WATERFALLS, SAUSAGES, YANKEES, AND STEAKS

Jessi, Jaiden, Julian, Pam, and I took a trip out east. Our first stop was Niagara Falls. We did a little walking, first to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, then to the Aquarium. Then we walked back to ride the Maid of the Mist to see the falls from below.

Then we took in the American Falls from the Visitor Center, and got a bite to eat in the snack shop.

The next morning, we headed for Boston, Stopping in Syracuse for lunch. The little diner downtown that had been closed and for sale, the last time Pam and I were in Syracuse, was open as the Miss Syracuse Diner, so we went in for lunch.

After eating, we walked over to admire the Niagara-Mohawk Building, an Art Deco masterpiece, then headed east again toward Boston.

We got to Boston in the evening and made an immediate stop at Faneuil Hall, looking for a street vendor with some Italian sausage sandwiches. There was not a street vendor to be found: someone told us they were all at the ballpark for a game. We made do with sandwiches from inside the Hall, not quite as tasty as the ones from street vendors, but they would have to do.

Then we looked through a gift shop, and Jaiden bought a Venus Flytrap.

Then we explored the area, ending up at the dancing waters fountain on the Greenway. It didn’t take too long for Pam to convince Jaiden and Julian that they could dodge the water, so shortly they were soaked and having fun.

The next day we again explored Boston. Walking through the Financial District, and to the Aquarium. We took in a movie at the OmniMax Theatre there, then spent a few hours exploring the rest of the Aquarium.

It was nicely laid out, a spiral ramp around a central column that served as the main aquarium.

After the Aquarium, we walked along the harbor to The Barking Crab and had dinner.

Then back to the Central Wharf for a trip on the Duck. The Duck tour goes through a couple of historic Boston neighborhoods, and then cruises on the Charles River. Julian got to pilot the Duck on the river.
After the Duck ride, we strolled into the north end for some gelato and bakery.

The next day, we headed to NYC for some sightseeing and a Yankee-Red Sox game. We stopped at another New England diner for a BLT lunch, and took the Merritt Parkway into the Bronx. We checked into our motel, and made it via the train to Yankee Stadium for the game.

The following day, we drove down the New Jersey side of the river to Hoboken to catch the ferry to Manhattan. We tried first to get a ferry at the Hoboken Terminal, but the ferries were not running, either because it was Saturday or because there had been a collision between a helicopter and airplane over the river. We jumped in a taxi upriver and caught a ferry from the 14th Street Terminal in Hoboken to Pier 79 in Manhattan.

We took a Grey Line bus tour of Lower Manhattan, got off near the World Trade Center site, and walked around the area, through the Wall Street area, and caught the Grey Line again at Pier 11 on the East River side of the island.

We took the bus back to the 30 Rockefeller Building, another nice Art Deco structure. We had some slices of NYC pizza in the neighborhood, then walked over to Times Square and caught a bus back to Pier 79.

Back in Hoboken, we strolled from 14th street down Washington Street to the parking garage near the Hoboken Terminal. What a great street, lined with restaurants with sidewalk tables and little Italian delis. We stopped a couple of times for Italian Ices on the way.

We retrieved the car and headed for Philadelphia, stopping for the night just east of the city. We were headed into Philadelphia for one thing, Philly Cheesesteaks. Stomachs full, we headed for home.