Travelling Trio

USA – Boston – New York Week 8

• By Denise
• April 14, 2016
• No Comments

Wow – what a contrast to what we have been experiencing so far. The sheer numbers of spaghetti junctions and weaving in and out of streets to find the right one. The houses are still on the whole, two storeys high but the difference we have seen now is that there is fencing and people do have small gardens. We usually stay on the outskirts of the cities as this is generally cheaper and this way we get to see and feel a little more of the landscape through our driving both into and out of the city.

Our first stop was to call in to Dollar Rentals at Logan International airport to have them look over the car and to give it an oil change and general check over. A little note to everyone here is to absolutely make sure you always have your paperwork in order and a paper trail of emails if necessary.

So, the story starts when we rented the car from Malta and so this was through an agency and not directly with the company itself. You get a better deal from overseas and you can include the required insurances without having to pay exorbitant prices when you arrive. Given that we were renting the car for about three months (87days) the contract had to be split into two separate contracts as apparently in the US they are limited to rental periods of a maximum of 62 days. This meant we had to ‘check in’ to a pre-arranged location (ie Boston) to have the car re-checked about half way through. I was careful to ensure in my email correspondence that our total cost paid up front was all that we would pay and that the check in was simply an ‘administrative requirement’ and that there ‘would be no additional cost to us at all’ which was confirmed by the Agent.

The first difficulty was actually in Miami airport when the car company found it difficult to sort out and it did take us two hours to finally get out of the airport but they assured us that everything would be fine. Well, it wasn’t.

The second difficulty was talking with the assistant at Dollar in Boston who said that we would be responsible for paying a “one-way drop off fee” of $US750 and due to the second contract we would also be required to pay a “one-way drop off fee” in Miami when we finished our rental. Well, as you can imagine we were a little bit grumpy to hear this and so out comes the paperwork (albeit on iPhone and iPad) trail and proof that we are not required to pay anything additional. The manager arrived and still disputed the issue but we stood our ground and because we had nowhere else to go this particular day we were happy to stay until it was sorted. Apparently their system finds it difficult to deal with a situation such as ours and it is unusual as most people are only renting for a maximum of 62 days. Aaaargghhhh.

Anyways, to cut a long story short – the manager’s manager arrived and confirmed that yes, we were correct and he authorised a ‘manual change to the system’ whereby we could go on our merry way with our recently cleaned car with a fresh oil change. Mental note as mentioned above – when dealing with rental car companies make sure you have your paperwork trails in order and when booking ensure you have any questions you have, clarified.

While I am on this rant – another issue raised its ugly head at the same time when we had booked a night’s accommodation in Niagara Falls through the site “Groupon” and paid for the accommodation up front. A normal procedure is for a Hotel to put a ‘security deposit on hold’ on your credit card and when you check out you are told the security deposit has been released. Well, sometimes this does not happen so make sure you keep an eye on your credit card transactions to ensure it is removed. If it isn’t within a couple of days – phone the hotel immediately.

Our stay in Boston ended up being short so after our rental car saga we found our way to Fenway Park – the oldest baseball park in the States and home of the Red Sox. Unfortunately we were too late to take in a tour but visited the supporters shop but their prices were out of our league. Fancy spending $US30 on a cap! I just cannot justify that even if it is a Boston Red Sox one!! Even the Elvis Presley cap I bought was just $US20.

Next day we decided to take in the famous ‘Freedom Trail’ and booked ourselves into a walking tour of the North End lovingly known as Little Italy. After that a quick drive by Harvard University and it was the end of the day and time to get some dinner and home to warm up. Jeepers it was cold in Boston. In fact I think with the wind chill it was the coldest day we have experienced on our while trip.

The Freedom Trail is a “must do” in Boston and we thoroughly enjoyed this. You can either take in a guided walking tour or do a self-guided tour which is just as easy to follow. The Freedom Trail points out the historic and poignant places of Boston such as Beacon Hill, the site of the Boston Massacre, Bunker Hill monument and the USS Constitution (1797 warship) along with many other sites. You are able to follow specially marked bricks on the pavement and read the guides for each site so that you understand what the trail is all about and it does take a good 2-2.5 hours or more without stopping too long at places. You could allow a whole day if you wanted to stop and read and enjoy all the information on offer.

On our way to the walking tour we visited the Holocaust Memorial which is an extraordinary site. It is very difficult to describe how the monument is set up but here is a picture of Carter at the start of it. The steam you see is pushed up out of grates in the ground to give the effect of a gas chamber. Inside these chambers you can read survivor stories and on the outside the prisoner ID numbers are written. Over 12 million people died during this horrific time in our history and I must say this memorial is one of the best I have ever seen and a memorial which attempts to depict the reality of this War.

After a huge sweet hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts it was time to meet our guided Little Italy tour. We booked this through www.freewalkingtours.com and they have a “pay what you want” fee. This means the tour is free but at the end of the tour you pay what you either can afford, what you feel the tour was worth or if you didn’t like it – you don’t pay anything. Limari was our guide for the tour and you could tell she was a passionate foodie. We visited a few of the oldest bakeries in Boston, the biggest pizza slice shop and Monica’s Mercato where two brothers had set up their meat, cheese and Italian pasta shop. Downstairs they ran a specialty pizza restaurant and across the road another more up-market restaurant. We met the youngest owner and he was a passionate Italian telling us his family’s story and how much they learned from their mother, Monica! There were a number of other stops – all of which were interesting and had the wonderful passionate owners making their way in Boston. At the end of the tour it was time to say thank you (by handing over a generous tip) and goodbye and hastily make our way back to our carpark which was costing us $US24 for the day!!

Taylor Swift’s Cape Cod house! (Next to the Kennedys!)

Up early the next day and we were off to visit the famous area of Cape Cod and just possibly to spy on Taylor Swift at her mansion on the coast!! The area reminded me of the film “Sleeping with the Enemy” with Julia Roberts and her house on the beach with the rolling sand dunes near by. Some of the houses in Cape Cod were built in the early 1800’s and are still looking in mint condition. Without checking I would think they are under a ‘heritage’ requirement to keep their houses in a similar style/shape and condition as the original or something similar.

Did I mention we saw some wild turkeys roaming the side of the road among the trees. They were huge! We had been told we could see some turkeys at any time and that they be over a metre high!!!! Eeek glad we were in the car!

NEW YORK NEW YORK

This city lived up to its reputation and more. It was busy, vibrant and exciting and we loved everything about it – oh, apart from the chilling wind that swoops through the streets. The yellow cabs were in abundance and are all new and modern which was not quite what I was expecting for some reason. I guess my memory of the yellow cabs is the older style! I should remember that things do change ay!!!

The Bull down Wall Street

We made a financial decision to book accommodation 45mins away and then drive our car into New York and park it up each day. In hindsight I’m not sure if this was such a great decision as it was expensive and the navigating streets in among the traffic during peak hour was very stressful. However, somehow we made it through and our four days went quickly. Our first day we ventured through Wall Street and caught sight of the running Bull – this was just a glimpse as every man and his dog was there too! A strong desire to find some marmite (and not New Zealand marmite either – we could only source English marmite) meant a long walk through Manhattan to Soho and finally finding a little shop selling many English products all at high prices. Satisfied with our purchase we walked down Broadway and generally got ourselves accustomed to the lay of the land.

Next day we took in the 9/11 Remembrance Museum and thought we might be there for a couple of hours but after four hours we emerged in time to soar 102 stories high (in under a minute) up One Tower to catch a view of the city and its surrounds. We couldn’t have chosen a better day if we had tried – the views were spectacular and stretched as far as we could see. Here are some pictures for you to see…

In the museum under the ground

One Tower towering above us! 102 floors high

One Tower from the street

Now, the 9/11 Museum is a somber yet enlightening place and it is a place that I think everyone should experience. You go deep down under the ground to see the actual foundations of the Twin Towers which have been retained along with many remnants of the buildings, personal belongings of many who perished and many who survived, whole fire engines which have been destroyed, photos and much much more. You hear real life audio of the reactions of people during that day, the storyline as it unfolds and the aftermath. The video footage and imagery is real and you cannot help but feel a part of that day. Carter was fully involved in reading the stories watching the videos and listening to the audio and had many questions during the visit. He cannot quite understand why people would intentionally fly the planes into buildings.

There were many heroes that day and some included the staff and passengers of the fourth plane which did not reach its target. The flight attendants had relayed valuable information to head office of just who the hijackers were and where they were sitting and through this the government was able to quickly ascertain just who was involved in the attack. The planning and organisation behind this attack is simply mind-boggling and the efforts the terrorists took to ensure the success of their plans is phenomenal.

We didn’t think any other site could amaze us as much as the 9/11 site but then we visited the Statue of Liberty and she is an incredibly tall wonder. I can understand why she is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This statue is actually made of copper and in her day was a bright shining ray of gold. Can you imagine arriving by ship to see her welcoming you to New York? Today, she is green and that is as a result of the copper naturally oxidising to form the green coating. She stands 93m tall from ground to torch and was originally built in Paris, France before being shipped to New York in 241 crates in 1885 and then rebuilt in 1886. I wonder if they will ever try to restore her to her original copper beauty?

Incredibly informative and moving place to visit…

Right beside the Statue is Ellis Island, the first port of call for immigrants. They would stop at the island and undertake a process of sorting including paperwork and medicals. The paperwork would include finding out how much money you had with you as you were supposed to arrive with $US50. We were told that it could sometimes take up to three years to earn $US50 so aside from paying for their boat fare it could sometimes take a long time to get the money to immigrate. After the paperwork you then went through a medical which included physical and mental tests to determine if you were bringing a disease with you or if you had any issues which needed to be dealt with. Most immigrants passed through the island in one day but those who were quarantined or had to wait for paperwork to be sorted would stay on the island for as long as it took. If you had a contagious disease you would be sent back to where you came from. Those who were accepted were then given assistance in ‘English speaking classes’ and other classes to assist you and your family with integrating into US life.

After this visit we walked through Little Italy and Chinatown and then through to 42nd street and Times Square. The buzz and sheer numbers of people walking around these areas was infectious – we loved it. I was keen to get to a Broadway show while in New York but the ticket prices were out of our travel budget so I was beginning to get a little deflated. However, by chance I managed to source a website which gives out discounts on certain shows and I was lucky enough to get a ticket to Jersey Boys which was celebrating its tenth year on Broadway. While I was standing in line waiting for the theatre doors to open there were many chauffeurs dropping off their charges (via limousine or other fancy car) and then driving off to park up and wait to collect them again. One family arrived at the show with teenage boys looking like they have exceptionally fake tans but knowing that it probably came from a few weeks in the Caribbean on holiday!

Yes – I went to this musical on Broadway – Yay!!!

I was getting excited thinking I might just see a celebrity but that wasn’t to be. The show was exceptional and the actors are so talented it’s amazing. I hadn’t appreciated just how many songs Frankie Valli was involved in during his life so was suitably impressed.

While I was at my show, Dave and Carter went to see the newly released Batman v Superman movie near Times Square. Carter was impressed that he got to go to a theatre about seven stories high but decided the movie was ‘just ok but quite violent’.

Central Park was huge – a lot larger than I had imagined and contains the Central Park Zoo, a large lake and rivers and many many other areas. We didn’t have time to appreciate or walk through the Park but know that we will be back one day to do this. New York is so diverse with a lot of exciting tourist opportunities but you must also have a good budget to enable you to visit them all. New York at night was spectacular as the coloured lights on the tall buildings are beautiful. A lot of the buildings are able to change the colours and while we were there a lot of red, white and blue was evident. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the spring blossom was starting to come out and during the day this was just beautiful. The tree buds are bursting open and we certainly got the feeling Spring was in the air.

Our one wet day was spent at a Sky Park Trampolining Centre where Carter got to play with other children and get his fix of trampolining. He loves this but a two hour play for him costs us the equivalent of just under $NZ50 which is expensive for us on our current budget! There are many small parks for families to play and throw a ball around and even dogs are catered for with their own special parks with an ability to purchase a tennis ball for 50 cents so your dog can chase it.

New York has been an exciting city for us to visit and a place that I will not forget in a long time. I am already thinking about how I can get myself back there.

Some other photos of sights we found amazing.

Pre 9/11 – postcard at night

Just the usual….

New York at night – view from New Jersey

Harvard University’s own “Colosseum”