Wednesday, October 07, 2009
This is the hardest of days, with cluster craps, n what nots.
West Yarmouth, MA to Brunswich, ME - 203 mi. - 3hr. 20min. per google maps. With a stop at boston.
With a slight drizzle, we headed north towards MIT and Harvard at Cambridge, MA. We reached MIT, and that campus is not a campus in the normal college sense. It's more like a google or oracle campus. Buildings were street blocks away from each other. We found the bookstore and bought t-shirts and ate at a place called Legal Sea Foods. It was 1:30pm or so and they're lunch special was salad and all you can eat clam chowder. 2 appetizers that SHOULD have been fast and easy. We were served by this ewan mcgregor looking dood. And that took FOREVER, 1hour 45min forever for salad and clam chowder. 10$ per meal, 8$/hr parking = !&$!#!! for salad and clam chowder? At that time we just whizzed by Harvard, which did look like a college with kids running around. It was busy. and we still had to a ways to go!
Northward and in New Hampshire, there are state ran liquor stores. With caltran style signs stating that fact. I had to see and with that came out with a bottle of Laphroig and Balvenie Scotches. On sale and tax free!
The highways are bizarre here, a mix of speed limits from 40-55mpg, and with trees walled in so no views of anysort.
We reach the Knights inn hotel, at brunswick, Maine and it was so-so. The foilage was a grand mix. We didn't want to go eat out and went to McDonalds to find the elusive Lobster Roll. Another booboo was that MickeyD's stopped selling McLobsters 3 years ago.. =( i never did get a lobster roll on my journeys..
Somehow a 200 mile drive, took all day.
West Yarmouth, MA to Brunswich, ME - 203 mi. - 3hr. 20min. per google maps. With a stop at boston.
With a slight drizzle, we headed north towards MIT and Harvard at Cambridge, MA. We reached MIT, and that campus is not a campus in the normal college sense. It's more like a google or oracle campus. Buildings were street blocks away from each other. We found the bookstore and bought t-shirts and ate at a place called Legal Sea Foods. It was 1:30pm or so and they're lunch special was salad and all you can eat clam chowder. 2 appetizers that SHOULD have been fast and easy. We were served by this ewan mcgregor looking dood. And that took FOREVER, 1hour 45min forever for salad and clam chowder. 10$ per meal, 8$/hr parking = !&$!#!! for salad and clam chowder? At that time we just whizzed by Harvard, which did look like a college with kids running around. It was busy. and we still had to a ways to go!
Northward and in New Hampshire, there are state ran liquor stores. With caltran style signs stating that fact. I had to see and with that came out with a bottle of Laphroig and Balvenie Scotches. On sale and tax free!
The highways are bizarre here, a mix of speed limits from 40-55mpg, and with trees walled in so no views of anysort.
We reach the Knights inn hotel, at brunswick, Maine and it was so-so. The foilage was a grand mix. We didn't want to go eat out and went to McDonalds to find the elusive Lobster Roll. Another booboo was that MickeyD's stopped selling McLobsters 3 years ago.. =( i never did get a lobster roll on my journeys..
Somehow a 200 mile drive, took all day.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
(Written Dec 26, 2009 - Blogging is hard to do lately)
Woke up to the bright light of morning and headed off to see the Mansions of Newport. There is a volley of mansions brought from whats called the gilded age, a time where businesses opportunities were vast and exploitation of labor was great. Newport has a historical society which maintains a dozen or so of these shacks. We've heard many stories of visiting a bunch of them before going to the granddaddy of them all, the Breakers.
We were pondering how many to etc, and went for going just for the one, and that was a wise and good decision.
The breakers is a Vanderbilt summer home. It's the second one at it's location, with the first being wood and burned down by a kitchen fire. The second one was a masterpiece of it's time with the technological advancements of it's time. Stone, with steel frames and marble throughout the 138,000 sq. ft. house. It was equipped with gas lit candles as well as electricity. My favorite was the 50 ft ceilings of it's main entry room, with statues, fountains, gold paint, superlarge stair case and decorations left n right.One room was painted with platinum paint, and there are many hidden passages where servants came n went.
The outside was even more impressive, with a field that you could play regulation football on, it was a place that fluffielady wouldn't mind living. The sad part was that old man Vanderbilt died either after one year of being there or right when construction was completed.
We got out around 11 and wanted to eat at a place called 'chicken on fire' which was to open at 11, but looking in the windows it was all closed up with nobody in sight. So we headed to this bakery which had some sandwiches, and they weren't that good.
Off we went to Falmouth, MA 69mi - 1hr 21min. We arrive and our plans were to take the ferry to martha's vineyard for some dinner and then back to the mainland to sleep. Unfortunately the ferry had it's own idea and schedule that weren't online so those plans were scrapped. We hung out and roamed a bit, it was a fun small town. We ate at the quarterdeck restaurant for dindins, supposedly built from wood off a boat, it looked like one. I had my oyster roll and was merry.
Another good place that we stayed at was the holly tree resort. It looks like a college dormatory, but it's a hotel with basketball / raquetball courts, an indoor as well as an outdoor swimming pool. The rooms are small but have the beds in the wall. The walls were nice but the door is thin, you could hear stuff from the hallways. I did my laundry there. 60 cents a load, 1.25 to dry.
Woke up to the bright light of morning and headed off to see the Mansions of Newport. There is a volley of mansions brought from whats called the gilded age, a time where businesses opportunities were vast and exploitation of labor was great. Newport has a historical society which maintains a dozen or so of these shacks. We've heard many stories of visiting a bunch of them before going to the granddaddy of them all, the Breakers.
We were pondering how many to etc, and went for going just for the one, and that was a wise and good decision.
The breakers is a Vanderbilt summer home. It's the second one at it's location, with the first being wood and burned down by a kitchen fire. The second one was a masterpiece of it's time with the technological advancements of it's time. Stone, with steel frames and marble throughout the 138,000 sq. ft. house. It was equipped with gas lit candles as well as electricity. My favorite was the 50 ft ceilings of it's main entry room, with statues, fountains, gold paint, superlarge stair case and decorations left n right.One room was painted with platinum paint, and there are many hidden passages where servants came n went.
The outside was even more impressive, with a field that you could play regulation football on, it was a place that fluffielady wouldn't mind living. The sad part was that old man Vanderbilt died either after one year of being there or right when construction was completed.
We got out around 11 and wanted to eat at a place called 'chicken on fire' which was to open at 11, but looking in the windows it was all closed up with nobody in sight. So we headed to this bakery which had some sandwiches, and they weren't that good.
Off we went to Falmouth, MA 69mi - 1hr 21min. We arrive and our plans were to take the ferry to martha's vineyard for some dinner and then back to the mainland to sleep. Unfortunately the ferry had it's own idea and schedule that weren't online so those plans were scrapped. We hung out and roamed a bit, it was a fun small town. We ate at the quarterdeck restaurant for dindins, supposedly built from wood off a boat, it looked like one. I had my oyster roll and was merry.
Another good place that we stayed at was the holly tree resort. It looks like a college dormatory, but it's a hotel with basketball / raquetball courts, an indoor as well as an outdoor swimming pool. The rooms are small but have the beds in the wall. The walls were nice but the door is thin, you could hear stuff from the hallways. I did my laundry there. 60 cents a load, 1.25 to dry.
Labels: vacation
Monday, October 05, 2009
(Written on dec 26, 2009 - memories getting slightly hazy)
One of the hardest parts of the journey, i thought was today. From Wantagh, NY in long island we set off to Southampton for lunch and a stroll. Followed by a ferry from Orient Point to New London, CT, with a drive finishing at Newport, Rhode Island. Google says total distance 179 miles - 4hrs 21min.
This seemed on par with what we got. Most of the roads were marked 55-65mph, but some wide open straight line CA highway 5 looking sections were marked 45mph. What is going on with this?
Southampton is a nice little town, i think of it like a burlingame. The neatest part is the hospital has valet! The boutiques and main shopping area was a gentle stroll through color changing trees, still most of them were green though.
After getting 25$ lunch meal of sandwiches, we booked off to orient point. The drive up was like heading towards placerville, ca with pumpkin farms scattered around. There were a lot of antique stores dotted around and places that offered pumpkin fudge.. too bad we didn't know that area was the only place with the goods. Oh well.
Off to orient point and drove into the car-ferry. Hung out with a 13-month old that the little one had a blast with. The one hour twenty minute ferry was a breeze while chasing around these two munchkins.
Back on land the drive to Newport, RI was easy. Rolling hills, mostly green forestry, bridges and craggy hillsides were the scene.
At Newport, we heard about the salvation cafe from the parents of the 13-month old. They told us it was a cheap and good places to go. At 15$ entree joint that is furnished by the salvation army, i didn't want to know what the other places had to offer. I had some beef brisket type thing which was kinda small and fluffielady had a pork chops which were pretty good sized.
The hotel was at an excellent location i highly recommend the Comfort Inn Newport. It's right by the beach, a few minutes drive to the mansions, cheapest of most hotels in the area. Swimming pool on the second floor was nice, but the breakfast wasn't. I think the standards for hotel breakfasts have gone up considerably.
We took a dip in the pool before going Zzzz'ing.
One of the hardest parts of the journey, i thought was today. From Wantagh, NY in long island we set off to Southampton for lunch and a stroll. Followed by a ferry from Orient Point to New London, CT, with a drive finishing at Newport, Rhode Island. Google says total distance 179 miles - 4hrs 21min.
This seemed on par with what we got. Most of the roads were marked 55-65mph, but some wide open straight line CA highway 5 looking sections were marked 45mph. What is going on with this?
Southampton is a nice little town, i think of it like a burlingame. The neatest part is the hospital has valet! The boutiques and main shopping area was a gentle stroll through color changing trees, still most of them were green though.
After getting 25$ lunch meal of sandwiches, we booked off to orient point. The drive up was like heading towards placerville, ca with pumpkin farms scattered around. There were a lot of antique stores dotted around and places that offered pumpkin fudge.. too bad we didn't know that area was the only place with the goods. Oh well.
Off to orient point and drove into the car-ferry. Hung out with a 13-month old that the little one had a blast with. The one hour twenty minute ferry was a breeze while chasing around these two munchkins.
Back on land the drive to Newport, RI was easy. Rolling hills, mostly green forestry, bridges and craggy hillsides were the scene.
At Newport, we heard about the salvation cafe from the parents of the 13-month old. They told us it was a cheap and good places to go. At 15$ entree joint that is furnished by the salvation army, i didn't want to know what the other places had to offer. I had some beef brisket type thing which was kinda small and fluffielady had a pork chops which were pretty good sized.
The hotel was at an excellent location i highly recommend the Comfort Inn Newport. It's right by the beach, a few minutes drive to the mansions, cheapest of most hotels in the area. Swimming pool on the second floor was nice, but the breakfast wasn't. I think the standards for hotel breakfasts have gone up considerably.
We took a dip in the pool before going Zzzz'ing.
Labels: vacation
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Chillin at the De Seversky mansion, Westbury, NY
(Written a little late, Nov 15, 09, man i'm slow on the blog now.)
The games began. It was a pretty cool wedding. All spiffy n well done. It was a little busy with the camera work n what not. The timing was a little off, but lets say that they didn't start without me showing up. It felt like i was in an old Volkswagen commercial, except i was in a bucket PT cruiser. Even the GPS was conspiring to slow me down to my destinations. Unfortunately, Fluffielady missed both the previous as well as today's ceremony.. =( silly mini-toast!
I liked the officiant's speech, it was academic yet pretty smooth. The band played contemporary live music, which was pretty good. Even Capt'n D's parents boogied about a little. The munchkin handled it pretty well, mostly, we were one of the first to leave though.
The mansion is pretty impressive, alot of marble, in the columns, in the floors. We got to roam around a bunch of it's rooms, i liked the reading room with the fake wall passage. Partyparty!
Now whenever i have time to write, we've headed off to roam the northeast.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
(Written on Oct 11, 2009)
Bah, it's raining! We get our rental car a PT cruiser, and stroll around Long Island. Jones Beach to Long Beach to Coney Island. But when we reach Coney Island, it starts to pour.. Lovely, we're about 2 hours early to the evening wedding.. The drivers are pretty intense, some speed, some cut people each other off. Alot of the roads are marked 55, but that doesn't seem to matter. The good thing is that there are alot of strange mergings, but drivers know to slow down, or change lanes when seeing other vehicles merging.
The games begin on the multi-part wedding. Part 1, involved out of town guests and family. It was small but pretty good. Afterwards it got a bit late and we had to take to-go from a bar and grill called Buckley's.. We didn't get back to our hotel till 11;30, then eat our to-go.. yum!
Friday, October 02, 2009
(Written on Oct 11, 2009)
Picked up some diapers and little last minute shopping for the wedding. Hung out at Wantagh n chilled for a bit..
We get our hotel, the executive inn at woodbury, ny.. It's a pretty decent motor lodge / woodsy looking place, with mon-fri breakfast omelets, and 'light dinner' appetizers mostly. Too bad we can only partake in one omelet. But they have continental breakfast with the typical soft and fluffy bagels, muffins, cereal, yogurt, pancake maker etc. it was not bad.
We ate dinner at the Laguna Grille, It's tex-mex, except it doesn't have tacos. No matter, it was pretty good. While feeding the little one a jalapeno bit may have gotten into the chicken bits of my nachos. He had a grand old time with the spicys. At first we were wondering whats going on, but we finally figured out it had to be a spicy..
Thursday, October 01, 2009
(Written on Oct 10, 2009)
Hanging out at Wantagh, NY, It's a mellow little place. Nice and quaint. It was our only available day to visit Manhattan, which is a one hour train ride on the LIRR. Pop out of Penn station and we visited Times square, The childrens playground at Central Park and then met up with the cousin at Brooklyn. We ate at SuperFine and hung out at the pad. The little one liked chasing the kitties around the loft. Time flew and luckily the wedding grrl was picking up a buddy from New Zeland from JFK and had time and space to get the three of us. Woot!
