RussLeona Trip 9/29/12 Broadway

We left early so we could get tickets to a show on Broadway.  We were at Times Square a little after 10am.  It was already busy.  We stood in line to get tickets for seats that weren't sold.  They were still pretty pricey but discounted, I might add.  We got tickets to Mama Mia at 2:00 pm.  It was a great show, we both really enjoyed it.  We walked around as we waited for the show to start.  It was amazing how many people and what people were out on Saturday.  You could see everything.  7th Avenue was a Street Sale.  There were booths on both sides of the street selling food and about everything else.  It went on for block after block.  So many people, it was unbelievable.

Times Square getting busy at 10:00 in the morning.

The Broadway Show we attended.  It was great.

As I said, you can see anything.

The street sale with so many people.

RussLeona Trip 9/30/12 Wall St./Statue of Liberty

One more great day.  The first picture is of the harbor with Jersey City and New York in the Background.  We took this as we walked to the Subway.  We walked by Wall Street.  I was very surprised how narrow the street is.  The New York Stock Exchange is really pretty, surrounded by guards.  The sculpture was in the Plaza of the original World Trade Center.  After 911, it was moved to Battery Park.  It shows the damage from the fallout.  We took the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  We got caught in a big rain storm so our photos weren't very good but it was a nice sight.  We took the subway back and had a nice German Dinner.

Pretty harbor by our campground.

The front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Another view of Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange.  I was surprise at how narrow Wall Street was..

The damaged sculpture that was in front of the original World Trade Center.

We didn't get a very good photo as it was raining.

RussLeona Trip 9/28/12 Uptown NY

We didn't a very early a start.  Sadie wasn't very happy to see us go.  She's not too big on this traveling stuff where she gets left in the motorhome all day.  We rode the train into NY.  We took the tour bus on the Uptown tour.  We drove by many old cool buildings again past the site of John Lennon's murder, past Center Park, around Grant's tomb, through part of Harlem, past the building where Martin Luther King was murdered, past the expensive 5th Ave apartments, and past the elite hotels.  We got off the bus and walked through Times Square and took the trip to the top of the Empire State Building.  It is impossible to say what was best.  Central Park is beautiful, 870+ acres big.  Harlem was a little bit what I expected.  There were blocks and blocks of expensive apartments along Central Park.  The apartments in the photo, are a complete floor and sell for ~$11 million, but there is a waiting list and you have to be approved by the other owners.  Times Square was smaller than expected but much busier and more spectacular than I expected.  The view from the top of the Empire State building was beautiful, I'm glad we decided to go up at night. We had dinner at an Irish Pub.  We could hardly understand the waitress, real Irish.  We took the subway home.  It was great to get there, we walked miles and our bodies are telling us it's time to rest.  Sadie was happy to see us and of course wanted to go for a walk.

Central Park is really pretty, totally surrounded by a busy, noisy city.

Central Park is really beautiful.

One of the streets in Harlem.

Super expensive 5th Ave apartments.

Colorful, flashy, and busy, busy Times Square.

A couple grabbed Leona outside the Disney Store on Times Square.

The view from a top the Empire State Building.

RussLeona Trip 9/27/12 New York Downtown

We made it to our Campground and never got lost, unbelievable.  We are just across the river from the World Trade Center.  We have a great view of the city.  If we walk to the edge, we can look out on the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Dirt and asphalt but a good location.  We are amongst the boats in the marina.  We spent the day in the city.  We walked alot, I think miles.  We rode a double decker bus that took us around Downtown.  It is unbelievable, there is no way to describe it if you can't see it.  So many old buildings with amazing architecture, they just go on and on.  SO MANY people and it is so noisy.  Cars honking, sirens, you name it.  Tons of small shops and many name brand stores.  We visited Macy's, it is huge.  One floor of shoes only, half a floor of purses only, and on and on.  We visited the 911 Memorial.  Beautiful but very sobering.  The pools are breath taking.  The new Freedom tower is so high and not completed yet.  It really refreshes your patriotism.  We rode the ferry back home.  Tomorrow another day.

Daytime view of our motorhome with the city in the background.

Nighttime view from our motorhome

Some of the amazing architecture.

So busy and so noisy.  So many people.

The new Freedom Tower.

One of the reflection pools with one of the new towers in the background.

Freedom Tower

RussLeona Trip 9/25/12 Boston

We drove in a ways and caught the "T" which is a train/subway into town.  I earlier talked about the rock walls and cool old houses so I put a couple photos in.  When we got to Boston I walked over to the USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" so I could tour it.  We saw it on our bus tour but was unable to tour on board.  I walked almost a mile to find out that it was closed on Monday.  Oh Well!!  Leona walked around downtown and shopped while I was gone.  She enjoyed herself and my heart is better.  As I walked back, I walked by the Oldest Tavern In America.  I had to stop and have a beer.  After we got together, we walked into Old Italy and had a great dinner.  It was real Italian in a real Italian area.  It was a great day.

An example of a rock wall.  These are everywhere. I was told that when they originally made the roads, they moved the rocks to the side and made a wall.

 

Not the best example, but one of the cool houses that are everywhere.

The Holocaust Memorial.  Very sobering but beautiful.

The oldest tavern in America.

RussLeona Trip 9/24/12 Plymouth

It's hard to believe but we keep having wonderful days.  We drove down to Plymouth, it is so neat driving by the old houses and rock fences.  The Plymouth site was extremely interesting.  We viewed the memorial under which is the bones which were dug up of the original Pilgrims, the Plymouth Rock with was much smaller than expected (I guess souvenir hunters and weather has worn it away).  I walked the decks of the Mayflower replica.  It was much smaller than expected.  The 102 Pilgrims and 30 crew were really cramped.  We visited the Plimoth Plantation (it could be spelled both ways in 1620).  It has a Wampanoags village.  These were the Indians that were friends with the Pilgrims.  Actual ancestors of these Indians were dressed like they would have been.  They answered any questions we had about their life, etc.It was really interesting.  We then toured the Pilgrim village.  They have tried very hard to make it as close to original as possible.  People were there dressed as original Pilgrims.  They talked like pilgrims and told us about there life.  They answered questions we had. It was very informative.  We drove onto Cape Cod and had a wonderful dinner looking onto ocean.
What a day!!!

Looking down on the memorial that is over the Plymouth Rock.

The actual Plymouth Rock.  It is only about 6 x 4 feet big.

I walked on the decks of the Mayflower replica.  It wasn't very large for 132 people.

The Plimoth Plantation was built as close to the original as they could.  The people were dressed and acted as Pilgrims.  Very informative.

A beautiful church on Cape Cod.  Notice the leaves are changing.

The Cape Cod view from the restaurant in which we had a wonderful dinner.

RussLeona Trip 9/23/12 Boston

We are camped at Mansfield which is just east of Foxboro where the Patriots play.  If we get time, I would like to drive over and see the stadium.  It is kind of a junky campspot but it will work.  Spent the first day resting as we are coming down with colds.   I guess we had to have this sometime in our trip.  The next day we took the Grey Line tour of Boston, Concord and Lexington.  It was unbelievable,  they picked us up at 7:40am and dropped us off at 7:00pm. They took us around Boston and showed us all the famous buildings.  We passed the site where Washington took command of the Revolutionary Army.  We then went to Lexington where we stood on the Lexington Green where the 77 Minutemen stood ground against the 700 British Regulars. We viewed the site where the first British regular was killed.  Then on to Concord, where we seen the bridge where the first big battle took place in which the Revolutionaries forced the British back into Boston.  We passed by the site where Paul Revere was captured, past the homes of Hawthorne, Alcott, and Emerson.  Boston is  old, narrow and very interesting.  Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable.  The $62 per person was one of the best bargains of the trip.

This is looking down the Lexington Green where the 77 Minutemen faced the 700 British.

This is the Concord Bridge where the battle began in which the Revolutionaries forced the British back into Boston.

This is where George Washington took command of the Revolutionary Army.

This is a famous statue of George Washington looking onto Boston in the background.

This is looking onto the statue of John Harvard on the Harvard College campus.

9/21/12 RussLeona Trip Freeport-Killery

While we were in Portland, Maine, we drove up to Freeport which is town that is the home of L.L. Bean and full of outlet stores.  It was real interesting.  L.L. Bean is a huge sporting goods store.  They have everything.  There is outlet stores for about every brand you can think of and a lot I have never heard of or can afford.    I found some nice golf shirts for 75% plus 15% off.  And of course Leona saved a lot of money. Leona really enjoyed them and my wallet survived OK.  As we drove from Portland to out of Boston we passed thorough Kittery.  Of course, we had to stop.  It is home to the Kittery Trading Post another huge sporting goods store and once again tons of outlet stores.  I bought a wallet and Leona didn't buy anything. (I know it's unbelievable but true)  We are camped out of Boston, real close to Foxboro.  I want to go over and at least look at the Patriot's stadium.  We are scheduled for a Grey Line tour tomorrow.  I should be nice.  The leaves are starting to change.  You see some orange and red now.  I will try to get some photos.

This was in L.L. Bean's.  Two huge bull moose that were found with their horns locked together.

Just a few outlet stores in Freeport.

The outlet stores are not all in a strip mall.  They are in malls as well as in stores everywhere.  The town is full of them.  The power wires are typical of most of the old towns everywhere.

RussLeona Trip 9/16/12Acadia National Park

We have been so busy lately that I have gotten behind on our blogs.  We spent three days at Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park.  The town of Bar Harbor is much bigger than I expected.  There are several square blocks of restaurants, shops, and inns. The seafood was terrific.  It is pretty and much nicer than most tourist traps.  Did I mention that the seafood was terrific.  However there were a lot of people.  The harbor is very pretty.  The park is heavily wooded but very green and pretty.  We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain which is the highest point on the eastern coast.  It was a foggy morning and we decided to drive up and take some photos looking down on the fog.  As we watched the fog started lifting so we stayed.  It was very scenic and interesting.  The coast line is rocky with many colors, red, brown, grey.  The waves crashing into the rocks with the blue water in the background was really pretty.

We are just out of Portland now.  We took the scenic Highway 1 which passed through several small villages.  The old houses and buildings are very unique for us westerners.  The trip was worth the curves and slow driving.

The harbors with all the boats  are really pretty.

This is looking south from the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the eastern coast.  It is only 1532 feet high.  The coast line of Maine has thousands of islands.

Looking down on Bar Harbor from the top of Cadillac Mountain.  The cruise ship looks and is huge.

The beautiful coast line of Acadia National Park.

The rocks are colorful and it is very pretty with the trees and the blue water.

Leona and I sailed on this 151 foot 4 mast ship.  It was really fun to watch and help raise the sails.

Getting ready to sail.

RussLeona Trip 9/12/12 PEI - Houlton

We took a drive around the north shore of Prince Edward Island as we drove into Charlottetown. The Island is beautiful with rolling hills and the coast is pretty.  We walked around the old interesting town waiting for the "Anne of Green Gables Musical".  We had a great seafood dinner before the show. They started the show with a great memorial for 9/11 and the emergency responders.  The wait was worth it as the show was terrific.  Leona loved it and I have to admit I enjoyed it.  The next morning we left about 9:00 which is early for us.  We crossed the Confederation Bridge which was more impressive as we could see it this time.  Last time it was raining so hard that we couldn't see it.  We stopped at Shediac and bought some frozen crab legs and scallops.  We drove longer than usual as we were anxious to get into Maine.  We are staying tonight at Houlton, Maine, just across the border.  Our TV is working for the first time in several weeks plus we can use our smart phones.  A real treat after being without.  However, we did enjoy the Public Radio in Canada..

Grazing cows in Prince Edward Island.

A lighthouse along the PEI north shore.

Typical highway with rolling hills in PEI.  Notice the cracks in our windshield.  One of the trips casualties.

Prior to the Anne of Green Gables show.  We had great seats.

Crossing the eight mile Confederation Bridge.