New York/Canada Vacation
Well, we had a great time! New York is an explosion on your senses and we were glad that our two days were perfectly filled and they were plenty! Canada was very neat and foggy and friendly!
We took the Amtrak train from Williamsburg to Penn Station on Saturday, June 25. It was an 8 hour ride. The train was very comfortable and clean; and it was nice to be able to go to the cafe car and eat and relax without having to pull the car over. It was a good experience except for the fact that you are sitting among other people/children who have their own loud voices, habits, etc.....ugh on that part.
We went to the hotel (Intercontinental The Barclay - mid-town) and then straight to Times Square so that Billy could see the chaos that is NYC immediately. You tend to fall into the groove of the pedestrian ebb and flow through the streets fairly quickly. I love people watching and have been there a couple of times. This was Billy's first time there and he was building watching - so I was always telling him that you have to keep moving. I think he was blown away by the reality vs what you expect based on what you see on TV.
We started out our Sunday at the Top of the Rock and it was pricey - but worth it one time to be able to see the city from that angle. Wow. We left there and headed to Grand Central to catch the subway down to Wall Street and Ground Zero. We were much more emotional than we thought we would be. The whole site is still gated and netted off (you can't see anything) after 10 years. The new Trade Center is about half-way done. We decided to walk up through TriBeCa and SoHo into Greenwich Village. We grabbed "a slice" at Joe's Pizza (DELISH!!!) and went to Washington Square in the Village to sit for a bit after a pretty long walk. We enjoyed the walk because you could see a more "real-life" side of NY vs the tourist area in mid-town. We then caught the subway and went all the way up towards Harlem and toured The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. Wow, again! This building and the story of it are wonderful and quite a sight to see. You can stand the Statue of Liberty inside it and it is 2-3 football fields long - - and after 100 years, is still not done being built. We took the Subway back down to 72nd Street and ate at Grey's Papaya (per Dashia's request) - was yummy!! We then walked into Central Park via John Lennon's building and Strawberry Fields. The park was PACKED. It was a Sunday in NY and the locals were out getting their piece of sun and greenery. It was a great walk for us and we worked our way to Fifth Avenue to see the shops on the way back to the hotel. We were exhausted.....
We got up Monday and headed back to Rockefeller for our NBC Studio Tour. Very interesting and great tour guides! We ran back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the Port of NY and our cruise ship!
I guess because of all the cruises we've taken with them, we were moved to VIP and were literally the very first people on the ship! We spent the day in the sun looking over the Manhattan skyline and left port at 5:00 p.m. to cruise by Ellis Island and Lady Liberty - very very neat! This is where our pictures stop as the camera never left the cabin after that!
The cruise in all was wonderful - for us it's the best use of your money and we just love love love it, so it's kind of hard for it not to be wonderful for us.
We docked in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on Wednesday and took a bus tour of their little industrial town. We wound up at the Reversing Falls. I love the Bay of Fundy, now! The water is in constant competition with itself (tide vs current). The Tide levels rise and drop 30 feet each time! There is a 20 minute window through the tidal process that the waters are at a perfect balance with each other and boats are able to pass through the falls. The harbour seals are so fun to watch - they just kind of drift around and eat. The currents are amazing and there are whirlpools everywhere. We went back to the ship after the tour because we felt like we had seen all of Saint John there was to see - so I sat on the ship and watched the Bay and the seals from there and relaxed.
We docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Thursday and found it to be a great town. There is a great mix of old and new - students and professionals - quiet places and hustle and bustle. We ate on the water and watched the seals and the tourists. Great history here and a wonderful place to visit! The fog in Canada is crazy - the mornings (6:00 a.m. my time) is so thick you can see about 6 feet of water - then around 8:30 you are up to about 50 yards - then by 10:00 - you are able to see all and the days became just beautiful! The fog rolled in and out (quickly) again twice in the afternoon - then rolls in for the evening, it seems!
We docked in NY on Saturday, July 2 at 8:00 a.m. and slowly made our way to Penn Station (well quickly and crazily if you are talking about the cab ride there) and had lunch. We caught our train and 8 hours later we got to Williamsburg and back to life!
Was a great trip! We are already looking at our next cruise! These pictures are from NY - sorry there are none from Canada - but we truly just took it easy this trip and enjoyed for ourselves!
We took the Amtrak train from Williamsburg to Penn Station on Saturday, June 25. It was an 8 hour ride. The train was very comfortable and clean; and it was nice to be able to go to the cafe car and eat and relax without having to pull the car over. It was a good experience except for the fact that you are sitting among other people/children who have their own loud voices, habits, etc.....ugh on that part.
We went to the hotel (Intercontinental The Barclay - mid-town) and then straight to Times Square so that Billy could see the chaos that is NYC immediately. You tend to fall into the groove of the pedestrian ebb and flow through the streets fairly quickly. I love people watching and have been there a couple of times. This was Billy's first time there and he was building watching - so I was always telling him that you have to keep moving. I think he was blown away by the reality vs what you expect based on what you see on TV.
We started out our Sunday at the Top of the Rock and it was pricey - but worth it one time to be able to see the city from that angle. Wow. We left there and headed to Grand Central to catch the subway down to Wall Street and Ground Zero. We were much more emotional than we thought we would be. The whole site is still gated and netted off (you can't see anything) after 10 years. The new Trade Center is about half-way done. We decided to walk up through TriBeCa and SoHo into Greenwich Village. We grabbed "a slice" at Joe's Pizza (DELISH!!!) and went to Washington Square in the Village to sit for a bit after a pretty long walk. We enjoyed the walk because you could see a more "real-life" side of NY vs the tourist area in mid-town. We then caught the subway and went all the way up towards Harlem and toured The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. Wow, again! This building and the story of it are wonderful and quite a sight to see. You can stand the Statue of Liberty inside it and it is 2-3 football fields long - - and after 100 years, is still not done being built. We took the Subway back down to 72nd Street and ate at Grey's Papaya (per Dashia's request) - was yummy!! We then walked into Central Park via John Lennon's building and Strawberry Fields. The park was PACKED. It was a Sunday in NY and the locals were out getting their piece of sun and greenery. It was a great walk for us and we worked our way to Fifth Avenue to see the shops on the way back to the hotel. We were exhausted.....
We got up Monday and headed back to Rockefeller for our NBC Studio Tour. Very interesting and great tour guides! We ran back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the Port of NY and our cruise ship!
I guess because of all the cruises we've taken with them, we were moved to VIP and were literally the very first people on the ship! We spent the day in the sun looking over the Manhattan skyline and left port at 5:00 p.m. to cruise by Ellis Island and Lady Liberty - very very neat! This is where our pictures stop as the camera never left the cabin after that!
The cruise in all was wonderful - for us it's the best use of your money and we just love love love it, so it's kind of hard for it not to be wonderful for us.
We docked in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on Wednesday and took a bus tour of their little industrial town. We wound up at the Reversing Falls. I love the Bay of Fundy, now! The water is in constant competition with itself (tide vs current). The Tide levels rise and drop 30 feet each time! There is a 20 minute window through the tidal process that the waters are at a perfect balance with each other and boats are able to pass through the falls. The harbour seals are so fun to watch - they just kind of drift around and eat. The currents are amazing and there are whirlpools everywhere. We went back to the ship after the tour because we felt like we had seen all of Saint John there was to see - so I sat on the ship and watched the Bay and the seals from there and relaxed.
We docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Thursday and found it to be a great town. There is a great mix of old and new - students and professionals - quiet places and hustle and bustle. We ate on the water and watched the seals and the tourists. Great history here and a wonderful place to visit! The fog in Canada is crazy - the mornings (6:00 a.m. my time) is so thick you can see about 6 feet of water - then around 8:30 you are up to about 50 yards - then by 10:00 - you are able to see all and the days became just beautiful! The fog rolled in and out (quickly) again twice in the afternoon - then rolls in for the evening, it seems!
We docked in NY on Saturday, July 2 at 8:00 a.m. and slowly made our way to Penn Station (well quickly and crazily if you are talking about the cab ride there) and had lunch. We caught our train and 8 hours later we got to Williamsburg and back to life!
Was a great trip! We are already looking at our next cruise! These pictures are from NY - sorry there are none from Canada - but we truly just took it easy this trip and enjoyed for ourselves!
Top of the Rock over Central Park
Top of the Rock to Empire State Building and Wall Street beyond
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
Leaving the Port of New York
New Trade Center going up
Ellis Island and Lady Liberty
Ellis Island
NY cop who circled the ship about 100 times
Two wonderful ladies..hahahaha
A stud bucket and some chick
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