Day 7

Just to let you know, we didn't get out early on these big city days because you would get stuck in rush hour morning traffic. We had a lazy morning and got ready to leave New Jersey. We stopped to get a red box movie for the road.Have to tell you about the freeways here... All of the freeways have huge amounts of trees on each side of the road. The only way you can tell you are passing a city is by the signs. We loved the rest stops. Utah can really take a lesson about resting. You pull off the road and there is a gas station and one or more eateries. When going off the freeway, be prepared to stop fast. The one lane road seems to go off into the trees with a stop sign at the bottom. We drove to our hotel in Maryland. Dh and #3 went to the store for laundry soap and quarters. We got some pretty bad take-out Chinese, did our laundry and planned for the next day's adventure.

Day 6

We allowed the girls to sleep in a little. We all needed it after yesterday. DH went to Walmart for breakfast foods. It was really raining hard. Flash flood warnings were all over the news. We got outta the hotel and took the shuttle van again back to the train station and then went on the Penn Station. We purchased Metro passes so that we could go anywhere without having to pay each time we got on the metro.  We took the subway down to midtown and got in line for tickets to walk through the 9/11 memorial. After security screening and umbrellas up, we walked around the square fountains that were once the towers. The names of the victims were engraved in the stone around the outsides of the fountains.  It was a very somber sight. 

We walked and walked and walked.........

Entering subway

   Next, we had a time walking down to the Statton Island Ferry. It's sure hard to find your way around. People that we talked to in asking directions were so dang nice! I was so impressed with the kindness we were shown.  In the ferry station, we waited for the next boarding and there was a violinist that was performing with a minus track. It was so beautiful. The ferry pulled up and there was a mass exodus to get on the boat. On the trip we got to see the Statue of Liberty, but got a closer view of her on the return trip. She had been closed because of the hurricane Sandy destruction. She was an awesome sight! 

Dh wanted a hotdog at a vendor .

   It rained and rained until about 4:00. Glad dh bought everyone umbrellas. Dd#3 got splashed by a bus. Funny! We found another subway entrance and zoomed up to Little Italy. We walked around and found an in-and-out pizza dive. Pretty good pizza. From there, we walked up to Time Square to purchase some souvenirs  On to Penn Station, to train, to hotel van and back to the 12th floor. The girls wanted to swim. Dh and I had a complementary appetizer vouchers at the hotel restaurant. Every one sacked out! Very tired. Observations:  The subways were so much cleaner than I had thought they would be. The subway systems are noisy, stuffy and hard to get your metro card to scan right so as to get through the turnstile  Dh's observation was that he loved seeing all the cultural diversity. We saw Traditional Indian, Asian, Jew, French, Italian, Rich and Poor. So interesting to watch.

Day 5

It's Sunday. Got up way early to get ready for church. We looked funny in nice church clothes and running shoes. We took the 7:00 shuttle to the train station at Secaucus. Bought the tickets and got on the train. Getting off at Penn Station was a little nerve wracking because we didn't know where to go to get to the Manhattan Temple. It was very hard to find your way around when there were no mountains. We also had overcast skies so you couldn't orient yourself with the sun. We had a hard time finding the temple because of bad information. We arrived there just in time for sacrament meeting at the Manhattan 8th ward. We then changed into street clothes and headed off to find something for lunch.     

Subway time!

Right in front of Central Park's entrance was a Whole Foods Marketplace. It took us awhile to discover what we each wanted to eat. Yummy! We walked to find the bicycle rentals. We biked off into the crowds in the park. In hind-sight, I wouldn't do it again. We couldn't stop to see all the sights because we were on a tight time crunch to get them back. Two hours just isn't enough time!

Manhattan Temple

Come to find out with the bikes we rented, #3dd and I had our gears stuck on fifth gear.UGH. Going up and down those hills and then  the heat was difficult. I personally think the park is over-rated. Just a green spot in a concrete jungle. Walked and walked all the rest of the day. Walked to FAO Schwartz Toy Store, American Girl flagship store and walked around Time Square with hundreds of others. 

Central Park

A dirty, smelly city.....I must put a disclaimer here though. Every person we met or came in contact with was so NICE! I was so impressed how helpful people were.
Got back to the train station, then to the shuttle and back to the hotel. Our legs felt like Jell-o. Very bush-whacked.....Went to bed!!!

Day 4

   Got up and checked out of the hotel and tried to find a grocery store. Not many around there. We found that there were only tiny mom and pop stores out of people's homes. Very different. Instead of breakfast, we did brunch at a walk-up style sandwich place. Fish sandwiches were on the menu. We spent the rest of the morning driving. We got to the next Sheraton in E. Rutherford, NJ.
    After the driver put in a little nap, we drove to Hoboken-the birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra. We squeezed into a parking spot and walked the main street and stopped at Carlo's bakery. We stood outside the store in line over an hour and took pictures with Buddy's sister and then each grabbed a favorite pastry. We walked to the harbor overlooking New York City. We ate at a

Yummy and detectable!

restaurant named Qdoba-kinda like Cafe'Rio. We then drove back so that the girls could swim. They were fish until the hotel turned the lights out at midnight. Really fun day!

Day 3

   Got up early and got out the door at 8:30. Grabbed breakfast on the road and drove to Salem, Massachusetts. The sky was overcast the whole day which added to the ambiance of the "witchy" stuff we were able to see. We walked around the Salem Commons. The little town is right on the coast. We walked to the oldest candy shop in America and down to the Salem Wharf.  We walked around the old cemetery. We read many of the quotes etched in stone of their speeches for their defense during the witch trials. It was a very somber place. The area seemed more of a tourist trap than anything. The architecture of the old buildings and the brick paths were very cool.
   On a more upbeat note, we drove to a small quilt shop in Salem that looked like a little cottage and picked up a small pattern made by a local quilter. We drove back to Boston to a restaurant made famous by Diners, drive-ins and Dives. It was called Sam La Grassa's.  DH double parked while we ran in to order.  THE BEST Reuben sandwich ever is there!!!

dd#1 with the love of her life.

    We took to the road and headed South towards NYC. We stopped in Norwalk, CT at a Sheraton. Found out they were closing the hotel a few days after we would leave. We felt like we were the only ones staying in the hotel. Weird.

Elizabeth Howe Hanged July 19,1692

Very old cemetery. Most of the stones were unreadable. Next to this was a stone wall that historians had placed with names of those tried and killed. There were quotes from their last words before they were hung or burned. 

#3dd posing at the restaurant