TR: USA Summer 2017 New York DC Boston Niagara D23 Expo!

Day 17

Breakfast in the Concierge club was great. I woke up early and went up by myself while DW & DS slept. Great selection oatmeal, pastries, croissants, bagels, cold meats and hot select of scrambled eggs bacon & sausage. You could also get made to order eggs, omelette pancakes and I’m sure more if you asked.

We had spoken to the concierge the night before and got some ideas of what we were going to do. We had decided that we would do the Hop on Hop off bus tour so we could see a lot of Boston and then decide where we wanted to go back to.

We bought tickets online and it said you needed to activate them within 30 mins of starting the tour., so we waited till we were actually in the line for the tour before we did that on our phone. I’m not sure it actually made any difference as the tickers were valid all day and other than them looking for the blinking green tick when we first boarded, they never looked at it again.

The tour guide we had was someone who thought that if he could got a laugh from the first pun he told, that he should tell 100 more, so the commentary did get a little tiresome after the first 10 or so puns but hey you get that! The whole loop took about 1hr 45 mins.

After we finished it they were pushing everyone to fill in the survey card or do it online. So I did. I noted that the puns got a little over the top when they made up 80% of the actual commentary and as such the tour lost a lot of its historic interest.

To the company’s credit they emailed me back within a few days and offered us a full refund. Then about a week ago (Late sept) we got a letter in the mail from the CEO thanking us for providing honest feedback and apologising that we did not enjoy the tour. He also sent us two free tickets for use on any of their tours through the USA. So I must say I cannot fault their customer services on receiving adverse feedback.

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Edgar Allan Poe
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Lots of Row Housing
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Massachusetts State House
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This was the tower were Paul Revere had the lanterns lit to warned the Revolutionary army the British were coming by river
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Rose Kennedy Rose Garden
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Christopher Columbus (the white guy)
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ran out of nuts?
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Biggest USA flag I've ever seen
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Day 18 Independence Day

Today after breakfast in the club, we made our way to the Old State House for the reading of the Declaration of Independence. for some reason I thought it was going to be read by someone in period costume, but it wasn't, it was read by a member of the Armed forces. Still something I was glad to have experienced.

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Day 18 Independence Day Part 2

To be able to get a spot for the 4th July Fireworks, we had the option of going to the Esplanade early in the morning and staying there all day for a spot for the concert and watch the fireworks, for free or pay some $$ and turn up at 6pm for dinner, jumbo screens to watch the Boston Pops concert and front row seats for the fireworks. I'm sure you can guess which one we chose!

The event was at the Community Boating Club, which was right on the Charles River and adjacent to the Esplanade where there was 500,000 people. Yes 500,000, that wasn't a typo.

As the sun began to set I began to experiment a little with my twilight/night-time photography.

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Loving this report so much! We visited NYC and DC in late autumn and while I really enjoyed the crisp cold air the short days made touring hard. I think going in summer and wandering in the evenings looks a much better idea!

I really love the twilight city photo with the strong yellow in it - beautiful shot:)

Having already had our Disney trip this year I needed a holiday fix so i'm glad I jumped on and could follow along another one of your great trip reports Iffam!
 
It's been a while since my last post, sorry about the delay, I'll try and get a bit more of a move on with the remaining trip now.....

Here are two videos from the 4th July Celebrations.

Reading of the Declaration of Independence


Boston Pops Fireworks

 
Harvard Tour

Here are some pictures from our final full day in Boston. We caught the subway out to Harvard and did the Harvard Yard Tour. It was really interesting, though the group was really large and would have been better if it was smaller. It is taken by a Harvard student and he provided some great history and also also folk tales.... and of course all good tours end up in the Gift shop!

Boston Subway. clean and cool compared to NYC's
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Harvard
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The worlds only Curious George Store
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Harvard Student who took our tour
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Harvard Square
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This Guard house is actually the most expense structure in the square based on cost per square foot
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This was the dining hall for Freshman and we were told the inside is what was used to base the look of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go in. - though after watching and listening to one of the HP commentary, I'm not sure what the guide told us is actually accurate.

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If memory serves me correctly this was a Harvard newspaper office.
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DS in his new Harvard Letterman jacket.
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We also went to the North end which is the Italian District. Great food, little laneways lots of atmosphere. Walking back we passed the Holocaust Memorial which was sobering and chilling.

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Oldest restaurant in Boston
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Holocaust Memorial
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It was quite warm and kids were cooling off in the fountain
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Leaving Boston now and heading to Buffalo and then crossing the Canadian border to Niagara Falls Ontario. Our luggage has multiplied we now have 4 suitcases! We were picked up right on time and were on our way from Boston to Buffalo via Jet Blue. Flight was short and good and on time.

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From 3 we've become 4
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A cloudy rainy day we are leaving behind. First one in Boston for us where we have had fantastic weather.
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There are not a lot of airlines that fly direct from Boston to Buffalo
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I had never posted to Facebook from 30,000 feet before so these next two photos were posted using the free onboard wifi from the plane and cruising altitude.
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Car service was waiting for us at airport and we were soon on the road towards Niagara.

25 mins later were were at the border crossing, didn't have to get out of the SUV just asked through the window by the Canadian Border staff simply how long we were staying and if we had any guns or knives. Then we proceeded another 5 minutes to our hotel.

Check in was straight forward, though they had a "convenience fee" they said they added to the bill each day. It included 2 bottles, wifi, a 48 hour WEGO (bus) pass all for $24.95 (not incl 23% tax) per night. Well we already got free Wifi being a rewards member, We didn't have any need for the bus pass so we are left with the water, which even if I were to buy DS's preferred bottle water (Evian) , $24.95 + tax wasn't going to happen. They weren't willingly terribly forthcoming advising that you can have it removed , but when queried about it they did front up and say it can be taken off, but I did see people in front just accept it which is what I think they count on.

Anyway, check in done, we proceeded to our room on the 36th floor. Nice room, twin beds, separate living area, but the real draw card was the view. I'll let the photos speak for them self.

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All of the next shots are the view from our room. This is the American falls.
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and the Canadian Horseshoe falls
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After settling into the hotel and checkout out the view we thought we would go down to the actual falls. DW wanted to do the zip line, DS & I were the scaredy cats and just watched and videoed/took photos!

Video of DS doing the zipline with DS’s commentary in the background. The "Starfish" action was a way to control the speed ie make it go a little slower. Hats off to DW for doing it!




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Some short videos of the falls :


Gondola ride up fro the bottom up to the top

The sheer volume of water is breahtaking
 
Love your DC monuments at night and Boston eve and fireworks pics. They were just clearing the site resdy for the Martin Luther King Memorial when we were there so interesting to see what it looks like. How did DW get back ip to you after the zipline (looks great fun). Looking forward to visting Niagara Falls one day with eastern Canada! Maybe 2019???
 
Love your DC monuments at night and Boston eve and fireworks pics. They were just clearing the site resdy for the Martin Luther King Memorial when we were there so interesting to see what it looks like. How did DW get back ip to you after the zipline (looks great fun). Looking forward to visting Niagara Falls one day with eastern Canada! Maybe 2019???

They have a mini bus that brings you back up, so no having to walk back !

Thanks for the comments on the DC Monuments. They are some of my favourite photos I took during the holiday. I'm, going to get one of those photo books made of just DC (first) and then depending how it turns out i'll do some others.
 
Day 19 Niagara Falls Part 3

Some more day time shots of the falls and then some night time shots and we were lucky enough that they put on some fireworks just for us! These shots all taken from our room.

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The lightpole between the two flags is the border
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The Falls lit up just look spectacular
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Day 20 Niagara Falls

Bit of a sleep in this morning, so we missed our included breakfast at the hotel, but we all needed a bit of extra rest.

Mid morning stroll down to the Falls which really have to be seen to be believed / the sheer volume of water is hard to comprehend. Approx. 220,000,000 litres per second flow over the Horseshoe falls…let that sink in a bit while you look at these next pictures….

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We went on the Hornblower which is the boat which gets you right up close to the falls. Really great experience and really well run. The boat looks crowded but it really isn't or least our wasn't at all. there was plenty of room to walk around and move from one spot to the other.

Also took a couple of photos from sunrise.

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Day 21- Buffalo to NYC

Buffalo to New York City today for us. See you in the Big Apple (again)!


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We're back in NYC. Not a bad panoramic view from the hotel suite. From the Hudson River to Central Park.

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Day 22- Wall Street (No Wolf, Just a Bull)

We caught the subway down to Wall St to the the Bull and the new(ish) statue of the Fearless Girl. It was really crowded around the bull. DW may have pushed in!

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This sign was above a shoe shop....the irony was that the store had closed down...maybe they were just too cheap!
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Day 24- 9/11 Memorial Part 1
There is a gap here inbetween posts, no clue where those few days went. I might have just stuffed up my numbering LOL

We bought tickets online for 9/11 Museum Entry and the Memorial Tour. The tour was fantastic, very informative, very touching. We learned a lot about why the Memorial is how it is and also how the names of the deceased are placed. I can’t recommend doing the tour enough.


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Day 24- 9/11 Memorial Part 2

We didn't do a museum tour, but in retrospect I wish we did. The museum is so moving, words cant describe it. It is something everyone should experience and allow hours for it.


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Great Trip Report. I’ve only just discovered it now and are loving all the vibrant pics.

Those views of Niagara Falls are amazing. I have a soft spot for accommodation with a view.
 

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