Day Eight - July 25

Today, we moved on from the Boston area to Long Island. Along the way we stopped in Rhode Island and Connecticut. A friend who lived in Rhode Island said we should try to do the Cliff Walk in Newport, so we set our GPS, and in an hour and a half we were at Easton's Beach, Newport, Rhode Island.

We gave the kids a choice of hanging out at Easton's Beach, where we parked, or going with Mom and Dad on the Cliff Walk, which began at the western end of the beach. Faith and Stephen opted for the beach, while Andrew opted for the Cliff Walk. (I think he was envisioning climbing the cliffs, rather than walking along looking at the mansions.)

Although the day was a rare sunny day on our trip, the beach experience was not really great due to the red seaweed/red tide that made a mess out of swimming. Stephen and Faith walked along the beach, decided it was too gross and sat in the car listening to their iPods while waiting for us to return.

The Cliff Walk, on the other hand, was very interesting, both for the beautiful mansions on one side and the crashing surf and natural beauty on the other side of the oceanside sidewalk. Andrew did get to indulge in climbing, both on the rocks down to the ocean and the old trees along the path. He also took over the camera, chasing a mink that we saw on the rocks down by the sea to capture some video. After this he decided to make a "relaxation video" using the footage he took of the crashing surf. The Cliff Walk was another place that satisifed many different tastes, from the action-oriented teen to the sedate culture of his elders! The natural beauty and man-made elegance of Newport was definitely a good choice for traveling with teens!

From Newport, RI we continued on another hour and a quarter to New London, Connecticut, where we had booked a Cross Sound Ferry to Orient Point, Long Island. This was another new experience for the kids, who had never been on a vehicle ferry. They spent the time alternately below deck working on a crossword puzzle with Mom and playing "I'm the King of the World!" at the bow of the ship. Taking the ferry was a beautiful way to travel after too many hours crammed into a Toyota Highlander. We ended our day of travel to Long Island, NY with dinner at the Riverhead "Lobster Roll" Restaurant and checked into our Holiday Inn Express.

Day Seven - July 24

Today it has been one week since we left home and we have been busy. We have traveled through seven states in as many days: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. So it was time to take a break and sleep in.

It's probably the right time to mention that the most teen friendly hotel we've stayed in is the Hyatt Place chain. We have stayed in these suite hotels in Atlanta, Sarasota and now on this trip in Medford, Massachusetts. Each room is quite large with a sectional sleeper sofa that seats all five of us comfortably. There is also a 42 inch plasma screen TV that swivels towards the two double beds or the sofa. The room is designed so that both the bedroom and sofa area can both see the TV, allowing Mom and Dad to relax on the beds, while the kids chill on the couch. There is a very easily accessible panel below the TV which allows almost any device to be hooked up to the TV. We were able to connect my son's new laptop to the TV and watch movies on Hulu, as well as view our pictures from my digital camera. Each room also has a nice kitchenette and a generous granite-like counter in a dressing area. The breakfast is adequate with breads, fruit salad, yogurt and cereal. For an extra charge you can order a cooked to order hot breakfast with eggs and breakfast meats. Hyatt seems to locate these hotels very near urban centers or airports, but in nice, safe, new neighborhoods. The price is pretty reasonable too, from $79 to $129 per night.

We slept in till noon then woke up and took a small portion of the Beantown Trolley Tour. It was a more traditional tour but did give us some insight on the architectural highlights of Boston. We rushed down to the Prudential Center to try to get some sightseeing in. We've noticed that things in Boston shut down pretty early - the last shuttle stops picking up people at 4 p.m. I wonder if this is a remnant of the Puritan principle of going to bed and rising early?


This worked out though, as we hopped on the tour, which was included in our GoBoston Card and then hopped off to take the T to the TD BankNorth Garden to take in the DEW Tour of Skateboarding. Today was "Andrew's Day" as he was really excited to go to this. The whole family went, even Mom. One thing we are learning during our 24 x 7 togetherness is that we really don't enjoy the same things, but we can learn to appreciate others' tastes, or at least tolerate them in the interest of family harmony. We have more or less graciously tolerated shopping at outlet malls, history tours and now skateboarding shows. I have to admit, it was pretty fun to watch the riders doing their tricks and the kids in the audience scrambling to get autographs of their favorite skateboarders. Thanks to Andrew, I now know who Ryan Sheckler is.

YouTube: Ryan Sheckler wins the Dew Tour in Boston

Day Six - July 23

Today we focused on things outside of Boston -- Plimoth Plantation and Cape Cod. Plimoth Plantation was very well done, with the Native People at the Wampanoag Village dressed in period clothes, but speaking from a modern perspective and the "Pilgrims" speaking from a 17th century perspective. This living history seemed to keep everyone engaged, especially Faith, as she fed the goats and used a two person saw. We enjoyed watching a Wampanoag woman roast a cod over a fire and a crew of four English settlers putting up a house. The kids also enjoyed watching Dad put a foot in his mouth by asking one of the Native People what percentage Native American he was. (That is a forbidden question which is warned against on signs at the entry to the Wampanoag Village.)

After a short drive to the town of Plymouth, we stopped at a very fancy farmer's market for baguettes and blueberries, toured the Mayflower II and saw Plymouth Rock, and bought $3.99 T-shirts and penny candy.


Then we continued on to Cape Cod with Coast Guard Beach as the destination in our GPS. This whole trip has not been beach weather though, with either drizzle or steady rain almost every day. Today it did let up enough for us to enjoy several hours on the rocky beach near Eastham. What impressed us most was the great number and colorful variety of rocks on this beach - everything from lime green to red to black and white striped. We collected several pounds of beautiful rocks polished by the sea. I was also impressed by what I first thought were tomatoes growing near the beach. When I looked closer, I realized that they were the biggest rose hips I ever saw. The people of New England make a jam out of this fruit of wild rose bushes that grow like weeds along all the beaches.

We ended up this fun, but drizzly day at Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar in Eastham. I really enjoyed my Wellfleet scallops while Ryo demolished her mussels. The kids played it safe with hamburgers and chicken fingers!

We felt like we conquered the rain and used the times it let up quite well. It was actually nice to be outside and not have to worry about applying sunscreen every few hours!

Day Five - July 22

Although I'm trying not to focus on the negatives, I am kind of bummed we didn't have time to see the lighthouses or beaches of Maine or New Hampshire. But what can you do about the weather and the passage of time?

So, we've moved on to the Boston area. Before we left I bought a GoBoston Card. It is one price for most of the major attractions in Boston. For $100 for a three day card ($60 for children) you have all your admissions paid. I figured as long as we spent $33 a day or more in admissions, it would be a good deal.


Today we did two very different tours of the historic areas of downtown Boston. First we went to Boston Common to do a guided tour of the Freedom Trail with a costumed colonial actor. He led us on a lively, narrated trip through Boston's founding to the Revolutionary War period. It was a moderate walk, but really fun. Our guide's enthusiasm really made the trip fun for the kids, "Huzzah!!!"



But it was the Duck Tour that really impressed the kids. On this riding tour you board a WWII era amphibious vehicle, a DUKW in military parlance, and drive around Boston. Again our tour guide was very enthusiastic, especially about the Celtics! He gave us a tour of the major architectural and pop-culture sites of downtown. He showed us where the bar in Cheers was supposed to be, the pond in Make Way for Ducklings, the toney shopping area of Newbury St. (had Ryo plastered to the window), I.M. Pei's John Hancock tower and told us what was going on at The Garden (a Skateboarding show - had Andrew plastered to the window!). Then after somehow navigating the narrow streets of the Back Bay, the driver took us by the Charles River and dived in! The whole vehicle became a boat and we toured Boston from the river! This tour was extremely entertaining, satisfied everyone's interests and left us wanting to spend a lot more time in Boston.

Day Four - July 21

Distances between states in New England are much shorter than in the Midwest. We got from Bennington, VT to the Boston area in just over 3 hours. Today, though we had to learn to deal with a deluge of rain. First, we slept in until 9 a.m. thanks to the overcast skies and Fairfield Inn's blackout curtains. Realizing that it was going to rain steadily all day, we decided it was time to shop. The LL Bean Factory Store in Freeport, ME was only an hour drive from our hotel in MA.


We decided today was Mom's day. She found a Clark's outlet shoe store in Freeport and said that finding her favorite shoes and a lobster dinner would make her day. Everyone enjoyed the rainy morning and early afternoon shopping at Timberland, A & F, L.L. Bean and Reebok. Freeport is not like other strip outlet malls around the country. Each company has its own freestanding building that may be hundreds of years old or brand new. In other words, it has as much character as an outlet mall can muster. Despite the heavy rain, acres of parking and thousands of the worlds affluent shoppers looking for a deal, Freeport was fun. After shopping until we almost dropped, we found a really good lobster restaurant on the coast. The kids had their first lobsters at Estes Lobster House on Casco Bay. Ryo had the perfect day today - shoe shopping and lobster eating!

Day Three - July 20

Last night we finally entered New England via Bennington, Vermont. It was nearing dusk as we wound up through the Green Mountains. We turned a corner and saw a spooky looking hotel building, a towering white Congregational church and an obelisk commemorating the Battle of Bennington at the top of a mountain. We got out and enjoyed the sunset then we continued on another 40 miles through twisty roads to Brattleboro for the night.


When we woke up on Monday morning, we decided that there wasn't much to see in Brattleboro, so we retraced our steps and followed the Molly Stark Trail (Route 9) back to Bennington. There was a lot to do along this road including looking out over the mountains of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont at Hogback Mountain, hiking on the Appalachain Trail, driving over many covered bridges, shopping for pottery at Bennington Potters, and going up to the observation deck of the 306 foot obelisk. We got some fresh bread, Vermont sharp cheddar cheese, some blueberries and our "travel snack" of beef jerky and had a dinner-picnic on the grounds of the monument. The teens were pretty happy, but Stephen and Andrew would have been happier if the boat rental place would have let them drive jet-skis on the beautiful mountain lake that we passed (they only let people over 21 drive). Andrew could have spent the whole day on the Appalachain trail hopping from rock to rock amid the clear amber tinted water in the rushing mountain stream. Overall a pretty good day that made everyone happy . . .

Day Two - July 19

At lunch today, we got off the Thruway to see something of the Finger Lakes. We first stopped at Seneca Falls, but weren't too impressed. Its downtown looked kind of tired, although we did watch a film of the towns involvement in the women's suffrage movement, which I thought was very informative and important, especially for the family of a womens doctor. However, I'm afraid it was both 'boring' and 'uncool.' I had hoped to see more kitschy capitalization of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," which Frank Capra was supposed to have based on Seneca Falls. Maybe July is the wrong time to be looking for such things? We did have a nice picnic on the shore of Cayuga Lake, after stopping at a roadside produce stand. Ryo and Stephen enjoyed gorging on the hot banana peppers we bought, and I had some really great local blueberries. Andrew and Faith enjoyed making themselves sick by spinning on the parks tire swing.

A little further down Route 20, we found one thing that everybody liked - a Sunday afternoon polo match in Skaneateles, NY. As usual, our favorite place in the Finger Lakes was also probably the most expensive town in the area. We drove by many old and new million dollar homes on the way out to the polo field from downtown Skaneateles. However, when we got there, the elderly lady at the entrance to the field only charged us $2.00 for parking and we pulled up right next to the announcer's shed at what would be the 50 yard line, if the polo field were marked like a football field. Stephen and Andrew liked comparing the game to soccer, while Faith thought the horses were cute. Ryo and I enjoyed lazing on our blanket and hearing the announcer describe the rules and history of polo. We all enjoyed the novel experience of doing something brand new together.