A few years had gone by since we last visited Niagara Falls. There were
other options as far as where to go this year, Europe was certainly one.
But, my Dads birthday was coming up in August 2 and they have never
been to the falls, it just seemed like a better choice.This would mean
that we could coordinate with other members of the family since a 7 hour
drive would be cheaper than a 7 hour flight. It meant my sister, who is
based in California, could fly in for a surprise visit. But that also
meant a vacation without both my daughters since they would be heading
to Europe. A first for us.
The seed for
this plan began during the anniversary celebration for my parents
earlier this year.. My wife and my sister were discussing what to do
when a surprises visit to Niagara was hatched. The concept was simple
enough. Get to Niagara without my parents knowing my sister would
arrive. Get everybody to the hotel, answer any questions without the
truth slipping out. Have my sister and her husband make an appearance,
shout ,"Surprises", have a few minutes of laugh and giggles then start
the rest of the vacation. In practice, it was more difficult, mainly
because the responsibility for keeping the charade running fell on my
shoulders.
The road to Niagara
My
wife, parents and myself started the trip early with the expectation of
arriving just before check-in time, 3pm. That was the plan. Instead, we
left early enough but made a detour towards Pittsburgh to meet a friend.
The circuitous route took us through some scenic areas in Pennsylvania,
such as the city of Ridge way in Elk county, Pennsylvania, and some oil
fields.Ridge way is a town built by the lumber industry and seemed
typical small town USA. We stayed only long enough to have lunch. Yet,
during that short stay, we couldn't help but noticed all the financial
institutions that dotted the area, credit unions, banks and more. There
appears to be plenty of money in lumber.
Courtyard by Marriott
We
were to stay at the Courtyard. Although we would have saved more by
renting a vacation house, most seemed to prefer a hotel because of the
proximity to the falls plus the fact that tidying the place up after or
stay was not a requirement. But first things first, we needed to
check-in without causing an issue. My sister included, we would be
needing 4 rooms. But since we parents did not know they were coming,
they were expecting 3 rooms.
March 05, 2015
July 25, 2014. Start of the empty nesters?
July 25, 2014 is a new adventure for us. Today my kids go on their very
first real vacation without their parents. Going on a 10 day European
trip. Unfortunately for them but not for us, this isn't an unsupervised
vacation as they will actually be joining their cousins family. The trip
will take from their departure from JFK International in New York to
Barcelona, Spain, Paris in France, Athens in Greece and a cruise to
Turkey. Lucky them.
On the other hand, their patents ( me
and my wife) get to o on our vacation with out them. Though the
experience of not being able to personally communicate with them on a
daily basis is new and, in a sense, sad, technology allows us to keep in
touch.
Foxwood Hotel and Casino
Our first
order for us after they had left is to proceed to Foxwood Hotel and
Casino. We were expecting an almost 3 hour drive to Connecticut but
construction and volume on I-95 quickly turned this to over a 5 hour
journey. However, the place was not disappointing.
Contrary
to the image I had in mind, the casino did not strike me as
Family-unfriendly as say, Atlantic City. Don't get me wrong! There are
plenty of kid friendly activities in Atlantic City, but not under one
roof. Foxwood is four hotels with stores and shops, theatres and
restaurants ( Dinner at Festival Buffet is well worth the price)and
arcade games ,pools and the High Rollers luxury lane and lounge.
surrounding a very clean looking casino. The layout and atmosphere
actually reminds my of Ceasar's Palace in Atlantic City
And if bingo is what excites you, they have Festival bingo, a huge bingo hall very near the buffet. There is ample parking space although be prepared to be somewhat confused. Construction on the adjoining Ranger Outlet stores ( Ongoing as on this date) adds to the confusing temporary road closures.
The
room we stayed in spacious, clean and well maintained. Cannot compare
to the room we had in Atlantic City. Still, like most hotel rooms I've
stayed in, there is no exhaust in the bathroom. Small details that I
think is important. And surprisingly, no sugar, cream or a microwave in
the room. Nowadays you would think those would be standard.
Nearby sites include the Pequot museum, Mystic beach and the Nautilus sub exhibit.
Our
vacation does it end here. Remember the kids will be out for 10 days.
So after going back to work for 4 days, our next destination will be
Niagara Canada, with my parents, younger brother and sister (
Sshhh...that is a secret) and celebrate my Dads birthday on August 2.
And if bingo is what excites you, they have Festival bingo, a huge bingo hall very near the buffet. There is ample parking space although be prepared to be somewhat confused. Construction on the adjoining Ranger Outlet stores ( Ongoing as on this date) adds to the confusing temporary road closures.
Nearby sites include the Pequot museum, Mystic beach and the Nautilus sub exhibit.
April 27, 2014
Salisbury University
It is a awkward time when your children reach that age where they would like to be independent, and you prefer that they not be. Driving is one of those activity that seems tot drive that home. As it was, my daughter wanted to drive to the beach this summer, no parents allowed. While I was confident in her driving ability, I have not actually had her drive the time and distance it would take to go from my house and over to Ocean city, Maryland. So we decided to take this day to give it a try, and to do a short University visit along the way, to Salisbury University.The University looked pretty small. But it looked interesting enough for my daughter to now consider the possibility of transferring there next year. The weather and the proximity, about an hours drive to Ocean city, may have helped.
After the visit to Salisbury, we continued on with our main purpose for the day. Ocean city was cold and empty this time of year. We did not linger around. We had lunch at the local Burger King, and after 25 minutes, headed back for home. A side benefit of that 7 hour drive was a little Father / Daughter bonding. Always priceless.
Paoli Pennsylvania. Apr 2014
Paoli is a census designated place (CDP) in Chester county, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The civil war era Paoli massacre occurred near Paoli, in an area now a part of Malvern, Pennsylvania. It is also where the home office of the search engine duckduckgo is located.Visiting Paoli on this day can hardly be considered a vacation. It took more than 3 hours to get there by car, and we could not stay the night. But, as my nephew said, there really isn't much to do in Paoli. A good thing it is just a short train ride from Paoli to Philadelphia. What I did notice was a lot of University traffic as this train route passes a number of Universities like Villanova, and Drexel .
We would have loved to see the statue of Rocky Balboa but it is too far to walk. And it was a challenge finding a place everybody could agree to have lunch in.
After about 9 hours, it was time to back to Maryland. I do believe that the next time we visit Paoli, we will stay longer to better appreciate the surrounding area.
November 09, 2013
New York, New York. Nov 7, 2013 to Nov 8, 2013
I would not really consider going out to college visits a vacation, but I will make an exemption here. It is that time in every high school senior's life when they must go out and decide, among all other decisions that need to be made, what school to attend during their college years. In the case of my girls, one would also need to decide what school to transfer to.
I've always known the my youngest had a passion for the performing arts. The past three years these has clearly crystalized for her so that she is almost 100 percent sure of pursuing a career in music and theater. My eldest, the one who once upon a time considered a career in nursing is looking into graphics design and animation. So we figured, why not take a look at PACE University, and NYU. In addition, Nov 9 is my wife's birthday and she has always wanted to watch the broadway musical, The Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. So, we decided to jam all of these activities i not one day, Nov 8, 2013.
Yes, I do realize that the date above mentions Nov 7, but every trip has a starting date. in this case, we decided to spend the night over at my brothers house in New Jersey. We left late afternoon of Nov 7, later than I had planned. But plans do change and we have allowances for that. Our first appointment the next day would be at PACE university, at 11:00 am.
PACE University
We estimated a 1 hour trip to NY, add 30 mins to account for traffic and we figured everything would be fine. We had our GPS and had the map to a relatively near and reasonable parking space. In the Dc area, that 30 min allowance would have been fine. But, this was New York. So, we encountered a large number of road constructions that made the confusing network of roads even harder to navigate. throw into the mix the tendency of a GPS not to function properly when surrounded by plenty of buildings and we found ourselves going around and around. I was quite surprised to discover that the turn-by-turn instruction provided on the apple iPhone5 worked better than the dedicated GPS we had. I was almost convinced to coos an iPhone over the Android-powered phone. To make the story short, we barely made it. We had to make the sacrifice of taking the closest parking garage which would cost $40.00, but, after having gotten lost on the way to PACE, I was not too confident I could find my way back to the school from the "cheaper" parking garage.
We started on time and after a short presentation, everyone attending was split into 3 groups. We got to tour the dorm, take a look at actual rooms of students (paid to keep their rooms clean and tidy), the library, classrooms, theater, cafeteria, student union offices. The classes are spread out mostly within walking distance but, a concern was that while there were security within the building, walking between buildings was not different than walking in the city. After all, it was New York. They did appear to have a very good Arts and Theater program in place. We left the tour at 1:40pm, confident of having enough time to make it to our next apoointment.
New York University (NYU)
Our appointment at NYU was to start at 2:30pm. I already know that the drive was going to be bad, we would likely get lost again and the parking would cost us more. So, we left the car at PACE and decided to take the taxi. Plenty drove past us. A few asked how much we were willing to pay or, decided that NYU was too close for them to make money. I thought this thing only happened in Manila. Talk about an eye opener. we finally caught a taxi after 20 mins and got to NYU.
We were hungry. But since the tour starts at 2:30pm we thought the food from street hawkers would suffice. Hey, lets try that genuine chinese cuisine! Big mistake! Don't get me wrong, we love chinese food. But I guess what passes for fast Chinese food we are so familiar with is the Americanized version. So, when in New York, stick to traditional hotdog on a bun. you can't go wrong.
The format of the NYU tour was different from PACE. For one things, PACE gave away info ration packets geared towards your stated major when you registered. NYU did not. At the PACE, the formal presentation was short, the group tour longer. At NYU, the presentation was (snore) an hour long. The tour, also an hour. Problem was, we only entered the library and a students hall tea. for the most part, we were outside the buildings, classrooms, labs, etc. When asked, we were told that we could goo into students living quarters during the open house. I did not think I would like to conduct another visit for that.
Conclusion
The final decision lies with the kids. Both schools are very expensive. Both have good Music, theater and arts program although NYU seemed to have a slight advantage by reputation. NYU had more campuses, including inter nation portals in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. But, if we were to base it solely on how the college tour was conducted, I would choose PACE.
Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre
The days was not over. We were also here to celebrate my wife's birthday (Happy Birthday!). We finished on time at NYU, 4:30pm. Plenty of time to get back to the parking garage at PACE, drive to the hotel, eat and then go watch the play. Wrong! again, we could not get a taxi ride1 took us 40 mins to get a ride, then we hit friday night traffic in New York. When all was said and done, after the taxi ride, the drive to the hotel, he subway ride to the theater, we had enough time to make it to the show, buy a $7.00 soda which came in a souvenir cup, $5.00 bag of skittles and start the show.
The show itself was worth it. The music was fantastic. brought back memories for those old enough to remember the music of The Four Seasons and made the introduction to a new generation more exciting. It was longer that I expected, at 2-1/2 hour including intermission. The seats were uncomfortable. There was enough space between your knees and the seat in front on you to slide two fingers between, but not more. Needless to say, when some one needed to use the restroom, everybody had to stand up. And I thought airline coach seats was already cramped. Everything looked so competitive and my daughter so confident of being in Broadway one day, I truly hope she makes it.
Travel Inn
Let me say something short about the hotel. Better not drive, the parking garage his very small, the hotel room (two twin beds) is very cramped, but livable. The rest room, very small. The shower? water wasn't strong enough to keep me from practically liking the wall. that was how close I had to be because there wasn't enough pressure. Finally, ran out of hot water in the middle of the shower.
But, for a single day and considering you were in New York, it was probably a typical experience. If I ever go through the same experience again, I will be sure to post it here.
I've always known the my youngest had a passion for the performing arts. The past three years these has clearly crystalized for her so that she is almost 100 percent sure of pursuing a career in music and theater. My eldest, the one who once upon a time considered a career in nursing is looking into graphics design and animation. So we figured, why not take a look at PACE University, and NYU. In addition, Nov 9 is my wife's birthday and she has always wanted to watch the broadway musical, The Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. So, we decided to jam all of these activities i not one day, Nov 8, 2013.
Yes, I do realize that the date above mentions Nov 7, but every trip has a starting date. in this case, we decided to spend the night over at my brothers house in New Jersey. We left late afternoon of Nov 7, later than I had planned. But plans do change and we have allowances for that. Our first appointment the next day would be at PACE university, at 11:00 am.
PACE University
We estimated a 1 hour trip to NY, add 30 mins to account for traffic and we figured everything would be fine. We had our GPS and had the map to a relatively near and reasonable parking space. In the Dc area, that 30 min allowance would have been fine. But, this was New York. So, we encountered a large number of road constructions that made the confusing network of roads even harder to navigate. throw into the mix the tendency of a GPS not to function properly when surrounded by plenty of buildings and we found ourselves going around and around. I was quite surprised to discover that the turn-by-turn instruction provided on the apple iPhone5 worked better than the dedicated GPS we had. I was almost convinced to coos an iPhone over the Android-powered phone. To make the story short, we barely made it. We had to make the sacrifice of taking the closest parking garage which would cost $40.00, but, after having gotten lost on the way to PACE, I was not too confident I could find my way back to the school from the "cheaper" parking garage.
We started on time and after a short presentation, everyone attending was split into 3 groups. We got to tour the dorm, take a look at actual rooms of students (paid to keep their rooms clean and tidy), the library, classrooms, theater, cafeteria, student union offices. The classes are spread out mostly within walking distance but, a concern was that while there were security within the building, walking between buildings was not different than walking in the city. After all, it was New York. They did appear to have a very good Arts and Theater program in place. We left the tour at 1:40pm, confident of having enough time to make it to our next apoointment.
New York University (NYU)
Our appointment at NYU was to start at 2:30pm. I already know that the drive was going to be bad, we would likely get lost again and the parking would cost us more. So, we left the car at PACE and decided to take the taxi. Plenty drove past us. A few asked how much we were willing to pay or, decided that NYU was too close for them to make money. I thought this thing only happened in Manila. Talk about an eye opener. we finally caught a taxi after 20 mins and got to NYU.
We were hungry. But since the tour starts at 2:30pm we thought the food from street hawkers would suffice. Hey, lets try that genuine chinese cuisine! Big mistake! Don't get me wrong, we love chinese food. But I guess what passes for fast Chinese food we are so familiar with is the Americanized version. So, when in New York, stick to traditional hotdog on a bun. you can't go wrong.
The format of the NYU tour was different from PACE. For one things, PACE gave away info ration packets geared towards your stated major when you registered. NYU did not. At the PACE, the formal presentation was short, the group tour longer. At NYU, the presentation was (snore) an hour long. The tour, also an hour. Problem was, we only entered the library and a students hall tea. for the most part, we were outside the buildings, classrooms, labs, etc. When asked, we were told that we could goo into students living quarters during the open house. I did not think I would like to conduct another visit for that.
Conclusion
The final decision lies with the kids. Both schools are very expensive. Both have good Music, theater and arts program although NYU seemed to have a slight advantage by reputation. NYU had more campuses, including inter nation portals in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. But, if we were to base it solely on how the college tour was conducted, I would choose PACE.
Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre
The days was not over. We were also here to celebrate my wife's birthday (Happy Birthday!). We finished on time at NYU, 4:30pm. Plenty of time to get back to the parking garage at PACE, drive to the hotel, eat and then go watch the play. Wrong! again, we could not get a taxi ride1 took us 40 mins to get a ride, then we hit friday night traffic in New York. When all was said and done, after the taxi ride, the drive to the hotel, he subway ride to the theater, we had enough time to make it to the show, buy a $7.00 soda which came in a souvenir cup, $5.00 bag of skittles and start the show.
The show itself was worth it. The music was fantastic. brought back memories for those old enough to remember the music of The Four Seasons and made the introduction to a new generation more exciting. It was longer that I expected, at 2-1/2 hour including intermission. The seats were uncomfortable. There was enough space between your knees and the seat in front on you to slide two fingers between, but not more. Needless to say, when some one needed to use the restroom, everybody had to stand up. And I thought airline coach seats was already cramped. Everything looked so competitive and my daughter so confident of being in Broadway one day, I truly hope she makes it.
Travel Inn
Let me say something short about the hotel. Better not drive, the parking garage his very small, the hotel room (two twin beds) is very cramped, but livable. The rest room, very small. The shower? water wasn't strong enough to keep me from practically liking the wall. that was how close I had to be because there wasn't enough pressure. Finally, ran out of hot water in the middle of the shower.
But, for a single day and considering you were in New York, it was probably a typical experience. If I ever go through the same experience again, I will be sure to post it here.
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