My vacation this past week & an NSV!

We've (Charles & I)been on vacation for the last week...

A friend who was going with us got dropped off on Friday night so we could leave here bright and early Sat morning. Almost as soon as she got here, it was time to hit the sack as we knew we would be starting very early the next morning and sure enough we were. We were packed and on the road by 7:30 the next morning.

Sat was mostly driving up thru Virginia on I81. We stopped at the Natural Bridge to eat lunch and tried to see the bridge but at $18 a person, our budget couldn’t handle it. We moved on. We had decided to stop in upper VA/near MD and started hunting a place to stay. However, we did have time for another side trip. We stopped at a place in Dayton, VA called Dayton Farmer’s Market. Very interesting. Lots of little shops inside the building and except for the produce outside, it really wasn’t a farmer’s market. Most of the shops were run by Mennonites.

We stopped in Harrisonburg, VA and the next morning headed on north. We did stop in Forth Royal to visit with Gina (majormom). By then we had found another place to visit, Antietam near Sharpsburg, MD. After that stop, we headed on to the hotel in Avenel, NJ. That’s where we stayed the next three nights.

On Monday, we started the day off by going to NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell to see Charles’ surgeon for his 6/7 month visit and to see his NUT. He got a good report all around but it seems his surgeon was more interested in seeing my incisions from my surgery. His reason was to see what the competition was doing. (Told my surgeon that yesterday morning and now he’s wanting to check Dh’s to see what Dr. Pomp is doing, LOL).

Finished up there and headed out to explore NYC. We started at the Apple Store, which is all boarded up while they do renovations around it…then off to FAO Swartz to wander thru there. Saw the Big Piano that was used in the movie “Big" by Tom Hanks.

From there we stopped in the south corner of Central Park to rest, grab a snack and liquids and get oriented again. Decided to go to see the Top Of The Rock. It was SO crowded and you could see the smog hovering over the city. Left there and discovered that where we wanted to be was just a mile away so we decided to walk (turns out that google lied, it was over 2 miles). Got to the pier just in time to get on the cruise we wanted to go on, the Harbor Lights tour.  It was almost done by the time the lights in NY come on but it looks like a great one for fall or spring when it gets dark sooner. We didn’t get back to the hotel til almost 11:30PM!!!

Next morning, we got up and headed back into the city via rail. Headed to the pier to get on the ferry for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Would have preferred to board from NJ but our tickets had us going from the Battery. So we did. Stood in line to board the ferry for almost 2 hours. And had to “strip" to go thru security. (Okay, belts had to come off as well as all extraneous stuff out of pockets, etc.) And we were standing in line in heat that reached the mid 90’s that day. 

After getting on the ferry, we stopped at Liberty Island first. And although we had gotten there at 9:30 AM, the top of the statue tickets were already sold out for the day. But glad we didn’t do that as they had everyone go thru security AGAIN! We ate lunch there, took photos and then headed over to Ellis Island. Dh had been there three other times, I had been once but this was for our friend. She was repaying us later, LOL. We finally got back to the Battery about 3PM. Rode the train up to where Tower One is being rebuilt near where Ground Zero is…all we saw were fences around the area but it was a bit weird being there where it all happened. 

From there we headed to Macy’s and parked dh downstairs at the grill while my friend and I explored…ALL NINE FLOORS!!! I didn’t buy anything there but I did find some neat stuff. Not sure I liked the layout there as it’s by designer/brand not by types of items. So you had dresses all over the place, same with coats, etc.

Left Macy’s about 5ish and stopped in one of the stores to grab a bit to eat. We had taken lunch in every day but bought supper while there. Toting in two meals and snacks and liquids would have been impossible. As it was, we kept having to refill our water bottles.

From there, we headed over to the Empire State Building  where we “stripped" again. LOL. Then a quick trip to the 80^th floor, changed elevators and went up 6 more floors to the observation deck. Our friend had been there before but dh and I had not…got more city skyline photos. We did stop in the gift shop there and I did replace my NYC mug…last one was from our visit with Pam almost a decade ago and had the Twin Towers on the skyline. I’ve retired that mug, never to be used again. So I needed a new one.

Okay, up to Wed now, got up early and did laundry while we also got dressed and packed. Left the hotel late morning and headed north. We stopped and shopped at the outlet there near West Point. Got some new things. Then we headed to West Point. We wanted to visit West Point and OCC before heading further north. Got to the wrong gate at West Point so they let us drive thru to the Thayer Gate where the Visitor’s Center is located.   We wandered thru there but discovered we were too late for the museum that day.

So we headed out to find a place to stay for the night. Now we did make reservations for the three days in NY but for the overnight stops before we got to NYC and near West Point, we had gotten the hotel coupons at the different Welcome Centers. I had several in hand but we saw a Comfort Inn and stopped there. They wanted too much and I told her what our budget was…she smugly informed me that we wouldn’t find a lower price around the area. I said, I could, and the iPhone was a wonderful invention! And we did find something about $30 cheaper than she wanted and it was a Holiday Inn & Suites!!!

Checked in and collapsed. Got up the next morning and headed to Orange County Choppers (a stop for dh) and saw the handmade motorcycles and got a souvenir. From there we went back to West Point to go thru the Museum. 

After that, we finally got on the road to Syracuse and a friend’s house. Got there about supper time.

Friday we didn’t do much but did see some of the area. Was saving most of what we were gonna do for the next day. However, while sitting there we heard from another friend who had planned on being there. She had lost her stepson that day in a drowning, (he was 38) and the family was devastated. We found out the next day that even with notice, the hotel she had planned on staying at charged her anyway.

Sat we did go ahead and go up to the 1000 Island Cruise at Alex Bay, NY and while there, we visited Boldt Castle.   Got some great photos.

Got back about 7PM and visited the rest of the evening.

Sunday we had to head back home. We left fairly early but it still took a while to get out of NY state. We did stop at the Hanes outlet on I90 long enough to exchange some stuff I had gotten that turned out too big.

We also stopped at a place called Mason’s Farm Market near Presque Isle near Erie, PA. Then we played hide and seek for a place to stay for the night. Found one on the south part of Cleveland, almost to Akron. We had already found a place to visit the next day before heading on home. A neat place with lots of cool, NON Electric stuff, called Lehman’s  It’s near a big Amish community near there.

We had been doing great on the road but around Cincinnati things changed. Got caught in a 45 min traffic jam on I71 before you get to I75. Took 45 mins to drive about 5 miles.   We finally cleared that and was almost into TN on I75 when we got caught again. We finally got to where we dropped off our friend about 7PM. And we pulled in about 8PM. With a 6AM call at the hospital, I had little time to unpack and get laundry started. But I did and was up at 4AM to leave at 5 for my gallbladder surgery yesterday. Was home before noon.

I will load photos when I get thru them.

I did have an NSV, the hanes outlet...they had a buy three get one free on their panties so I got 3 sets of 6's and one of 5's...well, I opened the 5's to try and THEY fit!!! So I didn't even open the 6's and those were what was exchanged on Sunday. I started this journey wearing a 7 but they were stretched.

Liz

Sounds like a great trip and I'm glad we were able to meet up in Front Royal. You're going to have to tell me more about the West Point Museum.

Glad you're home and doing ok after your gall bladder surgery.

--gina

It sounds like you had a good and busy time!!! I'm sorry to hear about your friend's son. It's tragic. I'm glad you made it home safely. Now, it sounds like it might be time to rest and relax!!!   -Julie

What a trip.  Sounds wonderful.  Glad you are home safe and sound.

 Man, I got tired just reading about all the stuff you did!! lol  Sounds like you had a great time!  I hope to have your energy some day! 

WOW Liz, what a trip!!  Sounds like a great time.
I'm so sorry about your friend's stepson.  That is awful.

Glad you are doing ok after your gallbladder surgery.

Linda