McFadden Family Adventures

Travel Adventures with Tom & Vonda

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  • New York Part 2

    There are so many stories of New Yorkers being rude and we even had a woman from New Jersey ask Tom why he would want to go to “the city.” But we found nothing but kind and enjoyable people. Yes, there are lots of people honking horns and people are busy and in their own world, but we didn’t experience any rude people. We really enjoyed our second day in “the city.”

    We arrived at the Dover train station a little after 7:00 a.m. to catch the 7:33 a.m. train to Penn Station. We encountered a woman at the payment kiosk to park the truck and then later at the platform. There were several trains coming and she wasn’t sure which was the right train. We got her on the right one. I felt like a native!

    Be aware if traveling on the train in the summer. It was 85 degrees outside and felt like winter in the train car. I was thankful to have worn a sweatshirt but I was still cold. Penn Station is a marvel. There are a multitude of tracks for NJ Transit, Amtrack, and others. I have compared it to being in a race you don’t want to run. You stand or sit in a waiting area and stare at the boards to see which track your train will leave from. It doesn’t show up until 10 minutes before leave time and then as soon as it is seen, everyone begins walking really fast to get there and get a seat. Thankfully we left before work was done for most people as I can only imagine what it is like after 5:00 p.m.

    Trees mark the original tower footprint
    “Trees” of the Towers
    Wall holding back the Hudson River
    Stairs that saved hundreds
    Survivor Tree

    ‘After arriving at Penn Station we caught a cab to the 9/11 Memorial. We had purchased a tour that begin in the center of the plaza and we sat down to wait for it to begin. While we were there we watched people taking pictures of a squirrel. It was as though they had never seen a squirrel.

    A security person came by and told them not to feed it. A few minutes later a woman said, “I would feed you, but the security lady said no.” Goodness! There were certainly more interesting things to take pictures of than the squirrel.

    We highly recommend you taking the tour. It’s a little pricey but worth the extra information. It was a sobering moment when we were told that a large wall with blue squares housed the remains of many of those who died on that day. Our guide said he was sad when people take smiling family pictures and TicTok videos. I didn’t take a picture. He has never been in the room and says not many have or ever will.

    After the Memorial we headed a few blocks to Trinity Church. It was a scene from the movie National Treasurer and a tourist attraction as well as a working church. They were serving the Holy Eucharist as they do every day at noon. We also discovered it is the gravesite of Alexander Hamilton.

    We then walked to see the steps where the lawyers walk down on “Law and Order.” It was a nice walk and a beautiful day. Afterwards we caught a cab to see the fire station from Ghostbusters.

    We had lunch and then caught a cab back to Penn Station. I am surprised at our successful navigation of New York City but I don’t think I will be as intimidated in other large cities. We are heading to Philadelphia today for more history.

    New York has been a joy! Don’t miss out on coming to this wonderful place.

  • New York City Part 1

    Yesterday we successfully navigated the New Jersey Transit System. We took the train from Dover into Penn Station, caught a cab to a Starbucks near Central Park and waited for our Pedi-Cab driver to pick us up. It was a wonderful tour of some of the sights of Central Park. There were so many movie references, I couldn’t keep up with them all. We saw places where many movies were filmed including Elf, Serendipity, Enchanted, and so many more. We highly recommend this tour. Shakespeare in the Park is going on right now, a free production and people stand in line to get a chance at a seat. Seats are given out randomly, so you could be first in line and get a seat in the back. But it’s very popular.

    Geographic Center of New York
    The :Plaza Hotel
    Shakespeare in the Park
    The Dakota
    Where John Lennon Died
    Strawberry Field

    After Central Park we headed to Radio City Music Hall, Times Square and Broadway. We continued our walk through the city to reach our scheduled time for the Empire State Building. It was not what I expected, but enjoyable just the same.

    It was very windy on the 86th floor. We didn’t go to the top. We walked around the outside and I took pictures from each direction. Afterwards we searched for a place to eat nearby and found Jack Dempsey’s Pub. We enjoyed listening to our Irish waiter get excited over a golf game.

    It was time to head back to the train station and journey back New Jersey. It takes 1 1/2 hours each way to travel but taking the truck into the city is a nightmare waiting to happen. It was a good day in New York City. My first time there.

  • Statue of Liberty

    Statue of Liberty

    Yesterday morning we headed to Liberty Park to catch the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I’ll be honest and say, I never thought I’d see it in person. We had a wonderful but tiring day.

    We went to the Statue first and arrived at the area to visit the pedestal. Most people were only able to visit this part. You can walk out and see views all around. The picture above is a view from there. It is 195 steps to the pedestal. There is an elevator, which we stood in line for but it only takes four people at a time and there was a long line. So, I said let’s walk up the 195 steps. Big mistake, huge. But we made it and enjoyed the view. Tom was able to snag crown tickets. You are required to have special tickets to the crown because they only take so many people per day. We overheard someone talking and they are sold out until October. We got lucky! So, we continued up the 159 steps to the crown. It is not for the faint of heart. The park ranger told us it was okay to not go all the way to the top. I imagine this means some people don’t. It is a double spiral staircase and I can honestly say, I was not feeling so well after the first spiral but I was determined. We made it to the crown with jelly legs and were told to turn right, so we could see the face of Lady Liberty. First picture below. The second picture is what you can see of the arm out of the crown windows and the next pictures are in the insides of the statue including the stairs.

    After looking out the small windows we headed down and I think that was worse than going up. But it didn’t take as long! We then toured the museum. The torch below is the original torch and was removed in 1984 as it was damaged beyond repair. Tom is sitting on a model of the foot. I’m sticking my finger up the nose of the face. Afterwards we got back on the ferry and headed to Ellis Island.

    It was a quick walk through as it was getting late in the day and there weren’t very many ferries left. We didn’t see all of the exhibits but did watch a 30 minute video about the immigrants arriving on the ships.

    There were walls and walls of tickets and postcards and photos. We were so glad we went. I hope if you are ever in New York, take the ferry from New Jersey and go early to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It is an all day event. There is a nice place for food right after getting off the ferry. Don’t forget to get your stamp in your National Park Passport. Be prepared to wait for the ferry in long lines. Tom said the majority of our time was spent waiting for the ferry and riding on the ferry. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot.

    It was a good day! Here’s hoping your days are filled with good things too.

  • Boston, Massachusetts

    Boston, Massachusetts

    This morning we awoke to rain and cold. It didn’t get out of the 50’s here today. We headed towards Boston early this morning. We are in Littleton, MA. We found the Alewife subway station with no problems, parked and picked up our Charlie Card to ride. We got off at South Station and walked to the Boston Tea Party Museum and Tour. It was very interesting and there was a simulation of throwing the crates of tea into the harbor. We were on the ship Eleanor. Our guide was Mehitable Crane, the wife of John Crane. She told an amazing story about how they thought her husband was dead and because he couldn’t be found at the ship they took him to his shop but when they arrived the next morning expecting to find him dead, he was alive. Samuel Adams was also there and gave a rousing speech on why we should resist paying taxes on the tea.

    We saw the last surviving tea crate. It was picked up near the harbor by a man and kept under the stairs of his home during the Revolutionary War. It was then passed down in his family being used for many different things before being donated to the museum. There is also a small bottle of tea that somehow survived. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the museum. As we were walking out of one of the areas, we thought there was going to be a fight. A young boy had gotten into a man’s space and the man was mad. The mom apologized and reminded the man the spaces we were in were very close. He didn’t seem to care about that though.

    After the tour we walked to Emmet’s Irish Pub for lunch. I, of course, had New England Clam Chowder. The most interesting thing at the restaurant was when I walked downstairs to the bathroom and there was a British woman standing there in her underwear drying her pants under the bathroom hand dryer. I asked her if she had spilt something on her pants and she said her son had spilt water. I told her at least it wasn’t tomato soup. She said, “yes, that is a good thing and it could have been worse. Her pants would dry.” It’s not every day you see a British woman in her knickers!.

    We headed back to the the subway and got the train to our truck. Then we headed towards Rhode Island. Tom had found the closest town over the border and it was only an hour away. So, we drove through the pouring rain and made it to Cumberland, Rhode Island. I tried to get a picture three times. Mind you, it was pouring rain and the sign was on the left. Tom kept turning around and trying again and I told him to let it go. So, here is the picture I took and one I “borrowed” from online. That was the best of the three. 48 states down, two more to go. Delaware and Connecticut are all that’s left.

    You might be wondering about the Rotary picture at the top. A rotary is similar to a roundabout but bigger and allows for a higher rate of speed. We saw these here in Massachusetts. It was a long day and we’re tired but we enjoyed our short time in Massachusetts. This was my second trip and Tom’s first. I’d like to come back some time and show him all the other amazing sites in Boston.

    We hope your day was enjoyable as well. Tomorrow we head to New Jersey.

  • Acadia National Park

    Acadia National Park

    We took the bus to Bar Harbor to pick up our electric car. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the little Gem. It reminds me of Smart Car. It is actually a glorified golf cart that only goes 25 mph. We sat off for the park but you can only drive on roads that have a speed limit of 35 mph or less. We didn’t quite get the directions we were supposed to take so I had to turn around and go back to the lot. We listened again and got it right. I didn’t want to mess up because there is a $150 fine for driving on roads that have a higher speed limit. Plus she told us we’d be in the newspaper!

    We had made reservations to travel up Cadillac Mountain. They are required from May to October. At 1,530 feet it is the highest point along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. It was very windy and cold. I saw a NP employee this morning and she said, “Just like that, it is fall.” She wasn’t wrong. The leaves on some trees have already started changing and the air is crisp.

    Along the park loop there are beautiful views of the ocean. We had trouble even in our little car to find parking at several places. But we enjoyed what we saw.

    After dropping off the car, we stopped for ice cream and to do a little shopping. We’ll be heading to Massachusetts tomorrow for a few days. We’ve met some nice people at this campground. We highly recommend Bar Harbor Campground, even though the sites are not level. One of the people we talked to this morning said that our area used to be tent camping and they just recently put in electricity and water.

    We had a wonderful last full day in Maine. Come visit if you get the chance. It’s beautiful. We hope you’ve had a wonderful day too.

  • Bar Harbor, Maine

    Bar Harbor, Maine

    Yesterday we arrived in Maine, my 47th state. We stopped at a rest area, and a truck/camper from Connecticut went the wrong way and almost hit the truck to get into a parking space. The funny thing is, they are two spaces away from us in our campground. Tom keeps calling him my buddy. I was so shocked at what they were doing that I was staring at them incredulously. The rest areas are nice in Maine. We saw this in one of them.

    Our campground is nice but the sites are very unlevel. I had to manually level the trailer for the first time ever. I missed my automatic leveler. I was waiting on the trailer to start rolling backwards. I could just see myself running down the hill after it, with my arms in the air. That would have been a site. I talked with a couple from Maine who were camping across from us and the husband had been to McAlester, Oklahoma, my hometown. What are the chances of that? We had a nice conversation and Tom came out hunting for me because I was only supposed to be putting my Maine state on the map.

    We took the Island Explorer Bus to Bar Harbor this morning. It is a free bus that takes people all around the area. We had lunch at Route 66 Diner. It was yummy! We both had Seafood, of course. I also found a lovely little shop called Cool as a Moose. It supports Longshoremen. Here’s some pictures from the restaurant. I enjoyed a wonderful Blueberry Soda there, made in Bar Harbor.

    The rain arrived around 4:30 p.m. It’s not supposed to last for more than a few hours. We purposely waited until tomorrow to see Acadia National Park so we wouldn’t have to worry about rain. We’re renting what is called a Gem, an electric car to drive around the park. More on that tomorrow.

    Our campground is on the water but we aren’t in one of those sites. I did take a picture when I was going to get my laundry. It feels like fall here now and interestingly the “season” ends today. I think kids must be going back to school and things will start slowing down for them. The bus routes change tomorrow as well.

    We are enjoying Maine, but I really want to come back and take the ferry to Nova Scotia. It’s only 3 1/2 hours! We’ve had an amazing journey today and look forward to the National Park tomorrow. I hope you’re day has been amazing too.

  • Vermont Did Not Disappoint

    Quechee Gorge was our first stop this morning. They are doing some work on the bridge but we took a little hike to get a view and then were able to walk along the bridge and got a better view. It’s billed as the Grand Canyon of Vermont. I wouldn’t go that far but it was a beautiful hike and a beautiful area.

    We then headed for Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. It’s a different National Park than most. It was donated by the family in 1990 and became a NP in 1994. Tom still hasn’t been able to use his Discovery Pass. We’ve been to three National Parks on this trip and not once has he been able use it. This time it was because the Park is free but to tour the home is $6 each. So, we toured the home and looked a little at the farm side. It’s a park focusing on conservation and I really enjoyed seeing all the work they have done in Vermont for the forest.

    Next was a trip to Sugar Bush Farms for Vermont Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar Butter, and Maple Cookies. It was a rough drive up the mountain but we saw goats and had a cheese tasting. We didn’t buy any cheese but the woman giving the tasting encouraged us to use the butter for our corn on the cob.

    One last stop at the Lincoln Covered Bridge, built in 1877 completed our tour of the area. It was the only nearby bridge that had not been rebuilt.

    We love Vermont. I can only imagine how beautiful it is during the Autumn. We did some shirts that said, “What happens in Vermont, stays in Vermont. But nothing happens here.” That sounds lovely, to be honest.

    We’ll be heading to Maine in the morning for a few days. Another National Park is in our plans and promised views of the ocean. It was a marvelous journey today. I hope yours was as well.

  • National Baseball Hall of Fame

    National Baseball Hall of Fame

    Yesterday we traveled to Cooperstown NY. It has been a dream to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. We arrived shortly after opening and there was a line to the sidewalk. There were several groups off to the side and more people arriving by the minute. We got in shortly after 9:30 and started our tour. It was better than I expected and a joy to see the history displayed there. There were a lot of people inside as well and it was hard to get good pictures but we enjoyed it a lot.

    This morning we left New York heading to Vermont. I have never been to Vermont and was excited to mark it out of my list. I have four states to go and I will have been in all 50 states. Those left are Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware. I’ll be picking all those up in the next week!

    We traveled back roads a lot of the day and it was fun to see the towns. A lot of the homes reminded me of England. They were rock homes with rose bushes around them. I saw a lot of homes like that in England/Scotland. I remembered New York was one of the original 13 colonies so I imagine people from England brought their building skills.

    We were driving down I-20 and Tom noticed a sign for snowmobiles ahead.
    Tom: Snowmobiles ahead.
    Me: to rent?
    Tom: No, on the road
    Me: I doubt that
    Tom: Maybe not now but in the winter
    Me: That would be interesting to see, the snow so bad you need a snowmobile. We also signs for Moose on the road but sadly did not see any Moose.

    We then had a discussion about my English Tea Cakes. I had brought one as a snack if I needed it. When I opened the package, I told Tom they were like a smore. I mentioned them in an earlier post. You can see from the picture below that they have all the ingredients of a smore. Chocolate, marshmallow and a cracker, definitely a cold smore.

    Well Tom proceeded to tell me that he wouldn’t like them because he doesn’t like smores. Specifically he doesn’t like marshmallows. He even went on to say that marshmallows have no redeeming qualities. I said, “No, redeeming qualities?” He told them they are squishy and the texture is just…..We have been married for 32 years and I never knew he didn’t like marshmallows. I said, “who doesn’t like marshmallows?” He of course said, “Me.” I told him he’s lucky I didn’t know that before we got married, it might of been a deal breaker. Not really, of course. I suppose that’s why he doesn’t care too much about a fire at the campsite.

    Well that’s our last two days. Tomorrow we will visiting a National Park, a country store so Tom can pick up some maple syrup and several other sites near our campground. We’ve had a good journey today. I hope you’re journey has been a good one too.

  • Niagara Falls-Canada

    Niagara Falls-Canada

    This morning we crossed The Rainbow Bridge back into Canada after arriving in New York yesterday. We decided to go back across the border because we had originally booked this tour for last Friday. When we cancelled because it was over two hours away, the guide contacted me to offer us $10 off for each ticket if we rebooked. So, of course we did for today. The only change was it was an earlier tour at 8:30 a.m. from the original of 9:30 a.m. I’m glad we did the earlier tour because it was getting pretty warm, well hot by the time we were done.

    We met our tour group and began the walk to see the Falls. There are three falls at Niagara. I personally believe that the view from the Canadian side is much better than from the American side. We could see the full view of the American Falls and both Canadian Falls.

    The Canada side has a “Go Behind the Falls” Tour. We were taken by elevators to a tunnel that allowed us to go behind the falls and hear the power of the water. We were also able to go out on a viewing platform that gave us a close up view of the falls in the middle picture above. We were getting wet from the start of the tour because of the mist from the water, as you can tell by hair. Turn on your sound to hear the water in the video below.

    Then it was time to get on the boat. We decided to ride on top and I can honestly say it felt like being in a hurricane. The water just kept coming. I couldn’t take it anymore after we stayed in the area by the farthest falls and went below. Tom stayed for the full effect. I did get a few pictures and here’s one of us after the water got us. I think I got wetter than Tom.

    Afterwards we enjoyed a lovely lunch at “The Secret Garden” with a 10% coupon from our tour company. What an amazing morning!

    Our guide, Dave, was an amazing storyteller and he told us a story about the Miracle of Niagara Falls. Here’s a link if you want to read about it. http://www.infoniagara.com/history/rogerwoodward_miracle.aspx

    The Falls are continually moving, about an inch a year. In about 5000 years they’ll be gone. I’m glad we were alive to see them! I hope you find joy in our adventure as we did. It was an amazing day today. I hope you had an amazing day too!

  • Elora Gorge

    We went on an adventure today. Tom wanted to see “The Hole in the Rock.” So, we headed out with our trusty map to find a hole….in a rock. We traveled through the campground following said map and it’s a good thing Tom has better navigation skills than I do, because I was sure he was going the wrong way. We crossed over a very tight bridge for the truck but we made it okay. No mirrors were murdered in the making of this crossing.

    We arrived at the parking area and the sign pointed to the left for the hole. So, we took off walking. We watched people tubing down the river and the best part was when they entered the water and sort of just fell in. There was a family with two adults and two kids. They put the kids in first, which I thought might have been a mistake. I told Tom, one of the adults should have gone first and one take up the rear. I guess it’s all those years in child care. We saw them later and they were all fine.

    We continued our journey along the path and arrived back at the very tight bridge. I told Tom this isn’t where the hole in the rock is. So, we checked out the bridge, took a picture and headed back the way we came. We got almost to the parking lot and I said we should go down where we had seen people earlier. So, we walked down more steps and I said maybe this is the hole in the rock. (The first picture).

    The tree growing out of the rock was pretty amazing as well. Then I googled “Hole in the Rock, Ontario.” A very similar picture to the last one above came up. This was in site of the parking area. So, we bypassed the hole and took a little hike. You can see the hole at the top of the stairs. Sort of anticlimactic, really. But it was a nice morning out in nature and the temperature wasn’t too bad. It’s gotten a little hotter today than we’ve had in awhile, but is cooling off nicely this evening.

    We’ve enjoyed watching people park their RV’s today, too. That’s full time entertainment for sure. The best is the wife telling the husband how to park and he doesn’t listen. Kind of like Tom and I. Weirdly, we looked out about a half hour later and that couple was gone and another trailer was in that spot. I’m not sure what happened. They did sit out on the road a long time. I’m guess they moved. I want to know where they went. Tom said he’d drive around and find them for me, but that’s a little much. Our neighbors to the right of us left this morning wearing kilts. The people two doors down couldn’t back up well so he had to pull into the spot across from him. My silent Tom was judging him like nobody’s business! I’ve been Mrs. Kravitzing it all day. Well that sure dates me. Maybe some of you remember Mrs. Kravitz from Bewitched.

    We went to the Canadian Walmart Supercentre. By chance I found the British section and stocked up on teacakes. I haven’t had any since we were in Scotland. Come to think of it I might have ordered some from Amazon when we returned. They are the most heavenly marshmallow covered chocolate. I’m betting they would do well on a graham cracker over the fire. I may have to try that.

    We really like this campground and if you’re heading north I would recommend a stay, even for just a few days.

    We’ve had a lovely journey today. I hope you’re journey has been a good one as well.