Hudson Valley

This weekend Susan and Jenn were in Poughkeepsie New York for a book convention. They flew into the Westchester County Airport in White Plains last week. On Thursday afternoon they set up, and on Friday starting selling books and meeting readers.

On Thursday I went to Sea World. I walked around and looked at some of the animal habitats, then used an Annual Pass coupon to grab lunch at the smokehouse. I would have liked to ride either Journey to Atlantis or the Skytower, but both were closed, apparently only opening on Fridays and weekends.

On Friday I went to Aquatica for lunch, again using an AP coupon.This time the lazy river opened at noon. It is longer than it appeared during my visit last month, although not as long as the ones at the WDW water parks.

More Boston

On Friday Susan and Jennifer went to a book convention at the Encore Resort and Casino, located across the Mystic River from Downtown Boston. Unfortunately there was a labor dispute going on, so we had to wait while strikers walked around in front of each vehicle entering the property before we could unload our books and supplies.

In the afternoon, while Jenn and Susan signed and sold books, I took an Uber to the Charlestown Navy Yard, part of the Boston National Historic Park. In the visitor center, I learned about the Navy Yard, the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer that is preserved at the Navy Yard. I spent about an hour here, but I probably could have spent at least another hour if I wanted to really explore the two ships and the Museum of USS Constitution.

Instead, I walked up to the Bunker Hill memorial, another site of the Boston NHP. At the visitor center, I learned more about the Revolutionary War battle, which was won by the British but with such heavy costs it helped drive them out of Boston.

I then climbed up the obelisk, which is 221 feet tall and has 294 steps. I was pretty tired by the time I reached the top, but was rewarded with great views of Boston and the surrounding area. I had been thinking about trying to walk to the Old North Church after Bunker Hill, but decided to just Uber back to the Encore and wait for Susan and Jenn to finish.

When the event was over we packed up the booth and headed back to Lexington. The event went til 8 pm so it was pretty late when we went to sleep. Yesterday we slept in a bit, then headed to the airport for our afternoon flight home.

Boston

 

In Boston, we parked in a garage near the Old State House, then walked toward Long Wharf where we caught a hop on hop off bus that took us around downtown to see and learn a bit about the City. We drove by the USS Constitution and the TD Garden, then got off near Boston Common. 

We walked through the Public Garden to the Cheers bar, where we looked around and bought some souvenirs, then walked back through the Common, got some lunch, and got back on the bus.

When we got back to the starting point, we got off and walked to Quincy Market, then checked out Faneuil Hall. Besides the vendor stalls, there’s a national park site visitor center there, where we watched a video about Boston’s role in the slave trade and Underground Railroad. 

 

We sat in the Samuel Adams Tap Room next door while I had a beer, then headed back up to the Old State House. Susan and Jenn then went to dinner with Jenn’s publicist and some other authors, and I grabbed some food at Faneuil Hall and waited for them to finish.

Lexington and Cambridge

On our way out of Salem, we drove by the House of Seven Gables and tried to get a good photo. We then headed back to Lexington, We’ve had the GPS set to avoid tolls, so we’ve been driving through a lot of small towns and neighborhoods in New England. Some have been really nice and others not.

Our hotel in Lexington is right next to the Minute Man National Historic Site, which commemorates the first battles of the Revolutionary War. I originally intended to visit it on Sunday after we checked into our hotel, but getting the rental car took way longer than I expected. Similar things also kept us from going on Monday and Tuesday. We finally stopped by the main visitor center yesterday evening after Salem. We only had an hour there before they closed, but it was long enough to watch a video presentation about the conflict and look around at the exhibits.

Afterward we walked a bit of the battle road and saw one of the houses that was present when the battle took place. If I had a couple more hours I would have liked to see the Concord Visitor Center, but at least I got to walk around Lexington Common Monday evening, and Susan and I drove through a bit of the park coming back from Foxwoods on Tuesday.

This morning we drove into Cambridge so Jenn could sign some copies of her books at an independent bookstore. We were also planning on spending an hour or so looking around Harvard, but parking and traffic was worse than we expected, so we decided to just head into Boston.

Salem

Yesterday morning Jennifer again stayed behind at the hotel while Susan and I drove to another state, this time Rhode Island, our 48th. We stopped in Providence to see the State House. I would have gone to a National Park site, but the ones in the northwest side of the state are closed Monday to Wednesday this time of year. During a one hour tour we learned about the founding of the state and saw the main areas of the Capitol.

After the tour we walked around a nearby mall for a while, then drove to the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, where we had a late lunch at my 51st Hard Rock Cafe. From there we headed back to Lexington to grab dinner with Jenn. 

The main thing Jennifer said she wanted to do around Boston was to visit Salem, home of the 1692 witch trials. We had read and heard about how crowded Salem can get in October, so we decided to go early on a Wednesday. We left Lexington shortly after 7 and arrived just before 8 am. 

We walked through downtown to Salem Common and back. There was a foggy mist and few people out, which made it a little sutteal. We then waited in line for about a hour for Blackcraft Coffee to open at 10. Besides specialty coffees, Blackcraft sells witch related merchandise out of an old bank.

We then made our way to the Visitor Center of the Salem Maritime National Historical Park, located in the old Armory, and looked around. There was a free short movie about the witch trials playing in the lobby as well as a longer one about the history of Salem in the auditorium, and some cool models of old buildings and ships. While the girls looked at stores and rested, I walked down to the old custom house and learned a bit more about maritime history and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived in Salem and worked at the Custom House for a few years. 

When I got back we grabbed some lunch at a local pizza place, then walked down to a Dunkin’ Donuts that had been decorated for Halloween. Dunkin’ Donuts are even more frequently found in New England than Starbucks are in the Pacific Northwest. By the time we were done, the streets were getting crowded. We made our way back to the car and left around 2:30.

New Hampshire

Yesterday morning Susan, Jenn, and I flew to Boston to explore New England for a week. After a long wait to pick up a rental car, we drove to a hotel in Lexington. After checking in and unpacking, we drove to Burlington for a late lunch and to grab some groceries, since our room had a small kitchen. On the way back we drove through downtown Lexington, home of the first conflict of the Revolutionary War.

Bryan had to stay behind to work and watch animals, but he did get to go to Universal’s HHN last night with friends.

This morning after breakfast Susan and I headed up to New Hampshire, our 47th state. Jenn stayed at the hotel to write. I figured it would be cool to start with the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, but discovered on arrival that it’s on an active Coast Guard base, so we could only get a photo from a bit away.

From there we drove through downtown Portsmouth and over the Piscataqua River to Kittery Maine and explored the Fort McClary State Historic Site, then went back to Portsmouth to visit the Strawberry Banke Museum. This is a ten acre outdoor museum featuring a couple dozen houses, each of which illustrates a period or facet of the history of Portsmouth. 

Our last stop in New Hampshire was the Thirsty Moose Taphouse in Exeter for a late lunch. There are five Thirsty Moose locations in New Hampshire, each with a fairly large menu and lots of beer on tap.

Smugglers Run

On Saturday, Jenn went to Tampa for the Lightning’s home opener. She and her friends went early so they could watch the afternoon practice and get jerseys signed by some of the players. The Bolts beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1. Bryan meanwhile spent another evening with friends at Universal’s Hollywood Horror Nights.

This morning, I got to do a backstage tour of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Hollywood Studios with other cast members from MK watercraft and monorails. Besides showing us how the ride works, our guides pointed out some details in the queue and in the area surrounding it. 

We got to sample some blue milk in Olga’s Cantina, then finished the tour with a ride on Smugglers Run, which I hadn’t done since they updated it at the beginning of summer. 

After the tour I went back into the park to look around. The Tower of Terror is surrounded by scaffolding while its exterior is refurbished, and Echo Lake is still drained. I couldn’t see much at the Monsteropolis Courtyard except a lot of scaffolding, and while I wouldn’t have minded checking out the new Animation building, it didn’t open until 10, and I didn’t want to hang out that long. 

On the way home I stopped to take a photo of a new building going up backstage in Adventureland. Rumor is it will be for parade support.

Animal Kingdom

Yesterday morning I picked my mom, sister, and niece at the Grand Floridian and took them to Animal Kingdom for early entry. We met some of my brother’s family and headed to Pandora to ride Flight of Passage and the Navi River ride. From there we went to Africa for the Safari Ride and the Gorilla trail.

I waited with my mom while the rest went to ride Expedition Everest, then we took the Wildlife Express back to Conservation Station, where recently they had removed Rafiki’s Planet Watch, the Animation Academy, and the petting zoo to add a Bluey meet and greet and a kangaroo and wallaby habitat. 

Susan and the kids joined us for lunch at Tusker House, a character buffet. We saw Mickey and friends in safari outfits, and the food was pretty good. Luckily we got a cast discount to help with the cost. Following lunch Susan and the kids said goodbye and my mom, sister, and niece watched the Lion King show. We then watched the bird show, went on the raft ride, and walked the Tiger trail. 

We watched the Nemo show, and I grabbed some photos of the Tropical Americas progress before we watched the Zootopia movie in the Tree of Life. At that point my brother's family said goodbye and my mom, sister, niece, and I went to the Nomad Lounge for a drink to finish the day.They flew back to California this morning.

Grand Floridian

 

While Susan and I were visiting Kennedy Space Center, the kids hung out at the beach and hotel pool. Bryan and I drove back home Sunday evening; Susan and Jenn stayed another night and came home Monday morning.

Monday evening after work I met Susan at Magic Kingdom so we could get some of my brother’s family in to watch the fireworks and night parade. Like usual, Disney had put up Halloween decorations in early August and started holding Mickey’s Not So Scary parties. Last week they erected a big crane in Frontierland to work on the new Cars attraction. 

They’ve also been working on expanding the area where we park launches when not in use the last month, making it safer to tie them up. This had led to some disruptions in our boat service, although it’s been pretty well worked out the last few weeks. 

From Magic Kingdom we took the boat to the Grand Floridian, where my mom, sister, and niece were staying. We had dinner with them at the quick serve restaurant, Gasparilla Island, which we had not been to before. Their room looked over the main pool. 

Yesterday morning Susan got my sister and niece into Epcot, and in the afternoon brought my mom out to ride my boat. After work we had dinner and drinks at the pool bar.

Kennedy Space Center

 

Yesterday Susan and I visited Kennedy Space Center for the first time in almost 25 years. My mom and some of the family of my sister and brother went as well. I wanted to get there at opening but we ended up waiting for others, so it was almost 10 am before we got in the gates.

We made the mistake of checking out the Heroes & Legends exhibit first, which was interesting but took a while, so by the time we got to the bus tour line it was 10:45 and the line to get on the bus was two hours long. We decided to check out an IMAX movie instead. I think the IMAX movies used to be an additional charge, but now they are included with admission. They play several different ones throughout the day. 

After the IMAX movie we grabbed some lunch then checked out the exhibit on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Like most of the presentations, guests move through several rooms with media displays about the subject, then into a large room with the main attraction and several minor displays. In this case it was the shuttle Atlantis suspended in the room. 

Several of my relatives left at that point, and Susan and I got in line for the bus tour. The wait was about an hour at that point, and by the time we boarded it was after 2, so we only got a partial tour. Our bus drove out past the huge Vehicle Assembly Building to the building holding an exhibit on the Apollo program and a Saturn rocket. 

The presentation here was much more impressive here than the one we saw in Houston a few years ago. By the time we got back to the main complex, it was after 4, so even though we hadn’t seen everything, we started back to the hotel. Next time we will make sure we enter before opening, and do the bus tour first.

Cocoa Beach

This week the snack and dining coupons Susan and I get from Disney expired, so Monday after work we went to Disney Springs to use some up. We ate at D-Luxe Burger, the only restaurant at Springs that takes the holiday coupons, then walked around a bit. On our way out we stopped at a kiosk to use our snack coupons on a bunch of ice cream sandwiches to eat later. 

Thursday night we went to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Citricos. We ate here a few years ago with Bryan, but it had been remodeled along with the rest of the Grand Floridian lobby last year, and the menu changed. It was good, but we wouldn’t have wanted to pay full price. 

Friday morning we returned to the Grand Floridian for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. We had never eaten here, although Jennifer has with friends. It’s a character buffet, so pretty pricey if not using a coupon or if you don’t care about seeing characters. Cinderella, Aladdin, Tiana, and Mirabel from Encanto came by while we were eating.

Yesterday morning we drove out with the kids to Cocoa Beach for my mom’s 90th birthday celebration. My brother and sister and their families were there as well. We ate lunch at a restaurant at the pier, then hung out in the afternoon. 

We stayed at the La Quinta next to the pier. It was okay. We had mom’s birthday dinner at a restaurant downtown.