Our first two days in the Big Apple were big. First we were off to walk across Brooklyn Bridge. It is a bit over a mile long and we took the Tube into Brooklyn and then found our way back across. The first half of the walk was quite pleasant, not many people around. Able to take some good photos off the Bridge overlooking the NY financial district and further uptown to the Empire State Building. As you can see the walkway is only about 4 meters or so wide, with wooden slats to walk on and small gaps to see the water below. Homealone was not overly keen on looking down!

Then just as we passed half way a mass of people came the other way on a fundraising walk for Kidney research. At the half way point they turned around and went back, melding in with the line still coming. What a mess and to make matters worse the local constabulary parked one of their funny little bridge vans in one of the ‘lanes’ further compounding the ‘people jam’. Eventually we got back through it all and rounded off the day by looking at some of the notable buildings in the Seaport area.

Monday saw us take off a bit late for Central Park. The weather had stabilised overnight and it was a bright sunny day. First port of call was the Cathedral of St John Divine up town via the Tube at 110th Street . It is the world’s largest cathedral and was commenced in 1892 and building works are still going on, as well as the ongoing maintenance these sort of buildings need. Very impressive construction surrounded by some great gardens. At about 12.30 we  set off for Central Park  and the walk back down to Mid Town. We got as far as 72 nd Street. Not bad, took us the best part of 4 hours as we wended our way from side to side through the Park.

The Fall colours here are still really good and the grass is so very green. The whole Park is well maintained and there is hardly a leaf out-of-place.

We were pretty worn out by the time we got to 72 nd Street and had only had a small hot dog to eat. The Tube was tempting and after doing  38 blocks (full length is 50 blocks) we boarded and headed for the lodgings and dinner at the Irish Pub around the corner.

A brief note to advise that we have now arrived in the Big Apple.  Allthego and Homealone travelled down from Boston on the train and arrived at Penn St Station , 6 blocks from our lodgings at the Staybridge Suites on 40th Street. Just a short stroll with the bags.

Entrance to the Staybridge Suites on 40th Street.

Brown’s lodgings at the Staybridge Suites.

The train trip took about 4 hours and was very relaxing, rolling through the countryside and along the coast into New Haven and then the built up areas into New York. The Imlays had caught the plane from Boston to go to Richmond for a few days, before rejoining us in New York later this week. They will be staying at the Distrikt Hotel right next door to us on 40th Street.

Refurbishment underway at the Distrikt Hotel, construction worker advised completion in two years or so.

The Distrik seems to be undergoing some extensive refurbishments, but I’m sure that will not greatly inconvenience their guests. Sunshine is promised for the next couple of days so the walking shoes are out!

Arrived in Boston from Salem and made straight for our lodgings on the Green Turtle. This is a houseboat. What a great spot it is looking across the bay to the Boston skyline. It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the city on the Met after a short drive to the railway station. The breakfasts were also excellent,  provided by the owners who live on board a ketch further down the marina. A really good little Italian café was our dinner location. Quite small BYO with super food and it gets crowded, full of Italians which is always a good sign!

Boston skyline from the Green Turtle B & B

Our lodgings, The Green Turtle

Our first day here was cold and drizzly. We set off on the hop on hop off bus for Harvard University to see its Natural History museum. One of the prize displays here is that of a Kronosaur fossil. This is the most complete one found of this sea creature measuring some 42 ft long. It was found near the  North West Queensland town of Richmond in the 1930s and ‘transported’ to Harvard with the consent, it seems, of the then Queensland government/ bureaucrats. A bit like the British pinching Greek artifacts. Maybe we should start a campaign to have it returned to its homeland ASAP. We stopped by Richmond on a van trip a couple of years back and saw a replica there at Kronosaurus Corner. Harvard sprawls all over the place. Great big old buildings set amongst grassy quadrangles with trees scattered around.

Harvard Common graveyard

Kronosaur in Harvard was found in the 1930s in North west Queensland. Taken to Harvard. Its 42ft long.

The next day we returned to the hop on hop op off bus. Weather a lot better, still overcast and chilly but no rain. We got off at the old naval ship yards and had a look at the USS Constitution which is over 200 years old and saw service in the 1812 war with Britain. It is still a commissioned ship and ventures out once a year on Boston Harbour. It is now a freedom symbol for the US Navy and the United States in general. One senses that there is no way they will let this ship go. Then followed a plunge into the harbour in one of those ‘Duck’ vehicles, truck turns into a boat and goes ‘swimming’ around taking in the sights from the water. It was a bit of fun. Never done one before. A first time for everything!

Homealone boarding the Duck for our harbour tour

Our  hop on hop off driver was Ron. A Vietnam War vet and musician, recording artist actually. He said he was driving the bus between other assignments for a charitable cause. Well he was just a talking encyclopedia. Some of it was about Boston but a lot of it was about his music buddies, TV shows, chart toppers, trips o’seas etc. Had the bus singing along with him. Some old blues song ‘ I love that dirty River’, about the Charles River that runs through Boston. He was entertaining and convincing, I will leave it at that!

In the afternoon we were off for  a stroll on the Freedom Trail around Boston’s historical sites involving the Revolutionary War and Independence. Paul Revere, Washington and all the others. We got about half way through before the sun started slipping over the horizon and we had to return to the Green Turtle.

The Boston Common

This is the end of our loop around New England. It feels like only a few days ago that we landed in Boston and set off for Plymouth! Next stop is New York for a week. The Imlays depart for Richmond and will meet up with us later in the week for the cruise to the Bahamas.

Till New York…………

On the trip down to Boston from Portland we dropped off into Salem for a couple of hours. Salem is that town in which the witch trials took place in the 1690s.  Some of us at school in the 70s would have studied ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller. This play dramatized the Salem story.  Those who recall the play will remember the trumped-up witch accusations and the subsequent hangings of numerous citizens of the town. There is a commemorative area to the various people who were hanged, some of the names came back to me ……John Proctor, Martha Corey and Sarah Good all hanged and Giles Corey who was ‘pressed’ to death.

Friendship of Salem replica of the 1797 original

The weather was kind so we had a short wander around the town and historic waterfront area looking at some of the ‘witch’ memorabilia and other landmarks, even Elizabeth Montgomery who played Samantha in the TV series Bewitched gets a memorial statue for her efforts. She was a good witch.

Samantha from ‘Bewitched’

These sorts of operations are all over Salem

One interesting piece of trivia Allthego spotted was the street name ‘Kosciuszko’, a stuffed witch was leaning nearby the street pole. See picture below. Some of my readers are students of this sort of stuff but you will all be delighted to know that this street is named after the very same chap whose name is attached to Australia’s highest mountain . Yes Mt Kosciuszko is also named after General Tadeusz Kosciuszko a Polish National hero and a hero of the American Revolutionary war against the British. Small world. Interesting value judgement as well, backstreet in Salem versus highest mountain in Australia!

Some witches on Kosciuszko Street

After Salem we scooted off down to Boston. I’m running a couple of days behind and will catch up with where we now are in the next post!

We have had a couple of interesting days here in Portland. After arriving in the snow and wind from  Bar Harbor we awoke the next morning to bright sunshine, it was still cool though. After breakfast we set off on a morning walk around the city streets. Passed through some old residential areas, the fall colours were still out in some areas. But on the wane. Portland is the birth place of John Ford, the movie director. He did a lot of those John Wayne western  epics in Monument Valley. He has a small statue dedicated to his work.

John Ford memorial

The famous 19 century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow also lived in Portland, who cannot forget ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus’ and ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’. His old home is a museum dedicated to his work.

Allthego dropped into  the ‘International Cryptozoology Museum. This is one of its kind in the world. It is dedicated to presenting the evidence for ‘hidden or unknown animals’. These are usually larger zoological species that , to date, remain unverified by science eg Big Foot, Yetis, lake monsters, Bunyips,  etc.  It also encompasses the study of animals of recent discovery eg the Coelacanth and the giant panda. It was all very interesting, lots of evidence and they also highlighted so-called evidence that had been fabricated. In leaving Allthego had his photo taken with a Big Foot replica, the guide indicated that the model was probably a bit bigger than a real Big Foot and the facial features would be more ape like than human. The model was based on Harry from the movie ‘Harry and the Hendersons’!

Big Foot and Allthego

After lunch we wandered around the old port district and then retired for dinner at an Irish pub. Allthego managed to collect another beer glass for his collection.

Bull Feeney’s Irish Pub

Today the weather was overcast and dry. we took off for Cape Elizabeth to see the Portland Head Light, the oldest of Maine’s 52 operating lighthouses. It was commissioned by George Washington in 1791 and was manned up until 1989, when it was mechanised.

Portland Head Light 1791

Back in town we went for lunch to the ‘The Great Lost Bear’ dining and drinking venue. There was a great array of craft beers on tap here and enormous lunches of burgers and other delicacies to tempt discerning eaters. Back in town we had a lazy afternoon before heading out to see a movie, ‘My Old Lady’. This is one of those understated and laid back British/French collaborations which at times was poignant and at others funny. No plot give-aways here, but the movie has a top cast in Maggie Smith (as the old lady), Kevin Klein and Kristen Scott-Thomas. One not to be missed!

Tomorrow we are off on the last leg of the road trip down to Boston.

In the last post I noted that the weather forecast was for snow overnight. Well we did wake up to snow, the wet slushy type, about an inch had fallen.  It was also windy and chilly, a tad above zero. This weather was a bit unexpected to say the least. First winter storms tend to commence  here towards the end of November, not the start. It’s all an experience!

So we departed Bar Harbor for Portland and as we moved further inland and to higher altitudes the snow intensified, the wind blowing it around. Snow ploughs were out in force clearing the roads. Speed signs said no faster than 45  mph. Nonetheless  we   counted  8 cars that had slid off down into the ditches, to await recovery.

We encountered a moose covered in snow at the service station. Didn’t move a muscle for us.

A bit of snow along the way

It was consequently a slow trip down to Portland where we will be based for the next 3 nights.

We set off from Bethel in bright sunshine and had a very pleasant trip down to Bar Harbor on the Maine coast. It seems that the Fall colours are holding up a little longer towards the coast and as we head south. Nothing like some sunshine to also highlight the colour.

 
We arrived in town as Halloween was getting underway. By dinner time it was in full swing with all sorts of ghosts, comic book characters etc wandering around town ‘trick n treating’. They even invaded the restaurants.

Bar Harbor is coming to the end of ‘the season’ with places closing down: shops, tours, hotels, motels, cafes  etc all seem to shut down for November and reopen for Christmas and then hibernate until spring. It is actually lucky that we arrived when we did,  another day or so and we would have missed a bit of the action. Have tried some more crab cakes and finally a famous Maine lobster. The lobsters also close down for winter and go into deeper waters escaping the wily fishermen.

A couple of lobster chicks

Have also spent a couple of hours on Oli’s Trolley touring around Bar Harbor’s sites, mostly the Acadia National Park which overlooks the harbour. Some great views. The driver/guide was a veritable talking encyclopedia on the history, people and events of Bar Harbor’s past and present. How on earth he remembers it all is remarkable. It was just not stop but also entertaining.

One of the mansions on the waterfront

Bar Habor from Cadilac Hill in Acadia National Park

It has been pretty cold today and snow is forecast for the early hours of the morning  as we set  off south for 3 nights in Portland.

We are now at Bar Harbor having left Songo Pond a couple of days ago. I’m a bit behind on the blog it seems, but we pick up an hour tonight with daylight saving.

The cabin at Songo Pond was a real dogs body of stuff inside. Bits and pieces of memorabilia, ornaments of all sorts….frogs, birds, boats, implements, photos, fishing gear……………a great lot of dust catchers………sitting on cupboards, window ledges; any little bit of space was taken up.

Next door neighbours at the Pond

Allthego on the Pond in the canoe. Neil brought it to his attention that he was in the bow effectively paddling backwards. No worries!

Lounge room and fire

Dianne at leisure in the kitchen

But it was warm and cosy and had a great ambience overlooking the Pond. We also enjoyed some home cooking for a change …….roast chicken, spaghetti bolognaise  and a great beef stew kept us on the go.

Its seems fishing in summer and snow skiing in winter is the go here. Probably hiking as well, spotting moose and deer in the woods. There are also bears around. None of these bothered us in our time here.

A useful tool for camping

Fishing and boating gear

In the end we loaded up and headed for Bar Harbor.

Well we sort of did this on the Mt Washington Cog Railway. The engine actually pushes the rail carriage up the mountain and then leads the rail carriage down the mountain. The two are not connected, for safety reasons. If for some reason the engine de-rails or fails and runs down the mountain the brakeman in the rail carriage can independently stop the rail carriage. All quite sensible.

The track going up, and coming down. No double lines in these parts.

Our engine and carriage for on the way up

So we climbed up the mountain by way of the engine and carriage ‘crawling’ up the tracks on the cogs between the rails. If you haven’t been on one of these types of trains it’s a ‘must do’ experience. Most of these types of railways are in mountainous areas so the views are great if the weather is clear. But guess what, for us there was low-level cloud, misty type rain, wind and it was super cold. Near zero.

Look carefully and you will see a moose. About an hour and half later on the way down it was still there! Its one of those animated things that shakes its head when you go past.

The railway opened in 1869 and was the first mountain cog railway in the world. Some more got going in Switzerland a few years later using somewhat different mechanisms, but essentially the same principle of a cog-wheel on the engine and carriage meshing with  a teeth track between the conventional rail lines. This prevents the engine and carriage slipping and ‘drags’ it up the mountain. There is one section of track where, from memory, the gradient gets to around 37 degrees. Pretty steep. Enough detail.

You can just see Allthego venturing outside the visitors centre to see the view.

Alighting at the top

Mt Washington is 6,288 feet and the highest mountain in the North-east with views stretching to the Atlantic and north to Canada, we could barely see past our noses on the day! Apparently, there are on average only about 60 clear days a year up here.

So we went back down this time in a different rail carriage and saw things from a different angle! Also looking forward to returning to our warm cabin at Songo Pond after the day out and a big pot of homemade spaghetti bolognaise beside the fire.

Here we are On Songo Pond near Bethel. Its about 10k out of town. What a great little spot! Sitting in the lounge room of our Pond side cabin looking out across the water. One can imagine Henry Fonda wiling away his last years here ……………….or Betty White feeding that giant Crocodile dairy cows and her husband.

The last colours of Fall dance on the water and the sun (sometimes ) glances through the clouds to warm the chilly waters of the Pond. One senses the Pond is feeling the onset of winter during which it’s soul will rest through until springtime.

Our pontoon and canoe for exploring the Pond

Our establishment overlooking the Pond

Allthego or is it Henry Fonda enjoying the ambience of the Pond

The Pond

Swingtime on the Pond

And so no more, just enjoy the photos!

We are now in Bethel in northern Maine having left Woodstock in Vermont and crossing through New Hampshire. Weather continues to be chilly with scudding rain and cloud.

The balloon ride had to be cancelled at the last-minute. Apparently,  radar was showing approaching rain storms and the pilot was not of a view to go up. He suggested it would be unwise as he wanted to go ballooning again. Who is to argue with this guy! Dianne was deflated! Perhaps we will get to these parts again sometime and do it then!

A leaf in Woodstock

Some ghosts getting together for Halloween in Woodstock

Headed back to the hotel to check out. Leanne and I went off to The Creamery for some breakfast. L devoured a blueberry pancake with some maple syrup. On the other hand allthego got stuck into two pancakes, with some crispy bacon and maple syrup. Rather good as always.

Another one of those covered bridges along the road to Bethel

Weather continued as usual on the way to Bethel We paused briefly in Littleton for some coffee and donuts at Dunkin Donuts. Allthego awarded this store the worst coffee award. Simply thin and watery. And the donuts, well they were passable.

Homeland Security has missed this illegal at Littleton. For the time being at least.

Lobbed into Bethel around 3pm and headed for our accommodation for the following 3 nights.

We have now spent a couple of days here in Woodstock after having travelled up from New Haven in fine weather. Along the way we by- passed Hartford and stopped off in Springfield to visit the old Armory. George Washington ordered the construction of  the Springfield Armory after the War of Independence. Up until this point the former English colonies had imported their weapons (muskets and cannons) from Europe and so the Armory was constructed to manufacture weapons so as to relieve this dependency. It opened in 1794 and continued operating up until 1964 when it closed down. The museum here contains an enormous collection of hand guns and rifles of all types and vintages, including those used in the Vietnam War. There is also a display of the machinery and technological innovations that occurred over these 174 years. The grounds outside it are magnificent.

At the Springfield Armory

The Fall colours are also starting to show up as we headed north although it does appear that we have missed the peak. There is not a lot of reds, plenty of yellow and orange though. The big trees are particularly good.

Here in Woodstock we have visited the Marsh, Billings, Rockefeller National Historical Park. This Park is a ‘living’ example of a degraded landscape and farming environment being rehabilitated over many years, starting in the 1870s, just after the end of the Civil War. There is a magnificent mansion which was the home of the 3 families that owned the property. The Rockefellers ultimately giving it to the National Estate in 1997. It was originally built in 1805, but modified over the years.

Marsh, Billings, Rockefeller Mansion

The Woodstock area is extremely photogenic, what with its old properties, farmland, forests and the river flowing around the town. We have had a couple of drives around looking at the covered bridges and a craft brewery, great lunch of fried onion rings and a local lamb/pork sausage in a bun with accompaniments.

Forest near Woodstock

Farmhouse

Covered bridge

This former house is now a Woodstock sports store

We leave tomorrow for Bethel, if we survive the balloon flight at 7.30 in the morning. The weather today has been really good, sunny, blue skies, wind dropping away and a bit of scattered cloud.

We are now at New Haven having travelled down here yesterday along the coast road. We did a detour up the Cape Cod road to have a look at Provincetown which is right on the tip of Cape Cod looking out into the Atlantic. The weather continues to be a bit grim with wind and rain in the morning, but we do get blessed with interludes of sun and clearing skies into the afternoon. The fall colours along the way were pretty good, does not quite seem to have reached its peak in these parts, still plenty of green leaves around.

Jonathon Livingstone at Cape Cod

As we arrived the sun started to poke through and the skies lightened up a bit allowing us to get out of the car and have a wander around.

The Atlantic was in a pretty foul mood. It was a big surf. In summer this beach would be crowded with holiday makers. There just a few birds and well cladded tourists here on this occasion. Provincetown was a quaint little village, on a clear day you would be able to see across the Bay to Plymouth. A few narrow streets and shops were there to tempt visitors with their wares. We stopped for a coffee before getting back on board for the trip down to New Haven.

Provincetown

Provincetown

It started to rain not long after we set off and pretty much stayed that way for a couple of hundred kilometres down to New Haven. We went lunchless and arrived around 6pm quite hungry and ready for a feed. Longhorns steak restaurant was an easy choice. Neil had an enormous plateof beef ribs which kept him busy. The rest had various iterations of fillet. We crashed back at the motel and didn’t stir until around 7.30 today.

After breakfast it was back in the car and off to Groton to have a look at the USS Nautilus the first nuclear powered submarine. It is tied up as a museum vessel at the submarine museum at Groton, which is one of the US navies submarine bases. This is a fascinating place and tells the US submarine story from the early days, which started way back in the American War of Independence. Some fellow invented a small single person device to that travelled underwater. It was designed so that explosives could be attached to the British ships. It didn’t work! But it was the start. The museum story then carried on right up till now, showing the changes in technologies and weaponry.

The American War of Independence sub, code named ‘The Turtle’.

USS Nautilus

The US submarine fleet is a pretty big operation today and makes our half a dozen subs look totally insignificant in comparison. On the other hand we probably have enough of them to keep the New Zealanders at bay. We did a short self guided tour of the USS Nautilus which amongst its other claims to fame was the first submarine to travel under the North Pole in August 1958. In March 1959 the USS Skate actually surfaced at the Pole. We were also able to see a submarine coming up the river to the Groton base after being at sea on duty.

Sub coming up the Thames River near Groton Submarine Base at New London. Just got to love these English names around here!

It was a dry trip back to New Haven but we arrived in plenty of time to ready ourselves for an attack on the Longhorn steak house.

We leave tomorrow and head north for Woodstock in Vermont, not sure of our route.

We left Plymouth today having spent a couple of nights after leaving Boston. The weather has not been great. We had some sun and  breaks in the light rain on the day we arrived that allowed us to get around and see the main sites. Plymouth is viewed as the heartland of America, where it all began. This is notwithstanding that there had been British colonies in North America for a good number of years before, let alone the native Indian presence. There is a lot of feel good fuzzy stuff in Plymouth that endeavours to capture this patriotism. Flags everywhere, museums, monuments. A lot of old architecture is well maintained. It strikes one as a justifiably proud little town. No doubt there are some dark stories as well! Now what about those sites we had a look at.

The Mayflower replica was built in England in 1955/56. It was sailed across the Atlantic to Plymouth in 1957, did a few short cruises around the north-east coast and then retired as a museum ship at the Plymouth docks. The  replica is starting to get a bit ragged it seems as there is a fundraising campaign to get $2m to help keep it afloat at the dock side, let alone sail it again. The original Mayflower and a number of other ships had  brought the Pilgrims from the Netherlands in the early 1620s to Plymouth to found a colony based around Puritan beliefs. The Puritans had escaped to the Netherlands from persecution in England,  following their split from the early Anglican church. Asylum seekers if you like! The old grave yard where a good number of them are buried was also very interesting, bodies going back to the early/mid 1600s residing here. Military flags sit beside those who fought in the American War of Independence and the Civil War.

Mayflower replica

Plymouth rock, note 1620 engraving.

The Plymouth Rock is also prominent, covered over in a Portico structure to protect it from the elements. Although in a high tide the water may well cover it. This is the rock  that the Mayflower was supposed, thought to have tied up to. This is despite the fact that the Plymouth harbour is very shallow and the ship is documented to have stayed offshore a reasonable distance. Maybe it was the shore boats that tied up to it? Not sure if anyone knows. But hey it’s a tradition and there is nothing really wrong with that. There is also some evidence that it was because 1620 has been carved into it. Then again maybe that was done later. Who wants to spoil a good story. What we do know is that the Pilgrims came ashore near here.

This is the museum house that holds all the Mayflower lineage materials. Full of stuff about the original puritans and their descendants through to today. Impressive building overlooking the harbour

Yesterday was rain and wind and it got quite cold in the evening. So it was indoors at the Pilgrim Hall Museum. This was quite impressive and is the oldest museum in the USA. It documents the whole Pilgrim thing from its origins in the UK and the Netherlands, through the Mayflower’s sailing to Plymouth, the early struggles to establish the settlement, the relationship with the local Indian population and the eventual amalgamation of the colony with the rest of Massachusetts. Of the 100 odd Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower about 50 had died within the first year,it was by no means an easy start.

On  a more happy note the food has been pretty good. Some clam chowder, crab cakes, lobster pasta, fish and chips, seafood stews have been enjoyed by all. Lobster is pretty cheap over here compared to Australia. $US20 thereabouts  seems to get a good feed in most places. We also managed to get a quick visit into the Mayflower craft brewery to taste some product, most impressed with the aged Porter.

Staff at Cabby Shack were we had a great crab cake, lobster and fish n chips

Some product at the Mayflower craft brewery

Set off now for New Haven along the coast back towards New York, via a trip out to Provincetown on the end of Cape Cod.

Well the Imlays and Browns have arrived in Boston and have collapsed into the Rodeway Inn. It’s now about 10pm Boston time and all up it has taken about 20 hours travelling time from Brisbane plus a few more for time zone changes in the US. We are somewhat tired and fragile.  We pick up the car tomorrow morning and head off on a short drive for 2 nights at Plymouth. This is our first stop on a 12 day or so drive around the New England countryside and coastline. Catching up on the Fall colours and some seafood along the coast. A  bit of history as well no doubt.

Halloween is all the go it seems at the Rodeway Inn

Waiting at LA for the flight to Boston. These happy souls were delayed about 1 hour and enjoyed the ambience of the airport lounge.