Hello Rhode Island

On the Wednesday of our trip we drove down to Rhode Island.  We arrived at the capital building and found a tour group.  The tour was very interesting.  The dome in this capital is the fourth largest dome in the world behind St. Peter's Basilica, the state Capital Building in Minnesota, and the Taj Mahal.



We saw the original painting that has the face of George Washington that is on the one dollar bill, that was in the room where the governor gives press conferences.



We also saw the original state constitution for Rhode Island and learned that each of the original 13 colonies received an original copy of the Bill of Rights.  The one for Rhode Island was located at the State Archives, more on that trip later.

After the seeing the third capital building in as many days, we were hungry.  We were looking for a place for lunch.  The first place we tried was closed and we scored on the second attempt.  Thanks to Yelp we found The Abbey about a 10 minute drive from the Capital.  This place had so many different types of burgers to pick.  Scott ended up with the Mama Mia and I, creatively, went for the Classic.

[caption id="attachment_2252" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mama Mia![/caption]

They were amazing and huge.  I was impressed with how much I ate.  After lunch we walked across the street to La Salle's for a quick brownie.

Then it was on to downtown Providence to look for the State Archives office.  We quickly found the building and asked to see the original copy of the Bill of Rights.  After a little help from the librarian and co-worker, we were able to see the original through the glass frame.  This was the best random find on our trip.

[caption id="attachment_2246" align="aligncenter" width="280"] Rhode Island's copy of the Bill of Rights[/caption]

We decided to check out Brown University for a bit while we were in town.  The campus was very busy.



We stopped in at the bookstore and got a couple of shirts and decided it was time to leave Rhode Island and head to Plymouth.

We arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts and found the Mayflower II.  A full-sized replica of the actual Mayflower.  The Mayflower II even recreated the trip from England.



[caption id="attachment_2303" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mayflower II kitchen[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2302" align="aligncenter" width="300"] On the Mayflower II[/caption]

After touring the boat we checked out the gift shops and then walked along the coast.  It was beautiful to see the fishing and sailboats out there.  We kept walking until we found the Plymouth Rock.  I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see but a gated  enclosure with a boulder that had 1690 engraved on it wasn't it.  But at least we knocked out some extra history with that stop.

[caption id="attachment_2304" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Plymouth Rock[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2305" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Keeping the Rock safe[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2337" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Plymouth, MA[/caption]

Since I was starving, I always am now, I wanted to find some place to eat dinner before we left Plymouth.  I knew it was only 4pm but when a pregnant lady needs to eat, you don't argue.  Since our first choice was closed we went down the street to Isaac's for dinner.

[caption id="attachment_2256" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dinner with a view in Plymouth[/caption]

The restaurant was a little fancier than we thought, but again, I was hungry.  For dinner we finally got our chowdah.



It was amazingly good and made me really happy that I bought a New England cookbook.  Of course since we had the chowdah, we weren't too hungry for our actual meal.  I really wished our hotel had a refrigerator or microwave so we could have brought that home.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a very relaxing evening.

Boston

I think our day in downtown Boston was one of our busiest days on this trip.  We took our time getting ready and driving downtown.  That turned out to be somewhat of a mistake.  We missed out on all the cheap early bird parking deals.  Instead we forked over $40 to a parking garage for 6 hours!  Sadly, that was the cheapest rate we found while driving around for 30 minutes.

Once we parked and walked out of the building we saw a historical building and decided that we should head there first.  It was the site of the Boston massacre.



[caption id="attachment_2272" align="aligncenter" width="225"] List of those killed at Boston Massacre site[/caption]

We decided to pay for the building tour and listened to information about the actual fight.  While outside I got over heated and needed a bit of water before I could continue on.  After checking out the history we decided that I needed more water and went to Starbucks (saw way more of them than we thought we would in Boston).  After that we decided to start walking the Freedom Trail.  While on the trail we found a few graveyards, first was King's Chapel Burying Ground.





We finally made it to the State Capital Building of Massachusetts.  We arrived just in time to catch up with a tour group.  We also just missed a press conference that was wrapping up as we entered the main entry way.  It is the oldest state capital building still in use today.  Also, the land that it sits on was once owned by John Hancock.





When we left the capital we walked across the street to Boston Common, a nice park that had tons of activity.





We then continued on the Freedom Trail to Park Street Church.  A church where "My Country tis of Thee" was first sung and the Boston division of the NAACP meets.



Just up the block is the Granary Burying Grounds, this is where many famous Americans are buried.  For example, Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin's family, John Hancock, and Paul Revere.  We found Boston's old City Hall and then walked down to the harbor to relax a bit before heading back to the car.







[caption id="attachment_2296" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Boston Harbor[/caption]

On our walk back to the car we walked over a block and found Quincy Market and did a little shopping.  What a great market to walk through.  On the other side of the Market was Faneuil Hall.

[caption id="attachment_2298" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Inside Faneuil Hall[/caption]

This was the place of many speeches in our nation's history from Samuel Adams and James Otis to state why we should be free from Great Britain.  The guide from the Parks Department gave a wonderful speech about the Great Hall and why we should vote based on what our forefathers fought for.



After that, we found our car and headed back to the hotel for naps and dinner.

On the Road

It was time to say good-bye to NYC and head North.  We had to stop and get a real New York bagel before leaving town.  We stopped at Leo's Bagels and enjoyed a Kosher bagel.



We quickly grabbed our bags, checked out of the hotel and hopped on the subway to Penn Station for our train ride to Hartford, Connecticut.

Never got lost on the NYC Subway

I was surprised with the amount of people who were waiting for trains.  Since this was my first time on the train I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the whole process was.

We finally made it to Hartford around 2 and got our rental car, Putter, and found a place to eat, of course that was after driving through the Hartford ghetto.  After a very quick-lunch we headed to the Capital building for a self guided tour.  The building was impressive from the outside and smaller than I expected on the inside.

[caption id="attachment_2260" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Connecticut State Capital Building[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2261" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Visiting with the Governor[/caption]

We relaxed in the park across from the Capital building and then decided to go straight to Boston.

[caption id="attachment_2262" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Downtown Hartford[/caption]

The drive from Hartford to Boston was about an hour and half and we didn't have much traffic until we reached the outskirts of Boston.  Then the rush hour and insane driving started.  I don't think we were ever so happy as to when we finally reached our hotel in Woburn.  Once we settled in our room we walked over to the Joe's American Bar and Grill and decided this place was a one time restaurant - horrible service.

NYC day 2

Our second day in Manhattan was Scott's birthday.  We had a very busy day planned.  We started our day with a subway ride to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.



This museum was huge and it did not let down.  We spent a few hours here looking at things from mid-evil armor to impressionist paintings.



[caption id="attachment_2236" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Van Gogh[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2237" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The stolen painting from the Thomas Crown Affair[/caption]



After a few hours of art we found a close cafe to have some coffee and deserts.  Cafe Sabarsky is a part of the Neue Gallery and holds German Art.  The apple strudel was amazing and well worth the random find.



We decided that I desperately needed to change my shoes before going out to the Bronx.  We walked up Lexington Ave. to find a subway station back to our hotel and took a quick nap and then it was off to the Bronx.

Our train was packed as we made our way to the Bronx of the final game of the Yankees/Red Sox series.  Yankee Stadium was the cleanest ballpark that I've ever been too.





It was nice to be there but listening to the Code of Conduct before the game made me realize how great fans are in St. Louis.  We stayed till the 7th inning and decided that we should try to catch the train before the crowds get there.  We did stop at the Yankee Museum before leaving.  That was really cool to see autographs from some of the Yankee greats.





[caption id="attachment_2244" align="aligncenter" width="300"] George Steinbrenner's rings[/caption]

New York State of Mind

What a way to celebrate our 1 year anniversary, my birthday and Scott's birthday.  It was an amazing trip.  It was packed with lots to stop and see and learn in just 8 days.

We first flew into Newark, New Jersey and had a scary shuttle bus over to the Financial District in Manhattan at 1:30am.  The driver was crazy and it was raining and the van was packed.  But we arrived at the hotel by 2am and quickly went to bed.

We were up by 7am Saturday morning.  It was a rough morning.  We quickly grabbed some breakfast at a diner around the corner from our hotel and then caught a cab to Times Square to check in with our tour bus.  Once we checked in we had to walk about 5 blocks to meet the buses.  All of that was done in the rain.

Once we got on our bus we were good to go.  Our tour guide was informative but a little annoyed with the Turkish people who couldn't stop talking while he was explaining things.  We mostly drove past stops while it was raining out, it was a nice way for us to get used to the City.  Our first stop was The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.   This church caught fire about 2 months after 9/11 and has been slowly restored.  The stain glass windows (all original) were amazing to see.

[caption id="attachment_2217" align="aligncenter" width="225"] St. John Divine[/caption]

Our next stop was Grant's Tomb.  During that stop we learned that Grant is not in fact, buried in his tomb below the ground - he is actually above ground.  So clearly the answer to who is buried in Grant's Tomb is no one.



Our last stop of the morning was a small quiet garden in Central Park called the Conservatory Garden.  It was beautiful to see this garden in the middle of the huge park.  They do not allow biking, skating  in that area so you can really be at peace while sitting in there.



We headed to lunch in Little Italy.  Our tour had it set up so we could just walk up to the restaurant, Grotta Azzurra, get a seat and order off a selected menu.  The food was great!  I had the chicken parm and it was excellent.  After lunch we walked across the street for some espresso and cannoli.  There were so many different choices of cannoli it was hard to pick just one.  Then we walked around Little Italy till it was time to get back on the bus.



[caption id="attachment_2221" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Great Cannoli's[/caption]



The next hour was spent on the bus driving around NYC and seeing different sites.  We then headed to Battery Park area and hopped on a Ferry to get a tour of the City from the water.  Our tour guide on the boat was awesome!  She was knowledgable but most of all funny!  We went under the Brooklyn Bridge and then back down to about Mid Town and over to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  Overall, that was the most fun we had on the tour.  The bus dropped us off in Rockefeller Center and then we walked back to find the Subway.



[caption id="attachment_2224" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Grandpa's first stop in the USA (Ellis Island)[/caption]



On the way to the Subway we found Times Square.  It was insane.  There were vendors in all over the sidewalks with knock off purses, wallets, sunglasses.  We did stop to get a hotdog from a street vendor and a picture or two of Times Square. It was just too crowded to hang out there for long.



We quickly found a subway station and made it back to our hotel for a much-needed nap.

While I was sleeping, Scott looked up some places to go to dinner that were in walking distance to our hotel.  We went to Adrienne's Pizza bar and it did not disappoint.  Of course we order a pizza that was way too big but it was an excellent introduction to New York pizza.  After dinner we decided to walk around the neighborhood.

We stumbled upon Fraunes Tavern, this is the exact place that George Washington said good-bye to his officers after the Revolutionary War.



And as we kept walking we found Wall Street, which was down the street from Trump Tower.



Up the street from Wall and Broad was the Trinity Church, this is the site of the original Occupy Wall Street protests.  There were a new protesters hanging out along with one lonely cop making sure they don't get out of hand.  While walking by the graveyard next to the church we found Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton's gravesite.  This was one of the biggest surprise finds on the trip.



As we continued our walk we ended up right outside Ground Zero.  We visited the fire station that was next door to the World Trade Center and saw the plaque that paid tribute to the firemen from that station that lost their lives as well as a nice copper plaque on the wall to remember the day's events and all the victims names.

[caption id="attachment_2230" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Memorial on the fire station next to Ground Zero[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2231" align="aligncenter" width="225"] 1 World Trade Center[/caption]

After that we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep for the next day.