NYC - 9

October 21^st – October 27^th 2013

21+22+23

J. worked. J. had a day off. Errands, phone calls, emails, and some other practical stuff. Groceries. Time to relax and do nothing. Actually relatively “normal life” day.

24+25

J. worked. It got cold. The apartment people turned on the heat. Summer is definitely over. School, monkey business, reading, and time off. Walk in the midtown and across Williamsburg Bridge. It was pretty nice walk with some interesting views. Unfortunately the whole bridge is fenced off and the view is obstructed by the fence. Breezy and sunny. Walked by Little Italy, probably part of China town. Couple blocks dedicated just to the light stores and some home improvement. Subway there and back. The next day – another four miles. Lexington Avenue, East river, 86^th street, Central Park, and Subway back. Bus along 125^th street – around noon – it is interesting how people drive here. Several U-turns on busy street, double parking as a norm, there was even some triple parking. Number of barber shops – there may not be a grocery store on the block but there is a barber shop. Also high number of people speaking Spanish. Again, and few times before, I go surprised by the hill along the way. It is definitely not San Francisco and it is interesting how they just appear for a moment. For a while we have been playing “game” - looking for Arizona license plates and saying that they are after us. I saw a van with Arizona license plate – they are really after us. Going back – along 86^th street – I was faster then bus.

26

Saturday. J.'s last day before for depart for Michigan. Relatively nice day. Slower morning, subway to Brooklyn and walk to Flea market – unfortunately big one. The neighborhood was pretty nice, quiet and green. Flea market – about an hour and half (it was really tedious). J. had fun though. The weather was pretty nice – sunny and breezy. Leaves changing on trees. Walk across Brooklyn (part of it) to another flea market. Not so nice parts of town. We hit top of the Prospect park (nice arch and water fountain). It was really beautiful. Farmers market. Walk through some neighborhood – next to the park – apparently very hip (looked like that). Tiny flea market on busy (stores and restaurants) street. Walk through Prospect park – pretty nice. Some Halloween monkey business went on, bunch of kids in costumes. Bunch of people. Otherwise really nice park. Pond. Bunch of ducks. In the middle of four horses running wild (someone lost control). One guy felt off the horse – J. went to help but at the same time there was some guy who was a doctor and he was helping. It was quite scary to see four horses running crazy among people. Really people – horses and big city??? We were heading for early dinner in Czechoslovakian restaurant (we already visited it once). Somewhat complicated subway or walk. Walk – when we got there we had enough. Good dinner. Subway home. End.

27

Sunday. J. worked. Nothing.

PHILADELPHIA

NYC - PHILADELPHIA (OCTOBER 19-20)

19

Saturday morning. Out at 8.11 am, car, the city. Drive along the Hudson river down to Holland tunnel to cross to New Jersey. Some traffic but not too bad. Tunnel - two narrow lanes, it is hard to imagine how it looks like with rush hour traffic. New Jersey - we were not taking the turnpike (toll road) so we ended up at small road with the traffic lights. After crossing the river we were quickly in very different world. Vast network of freeways, swamps and waterways (some boats and containers), train tracks in several directions. And really sad look of those industrial sites, many of them abandoned and/or run down. The same applied to many bridges, roads, and houses. It looked and felt like very different life story. More less two and half hours of uneventful driving. Except for some construction, our drive into Philadelphia was very smooth and easy. We parked underneath Independence Visitor Center. The beginning of our city adventure. It is always sunny in Philadelphia. It was actually a bit cloudy and breezy. Some maps in the visitor center. We also got free tickets to the Independence Hall for 3.00 pm. We walked across the street and wanted to see the Liberty Bell - there was really long line of people - we gave up for the moment.

Our plan was to make a loop through the center of the city and return for our tour. Obviously, walking. After we left the overcrowded Historic area, we were in more pleasant and emptier place. Some older buildings, some high rises ... nice and normal city. Chinatown - few block that we walked through were pretty normal - it was far from all the rush and bustling of San Francisco Chinatown. Reading Terminal Market. Within the area of many hotels and convention center. Deceiving looks from outside - just like a store or something like that. Huge hall inside with hundred (s) of small shops and relatively narrow walk ways. And ... very busy. Interesting. J. had tuna salad hoagie, I had Philly cheese steak - nothing really special, probably would not buy it again. City hall building, we walked through and around - it is magnificent structure in the middle of the city. JFK plaza with "Love" statue - apparently one of the "must see" places, nice park, but ... Continue ... many other buildings and streets. Some more interesting, some less. I guess like any other place. Rittenhouse Square - small farmers market, a protest against fracking, people with dogs. Really nice park. We saw bunch of people with t-shirt saying "Urban Dare". Apparently it is some type of race to fulfill bunch of task (take a photo, find something) within the city (happens in many cities across the the whole country). We saw many people doing this monkey business (some walking, some almost running). Signs of fall season all over the place. Continue. Antique Row - few antique store, few other stores - maybe called like that for the character and charm. Relatively narrow street lined with trees and old houses. Peaceful and pretty.

Through and around the historic park, quiet streets and busy streets. Printing shop - demonstration of the printing. Interesting. Some run down blocks and houses. Elfreth's Alley - short and narrow street - apparently the oldest continuously inhabited street in America. A bit strange, small piece of history within living city, next to it was high wall hiding the freeway. Back in the historic park - walk through the security into the part of fenced Independence Square. We were a bit early, small exhibit in one of the houses (plant drawings). We did not get in for the tour of the Congress hall. Sitting and waiting. The tour of the Independence hall - small introduction and then two halls where all of it happened. Interesting - they still have chair that Washington sat on. I am not quite sure that those people would understand today's politics. Unrelated note, the walk guide lady in Boston was not happy how the Tea Party term is used today. Apparently there are many people with the same feeling in Boston. End of unrelated note. We had time and the tour of Congress hall was coming up so we waited few minutes. The home of the US congress between 1790 and 1800 as Washington, DC was being build. Nice place. Unrelated note, in Valley Forge the ranger said that Paul Revere was half French. End of unrelated note. We were done with the Independence Hall by 4.42 pm. It was across the street from the Liberty Bell. There was no line and they were supposed to close by 5.00 pm. We walked in and there were just two people in front of us going through the security. It was a lot of security there. Really necessary? We saw the bell. Walk to the river front - river, New Jersey across it, some big as. boats (army as well?),  no people. Walk back to the Historic park and go to the car. Getting dark and rainy. Bunch of liars - It is always sunny in Philadelphia. Drive across the river to our motel in New Jersey. There were no reasonably priced options in the city. Nice day.

20

Sleeping in, some. Leave the motel and park few blocks away at the diner. Unfortunately we only got mediocre breakfast. Sunny, breezy, and really pleasant. One of the "must see" things in Philadelphia was Fairmont Park and Kelly drive within the park. And that was where we were heading. We crossed the Walt Whitman bridge (and paid five dollars) and drove towards the park. Some nice views of the city, few glimpses of the river and some really big boats, city streets and relatively pleasant driving. As we were about to enter the Kelly drive we found the road closed and blocked by police car. There was some monkey business going on - 5K walk or something. In several blocks we attempted to enter the park again but found the barrier and police car again. (Los Angeles marathon all over again.) We drove along the park (or in the park) - it looked like pretty nice place. We drove through some areas that had some really nice old houses - completely run down - it looked like some parts of Detroit.

Laurel Hill Cemetery - we also attempted to visit it but had to leave with just some outside views as we could not find the road to get in. It was confusing and sad. We crossed the river and tried to drive along the river but the road was closed. We had enough. We drove to the park where we wanted to visit Japanese garden, there was really cool picture of it in the travel magazine. Found. Parked. Sad - the garden was pretty but nothing special and really small. We walked around - they opened at 11.00 am - peaked in and decided not to wait and just walked a bit around the park - trees with colored leaves, fountains, hundreds of mums and other flowers still blooming. Blue sky and incredible weather. Perfect fall day. At that point we were done with Philly and drove away. About half an hour to Valley Forge National Historic Site (Washington's army winter campout site). Pretty straight forward drive compared to our driving in the city. Park - surprisingly many people visiting. Visitor center - map. Theater and short film about the park, history, and how they lived through the winter here. After the movie we took a short walk with the ranger to the site of few replica huts (there was over thousand of huts). Really interesting and entertaining presentation - also pretty incredible lecture into the history. See the hut - there was a fella inside with the fire and short talk about the military. Walk back and drive around the whole park (probably ten miles). Rock monuments at places where different state armies camped.

Several replica huts all over the park, cannons too (do not know if real or replicas). Quite a few statues of soldiers and important people. http://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm We drove across small covered bridge (twice - there and back). Rolling hills, leaves changing colors, blue sky, sun, and amazingly picturesque landscape - it was just great day. Washington headquarters and former train station and few replica huts - that was next stop. Small exhibit in the train station building (there is still track, apparently used for cargo trains only). There was a guy telling a story for free (no idea what that was about) - we stopped and sit down and got "television game show" story). It was pretty funny. Did you know that king George the third wrote a books about agriculture (under the pen name). Always something new. House that Washington lived in - nice exhibit. Drive. Time running out. Washington memorial chapel - not part of the national park. We debated the stop but decided to turned into the parking lot. The church is still active. It was open, it looked pretty from outside, it was incredibly pretty inside. We got couple of minutes when there was no one else inside and it was almost magical - the architecture, the statues, the stained glass windows. Something special. Walk around a bit and leave. End of the park. Main road. Drive. Some freeway, some toll road, some other road with lights and traffic. Quick grocery stop in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Freeways towards New York City.

Toll road. Few views of Manhattan. Swamps, freeways, industrial sites - it was like the city dumped all the uglier stuff across the river, the city needs all of that, just not on their island. Horrible traffic as we were trying to get on George Washington Bridge. Took forever, got dark, few glimpses of Manhattan lights - looked really pretty. It is funny that the city is the most interesting from the distance, in the night, and from the above. Slow traffic on the bridge, after we paid 13 dollars toll. Sign Welcome to New York. Finally leave the bridge, get on Harlem river drive and in no time exit onto 8th Avenue (our street). Around thirty blocks on that avenue - pedestrians, double parking, stupid people driving stupidly. Finally - parking garage and our temporary home. Welcome to New York City.

NYC - 8

October 14^th – October 20^th 2013

14

Columbus Day. Monday. Not the greatest and not the worst weather. Leaving the city around nine o'clock in the morning and heading to New Jersey and Pennsylvania border. Quiet drive across New Jersey (gas was cheaper – 3.33). Jest before entering PA we turned off the freeway and were following Delaware river (it is National Recreation Area). Visitor center closed (for season). River. Woods all around slowly changing colors. Really pretty. Few stops and maybe five miles in we hit the gate that was closed – the road was closed – the end. We used some not so nice words and turned around and drove back. Cross to PA. Visitor center – nice one, there are more closed roads due the damn government shutdown. We left New York, drove through New Jersey and now were in Pennsylvania. Funny. Drove as close to the river as possible (not very close). Really nice landscape – rolling hills, older towns and villages, kind of nicely picturesque and pretty. We made small detour for Bushkill Waterfalls (according to signs it is Niagara of Pennsylvania) – overflowing parking lot and it was privately owned and run (13 dollars a person). It did not look very appealing. Left. Still in PA, we drove away from main road to the waterfall – the road was not closed and we found it – short walk down where we found really nice fall.

Quick stop in the grocery store before crossing back to New York. PA price for pack of cigarettes was about 5 dollars, NY was about 9.5 dollars. That was probably the reason why there were so many smoke shops on PA side. Continue driving in NY – the same nice, peaceful, and relaxing landscape we encountered around Syracuse. Warwick winery – found and surprised by the number of people visiting. It is also working farm offering apple picking. J. had some wine and good time. Few stops along the way – several state forests, many and many lakes and changing leaves – it was so beautiful. Some traffic. Cross Hudson. Drive home (more less fine). Done for a day. And again bringing more stuff to the apartment (some food, wine, maps).

15

Pretty nice day. It took a while in the morning but sun came out and the city looked pretty. Some monkey business in the morning – some practical and some useless (like life itself). Subway A to Washington Heights (almost the top of Manhattan Island) and walk across Fort Tryon to The Cloisters Museum. http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/visit-the-cloisters The park was beautiful, bathing in sun and offering peace and serenity so close to bustling city. It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. Those places are still surprising me – you would not expect to find something like that in the city (or in that neighborhood). Incredible views of Hudson River, Washington bridge and cliffs of New Jersey. The Cloisters – I found it both strange and interesting. It is a collection of medieval art and architecture pieces from Europe. The architecture pieces (doorways, windows, arches) are incorporated into the Cloisters building. It is pretty but also strange, hard to say. After the museum we walked through the rest of the park to Dyckman subway stop and went home. J. had some monkey business – cancel gym – to do. In the afternoon/evening J. had dinner with a friend in the city. Nice and easy day.

16+17+18

Not much. J. worked. Neighborhood walk – the city is strange. Some new developments or really nicely redone houses and next door is just trashed building. Hard to say. Gray sky. Really – nothing special. More less the same, ordinary life.

19+20

Philly trip – described above.

NYC - 7

October 7^th – October 13^th 2013

13

Very ordinary week. After many work days J. needed slow day – some relaxing and doing nothing. We went to downtown area and walk along the High Line park. Crowded again. There was supposed to be Art in Odd Places along the 14^th street but after few block we did not find anything. J. went to some stores and other monkey business and I went home (groceries along the way). Very ordinary week.

12+11+10

J. worked. Nothing special. Fall is here – leaves are falling down and/or changing colors. It is cooler. Mostly quite pleasant. Few gray days – the city looks sad and grim. I would not want to be here in winter.

9

J. worked. Nothing special. It is quite surprising how much time it takes to do some things – getting groceries at Trader's Joe. Subway. Walk. Store (super crowded all the time). Walk. Subway. Unfortunately there are only some smaller stores or “delis” around our place and they are pricey. It is quite ironic that in poorer area, where we are, groceries are more expensive than in Upper West side where TJ is. Life is strange.

8 + 7

Described below (NYC – Cape Cod trip).

NYC - Cape Cod

October 5th - October 8th 2013

8

We left the motel room at 8:08 am as planned. The office was still locked, ring, cup of coffee and road. Kind of scenic drive across part of Cape Cod – glass studio closed, sunny and nice day. To our surprise we found some shopping malls and most, if not all, major retailers. Who knew? We were also amused by the road sign “thickly settled”. And for some reason, the roundabout is called rotary in Massachusetts. Really pretty country, nothing open and no access to the beach that we could easily find. Stop by the Cape Cod Canal http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/CapeCodCanal.aspx but it was pretty windy and cold (I had shorts). We walked to the end of the canal and saw it meeting the sound and it was pretty cool (calm canal and wavy sound). Cross the canal, smaller roads to the cranberry farm. Few barns, store, big parking lot – not really a farm, just a “store front”. We got some chocolate and cranberries (what a shocker on the cranberry farm). There was also a list with the bogs where they were going to harvest. Nothing really close but we decided to give it a shot.

Driving in really nice country, some houses (mostly hidden behind the trees), ponds, bogs – quiet few of them – but no action there. After a while and probably many miles inland and from a highway we found a flooded bog with the tractor in it (not really a tractor – some type of moving machine). Cranberries were floating and it was really cool image. We got mislead by the smart phone map and had to do some funky back road driving – along the way we actually saw them getting cranberries from water - “fishing them out”. Really nice detour. Back to the highway. Heading to Providence, RI. The city – visitors center, some old mill, downtown area, Brown university campus. Not really much time left. It actually looked like nice town. Easily out and back on freeway I-95. Driving. Driving and driving. Stop at New London Connecticut College Arboretum – short loop around (fall season) and continue. Some mess on the freeway – took road 15 (some congestion too). Two slow downs, nice surroundings and just clipping along. To our surprise (again) relatively easy drive back “home”. Park. Off. DONE.

7

Monday. Third day of our NYC – Cape Cod trip. Some clouds and sun in the morning. Slower morning, J. wanted to sleep in. Cup of coffee at the motel, short talk with the manager of the motel (the place closes after Columbus day). Apparently Cape Cod goes almost “dead” during winter. Driving. Stop at one of the beaches where we found some sand creations from the early summer (still in very good shape). Windy and pretty cold. Nice views of ocean and the area around. According to the guy from the motel, the traffic during summer is horrible. Driving east – houses, many resorts, pretty empty, many marshes, some glimpses of ocean. Lighthouse within the hotel (strange). Gasoline – relatively the same price as the rest of the state (kind of surprising). Westham – town or village, lighthouse (not open for public). Big beach and really pretty marsh land, tour bus with German tourists. Driving up – really nice scenery, houses, time to time a view of ocean or some type of body of water (bay, inlet). Many signs of fall season. Quick stop at some fort – National historic site. Following the smartphone directions (map) we tried to get to the shore but unfortunately it was all residential area with private roads. A bit later we drove to National seashore park – closed for the government shutdown – but fully accessible. Really windy and cold. Sky switching between nice and ugly. Quick walk along the beach.

It was interesting how quickly was time passing. Lighthouse stop (closed because of the government) – we wanted to visit this one. Most of the lighthouses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts were either private or not accessible. Still, pretty nice view and walk on the grounds of the lighthouse. Couple more stops along the way – national seashore is pretty big. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_National_Seashore On one of the beaches (steep steps down) we were looking at the ocean and saw bunch of seals swimming in the water. We went down to the beach and watch them swimming and diving and doing all kinds of monkey business. It was pretty funny and great. Drive by the lighthouse in the same area (not accessible). Driving to Provincetown – the town at the tip of Cape Cod. Vacation homes. Sand. Sand. Sand dunes. Really pretty landscape. We ended up on the main street and were more than surprised by the number of cars and people. Parking on he waterfront was very expensive, we drove a bit around and found a parking lot (almost full) two streets up (for only six dollars). We walked down – the streets were narrow and houses really pretty. There was a lot of construction going on. Blondie's Burgers lunch – classier fast food – pretty good. As we were waiting for the food it started to rain (heavy rain). It stopped when we were done with lunch. Walk along the main street and the bay. It was really pretty. Provincetown is apparently “gayest town in the US”. There was a lot of colors on stores and streets. It was great. Drive to the end of land – wave breaker and two lighthouses across the bay (walk on the breaker for over a mile and half). It was great view and we did not walk it. Couple more beaches along the bay – very serene and almost empty. We were really calm and relaxed and enjoying it. What we saw and heard – summers have to be beyond crazy here. Slowly going back – we had to backtrack some – we took also few detours to enjoy some back roads (and it was nice and relaxing). One beach – short walk – there was also marsh and dunes – it made for really nice landscape. On and off our main road number 6. Sun was slowly going down – we tried to find some place for sunset but were unsuccessful. GOOD DAY.

6

Early morning, 7:03 leaving motel, sun rising over the ocean and the rest of the sky dark and cloudy. Rain most likely according to forecast. Road 6 from Cape Cod. Rod 3 toward Boston. Nice road, woods around – pretty much no towns or other places next to highway. Road 93 into Boston. Drizzle. Rain. Approaching Boston – pouring rain. Unpleasant drive. Tunnel. Center of town. Sliver of driving, parking garage for 12 dollars (38 during work days). Cloudy and dark. Drizzle. Close to nine o'clock, relatively quiet and empty streets. Walk to the park – Boston commons – for the visitor center. Pretty nice city, so far. Park – tiny visitor center – funny dressed people (guides for the Freedom tours). After talking to the person from visitor's center we decided to go on 9.30 Freedom trail walk (about 13 dollars a person). Nice older lady dressed in the 1790s clothes (blue and white) with big blue and white umbrella. Still drizzle. About an hour and half walking tour. Rain on and off. The tour was great, it was just the lady and six of us walking (all ladies except me). Very interesting and informative. Boston and the creation of the republic. People and events. The lady was really great and even shared her umbrella with us. Burial grounds.

Churches. State house. Boston massacre. Faneuil hall – named after Peter Faneuil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faneuil_Hall End of the tour there. Other building in the area – mostly use as a marketplace – so much food places and “tourist junk” - Boston shirts and everything. Walk to the Long Wharf – rain – harbor – rain – interesting view, some people, many boats and ferries. To North End – neighborhood – Italian. The central Boston is pretty small. European feel of North End, Italian restaurants and bakeries and plenty of tourists. Paul Revere house, church, statue and park. Almost ocean again. Big slice of pizza for lunch – pretty good. Cannoli for desert – apparently one of the best places for that – J. was happy, I was unimpressed. And we were walking again. River. Bridges. Less touristy and more industrial areas. Rain. Beacon Hill – nice tree lined streets, really nice houses, Charles street - shops. Public Gardens park. Rain. We wanted to walk through other neighborhood but it was raining a lot so we went through the park back to the visitors center. Really nice park, many ducks and people and rain. Rain. Back to the visitors center area, streets and to the parking garage – the circle was completed. Drive to the area called Cambridge – traffic and rain. Around MIT campus on the river bank – not very impressive. Harvard campus area – really congested and unable to find a parking. Not looking very impressive either. We gave up. Some “funny” driving to get to the highway 93, few bad turn, few missed turns, bad signage, and bad luck. It took a while to get on the highway, we saw some industrial areas and also some interesting neighborhoods. Finally on the highway 93, cross the bridge into Boston and immediately drive into the tunnel. Some heavier traffic and rain – but doable. Leaving Boston. Stop in Plymouth for some groceries and also visit to the harbor. Surprisingly busy for Sunday late afternoon. (Probably) replica of an old ship. Harbor. Boats, boats, boats. Plymouth rock (just plainly strange). And also I just read that Pilgrims were heading to Virginia but run out of supplies and ended up in Massachusetts. Drive back to the motel. No rain. Extending the stay for one more night (J. switch the work day). J. had couple of the “Monster Inc.” moments, I just told her I will write it down, so I did. Drying and warming up. Pretty nice day even with all that rain. BAD RAIN.

5

Slower morning. To carry the luggage to the garage and get our car. It is kind of hard to get use to that. Heading from the city to Cape Cod. Not cloudy and not sunny day. Surprisingly easy way out of the city. Toll road in New York. Welcome center in Connecticut. Driving. Just off the freeway there was Sherwood Island State Park. Huge parking area, some sporting event (smaller one). We took a stroll along the beach and enjoy the weather and ocean. Nice stop. I-95 north – New Haven. Construction – gray sky – river/water.

The town – park close to Yale campus. Walk along and through the campus. Somewhat interesting but very similar to other US universities – in the end nothing special. The cemetery. Drive across the river and head to the Lighthouse park – found – 30 dollars fee to visit – leave immediately. Back on the road. I-95: driving and driving. Off at the town of Mystic. Apparently the location (at least by the name) of the movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_Pizza The town was interesting, kind of tacky, also overcrowded. Cross the river (really nice drawbridge). Turn around and finding no parking spot – continue our trip. Some smaller roads. Nice drive. We crossed the river and ended up on the island between the mainland and Newport, RI. It is in the bay that goes to Providence, RI. Two big bridges, nice port, nice beaches. Drive to the tip of the island – Beaver tail state park. Lighthouse. Closed for the season – still rally nice view and the area.

Fall is here – all the way to here we say it – trees changing color and leaves falling down. Weather is really pleasant (sort of) and it is perfect fall time. Cross the bridge to Newport, RI. The town – to our surprise, again, we found relatively pretty and interesting main street and it was overcrowded. We slowly drove through and were unable to find the parking spot. J. wanted to find and take a walk on Cliff walk (apparently she did that when she visited the area when she was 11 years old or so). We drove by some sizable homes with even more sizable yards and parked in small dead end street. Cliff walk. Officially, part of the walk was closed due to the damage from Sandy but it was still open and accessible. We walked in both directions, some, and enjoyed ocean views and some limited views of the homes that were fenced off from the walk. http://www.cliffwalk.com/ Continue driving. The day was slowly ending. Gas price in Massachusetts was pretty good – 3.40 – 3.60. Enter Cape Cod. Making fun of the name of the town: Sandwich. Our motel – adequate. Dinner in near by restaurant (pricy – 17 dollars for fish and chips). Dinner was mediocre, at best. GOOD NIGHT.