Travel Log: Our US summer vacation.
I’m sitting here eating my American Pop tarts Jevin gave me, half jet lagged and busy getting ready for my next trip tomorrow. Thought I had better write this before I forget it all. Hope you are comfy; we had a busy 2 weeks….
Friday/Saturday 14th July – New York
We had an amazing start of the trip which only brought our spirits high for a wonderful holiday. Vinnie and I got upgraded to first class on the flight over to NY. What an experience- you have your own little room on the flight with a big TV and food&drink on demand. I was sipping champagne and eating caviar!
Arriving in NY, our hire car was also upgraded to some Ford Escape 4x4 thing. We drove to Brooklyn where we stayed in Bayridge Best Western Gregory hotel- in the area where Vinnie used to live. We arrived early morning but could not check in until 3 pm, so we headed out into the Bayridge area, sightseeing – Brooklyn bridge, old harbor where V used to work, visiting places and a few bars where V used to hang out. We met up with Gary (Irish bartender) and a few of his old friends later the evening. Also went to meet Joey – a crazy Italian American who owns a bar V used to live above of. Ended up going to another place and danced to a band till like 2 am!
Off course I will tell you again about my culinary experiences as well…so I had what they call a ‘slice’ for lunch. Well, I had two. Proper NY pizza. Very tasty! And a liquid dinner.
Sunday 16th – New York
After the must have bagel and cream cheese breakfast, we headed into Manhattan around 10 am. Took the Staten Island ferry in to see the statue of liberty, then headed over to the WTC – ground zero. What a touching and sad place! I was almost in tears. There is a memorial with names and like story boards with the time line of the events. It is frightening to see the gap. We took the subway up to Central Park, walked around there for a while, eating pretzels – which I still say tastes like wood. Can’t convince me, even with the mustard. From there we took a taxi to the Guggenheim art museum and to another apartment V used to live- very up-market! We headed to the Empire State, then down to the Village (Greenwich Village). I love that place. Being Sunday, they had like flea market stalls all over – especially a lot of art and loads of galleries in the area. Saw a lot of weirdoes and strange people- had a good laugh at their expense. Had lunch in a little diner- the all American hamburger!
Later we went to Pier 19 where there were a lot of activities – street performers, mall, restaurants, was lovely! Had sundowners there and then headed back to Brooklyn.
Monday 17th – New York/ New Jersey
Started the morning to Coney Island. I heard so much about it and looked forward to it, but it was a disgustingly dirty mess. Have never seen a dirty beach like that. Disappointing. The highlight of the trip was having a famous Nathan’s hot dog. We then headed out to Sheepshead Bay. I could live there! Beautiful area on the coast. Went looking for an old friend of Vinnie’s who unfortunately have passed away. Had lunch there- clam chowder and fried calamari with hot sauce. It was hot. But very tasty.
The afternoon we went to New Jersey to visit V’s family John and Helena. Also met his cousins Cathy and Valerie. We had afternoon tea there. What lovely people- had a good laugh. We went with crazy Cathy to the local bar trying to convince her to visit us in Dxb. Had an amazing time!!! We headed back to Brooklyn and had Chinese take out for dinner. Had better.
Tuesday 18th – Pennsylvania
Finally set out for Stroudsburg PA to pick up the kids and meet Jeanette. We stayed at the Stroudsmoor Inn, very nice place on top of the hill, just around the corner from the kids’ home. We took them to the hotel to unpack and went swimming, then headed out to town. Jevin showed us the fire house where he volunteers. For dinner we went to the Siamsa Irish bar. Lovely food- though they were a little disgusted by my duck and Jevin was tricked into eating black pudding! Rain storm- lovely!!! Rented a movie for the hotel- Cheaper by the Dozen II and made a family bed on the sleeper couch. I ended up on the couch on my own, with the kids in bed with V. I think I had the best sleep!
Wednesday 19th – PA
First things first: took Megan shopping at Rockaway Mall in New Jersey. It took her only 2 hours to find the right pair of jeans and 2 t-shirts. Bored of waiting, I ended up getting myself a pair too. Why is the regular jeans cheaper than the ones they call ‘destroyed’ with holes all over? Also found a cool cowboy-type hat. Jevin got a lovely shirt that matches his eyes, and a belt. We ate at Olive Garden- a huge Italian chain. Quite nice. Had a nice drive around again and went back to the hotel. Jeanette brought Heather around to the Stroudsmoor for drinks and we all ended up having dinner there- lovely lovely evening!
Thursday 20th - PA
Drove around the area again in the morning- had my first piece of Pumpkin pie – not too bad but not sweet enough. To much of the kids’ excitement- we headed out to Great Wolf Lodge. It is a hotel with an indoor water park. The whole hotel is crazy – looks like a big hunting lodge and it had this interactive game- like a treasure hunt- with dragons and fairies and all sorts all over the place. They spent the whole afternoon in the water park while I was on the phone organizing the next part of our trip. I had corn dogs for lunch- but they weren’t the “real thing”. Went out to dinner instead of having the junk there (huge portions- had a tasty steak) – was lovely night out. Back in the hotel we hired the movie RV but we never saw the end of it.
Friday 21st- PA to Canada
After stopping at the mall again to exchange my jeans (for a bigger size naturally!), we headed out to Newark New Jersey airport to go to Buffalo NY. The only famous person I saw on the whole trip was Taylor- the pop idol guy, at the airport. Whoohoo. The plane was soo tiny and we had to have a nutter sit next to me and Megan- crazy lady was so scared of flying and was acting up the whole way! Arrived, got the rental car and headed up to Niagara Falls Canada. Arrived at the hotel, unpacked and headed out to where the action was. Had dinner at Hard Rock café and then walked around town. It’s a crazy place! There are museums and rides and shows- lights, people everywhere. We did 4d rides- with the moving seats and water splashing at you. Walked down to the falls to watch the fire works at 10pm and took a taxi back to hotel -which ripped us off badly, by the way!
Saturday 22nd – Niagara Falls
It’s raining!!!! We took our time, drove around town a bit. It was extremely busy as it was weekend. Stopped to look at the falls- they are amazing though not as high as I would have imagined. They are only around 130 feet tall- where Angel falls in South America is over 1000 feet! Not sure how tall Victoria Falls are? We scoped out all the things there is to do. We went to IMAX and saw a show and museum about the daredevils floating over the falls in barrels, etc. Had lunch at Vinny’s Italian place and sat in Elvis’s booth. Weird. Vinnie ended up telling bad Chinese jokes without realizing a whole table of Chinese tourists sat behind us. Very embarrassing, yet extremely funny. We ended up stopping down town again- parked up and went to Ripley’s Believe it or not museum and the Mystery Maze. Walked around a lot again...watched some idiot rip off the Beatles on the karaoke very badly!
Sunday 23rd – Niagara Falls
Up early and headed down to the “maid of the mist” – the boat that goes right up to the falls. All dressed up in our blue raincoats- it was a lot of fun and very beautiful. From there, we walked up to where you can go behind the falls. So, with our little yellow raincoats, we walked right up to the falls this time. Thank good ness that we did something early though, as by around 10:30 am when we were done, the queues of people were terrible!
From here, we headed to Niagara on the Lake. Supposedly the most expensive area to live in Canada..and we can see why. It is absolutely beautiful! We went to a wine farm – for me off course- just did a quick tasting and bought some wine. Then we stopped off at an antique car show – for the boys. Megan missed all this, as she was asleep in the car all the way- we woke her up just too early! We then got to town but could not find parking anywhere. As my hunger got the better of me- we drove to the nearest town for lunch in a small restaurant, bought some desert and headed back to the hotel to go swimming. We had dinner at a bbq buffet restaurant after driving up and down town to look for somewhere we can all agree on!
Monday 24th – Niagara Falls/ Darien Lake
Just as we are leaving Canada/ Niagara Falls, Vincent decides he wants to go do the whirlpool jet boats. So, all packed and ready to go, all nicely dressed up, we all head out to Niagara on the Lake again to go do the jet boats. Little did we know that the warning” you will get wet’ meant, you will be drenched under walls of water and will be soaked down to your underwear. Even with the nice plastic shoes given, parkas and lifejackets- I was soaked completely. But it was worth it! It was one of the most fun rides ever! The jet boat went up stream to where the water from the falls churns this massive whirlpool. The jet boat went through category 5 rapids. What an experience! Luckily we had out suitcases in the car- so after a quick change, we headed back to USA. Well, tried to- after queuing for almost 2 hours at passport control- and my hunger getting the best of me again…we stopped at the first place we could find for lunch- our only real junk meal the trip- Wendy’s. Burger-ed up, we headed for Darien Lake, upstate NY. We stayed at Six Flags, which is a huge water and theme park. So, after unpacking again- we headed into the theme park for roller coaster rides. Me, being the wimp that I am, refused to go on anything and just watched the 3 of them on the deathly scary rides. We were there all afternoon and evening. We ended up buying sandwiched from the supermarket at the camp grounds and had a picnic in the evening, while watching the laser and fire works show…then headed to bed.
Tuesday 25th – Darien Lake
Vinnie went back to the airport to change hire cars and left me at the mercy of the kids. Brave as I am, and sure they are trying to kill off their step-mom, I went on 3 roller coasters – bar the big Superman and the “feet dangling’ ones. It was a lot of fun. Vinnie made it in time for the ‘batman’ show ..we had lunch at some sad and dirty Italian place…then we all headed out again on a few more rollercoasters (this time I was not allowed to sit next to Jevin as I scream too much!). We went for a little swim and a couple of wet rides, changed clothes again and after their last run on the Superman, we headed out on the road to get to Connecticut. At first Vinnie wanted to drive thru the night as the kids hates traveling in the car, but we were too tired. So around 11pm we stopped in a small town and stayed at the local motel. They only had smoking rooms left so safe to say this is the worst place we stayed in the whole trip! Jevin and I were starving, yet again, so we headed to the diner for midnight snacks- he had a burger and I had a brownie with ice cream! Megan went straight to bed…Vinnie attempted dinner but when he saw the state of the chef he changed his mind. Hunger got the best of me!
Wednesday 26th – Connecticut
Hit the road early for another few hours drive. We arrived in Ridgefield at Kelly’s around lunch time and after she lovingly fed us, we were all in the pool, along with her other 2 houseguests Kelly and Kim from Holland, and her friend Janice with her kids. In the afternoon, we went groceries shopping for dinner. Jevin got a ride in the Corvette to the airfield..and when we go there he was already in the air with Kelly’s husband Dave. After Jev, it was Megan’s turn to fly the plane and then get a ride back in the corvette to the house. They went to the pool again, while dinner was being made. After bbq, we headed up into the garden for a bon fire and ‘s-mores’ (roasted marshmallows with melted choc and biscuits sandwiches)..yummieeee!. Then it was time for fireworks and ghost stories! They also showed us this huge skull they found in the garden when building the house…freaky! And it moves in the middle of the night as they always find it in a different spot every day! Truly! After all this excitement, we soaked in the hut tub again. Later we went upstairs to their cinema/ theatre room and watched Apollo 13 (AGAIN) with a lovely midnight snack of popcorn and ice cream with whipped cream.
Thursday 27th – CT/ PA
Visiting with Kelly in the morning was just not long enough. We left around lunch time. First we stopped off for pizza lunch and then visited CTI head office in Orange, CT, to say hello to Perry and meet Pete and Eddie, all the people V work with. Then off to PA. We stayed in the Quality Inn in Stroudsburg. In the evening, we picked Megan’s friend Erin up to join us for the night. We all went to dinner at Garfields, then headed back to the hotel for the kids to go swim.
Friday 28th – PA
After a nice lay – in the girls went swimming and we had a late breakfast at Brownies in town, then headed to Jeanette’s house to pick up Heather to join us for the afternoon. It was a rainy day and we ended up going to Claws and Paws, which is a wild animal park. It was fun though it was very muddy and wet! We dropped Erin back home but Heather wanted to stay the night. We had a nice huge chicken dinner to calm my starvation..then back to the hotel to go ..you guessed it.. swimming. The evening we hired “Shaggy Dog” movie before bed.
Saturday 29th – PA
Another nice and lazy day. Let the kids sleep in a bit, we had breakfast at Friendly’s diner and dropped Heather home. After driving around for a while, we went go-carting and bowling. For dinner, after a lot of discussions and arguments, we ended up back in the Irish bar Siamsa. Back to the hotel, we went across the road for desert and I had a gorgeous brownie and ice cream concoction while the kids had cheesecake.
Sunday 30th – PA
Another late start for us. We decided to go fishing! SO after stopping at Jeanette’s home, meeting her husband Brian, we went off fishing. I was a disaster..first getting the line all twisted, then getting the hook all stuck..I finally reeled in one of Jevin’s fish. Slight cheating, but I still think I caught one! Vinnie finally caught his first fish ever! In the end we had about 8 fish which we took back to Jeanette’s to cook for dinner. Lovely home cooked meal, for the first time in 2 weeks. Needed that! And thanks to Jevin, I finally had my proper corn dog!! Tasty! We had to leave early as Jeanette was writing exams the next day. SO we stopped at WAWA supermarket for desert…and off course I couldn’t leave the US without having my favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream!
Monday 31st – PA/ NY
It was a quick and sad goodbye. We got up, packed up, had a quick breakfast and headed to Jeanette’s home by 11am. We really just dropped the kids as a long goodbye is just too difficult. Naturally I was crying and they were making fun of me.
We headed to Rockaway mall for me to buy another pair of jeans and then straight to Brooklyn. We revisited a few old places, met another few of Vinnie’s old friends and finally made it to the airport at 8 pm. No upgrades this time, but the flight was comfortable and I think I slept for the first time at least half of the flight!
We arrived Tuesday evening 8pm, so missed a whole day. I am suffering a bit today but glad I changed my flight to SA from today to tomorrow.
Over all it was an amazing holiday. The kids are amazing and lovely and we had a lot of fun. I think Vinnie and I both miss them a lot (he is really struggling but trying to be hard), but there is a quietness around us that we need to get used to again.
The kids are so cool, they kept making fun of my accent and the way I say certain things..like pink, bye-bye, flicker etc etc.
Every morning over breakfast we would choose a ‘word for the day’..which all came from either my silly accent or from Vinnie’s stupid work stories…..like:
PINK!
Vinnie, what about the job in Jebel Ali (you need to hear this with a Norwegian accent!)
Vinnie, help me, I can’t swim, Im drowning (I don’t even know what accent that was!)
WAWA….(after the name of the supermarket)
You talking to me
And loads more I cant even remember!
Needless to say, these words were used in every conversation, shouted out of the windows of the cars to strange people, used to annoy us and people like parking attendants or waitresses. Mad!
Vinnie still says it is the best holiday he has ever had and I agree that it was amazing. We look forward to seeing the kids again and are talking about getting them over Xmas time…we’ll see!
