New England

We started the day in Syracuse which is what I think the locals refer to as upstate New York.
 

We started the day with a good healthy breakfast.  Then after we left the Dunkin Donut shop we hit the road.   We went through Albany and soon after left New York State for

Massachusetts.  We were in Worcester by 2pm and had a look around before we finally checked in to the hotel.

 

The last 4 nights the closest restaurant to the hotel has been a Dennys so it was Dennys again last night and then back to the hotel to try and stay awake for? our favourite TV show The West Wing which was good.

 

Quiet day.

Today we should complete our trip across the country as we are planning to go to Cape Cod and we will sight the Atlantic Ocean there.  Gary bid for a hotel on Priceline last night and we have a Marriott Hotel - $219 a night room for $45.  Trouble with this one is that it is in downtown Providence in Rhode Island!  That means tough driving so the GPS will get a work out today.

 

We must have been in the USA a fair while now as we now remember toflick the light switch up to turn it on.  We are still confused onhow to get the shower to work.  Every hotel is different and Gary now only drive on the wrong side of the road occasionally.  Scared the

hell out of someone yesterday.  Didn't do much for us either.

 

 

We spent about 3 hours on the Cape and did have a good look around the Hyannis area as Hyannisport was JFK territory.  Something Gary has a great interest in.

 

Eventually we headed towards Providence in Rhode Island.  This is where we had our first experience of being a bit out of our depth.  Gary had managed to get a Marriott Hotel on Priceline and it was a little above ourstandards.  We felt a bit awkward there but struggled on.  At one stage we wentlooking for a restaurant and ended up finding a Subway and felt

strangely guilty as we smuggled it into our room.  Normal price for this room was over $200 and yet we were expected to pay for WirelessInternet (free at all the other cheaper hotels) and it was a $1 for a local call, also free at other hotels.

 

Anyway, it was an OK night and it was a pleasant day exploring Cape Cod and Providence.

Today we started out from Providence and drove almost into New YorkCity before detouring to the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla where we paid our respects to one of Raylene's favourite entertainers Danny Kaye.  The ashes of Danny and his wife Sylvia have been placed beside

a bench which has an embossed metal plaque with items on it relating to Danny Kaye.? It was a pleasant hour or so as we paid our respects to not only Danny but also Tommy Dorsey. Lou Gehrig and David Sarnoff!
 

Then it was on to West Point Military Academy where our friends Jim and Bette took us during our 2001 trip.   We had our photo taken atInspiration Point which is on the grounds of West Point and wanted totake another photo at the same place today.   Alas security is so much stronger and we were not able to drive onto the grounds like we didlast time and therefore missed the photo opportunity.
 

Then it was the stressful drive to North Bergen, New Jersey and our Super 8 hotel.  Tough going and I often wished I had Jim and Bette driving this difficult part of the trip like they did last time.  We arrived in tact and although the hotel is more our style the area is not great.  I picked this hotel not only because of the price but also because of its location and the fact that it has a shuttle bus that takes you into New York City.  The bus leaves every 5 to 10

minutes for the 15 to 20 minute drive into NYC.  We did catch some glimpses of the NYC skyline as we drove in and sadly it has changed a lot since we were last here in July 2001.

 

We were in our hotel by 4pm and went for a walk to find some food.  We saw an IHOP, just across the road not 50 yards/metres away but it was a long walk as there was just no way to cross the road other than at traffic lights.

 

All is well,  there has been some stressful times navigating our way around.  The GPS continues to be invaluable and hopefully it will do its job again tomorrow.