facility, but about a 6 on food. It was ok, but my food was rather cold so that is disappointing, and I hate Honey Dew (Which the waitress should have read my mind and not given it to me! LAME). I got a fruit crepe and some eggs, bacon, sausage which I shared with Frank. Bill also shared with Frank and Frank ended up with a big meal. And we saved about $17 (because that’s how much a typical breakfast entrée was). Also, my franch vanilla coffee was really quite gross. Also, my super human nose smelled a smell that a restaurant worker recognizes as dirty dish water, so I think that was my plate and that was unsettling. So I powered through and survived. 

We left the hotel before 8. Got on the road and stopped an hour later, go to post breakfast potty. Back on the road, doing some homework, took a nap, started writing blog, ate some leftover bread, and debated on which service plaza to stop at. They all suck. No offence NY. Ok yes offence, they suck. Mobile gas stations and McDonalds. LAME. Ok I am putting this away at the current moment, but will continue later after something (hopefully) exciting happens. 

OK so we made it to the Greater Boston Area around 4pm after stopping at a service plaza to get a snack and "EZ Pass". We got stuck in traffic for a while and the car started to get tense but after 8 hours in the car, that tends to happen. After going around in circles to find the Hotel (Which is in an idiotic location) we arrive and find the "office" of the hotel... 

The rooms are great. We are down the hall from Bill and Crystal, have a kitchenette, bathroom, couch and chair, and the bed appears to be of the memory foam type which I excited for what I hope to be a full 8 hours of sleep! We all know how I am about my sleep. 

Unfortunatly it has been raining since before we left but we get a break from it once and a while. I pray to God that tomorrow is clear because we are going to see some Salem Witch things and Downtown Boston. I am officially the Navigator of the car, because with 2 GPS's going, we still got all turned around. 

We had dinner at the Seawitch Seafood Place in Peabody, MA. It was rather good, bill out ordered us (again) by getting "blackened tuna" which was incredible. Crystal got a lobster (I find lobster to not be worth the work of getting it edible!). Frank had fried calamari, and I had traditional fish and chips (Haddock) because I was not sure if my stomach could handle really real seafood just yet. So I chose a mild fish. And mild it was. 

We made our way back to the hotel (somehow) dropped Frank off so he could go to the bathroom, then we proceeded to the beer store. I picked out Samuel Adams Boston Ale for the pure beauty of it being Boston Ale. Whatever, Adams always makes a good beer, and plus, tomorrow I am going to see his grave. Wuddup Murica. 

Night,

Xx 

Niagara Falls, Onterio

On this trip we are hitting three major hotspots in the eastern coastal area! The major destinations include Niagara Falls, Canada side, Boston, and New York. My travel companions include my boyfriend’s family (himself, mom and dad). Our travel mantra is “Keep Calm and Drive On”.

So we start in New London, drive north to Niagara Falls, Ontario in a rented Kia Sonata. The Kia is a 4 cylinder which can fall down to 3 when on cruise on the highways. It has a white exterior and serius XM radio that has not been on once since we left yesterday at 7AM. (As I am writing we are driving on 90 through New York)

I slept most of the drive to Niagara because my stomach was in knots from not getting any sleep. Bill was also sick with some stomach bug (which hopefully none of us get). So the ride north was mildly unpleasant in the stomach area. Bill drives rather zig zaggy which could be caused from a tight steering wheel, either way it did not help the stomach issue. So sleep it was. We arrived at Four Points By Sheraton around 1pm. They had our rooms ready which was quite nice since check in was not until 4pm that day! Bill and Crystal paid an extra $70 for a “fallside” view room, which sucked. You could hardly see the falls from the room, and what little part you could see was clouded from mist and the rain that was down pouring most of the day. So the fallside view room was a bust. Frank and I settled in and got some sanctuary in our own city side room.

We were to met Bill and Crystal down the way to an AppleBees (not my choice, but that’s only because I have been sick off their food twice). Anyways, Frank and I make our way down the twisty hotel to what we think is the main level, but it isn’t, so we take a catwalk across the street to the casino to hopefully find a staircase down. No staircase, just casino. So we walk through the grand entrance of the casino and worm our way somehow, out to the street. Once we get there, we find Bill and Crystal sitting at a table. I order a Molson Canadina to get the full Canadian affect while Frank orders a Guinness. After attempting to decide what to snack on (about 30 minutes) we order a couple appetizers and Frank gets a full pasta dish. (which had tomatoes in it). So we snack away on Beer Pub Pretzels and some Artichoke dip. Crystal insisted we take the pretzels with us… so she carried them almost all day. At our small lunch we decided upon what to do for the day. We chose to do the traditional Maid of the Mist adventure! Tickets were $20 a piece and it was quite a fun adventure. Crystal sternly refused to join us on the Maid due to the wetness and possibility of failure and death. The Maid of the Mist was enjoyable, I rolled my pants up so they did not get wet but my shoes were not so lucky. Wear Flip Flops if you go. So Frank Bill and I hiked back up the hill to get to the hotel to shower, and have a quick wink.

Although, while Frank napped, I started my online classes at LCCC and got ratty news that my books are going to be over $200 for two classes. Highway robbery. UGH.

Bill adventured off to find Crystal at the Casino where she waited for us. That was a goose chase I believe, I am not sure because I did not take part. Either way, she was found. We decided to have a late dinner so I booked a reservation at “The Keg” with a fallside dining experience. Ooooooh ahhh. So of course it starts down pouring and there are not such things as cabs, so we did not make it to the Keg. Instead we went down stairs in the Hotel to Ruth’s Chris Steak House. I have three major things to say. One: We were totally undressed (but whatever) Two: I could have paid my summer tuition twice with one bottle of wine there (of course it was their most expensive bottle, at only $2000) Three: I have never in my life had a steak that was anywhere NEAR that good. (but of course we paid the penalty for it.) I would go into details of how uncomfortable I felt ordering a $59 steak (not including a side) but that will bring someone to tears, so we will steer away. But at the end of it all, the waiter advised us to order together, as the portions are very big. All together on the table we had two lobster bisques, one petite 8oz fillet, one 16oz ribeye, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole and a loaf of really scrumptious bread (which I am munching on right now because I took one home, suckers). I don’t think I can tell you how GOOD the food was at this place. Damn right you paid for it, but shit it was so good I don’t think I will ever in my life have a steak that good. Even the sides were up to par with the rest of the food. Although Crystal said the broccoli couldn’t stand up to Betsy’s. Sorry mom, but the sweet potatoes stood up to yours, BUT they were not exactly the same thing so I don’t think it counts that way ;) We made our way out of there with our lives and full bellies. With Crystal’s earlier tab included and a $30 coupon from the front desk, I think the total was $240. So somehow we managed to survive, which I am proud of. Niagara Falls in general is really expensive so I guess it matched the rest of the city.

We made it back to the room around 9 something, then Frank wanted to go to the Casino area and explore. So of course neither of us remembered our IDs (which were in the car) so we didn’t get to go inside the actual Casino part. Crossed the catwalk (meow) and explored the building which was filled with shopping and food! They had normal stores full of clothes and such then there was a “Swiss Fudge Shop” which I had to go in because I am a child. I tasted a piece of the Maple Fudge and it was really good but I only had $10 to spend in Niagara (per my lousy self-control). I chose to buy something native to Canada: Sugar Maple. I got some little pure maple sugar formed into maple leaves. The nice young guy at the counter told me I could give him American money, but he can only give me Canadian change. Ok Ok Ok Ill just have to spend the rest of the money because what I am I going to do with a couple Canadian dollars. So we progress to a little gift shop and I am hoping to find a little trinket for Crystal since she said she wanted something and I know Mr Bill would rush her out of gift shops (which she later said he did). But I didn’t find anything so I gave up and went back to the Swiss shop because Frank said he saw something he wanted. So I go to get it and he wants some chocolate covered marshmellow mess and I’m like ‘Frank that looks vile.’ And I bought a dark chocolate toffee which he agreed to share. I gave my leftover change to the guy working there, because once again, what am I going to do with Canada money? Silly Canadians. We ate the toffee while sitting on the entry fountain at the casino. It was pleasant. Then a wave of fatigue hit us and we made our way back to the room.

Frank was pleased to find a TV Channel that was similar to Adult Swim. We set our wake up call for 7:40, for a 8am departure.