magnumholmes

I will be as brief as possible.

We just returned from a week-long excursion to the Northeast with lots of good, some bad and a bit of ugly to report.

We flew into Boston, got our rental car and off we went to Danvers.

We stayed at an extended stay hotel, and our room included a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, stove top and all of the utensils and cookware a couple could possibly need.

Our stay there was perfect. I would recommend these types of hotels for the budget-conscious travellers like us. Keep in mind, you don;t get maid service and you have to take your dirty towels to the front desk and request replacements when you need them.

Took a day trip to Salem and Gloucester on our first day there-- Sunday, but most things were open. Salem's had some neat things and learned a lot of things about witches and how none was burned at the stake in the United States. I was surprised about that last part. But when they were convicted, they were sentenced to death in different ways. The Witch Museum was really informative and cheap.

Gloucester-- cool seeing the ocean (again). Not much open there on Sunday, but went anyway because it was in the neighborhood.

Later on Sunday, drove to Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Monday-- Drove around to Vermont, then across New Hampshire and into Maine. The wierdest thing on this excursion was that there was a lot of snow in New Hampshire but almost none anywhere else. The snow was piled to the side of the highway taller than the car we were driving in some spots in NH.

Just drove to the states and bought a couple of things to add the notch on the list, ya know.

Monday 11:30 p.m.-- Go Downtown Boston to get to bus terminal. A little hairy finding the station, but got there, found parking and we were on the road to Manhattan at about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday.

We were shocked how short the trip actually was. We slept(in and out) most of the way, but one time I awoke and saw wee were passing the Lincoln Tunnel and I KNEW WHERE WE WERE! Yikes! Were we ready?

It was 4 a.m. and we got off the bus with our backpack and handy-dandy map book of Manhattan ( the name of it fails me right now, but what a great purchase that was).

I looked at my wife and we were both terribly apprehensive.

We walked out on the street and there weren't many humans on the streets at that hour. But we felt so secure. Does that make any sense at all? We were pleasantly surprised at the presence of police personnel everywhere, even at that hour.

We ate some breakfast at one point, then walked to the Murray Hill Inn. The guy behind the window and bars was frightened that we wanted to check in at 7 a.m. No, we just want to drop off our backpack, minus anything valuable, of course. He was relieved. We did it and off we went again.

We were all over Mid-Town Manhattan-- on foot, of course. We walked around, going into store after store and taking pics, of course. By 3 p.m., though, we were exhausted. So, we walked back to the Murray Hill Inn and checked into our room. The SMALL room was only about 7 feet wide, but it served its purpose. It was a safe place to sleep, and sleep we did. All through the night.

We awoke early the next morning and we were off again. We walked all over, and took a trip to the Top of the Rock. The only thing was, we couldn't see much because it was rainy and foggy. It was still a solid (get it?)experience.

Ate lunch at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, right in front of the 12 TVs. Would have been better if it had been the first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. But it was Wednesday-- the day before the Madness began. Damn!!

We were amazed at how secure we felt. There were policemen everywhere. That doesn't mean something couldn't have happened, but it made us feel safer anyway.

Here's a plug for a restaurant.

Bistango (I think that's the right name) is now my wife's favorite place to eat in NYC. They serve Gluten-Free pizza-- an unbelievable find for a Celiac sufferer like she is. It was fantastic. I even ate the pizza and it was unbelievably good. They even brought her gluten-free breadsticks just because they wanted her to try them-- on the house.

That place was AWESOME!!

We had to leave on a 7 p.m. bus, so we headed to the Port Authority a little early. We wound up getting on a bus an hour and a half earlier than planned. We got back to Boston about 10:30 p.m., headed back to Danvers.

Thursday morning walked the 3 miles of the Freedom Trail in Boston. That was a very good and informative stroll. We enjoyed that. Everything was so well-marked, NOBODY COULD GET LOST, (including us).

But we felt much more uneasy walking around Boston than we did in Manhattan. Does that make sense?

Thursday afternoon we drove across town to Fenway Park to take a tour. NO PARKING at all around the ballpark. We drove around an extra 15 minutes or so and finally found a parking lot. We had to walk about six blocks, but that didn't matter.

We got there just in time to rush and take the 3 p.m. tour. It was a great nostalgic look at Fenway Park and all of the construction going on at the ballpark.

The only negative, other than the problem with parking, was that the tour guide kept referencing how the Red Sox beat St. Louis in the 2004 World Series. I almost spoke up and told him, even with the two you guys have won in the past four years, St. Louis still is second to the Yankees 26 with 10.

Anyway, that was a great little sidebar trip that I really had at the top of my list of things to do.

Thursday night went to a Boston Bruins game at The Garden. Super seats, right at the top of the seats in the upper deck on the end where Boston shot two of the three periods. We didn't change the Bruins' luck, though. They lost to Montreal for the 10th straight time. Still a neat experience.

Friday-- Drove to Cambridge, saw what we thought was Harvard, spent 45 minutes trying to find a Hard Rock, which the GPS said was there but we couldn't see. Got a little frustrated, especially with all of the road construction, and just travelled to Logan for our flight home.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip. It is a trip we will not soon forget.

I am not too sure we will ever go back to Boston, but Manhattan will be an absolute revisit, and maybe within the next year. Maybe the next time we will attempt to take the subway. I just don;t think we were ready for that the first time. Maybe we were just too paranoid, I don't know.

I will probably remember something else later.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

dmlove

So what was the ugly part - the usher reminding you over and over about the RedSox beating St. Louis? Take heart, at least you've won 10 championships (Giants fan here).

Sounds like a great trip.

wyatt92

I'm curious to know where you're from. I'm quite surprised that you felt unsafe walking the Freedom Trail.

speckles

Hi Magnum. Good to hear you enjoyed your overall trip and had a successful short trip to NYC. I remember all the pain you went through trying to fit NYC in as a day trip without using public transport if possible, but maximising your sightseeing.

magnumholmes

We didn't feel unsafe walking the Freedom Trail, just around Boston.

We just saw more troublemaking teenagers (you know, pants down past their buttocks, pushing and shoving on each other in crowded places, cussing to the top of their lungs, etc.) and others walking the streets of Boston than in Manhattan. It just makes me wonder about where this country is headed if we have to depend on that generation to lead us.

There also seemed to be a lot more homeless persons, even along the Freedom Trail, in Boston.

It was a great trip, and like I said, we will definitely go to NYC again.

SandyBrit

magnumholmes:

I remember your other post about fitting in the short visit to NYC and I was glad to hear how comfortable you were and very pleased to hear that you will go back.

Did you expect the room at the Murray Hill Inn to be as small as it was? I seem to remember your NYC hotel budget was quite low. Did you like the neighborhood?

Good tip about Bistango. I am also curious as to what part of the country you are from.

Thanks for sharing a great report.

Sandy

socialworker

HI---First I have to tell you how adventurous I think that you and your wife are! Your trip report shows how difficult it can be for posters to get into the mindset of others. For me, your trip would be the travel equivalent of being abducted. By that I mean that I could not manage such distances and scheduling voluntarily, so it makes me realize that I cannot be quick to tell another traveler what is, or is not, a manageable itinerary.

lcuy

I'm glad you had a safe trip.

I'm a little surprised by your only seeing a few troublesome teenagers in Boston and thinking that bodes poorly for our future. There are 200,000 college students in Boston. One out of five of the folks you saw in Boston were students...Boston, MIT, BU, Berklee College of Music, Tufts, BC, and 44 others have enrolled many of the top students in America. Most of them are also good citizens, although some do wear their pants low on their hips, and cuss too. I choose to look at them and think our country is going to do just fine.

nytraveler

Really am surprised that you said about 12 times how safe you felt in Manhattan.

NYC is the safest large city in the country. And what crime there is is - usually, unfortunately - is in poorer areas - not places tourists would go. The reason there is such a large police presence is that NYC is on Orange Alert - has been permanently sine 9/11. So there are cops - and armed national guard - in every transport hub at all hours. Really - unless you hang around the docks or heavily wooded areas of Central Park in the middle of the night - in Manhattan safety is just not an issue.

SusieQQ

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip so much and thank you for reporting but am curious as to why you were so concerned with safety and security. Don't mean to be rude, but I'm really interested.

bennnie

Not sure why you were offended that the usher in Fenway Park mentioned more than once that the Red Sox had won the World Series. What else would you expect? You have to understand that we still can't believe we won in 2004 nevermind again in 2007. 2004 was the greatest sports happening in New England ever - better than all the Stanley Cups,NBA Championships and Super Bowls combined. Euphoria is not too strong a word.

Glad you had a good trip and enjoyed the cities.

magnumholmes

Although we travel what some people would consider a lot, we are always concerned with safety and security, even though we don;t always have the biggest budget in the world.

The reason for this is that we reside in PODUNK, USA, a town of less than 20,000 in Missouri. Not a lot of chances to experience public transportation, so that's why we're really hesitant about taking it until we get a better feel for places like Manhattan.

Not everyone grows up in big cities. There are those of us in rural areas who like to travel, and we just like to travel to rural and urban areas.

If I said I was offended in an earlier post about the tour guide mentioning over and over about the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series, that's not really what I meant. He should be proud that he is a representative of a World Series winner in recent years. I was just disappointed that it happened at the hands of my Cardinals, that's all. I just didn't want to be reminded of it over and over. But it's all good. The Cardinals won it all in 2006 and I was there for Game 4.

On these boards, I will almost ask questions about safety and security in certain areas because I don;t want to spend my vacation on edge all of the time. Please don;t take offense at somebody asking those types of questions. We in the rural areas aren't always privvy to how everything works in huge urban areas.

Appreciate all of the feedback so far. We really did enjoy our trip.

nytraveler

I suppose it's just what you're used to.

My grandmother spent her entire life in NYC and was very uncomfortable going anyplace in the "country" - that is anyplace that didn't have paved sidewalks, traffic lights at every corner - and worst - well-lit streets.

She was convinced that rural areas were full of dangerous people with guns - just lying in wait to steal you car or kidnap you.

And I must admit I found it really creepy when I went to visit a friend's family one college break. They lived in a small town in Pennsylvania - and everyone (not just immediate neighbors) knew who she was, who I was, that I had come to visit and all about me. It was the weirdest feeling, since coming from a New York suburb I naturally knew people on our block - and particular school friends - but wouldn't know most people on the next block if I fell on them. And they wouldn't have noticed that someone came to visit unless it was the President - or the Pope.

gyppielou

Sorry you didn't fall in love with my hometown!

But I must admit that part of the freedom trail goes thru the guetto of downtown crossing and a section of Tremont and what you describe is true.

Sorry you missed the brite spots that make Boston magical.

great report!
g'lou