Summer vacation 2016: East Coast Road Trip
Summer vacation 2016: East Coast road trip
July 20: New York, Manhattan
Our flight from Oslo was delayed 5 hours from Oslo, so we arrived very late at Newark International Airport. The taxi to the hotel was stuck in traffic so we only had time for dinner before going to bed that night. We found a Mexican restaurant near the hotel that turned out to be really good.Our hotel, ROW NYC was nicely situated near Times Square. It is modern, and stylish as far as the reception goes. The rooms are upgraded, but they are still worn with respect to bathroom, air condition etc. As we got good value for money, I kind of accepted the stay as good.
July 21: New York, Manhattan
With no breakfast included at The Row, we started the breakfast just across the street. The Carve Cafe offered excellent sandwiches according to Tripadvisor, so we decided to follow this recommendation. We were not disappointed. Then we took the subway just North of Central Park. We walked through the gorgeous Morningside Park before we entered the campus of Columbia University. I wanted to visit Pupin Hall because of its historical significance with respect to the history of nuclear power. This building was where Enrico Fermi in 1939 made the first sustainable nuclear reaction in the US. |
| Pupin Hall, Columbia University |
After the visit to Columbia, we walked due east and into Harlem. As a kid I remember `The Harlem Globetrotters´ and that Harlem was a dangerous neighborhood in NYC. Nowadays it's different. I really enjoyed the walk to the famous Apollo Theater, where artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin have performed. After a peep inside, we headed due south and walk all the way down to Central Park. We walked walked through the North Woods and down to the American Museum of Natural History, only emerging from Central Park in order to have a look at the infamous Dakota building, where John Lennon lived when he was shot just outside.
The kids really loved the American Museum of Natural History. They enjoyed the dinosaur skeleton displays but also the beautiful arrangements of African animals. We could easily have spent more time, but after a couple of hours it was time to take the subway south to the One Trade Observatory.
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| Erik & Thomas. |
After the visit to the Museum we took the subway down to the One Trade Center area. We had dinner at a decent Italian reastaurant, and I remember the two Yuengling draugths well. We had general admission tickets for 19:15 and came to the entrance at around 19:00. Although there were fast access tickets available, this would have been a waste of money as our entry to the observatory was very quick. After a surprisingly quick elevator ride, we were given some general information before being left to our own devices to explore the view in all directions. Speaking of devices, I should mention that the $15 iPad rental was very popular with the kids. The software allowed them to point at buildings and landmarks and get more information aboutthem. It was well worth the cost.
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| One Trade Observatory |
The view from the observatory was very nice. We probably spent 1,5 hours up there enjoying the view. We contemplated to wait for darkness (it was cloudy, so sunset views would not be happening this night), but decided it was time to take the subway back to the hotel.
July 22: New York, then Mystic, Connecticut
Our last day in Manhattan we had breakfast at a Greek restaurant close to the hotel. It should be mentioned that I had slipped out for coffee and news check at the closest Starbucks before the others were ready to go out in the morning as there were no coffeemaker in the room at the NYC ROW. After breakfast we walked to Times Square and then walked east to the Rockefeller center. The kids were thrilled to find a Lego store and Sissel found some stores by brands of interest. The Rockefeller Center area is busy with tourists but I really enjoyed one piece of art on display: Van Gogh's Ear by Elmgreen & Dragset. |
| Van Gogh's Ear |
After taking a peek into St. Patrick's Cathedral, we walked to the Grand Central Station. We walked by The Waldorf Astoria along Park avenue onto the Central; it is amusing how the avenue splits at this building. The Grand Central is a majestic building where many famous movies have been filmed. To me, The staircase shootout scene from The Untouchables is the most memorable.
Thomas and Erik had talked a lot about visiting Chinatown, so we took the subdown down in order to find a place to have lunch. I've been there before and at that time found the place fascinating. The boys really enjoyed walking through this neighbourhood, but what they found more exiting was the food! In Chinese style, we ordered a lot of different dishes to share. Thomas and Erik are somewhat picky when it comes to food, but here they surprised us when tasting all the different dishes. I think that the restaurtant, Wonton Noodle Garden,
was really a good choice for lunch.
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| Thomas at Wonton Noodle Garden |
After lunch, we walked North and and through Little Italy. We had deliberately passed on dessert and here we found delicious Italian ice cream. This area is perhaps smaller than Chinatown, but its full of life with small restaurants and shops. In the northwest end we tried to find the location of the `Central Perk´ café but we saw no sight of it.
As a friend of the boy's had visited Empire State building last year, the boys had talked a lot about this majestic skyscraper. We took the subway north and walked to the building. The waiting lines were long and we were out of time so we had to let the boys down. I visited in 2010 and I must admit that I still remember the simulator on top to be very exiting and wanted the boys to have a go in it.
Back at the hotel, we picked up the luggage and hailed a cab to Newark. Unfortunately, the public transportation options when
traveling was very limited for a family with four suitcases. Traffic in the afternoon, but thanks to a very clever driver we managed to be at EWR on time to pick up our rental.
Our car rental booking was with one of the smaller operators, Advantage, that is affiliated with Europcar. Although I got a luxury car when having ordered a premium, the rest of the deal was less impressive. For the first time in many, many years I was forced to drive a Japanese car in America: a Toyota Avalon.
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| Toyota Avalon |
Leaving Newark, the traffic North towards New England was pretty bad. The ride through Bronx was interested because I don't remember driving there before. Otherwise, the drive on I-95 was pretty boring. We had already pre-booked at the Days Inn and we came in so late that McDonald's was one of the few options for dinner. I remember the meal well: it's the only time I've eaten lobster in a McDonalds! I did expect motel rates to be high in New England, so I didn't complain about spending $150 at a Days Inn. The hotel was OK: we got a large room and good beds.
July 23: Cape Cod
We started our second day on the road with a very primitive breakfast at the Days Inn. Then we let the kids enjoy the large outdoor pool for a couple of hours: this was their first access to a pool and they really enjoyed the hot water.We set out on the road only after a stop to one of the few attractions in Mystic: Old Mistick Village. This was an interesting place, especially since the founders were of Scandinavian ancestry. I found a very good local coffeshop, Vault Coffee Roasters, and Sissel and the kids went looking for souvenirs.
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| Old Mistick Village |
Back in the car we followed the I-95 east for a while. As I had visited Providence before, I decided to take a more scenic route along the coast. With the bridges across the bay, the drive to Newport was very scenic. After driving through town, we found a pizza place in Middletown (nostalgic name for a Rush fan) with arcade games for the kids.
We followed I-195 east and then the Blue Star Memorial Highway to the Cap Cod Canal. At this point, the traffic was almost jammed up. We followed HW 6 along the canal and then crossed at Sagamore Bridge. We then followed HW 6 east for a couple of hours, but that did not take us far. I visited Cape Cod in 2012 and really wanted to show the others the colorful Provincetown, the lighthouses, and the Marconi Wireless Station. With the Saturday traffic and a hotel already booked in Boston, we were not going to get there. Heading north, we drove through Barnstable and to Millway Beach. While Thomas and Erik played on the beach, I located a geocache nearby. It also gave me time to do a bit of research: to locate the famous Kurt Vonngut SAAB Dealership. I remember reading some of his books prior to my 2012 visit to Cape Cod, but at that time I could not find the location. With coordinates in hand we drove West on HW 6A towards the place. As we passed, Smitty's Ice Cream, we simply could not resist to stop for homemade ice cream.
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| Kurt Vonnegut's SAAB dealership in West Barnstable |
The SAAB Dealership was an interesting building, but not really much for a tourist expect for the `been there, done that´. The place was now hosting a Gamenight store that looked very interesting, although closed at the time we were visiting.
The drive to Boston was uneventful. We followed the 6A as long as possible and across the canal followed HW3 to I-93 and then followed the I-95 to Newton and the Marriott where we had booked two nights.
July 24: Boston
The Boston Marriott Newton turned out to be a nice surprise. It was an old hotel granted, but I would not call it worn. It was unlike any other Marriott I have stayed at. After checking in, I went down to the bar to have my first taste of Samuel Adams seasonal: great beer.In the morning, Sissel and the kids wanted to make use of the indoor pool so I decided to go hunting for geocaches. The closest one turned out to be a nice surprise. It was actually located at what once was one of the biggest amusement parks in New England, Norumbega Park. Now only remains could be seen and the park had become a nice walking area. Following the river back to the hotel, the hotel location on the water was very nice although a bit overgrown. Back in the hotel, I looked up the history of the old amusement park. Apparently, the river was wery popular for canoeing and recreation then. In fact it was so pupular that there was a concern for promiscuous behavior so they resolved to ban activities on the water for a while.
When the rest of the family came out of the water, we had a very good breakfast at the hotel before we got in the car and headed for Boston. As I had never visited Harvard before, we took an alternative route through Cambridge and then MIT before we crossed the Charles river and found a parking garage downtown.
Boston is definitively one of my favorite cities. First, we walked to the canal near the Boston Tea Party and spent a couple of hours in the excellent Children's Museum I had spotted this place when I was here for work in 2014. Then we walked down to the core of Boston: Fineuil Hall and the old historic buildings nearby. The place was crowded as usual and with all the small shops, Sissel was starting to enjoy herself.
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| Boston |
After dinner in an Irish pub I would not recommend for kids, we had a walk to the Capitol building and the nearby park. As it was getting late in the afternoon, we used the car to criss-cross Beacon Hill on our way out of Boston. Once out, we followed the I-90.
Our plan was to make it to the outskirts of Albany in order to start next day with a walk in the State Capitol. As we had no reservation, there was no point driving too close to the city centre. In East Greenbush we found a decent Comfort Inn that turned out to be good value for money.
July 25: Albany
After a decent breakfast and a quick geocache find outside the hotel, we drove downtown Albany. I'd long wanted to visit this capital, although I had no idea why. The city was like many other capitals in the US: large and impressive government buildings. Here was actually a few interesting buildings architecturally. We walked around for about an hour before we got in the car and hit the I-90 east again. |
| Albany, New York |
Following the I-90 we were surprised to find that this was a toll road way outside of Boston. As we had declined the option of an EZ Pass in the rental car (at $25/day) we painfully realized that we needed cash for every entry and exit of the I-90. On our first attempt to find a mall, we paid to get off the road and got lost when trying to get back on. As the Garmin GPS led us onto a dirt road I had to check were we were. The name Oneida Lake popped up, so we decided to visit. It is the biggest lake within New York State but it turned out to be hard to get to the shore in order to take a photo of the lake.
After we had re-entered the I-90 (toll paid), we drove on eastward. In Syracuse, we took a detour through the town centre. It was raining and we found no reason to stop, except maybe for the United Methodist Church sporting a rainbow flag. After another hour on the road we decided to stop for dinner at the Waterloo Premium Outlets. So far we had done little shopping of clothes, so this mall turned out to be a good alternative although the food court was not so impressive. Me and Eric shared a gigantic pepperoni pizza that was quite good though.
Back on the I-90 we decided to ride straight to the hotel. Outside Buffalo we hit the I-90 and the traffic information suggested that the Peace bridge and the QeW would be the fastest route to Niagara. The information was correct, and we did not have to wait in order to enter Canada. The QeW after 20:00 was very quiet. At the Radisson in Niagara we got a nice room at the 15th floor with a fantastic view of the waterfall. We went for quick walk around the hotel before the kids and Sissel went to the room while dad went to the hotel bar in order to sample local beer.
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| View from the Radisson |
July 26-27: Niagara Falls
Our stay at the Radisson Hotel & Suites Fallsview was pre-booked for three nights. We had figured that the kids would be tired of being on the road by then and this place would have interesting activities for the kids. This turned out to be correct. Although the kids did not fall in love with the waterfall itself, so we skipped the boat rides. A lot of other acctractions did: arcade game halls, horror houses etc. I visited this place back in 2006 and did not waste much time here then as I am no fan of casino resorts and the like. Eating was not a great experience as the place was crowded with medicre restaurants and steakhouses. It's not bad, it's just nothing special. On the positive side was my visit to the Niagara Brewing Company. There, I got to sample all eight beers and I really enjoyed myself. I am not sure it is appropriate to bring your kinds and then drink 8 * 20 cl but I was unable to spot negative any negative feedback on our visit. |
| Niagara Falls Brewing Company |
We spent three days just walking around the area, letting the kids enjoy themselves. In the morning and/or evenings, the kids would visit the hotel pool. I'd say that the Radisson is a very good alernative when visiting Niagara: it's location is very good and the view over the waterfall is excellent. Just don't do breakfast at Tony Roma's: that was horrible!
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| Erik & Thomas |
June 28: Toronto
After three days in Niagara Falls I was eager to get on the road again. The last time I was in this area I skipped Toronto for a beer festival in Kitchener. This time, I did not want to miss the fourth largest city in North America.We followed the QEW straight into the heart of Toronto and used the 533 meter CN Tower to navigate by. We were immediately taken by the beautiful glass facades of the tall buildings; not unlike Vancouver but still different. We found a parking lot with a vacant spot after circling the area near the tower and decided to walk down towards the waterfront on Lake Ontario. We had two attractions on our list: The CN Tower and Ripley's Aquarium of Canada. Unfortunately, both had waiting times of more than two hours so we decided to find other things to do.
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| Toronto Waterfront |
The first thing that caught my attention was Steam Whistle Brewing. This brewhouse was co-located with a very interesting railway museum. The brewhouse appeared to be quite popular, but as I am no fan of Pilsner we were quickly on our way. The Waterfront area was very nice. We joined a couple of geocachers in finding in what appeared to be a lost cache. Thomas and Erik was not tricked by the slighly-off coordinates and found it in a clever hide. After walking along the shoreline we came upon a house for pets called Purina Pawsway. Inside we read a very touching story about a German Shepherd Dog that saved his owner. A very nice place to visit. In the adjacent building we found the Amsterdam Brewhouse. This brewery had a selection of beers that suited me better and I bought a couple for consumption in the U.S. later.
As we walked by the Radisson Admiral Hotel Toronto-Harbourfront we considered staying another night in Toronto. Unfortunately, there were no vacancies in what looked to be a very nice hotel in a great location.
Toronto is considered to be a cosmopolitan city. We found it special in many ways. We enjoyed visits to Arcteryx and Patagonia stores also, something we had not done before. We found food in the foodcourt in the basement of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the kids even found an interesting toy store there.
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| Toronto |
After returning to the car we were caught in the rush hour. We resolved to drive north on Spadina avenue, through Chinatown, in order to visit one of the districts of Toronto. On our way out we soon discovered a majestic tower on a hill in front of us. We had to stop and check this place out. Casa Loma was the mansion of Sir Henry Mill Pallett, the man who brough hydro-electric power to Toronto through his interests in the Niagara power plants. He started building the gothic castle in 1911. It was finished three years later, and he lived there until 1923 when he was forced to sell the castle due to a near-bankruptcy. The castle museum was closed at this day so we could only admire the exterior.
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| Casa Loma |
We then drove due West in order to connect with the QeW. Driving through the suburbs made me reminiscent of old Rush songs. Experiencing these parts of Toronto was very interesting too. We followed the QeW back out of Canada, and crossed the border at the Piece bridge without difficulties or much traffic. As we entered Buffalo, it was already dark. We followed the HW 5 South and found a decent Best Western Plus in Lackawanna. Unfortunately, there were no dinining options nearby so we had to get in the car again in order to find an Appelbees open late.
June 29: Allegheny National Forest
When road tripping in the U.S. I always look for the green areas on the map: National Forest and Parks and State Parks are often good places to visit. On this trip there were not that many to choose from. One name stood out, a name I remember from my visit to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Detroit: Allegheny. These majestic locomotives really made an impression on me due to their size and power. (They were eventually killed by diesel engines; another reason to dislike oil burners.) The Allegheny National Forest did not appear to have famous highlights, but driving straight through the forest towards Pittsburgh seemed like a good alternative to cruising the interstates.We started off driving south on the U.S Route 219 aka. Southern Expressway. Near Springwille, the Expressway ended and we could get closer to the landscape. Despite the lack of elevation, I've driven through more boring legs in the U.S. Our first stop was in Ellicottville. This small of about 1800 people is supposedly a winter resort. For us, this was hard to believe but we were told that a small ski resort could be found South of town. A stroll through the small town revealed some very interesting stores. What made most impression was probably Watson's Chocholates and the Ellicottville Brewing Company. We also found time to pick up a geocache near the church.
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| Ellicottville |
Continuing South we could not resist to have a look at the Holiday Valley resort. In summer,the place was not busy except for climbers. We decided to have a go at the Sky Flyer Mountain Coaster. Thomas and Erik enjoyed the ride a lot.
Our ride along U.S. 219 ended in Salamanca. This was city in decay, with vacant shops. It was difficult to find what appeared to be a decent restaurant, so we decided to visit the MacDonald's. After lunch we backtracked through the city centre and found the entrance to the Allegheny National Forest. We followed Park Road to the junction with Stone Tower Walk and had a walk up to the Fire Tower. At this point it was raining, but it was a very nice walk in the forest: the smell was awesome!
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| Allegheny National Forest |
After the Fire Tower, we did a quick stop at the Stone Tower. This was a nice spot with a good view from the open tower itself. We then continued the Allegany State Park Route 1 down to the Red House Lake. This lake had a nice recreational area. The kids had bought a baseball and bat and this place was nice for physical exercise.
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| Red House Lake |
Continuing South, we tried to connect with the Allegheny Reservoir and followed its shore for a while South. The view was nice after half a day in the forest but the road turned East and we followed the 346 East to Bradford, reconnected with HW 219 and then drove due South. We continued on HW 66 southwest to Clarion in order to find accomodation there as we realized that we would not make it to Pittsburgh that day.
In Clarion there was some kind of arrangement at the university this weekend. Stopping outside town to look at hotels.com, we quickly realised that this was going to be difficult to find vacancy. We stopped at several of the hotels to ask but to no avail. Out of options, we then chose to inquire at Monroe Heighs Motel. Although we were warned about this motel at one of the other hotels, the place did not look too bad given the two star rating. We got a room at about $75 that was nice enough and turned out to provide good sleep quality.
June 30: Pittsburgh
In the morning, I went out to check the breakfast at the Monroe Heights Motel. I'm no snob, but my inspection led me to the decision take Sissel and the kids straight to the car and to get breakfast somewhere else. After breakfast, we took the shortest route to get to Pittsburgh, follwing HW's 66 then 28.I've been wanting to visit Pittsburgh for many reasons. When I started watching the NHL in the early nineties, Mario Lemieux was a prominent figure. More recently, my work in primary aluminium production has crossed paths with researchers from Aloca, based in Pittsburgh.
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| Pittsburgh |
When we arrived in downtown Pittsburgh this rainy Saturday, the appearance of Pittsburgh was as I had expected from photos: a characteristic headland at the confluence of Allegheny and Monogahela rivers. What I did not expect was the dominance of the yellow bridges. We parked near Roberto Clemente Bridge on Fort Duquesne Boulevard and walked eastward. A quick google revealed that `The Strip District´ was one of the best attactions downtown so we headed in that direction. The part of town that once was part of the Fort Pitt Foudry is now a historic market where unique art studios and boutiques can be found as well as ethnic food stores. This Saturday, the place was full of life. We decided to have lunch in the highly rated fifties-themed Pamela's P&G Diner. Although the place had a good atmosphere, I must admit that I found the burgers over-rated. I also had a feeling of the place not being very clean.
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| Pittsburg Strip District |
On our walk back, we came across Eide's Entertainment: a fantastic comic book store with several floors of comics, movies and superhero figures! The kids were really impressed with the place. On our way back to the car, we saw a long line of people waiting for admission to the convention center. It turned out that Hillary Clinton was in town as part of her presidential campaign.
On our way out of Pittsburgh we took a detour through University of Pittsburgh before connecting with I-376 and eventually I-76 east. At the I-70 junction in New Stanton we stopped to check for lodging. The motels nearby was fully occupied, but hotels.com offered a bonus night stay at the Courtyard Pittsburgh Greensburg. Maybe biased by the economic stay at Monroe Heights the night before, but we all found this hotel to be a very good alternative. We found the Smokey Bones BBQ nearby an excellent choice: I remember well the full slab of ribs as well as excellent amber beer on tap!
July 31: Lincoln Highway
Since we had to go north in order to find accommodation, we had connected with HW 30. Although it was definitively not the fastest route to Gettysburg, we figured we had the time to spend and it is always more interesting things to explore along the road. We discovered that HW 30 was the actually part of the Lincoln Highway, a transcontinental route running through 13 states from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.Our first stop of the day was Flight 93 National Memorial. We had not even heard of this place, but of course we took the detour for a quick visit. The information center had a lot of information about what happened on 9/11 and it really made an impression on Thomas and Erik. The place has a very nice view of the surrounding area as well.
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| Flight 93 National Memorial |
Continuing east we now could enjoy the topography of the Appalachian Mountains. The thing I feared the most when planning this trip was that almost the entire route would be driven in flat countryside. For a Norwegian, perspective is required in order to enjoy the countryside. This was therefore one of the highlights of the trip. The rolling hills gave us overview of the countryside. We enjoyed looking at the road as far as the eye could see (again, something not commonly observed in Norway). We had a stop at the Mount Ararat lookout point to get a good view and to find a geocache to remember the place by.
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| Lincoln Highway |
Approaching Gettysburg, I knew that lodging could be a challenge as the place attracts a lot of tourists! We found a good deal for the Wyndham Gettysburg just outside town. As we went out to eat at the restaurant nearby, I was very happy to discover that the Appalachian Brewing Company was it! What luck. The place served decent food and excellent beer. For the first time on the vacation, I had three beers in one night, just to cover the most interesting options.
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| Appalachian Brewing Co. |
August 1: Gettysburg and Lancaster
Next morning, we decided to drive to downtown Lancaster to have breakfast there. I did visit Gettysburg in 2006 and remembered the charming historic town. We found parking near the town square and found with help from Tripadvisor a very good dining alternative in the Food 101. After breakfast, we had a nice stroll downtown looking at old buildings and visiting stores with antiques and souvenirs. The kids especially enjoyed a visit to a great comic book store. I found Brian Azzarello's `The Joker´ and Thomas bought his first `X-men´ comic. |
| Gettysburg |
Around noon we headed out to Gettysburg National Military Park & Visitor center. We had a nice walk in the area looking at the monuments of the American civil war. The kids were naturally not that interested buy their stamina for walking is great so we covered a lot of places. Eventually, we were caught by some serious rain so I resolved to jog back to the car while Sissel and the kids waited for me under a tree.
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| Gettysburg National Military Park |
After our visit to the battlefront of the American Civil War, we headed east to Lancaster. I had passed through Lancaster ten years earlier and now I wanted to show the Amish heritage to my family. After a quick drive through downtown we headed out to the Amish Farm and House. It was a nice display of Amish farming history and culture, although the kids were mostly interested in the animals found on the farm. In a creek near a Mulberry tree, the kids spotted a water snake. That was the highlight of the day.
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| Amish Farm and House |
After the visit to the farm we headed due South towards Baltimore. We criss-crossed through Amish county in order to get a glimpse of the Amish out of the artificual museum. We spotted quite a few bearded men and boys in their characteristic hats as well as carriages on the road. Eventually, we ended up on HW 222 and at the intersection with HW 1, crossed the Susquehanna bridge near the impressive but also very ugly installation named Conowingo Hydro Station.
As we were going up I-95 in just a few days we decided to stay onto HW 1 all the way into Baltimore. I'd recently watched all five seasons of what is sometimes called the best series every made: The Wire. I wanted to see some of the neighbourhoods described in the series and I was hoping HW 1 would do the trick. I was not disappointed. We drove thorugh suburbs that I would have believed existed. The characteristic rowhouses painted in glaring colors were there, but only half of them were occupied. At some point I was concerned for our safety; the bad quality of the tarmac could easily have resulted in a flat tire.
When we arrived at the Radisson Hotel Baltimore Downtown-inner harbour, I was not convinced that this hotel was a good choice for the next two nights. We decided to go for valet parking and got to our room without any difficulties. As it was getting late we walked down to the watefront in order to find a place to eat. As it was getting late, our options were limited. As the kids love Hard Rock Café's we did not hesitate when we spotted one. After a decent meal, we walked safely back to the hotel.
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| Baltimore Harbour |
August 2: Baltimore
The main attraction for this full day in Downtown Baltimore was to visit the National Aquarium. I'd visited there ten years ago and could not wait to show the fantastic display of zoology to the kids. It was a very expensive visit (that part I did not remember, but I guess travelling solo makes a big difference), but definitively worth it. The kids loved the shart tanks and the stingrays. Most impressive was perhaps the Tropical rain forest: walking among the trees in a hot and humid atmosphere you really get the feeling of being somewhere else than Baltimore. We could hardly see the sloth, but the Golden Lion Tamarin was very cute. We ended the visit with a stop by the dolphin tank. There were no show this day, but the kids loved watching the dolphins swim from through a window below the surface. |
| Baltimore Aquarium |
After the visit to the Aquarium, we had a walk around the harbour area. We eventually got hungry and settled for Dick's Last Resort. This place is famous for it's rude waiters but perhaps less so for their food. The kids seem to enjoy themselves and I was happy due to the beer menu: a visit to remember.
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| Erik at Dick's Last Resort |
After lunch we returned to the Radisson so that the kids could enjoy the rooftop pool. After a few days of rain, we could again enjoy some good weather. The kids loved the big and deep pool. The lifeguard(!) made Thomas and Erik do a swim test, which both passed with ease.
While the kids and Sissel rested in the room, I ventured out alone to pick up a cache at the tomb of Edgar Allen Poe. I am very happy I did not bring them, because this part of town was not tourist friendly. I did not feel unsafe, but I could do without people asking me to buy drugs repeatedly.
In the evening, we went out for dinner. I could not come up with a good restaurant nearby. Sissel and the kids are no fans of seafood, thus the limited options. We settled for a quick noodle meal near the Information Center and then walked back to the hotel for an early night.
August 3: Atlantic City
The plan of the day was to go as quickly as possible to Atlantic City. The Expressways turned out to be off limits because only EZ Pass payment was allowed. Nothing spectacular to see on the route, but I must admit that The Garden State is more beautiful than I'd expect. There were lots of beautiful farms along HW 40 to be seen. We also stopped at what looked to be a very cool Toy Store. Unfortunately, the store was closed around lunch hour, so we did not get too see much except the large Hulk figure outside. |
| It's a toy store |
Arriving in Atlantic City, we had a ride through downtown to get a feeling for the place. I'd read that Atlantic City was a city in recess and it was clear that some of the casinos were not of high standard (if there is such a thing). We parked near Caesars Palace, for what looked to be one of the better alternatives. We walked through it in order to get to the boardwalk. And we had to admit that the place was impressive from the inside.
The Boardwalk is in itself the biggest attraction of Atlantic City. I've wanted to watch `Boardwalk Empire´ for quite some time so I had read about the place. It turned to be a tourist trap, but perhaps in a good way. We had a pretty long walk in both directions from Cesars. We found a fairground where the kinds found a rollercoaster they wanted to try out. Of course, we had to accompany the kids for them to be allowed. Whereas Sissel loves roller coasters, I hate them (I always think of the lack of maintenance of the place…). I was terrified but managed to get by.
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| Caesars Palace |
Back on the Boardwalk I walked across an odd looking building. Outside there was informaiton about the `Miss America Pageant´. Perhaps not too interesting, but reading about the Boardwalk Hall it was actually the location where Beatles performed one of their largest concerts of their first US tour in 1964. On the way back to the car, we walked by Donald Trump's `Taj Mahal´. Interestingly, there were demonstrations outside by the workers. Interestingly, the next morning they shut the place down due of strike, and we could see it on the news next day.
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| Atlantic City Boardwalk |
Our next stop for the day was Philadelphia. We drove the Atlantic City Expressway, and with the exception of a stop to eat at a restaurant not worth remembering (ie. not listed on Tripadvisor), the ride was uneventful. As we approached Philadelphia, I was tempted to drive the I-676 in order to get a glimpse of one of the most dangerous places in The US: Camden. I left it with a thought and drove the Walt Whitman bridge before driving the I-95 north to the Radisson Hotel Philadelphia Northeast, where we were booked for two nights. Arriving at the hotel, we were a bit disappointed. It was a very old hotel and the style was a bit off the charts (old, not not retro). We called at an early night.
August 4: Philadelphia
The next day, we decided to relax and let the kids enjoy the indoor and outdoor pools of the Radisson. It was sunny so it was nice to relax by the pool while the kids enjoyed themselves. After a late lunch we took a ride to downtown Philadelphia. A walk around the Independence Mall was interesting. Since Gettysburg, the kids had gotten some interest in the history of the US so a visit to the first capital was appropriate. |
| Independence Mall |
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| Marmont 22 oz NY strip |
For good measure, we had a two hour walk in downtown Philadelphia after dinner. The building around City Hall were quite impressive. I had been here ten years before and could still remember City Hall well. I also tried to remember some impressive and artistic houses I'd seen before but I could not find them. At dusk we drove back to our hotel north of the city.
August 5: Newark departure
This was our last day in the US. We had a departure in the afternoon from Newark and with the traffic in this area we did not have much time to do much except going there. Following the I-95 north, we stopped at The Mills at Jersey Gardens to do the last bit of shopping. I suddenly realized that I needed a leather jacket and the kids wanted some toys.When we parked the rental at around 16:00 we had driven 3310 km in 13 days. Maybe a bit longer than planned, but still not too excessive I think. I think Sissel and the kids would like a little less driving and more shopping next time.
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| Route overview |
Next time is California in February 2017. I cannot wait to show the West Coast to the kids …
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