Day 1
The sun was out which was a very pleasant surprise given the last 24 hours, we boarded the bus for the uptown/downtown bus tour of New York City and soon realised that it was 2/3rds full of German Tourists and translation would be taking part all throughout the tour
As we headed uptown to Central Park we passed many of the “known” monumental sights that makes New York famous – this included Trump Tower, the Dekota (where John Lennon was shot), American History Museum (Movie – Night in a Museum) with many others especially down 5th Avenue, which is known as Millionaire’s Lane – yes this is where all the rich n famous live. After about 3 hours of this we left the bus tour to do our own thing as sitting on the bus looking around at sites in New York was not benefiting us at all and the day was perfect, we would see them all again tomorrow morning.
The best choice we made was to do our own thing and instantly we got the benefits of being able to take in what this city has and how different it is to us in Adelaide or Sydney in that fact. When you look down a Street it appears that they go for ever. Surprisingly walking in between all these buildings it does not block out the sun or give you a cold feeling, this was also true for yesterday when it was raining – it was not the cold chill that sent us home but more the fact we could not get away from the rain. Soon enough we found our way to Macy’s – the worlds largest department store (single) was 9.5 floors (they had a Level 1.5) full of the things you would expect to purchase, but interesting was the fact very well known brands Apple, Microsoft, Guess, Rolex, Nike, Chanel, etc were also present but they had security guards constantly observing these areas.
Yawn – we left Macy’s and headed to Times Square where it all happens for tourists, a couple of quick notes that you immediately notice is the people increase by 10 fold and the amount of character’s walking around trying to get you to have a photo with them is mind boggling. Luckily I had already read a lot about these people and we witnessed the outcome of what happens, this is what unfolded, A group of characters circled a mum and daughter (around 3) and said would you like a group photo – they had the photo and then each one of them (6) pulled out a plastic card showing her that it cost $2 each, I could hear a little argument brewing.
We found a nice place to have lunch Olive Green – we ordered our meals to share (2 appetisers and 2 entrees) and before this arrived we all got a garlic bread and the biggest bowl of salad to share, there was so much food we could have had another 2 people sitting with us and it all was very tasty, the most important part. The server was trying to get us to take it with us as there was so much food remaining but we just could not do it – it did seam to be a waste.
We walked around times square took plenty of photos and it certainly is a sight to see all the billboards around as well as the side walk pop cartoonist, walking back to the Hyatt to call it a day, we still had to pack our bags to board the road trip. On the way we found a very interesting billboard that was a live camera displaying you up on the billboard with an emoji. It is going to be a sight to see this place at night 🙂
#collectingmemoriesnotthings
Thoughts of the Day (Top 3)
- TV does not give you the appreciation for New York or its scale
- Be prepared to walk
- The steam coming out of the road is from the underground water service that is being pumped from Brooklyn Reservoirs
Day 2
We left New York and drove through the Finger Lakes Country which is famous for US Women’s Rights Movement starting in a town of Seneca Falls. The drive was very interesting and our guide (Susan) is brilliant at explaining the sites both in German and English as well as discussing the history of our next location in details. We stopped at a local vineyard (Watkins Glen) for those that wished to taste some wine – of course mumma bear was first in line :-).
As we left the finger lakes country our next stop would be the Canadian Border, we sat in the Bus for at least 40 minutes before we could get of and then passport check into Canada, more importantly for us Niagara Falls. It was getting late so we didn’t stop but just simply drove past the falls (American and Bridal Veil Fall & Horseshoe Falls) and up Clifton Hill to our accommodation for the night.
Belinda was crook as for this entire day and would unfortunately have to stay at the hotel while we headed back down the main strip to view Niagara Falls at night, a must see activity and the photos don’t really give you a great insight – a pretty cool thing happened we saw a raccoon – they are bigger than I was expecting, like a koala size but on the ground – my photos were not worth sharing. After viewing the Falls we headed up to Clifton Hill which is a tourist fair strip – with haunted houses, mirror mazes, gift shops, restaurants, mini golf and plenty of lights.
Morning time – we were pretty pumped to be going to Niagara Falls today, where we enjoyed a quick stop at another location of the Niagara River, viewed the falls from street level before heading on a Ferry to the base of the falls, this was followed by lunch at the Skylon Tower (236 meters tall) where the views were brilliant and the food was crap – enjoy the photos below and click the following for more viewing YouTube / FaceBook Images.
Fun Facts: Niagara Falls is not known for its height at only 51 meters but its with in a horseshoe shape measures around 800 meters wide.
Thoughts of the Day (Top 3)
- My heart goes out to Belinda as she is really feeling not well
- The girls are doing a great job as the bus ride is pretty boring for them
- Niagara Falls is definitely a site to see and the water is so mesmerizing
NIAGARA
Day 3
A quick duty free stop for shop before heading back into the USA where we were in for another long day on the bus, luckily the driver is very experienced and knows where to stop so we can grab something to eat/drink and take in a view or two. Not much to say about this day as it was mainly used to travel.
The town where we stayed was Gettysburg and the hotel where we stayed was 92 years old and has hosted many famous people, the only one I recalled was Babe Ruth, famous for Major League Baseball.
Day 4
Today we travelled through the Appalachian Mountains along the Susquehanna River, which is the longest river on the East Coast and stopped off at the Amish Market Bakery before we entered the Amish Country.
Amish Country (or harmish as mumma bear is calling it)
The Amish people leave a very simple life believing in manual labour, rural life and humility. They do not rely on outside technologies that will be seen as “showing off” eg cars/bikes/tractors but they can use push scooters. Another interesting fact is their houses do not have any decorations or photos in them as this is also forbidden as it is vanity.
Amish families generally have 6-7 children but the children at not “true” amish until they have been baptised which does not happen until the ages of 16-25 and by their independent choice. During this time (until baptism) the youth can live a “traditional” life to experience what the world has to offer, but once they have made the decision to be baptised then they must live by the Ordnung, this covers most aspects of day-to-day living including prohibitions or limitations of what technologies they can use eg. the use of washing machines is accepted.
CIVIL WAR
After lunch we arrived at the historic Gettysburg Civil War National Battleground, this is the site of the largest battle ever fought on American soil during July 1-3, 1863. This 3 day war was between the Union and Confederate forces and involved the largest number of casualties (reported between 46,000 – 51,000), the Union armies defeated the Confederacy with this war being a turning point in History for the USA.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech, known as the “Gettysburg Address” to the people on November 19th, 1863 at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery. Gettysburg. It was here that the now iconic phrase “Four score and seven years ago” and reiterated the principles of human equality with a new birth of freedom, “the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.
After a very long day in the bus we arrived in Washington – well actually about 20km out of Washington was where we were staying and the traffic out here was bad enough to think that you had just arrived in CBD of Sydney.
Day 5/6
Washington DC (District of Columbia) the capital of United States of America was
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Abraham Lincoln Memorial
- The White House
- Washington Monument
- US Capitol
Day 7
Philadelphia here we come and the most famous scene from the Rocky movies was located here – when Rocky runs up the stairs in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 72 stairs in total.
We were here only for the day and we started with the tour group with Susan’s walking tour of this city but after about an hour of this we (no mum) headed off in our own direction to explore what this city had to offer. We visited many of the famous sites here but no more important than the 1st Bank of United States of America, shown below.
Other sites that we visited in Philadelphia included
- Liberty Bell
- Independance Hall
- Benjamin Franklin Bridge
- Elfreth’s Alley
- Betsy Ross House
- Frozen Fried IceCream
- ChinaTown
- City Hall
The day ended with us (no mum) going downtown to Philadelphia Broadway to watch Dirty Dancing, the girls thought it was great, Belinda thought it was awesome (probably the most high spirited I have seen her for the past 5 days due to being unwell) and I enjoyed the night out with the family. We skipped dinner to make the Broadway but I had heard about this great place for Philly Steak n Cheese at Steve Prince’s – so of course I tracked it down and was very glad we did. On sharing mine the girls all wanted one to share as well – I would almost say that this is the best thing we have eaten to date.
Philadelphia Views from One Liberty Observation
Summary
The coach tour was a great way to see many sites of what this country has to offer, it has been very tiring due to the travelling time on the bus and early morning starts to get back on the bus. I (we) would have loved more time at Niagara Falls and possibly Philadelphia but overall we have had a very enjoyable tour. The people on the tour were friendly enough but given the language challenges this is what it was – a challenge. We did have about 14 Aussies on the tour so this was good to relate with them, but we connected mostly with 2 girls from Sydney who were funny and just good gals :-).
The host Susan did a fantastic job in providing plenty of history on each city we passed through or where we were staying and given it was a bilingual tour has earnt her tips.
Overall our Family Review is a 8/10
Thoughts of the Tour (Top 5)
- The big name Hotel’s Hilton, Sheraton are all about 3 Stars not like we have in Australia
- American History is very interesting and educational
- Niagara Falls was amazing even though it is just water
- Favourite place was Washington DC and the historical monuments
- Philadelphia Steak’n’Cheese from Steve Price was a 10/10
#collectingmemoriesnotthings
FaceBook Images
Our Aussie Family 