Sometimes living in the Mitten means getting away from it to enjoy other states in this great land of ours. History lover, sports lover and 3 boys who are lovers of all things, well, boy like…. and the destination is… East. If you are looking to spread a little love to the East side, this is a must read!
Long about December or January, with snow up to our… well, anyhow… the boys got the notion that they wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. As simple as that. From here the idea grew because my husband said he would be up for that if we could also visit Boston and Fenway Park. Boston?! I have always wanted to see Salem – so a visit to Boston would necessitate a jaunt to Salem! And somewhere between then and spring, Philly and Niagara were worked in as well. Come June, I was frantically planning the last leg of our trip. Armed with my $50 AAA membership and my trustee side kick, Lisa (AAA representative) our trip began to come together.
Joining AAA was a smart move. First of all, Lisa did all of the research on places to stay, location, travel maps (including the most efficient logical sequence) and suggested some really great activities for us! Second of all, discounts. Lisa was able to get us some deals and some things we were better off doing through websites.
After our vacation packet with guides for every state we planned to visit arrived, I looked through and made a list of some things I thought we would really enjoy at each destination.
Some were ruled out because they were similar to other activities, some were unjustifiably pricey (like the pizza tour!) and some were absolute must see – must do. After the boys voted, I told Lisa what we came up with. She put together an itinerary and Trip Tix book for us that planned and charted our drive. Because some things I found online packages cheaper than what AAA could offer, or I found combo packages that they did not have access to – I used our itinerary to kind of cross check. I color coded places, prices, what we were going through AAA with and what we were ordering ourselves. I used a note card for each day and included our hotel in the bottom right hand corner for each night too.
As we assembled our plans, hotel reservations, printed our tickets for our activities, etc…. I combined it all in a 3 ring binder using sheet protectors to lock everything in.
*See my Disney 101 blog for a packing list that I used as a reference for this trip as well.
Our first day was a travel day to Morgantown, Pennsylvania.
http://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/morgantown/mgnpa/hoteldetail
We were able to eat at the hotel dining room and the kids ate for free with adult paid meals. That evening, the kids splashed in the pool. The drive was about 645 miles and took about 9 or 10 hours. I love the scenery. It seems like it went by so fast!
We just don’t drive “through” mountains in Michigan!
Day 1 We headed straight downtown Philladelphia and parked in the public parking right next to East State Penitentiary. Right there at that corner, our hop on hop off tour bus picked us up. (It’s nice to know – all of the tour buses used this same stop, so it probably doesn’t matter which company you use) I love these, no matter what city I am in. I can see where everything is and what all the city offers – so we rode straight through and just learned about Philladelphia while we took in the sights from a double decker bus.
We rode full circle and were able to catch lunch right across the street from East State Penitentiary before our scheduled tour time at 2. Jack’s was a unique bar and grill that used to be an old fire station – back in the horse and buggy era! East State Penitentiary was a tour we ordered on our own. It was very educational, haunting and thought provoking. For the same price, you can go on a guided tour or a tour with headphone narration. The guided tour allowed us to experience more and was well paced. I recommend the guided tour with an actual staff member. (This was one of my favorite activities)
We didn’t want to ride full circle on the hop on hop off – but we wanted to run the stairs to the Philadelphia Art Museum (any Rocky fans out there?) and have our picture taken with his statue to the right of the stairs. Fortunately, it was a couple of blocks away and we could walk down there. No thanks to a brief down pour, – it was a quick run back!
Our hotel could not have been better located. Our view was of Citizens Bank Park , home of the Philadelphia Phillies and Lincoln National Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. Holiday Inn Stadium Philadelphia http://www.hiphilly.com/ So – when in Philly and the Phillies are playing behind your hotel… you guessed it!!!
Day 2 was a short drive to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Again, we took a guided tour through the National Park. A little rest and a swim in the outdoor pool back at our hotel and we were ready to head back into the city for a guided Ghost Tour!
Downtown Philly we were comfortable to drive to. Philly is a very navigable, driver friendly city. We were able to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and from this same general area, we left for a walking ghost tour. Considering that Philadelphia was never originally a place we set out to vacation to – it won my heart and I would eagerly go back. It may just have been my favorite spot of the whole tour. For a big city, Philly is so friendly and it is a wealth of history, culture and beauty with a balance of modern and hip. I could have stayed here all week – but instead, it was onward to NYC! Ninety five miles (about an hour and a half) brought us to our next hotel.
By staying outside of the city, we saved a little money. Our hotel in North Bergen, NJ offered a shuttle to and from TImes Square.
http://www.comfortsuites.com/hotel-north_bergen-new_jersey-NJ138
My advice – don’t even attempt to navigate your way around the city. It is an exercise in frustration. Hop a cab and shell out the extra dough to save your sanity. I am amazed at how friendly and patient New York City was. It was nothing near what I dreaded!
Day 3 was a tour of the World War II submarine “The Growler” and the Sea, Air and Space Museum aboard the legendary aircraft carrier – the Intrepid. We bought our tickets along with a Harbor Shores Night Cruise. From Times Square, taxi to the pier. We caught a little dinner on the pier between the museum and the cruise (Nice to know – get in line for the cruise early for best, top deck seating). There was a cute little splash pad right there too. The cruise was amazing and informative. We were able to see the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower, Empire State Building, all down the Hudson River (Remember when Scully landed the passenger plane between Manhattan and Brooklyn on the Hudson?) and back. Breath taking!!
Day 4 we booked our own deal to see the Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We drove there ourselves and avoided the New York City traffic by visiting via the New Jersey side (I HIGHLY recommend this option). The Statue is now accessible for pedestal access (since May 2014) and has some amazing airport level security clearance. We took a ferry from the land to Ellis Island and from there we ferried to Liberty Island. Talk about proud to be an American. Ellis Island offered self guided headphone tours. The kids and I really read up on each of these places before we left from books at our public library. It seemed to make each stop that much more meaningful.
Day 5 was an amazing and emotional experience at Ground Zero. Using the hotel shuttle to TImes Square, we took the subway (amazingly easy to navigate) that departed just a block or two from our shuttle drop off. We again did the guided tour. Every time it turned out to be the best decision to go that route. All Ground Zero guided tours are led by people who were residents at the time of the attack. Their personal stories start the tour out in a reflective mood. First stop is St. Paul’s Chapel.
The guide takes you through the series of events as you get closer and closer to Ground Zero. You hear the stories that you never heard when the tragedy unfolded – like the role that St. Paul’s Chapel played in the rescue efforts both physically and spiritually for the devastated civilians and first responders. This pew was etched with scratches where the fire fighter’s equipment scraped as they came to pray and compose themselves between shifts. You see Ladder 10 and the memorial wall there as you approach the Reflection Pool and Memorial. The crowd mulls about a solemn and reverent atmosphere. Your guide then provides tickets and ushers you in to the actual Museum. It is gigantic. Informative, emotional, surreal … are just a few of the adjectives that come immediately to mind.
The spectrum of emotions that are experienced as you realize this museum and memorial are built on and around the exact spot that such a horrific even occurred is no less than stunning. The museum seeks to educate what lead to the attacks, display the ruin and destruction, honor and remember the victims as well as celebrate the miracle that some did survive. If you were of an age to recall where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news, then you must not visit New York without making this stop. You cannot fully understand the impact or process the evil of 9/11 until you experience this. Then, my heart is sad to say it is just an inkling of those who were or whose loved ones were there. You will walk away changed.
Day 6 took us to Boston, Massachusetts. The 212 mile 3 and a 1/2 hour trip led us through tunnels and bridges to the Best Western University Hotel. http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/MA/Boston-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-University-Hotel-Boston-Brighton/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=22029 (I think you could find better priced, better located hotels. I would even pay extra to stay in the city as the train was close to the hotel, but the layout was complicated and frustrating to navigate. Boston is not a town to drive in. I think New York would have been less stressful) For Boston, Lisa had talked us in to saving money with a Go Boston City Card. We did not make it to all of the destinations we had hoped (Fenway Park tour, Tea Party Ship Cruise) to use it for that made it cost effective to buy it. My criticism of the card is that even though you have admission – you must call ahead to RSVP a spot (even though every place I called did not let me reserve a spot until I was present to show them the card – or insisted on charging the credit card for full price with the idea of refunding the purchase when we showed up) , pick up the card (at Macy’s), and then when we were not able to attend all we had hoped for – it ends up exceeding the amount we would have paid for just buying tickets there. My advice – go to Boston Harbor and all of the city bus tours, water front tours, the aquarium, the duck boat tours – everything… seems to center around this hub. Decide then and there which you chose to partake in. We spent a lot of time “waiting” to do our activities. I also recommend a trolley other than the red Bean Town Trolley. The drivers we experienced were not as professional and prompt and missed stops along the way. As a result, we were afraid to get off for fear we may not be able to find a buss top that the trolley would be stopping at again!! I even called the company at one point, convinced there was never another trolley coming. To add to the Go Card, Trolley debacle, we drove into town. The price to park is atrocious, the traffic and lay out of the streets, the narrow roads – it was just shy of a nightmare. Once we finally did our hop on hop off and made it to Boston Harbor, we enjoyed the Duck Boat rides immensely. Very well done and fun to “drive” right in to the Charles RIver! The guide is in full character and was wonderful. Kids took turns steering through the water way. Top notch.
Day 7 we intended to tour Fenway Park in the morning on our Go Card, but getting into the city was so stressful, we opted to head out of Boston and take in Salem a day early. You can easily drive the 25 miles to Salem in about half an hour. Salem is easily do-able in a day. Our Go Card covered admission to the Salem Witch Museum. A short distance from there was the memorial to the victims of the Salem Witch Trials and the cemetery where the victims families were buried are found side by side. This was my favorite part. Again, we had read a couple of books before we went. Actors and actresses mulled about the cemetery to answer questions and highlight the memorial and the grave yard. We ended our Salem trip by driving over to the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s House of Seven Gables (admission covered by our Go Card).
Day 8 a good nights rest and little research, we were ready to tackle heading out to the ball park. We were able to catch the train from a stop nearby our hotel into Boston and watched the Chicago Cubs warm up at Fenway Park. This was an event we purchased tickets for ourselves, prior to leaving. One of the Cubbies appreciated the kids showing up to support and represent and tossed a practice ball up in the stands to them. Souvenir!!
Day 9 we decided to head out to our last destination a little earlier. Probably a good move since the drive took the day. It was about 8 hours and close to 500 miles to Batavia, New York. Next stop – the Hampton Inn in Batavia http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/new-york/hampton-inn-batavia-BTANYHX/index.html
Day 10 a good night’s rest and we were up and ready for the 55 mile / hour drive to Niagara Falls. The kids enjoyed being back at a hotel that had a pool the previous evening (New York did not have a pool and that would have been okay, but a pool at Boston would have been preferable). Lisa booked the Maid of the Mist tour and it was excellent. It was a fully guided tour (about 4 hours) to the Maid of the Mist boat ride, Niagara Falls Observation Deck, the Cave of the WInds, and a bus tour of some historic spots at Fort Niagara, along the Underground Railroad, at the hydro electric plants, and tidal pool just up (or was it down?) stream. The tour guide was informative and made everything run smoothly and efficiently. Again – the person guided tours are always the most value for your money! We ended up pulling in our driveway about 500 miles, and 9 hours later at midnight. Exhausted, but with some of the best family vacation memories to date!!
If you are looking for a vacation that has you engaged, not bumming on the beach – a trip out East cannot be beat!!! (Too keep it enjoyable, resist the urge to over book – it would be easy to do!! Set limits and give yourself some unplanned – rest and relax – downtime – you will need it!) So much to do and so compact, just a hop skip and a jump from the Mitten. But as always … it’s nice to be home, too.
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