Falling in love with New England… TRIP REPORT COMPLETED - Page 17 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The aquarium sounds like a wonderful day and glad you were able to explore a "dry" Cape Cod verse a drenched one.
Not sure where all the rain is they forecast - originally it was supposed to be a week worth of rain, last night we had a torrential downpour that did not start till late evening, a few lighter showers earlier....this morning it was sprinkles and now we have sun. But I should not say anything more....it will probably start raining as soon as I head home from work.
It really was muggy today, so different from the clear, dry air we've had. Boston got a lot of rain today. We had a couple of periods when it stopped, but I think we got nearly 2" today. There was a lot of flooding in some areas as well. I'm glad it wasn't pouring where you were and you got to see a bit of the Cape, and the belugas, too!
Sorry the rain in the forecast is having you change your plans, but it sounds like you've got a good plan B! Glad you got a taste of the Cape. It is a beautiful place, and something you'll have to add to your "next time" trip. And as Mark seems to fancy whales, you might want to add a whale watch to your next trip to Cape Cod. We had the most amazing whale watch ever out of P-town! A mother and baby humpback were swimming around and under our boat, close enough for us to smell the whale breath (although whale breath is probably even worse than you would imagine it to be).
Oh wow! I'm not sure we'll be heading back to the Cape on a future trip, as we got a fairly good feel for it, but the whale watching is a reason to go back. Hmmm....
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Glad you made it to Mystic Aquarium. I love those belugas! They tend to be hams too, and I'll wager you got some good photos.
That's too bad with the weather tomorrow, but as you said you have plenty of indoor things to do! The mansions in Newport is a good one and then you should take on a nice country inn close by for a nice relaxing lunch with some great seafood and a glass of Provencial Rose! Well, that's what I'd do! I have a good friend whom I visited last year and lives across the Newport inlet in South Barrington. It's so picturesque....and amazing at sundown as he had about 10 of us up at the end of August last year for a nice get together! He and his wife plus kids live on one of the smaller inlets and the views are amazing!
Ah well, you'll find out shortly what happened to that plan...
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With, the weather at hand, I'm going to Atlantic City tomorrow and hope the rain isn't too bad around 9:30 am or so, when I plan to leave. It's about a 3.5 hour drive, depending with probably a couple of stops with at least one for lunch at Cheesequake stop on the Garden State Parkway. The weather should be better as the morning progresses and more to the south. The worst of the rain is forecast more to the north and west. So, we'll see.
I hope you made it Ok.
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Then there is the weekend for the return with possible Tropical Storm Joaquin (Phoenix). They don't know what this storm will do or where it may impact as there are so many variables with it. It could be nothing or quantities of rain and high winds....too early yet! Could be Saturday for this storm, when I drive back, but will keep my eyes and ears open!
Stay safe!
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I may do a TR on AC pt just incorporate it into my Cruise TR! Well, anyway I'm dining at the Chart House tomorrow night and looking forward to it as I know you all loved it for the PP meet on Saturday. This one has views of the marina a few floors up and will request window seating. Made a ressie for 6 pm before the sun sets for some good photos, but we'll see with the weather!
I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it.
Glad yesterday stayed mainly dry for you! Good luck with today's plans! Looks like most of the heavy rain has headed north but I'm sure it will be an all day drizzle!
The aquarium sounds like a wonderful day and glad you were able to explore a "dry" Cape Cod verse a drenched one.
Not sure where all the rain is they forecast - originally it was supposed to be a week worth of rain, last night we had a torrential downpour that did not start till late evening, a few lighter showers earlier....this morning it was sprinkles and now we have sun. But I should not say anything more....it will probably start raining as soon as I head home from work.
It really was muggy today, so different from the clear, dry air we've had. Boston got a lot of rain today. We had a couple of periods when it stopped, but I think we got nearly 2" today. There was a lot of flooding in some areas as well. I'm glad it wasn't pouring where you were and you got to see a bit of the Cape, and the belugas, too!
Yes, we encountered the humidity today and the flooding.
Well, yesterday we got off the Cape Ok and did some shopping, then went to head down to the Breakers in Rhode Island. The weather was terrible, and getting worse with every mile we drove, with flooding everywhere, so we gave up and turned around and headed back to Boston.
We ended up visiting Quincy and the New England Aquarium, which we absolutely loved - just as good as our last visit there - then we got dinner and headed over to the airport. Not how we planned our last day, but as Mark said, now we have to come back!
The flight back was Ok, but it wasn't great, compared to Virgin. Let's just say we won't be flying British Airways long haul again if Virgin flights are available...
We are now back at home, doing lots of washing and trying to stay up all day to deal with the jet lag. Back to work tomorrow...
Ok, without further ado, let's get this trip report on the road...
Tuesday 22 September – part one: the most tragic ever start to a vacation
I woke this morning to the sound of the shower running. Ok, so I guess that means Mark’s up before the alarm then. Not a good sign. I crawled out of bed not long afterwards and got going. As soon as I got downstairs, the first thing I noticed was a regular thud, thud, thud on the roof. It was the sound of yet more torrential rain down pouring all over us. It’s been like this since we got back from Alaska and California, and in hindsight, it did set the tone for the day…
Anyway, we both got going, and headed into work. My day was so mad that I literally did not notice that Mark’s mum had sent both texts and tried to call until I got home in the evening. It was his dad’s birthday and he wanted to say for his birthday card and present. Bless!
As soon as I got back home, I have to say I felt even more stressed than when I was at work. I went straight online to try and get on to the Hidden London tours. These take you into closed Underground stations, something which absolutely fascinates me. We’ve already toured the Jubilee line at Charing Cross, which I remember using, and we’re booked to visit Clapham South, which was home to shelters during the Second World War, but the big one I really wanted was Aldwych. This closed back in 1994 and I was on work experience with a London radio station on that day. I went with a journalist to visit the station and it was a very emotive experience. I’ve always wanted to go back, and now I’ll have the chance in February 2016, as I got tickets. They don’t go on sale to the general public until tomorrow, so I was very glad to have snagged them. I did want to visit another station, but not when I saw the price of £80 ($120) per person, I decided I didn’t want to visit it that badly.
I then had a row – and a big one at that – with my printer once I’d printed the tickets, as they weren’t printing properly, as the blue ink was nearly out. Ok, so I’ll do a nozzle clean. Apparently I won’t. It told me I didn’t have enough ink to do that and I needed to change the ink. Fair enough, that’s what I’ll do…. Or not… the printer just wouldn’t let me. Good grief!
This wouldn’t have been a problem, except I wanted to do online check-in for our flight tomorrow, and of course I wanted to print my boarding pass. Well, I did it, and it doesn’t look great, but I think it’ll be Ok – hopefully…
After all that, I showered and then finished the rest of my packing, and this is how bad my evening was going. I sat there looking at my hand luggage, thinking “that closed easily”, then realised I hadn’t actually packed the laptop. Oh boy!
Finally, I was ready to go, and while Mark finished sorting himself out, I went out to get some photos of the beautiful sky, although sadly, it didn’t look as good in the photos as it did in real life…
I also thought I’d better get a photo of my new Mickey bag that Mark treated me to in Disneyland – it’s a Vera Bradley design and I really like it. It’s obviously Disney, but it’s also really sophisticated.
We set off, and I got some photos of the sunset as Mark drove along…
We did see some cows along the M25, but it was impossible to photograph them, as it was getting dark, and they needed to be out in the brightest lit areas of the field for their moment on film, and sadly they weren’t in the right place. I still think I need to ask the farmer to fit them with lit collars, so I can find them after dark.
We made it to the hotel fine in a good time, but then the problems started – the first of which was finding a car parking space. We went around the side of the hotel, and there was some parking, and there was some at the back. It didn’t look like there was much. We parked up, and I noticed there seemed to be an underground car park, so we headed back to the entrance, and went down there. Well, the thing was completely full, so that was a non-starter. Ok, back to plan A then, and the side of the hotel.
Mark dropped me off at reception with all the luggage, and I heaved in the two cases, and two pieces of hand luggage to check in. The guy asked if we were parked downstairs, and I’m ashamed to say I burst out laughing. I just couldn’t help it. I guess they had no concept of just how busy it was down there.
We got our room, which was on the ground floor, and set off there to dump the luggage. It was fine as far as rooms go…
We literally had no more than five minutes in there before we headed back to the reception to get some food. I wasn’t overly impressed that the restaurant had football playing in the background, not exactly my idea of a relaxing evening.
The menu didn’t do that much for me either. I ended up going for the crispy spiced salt and pepper squid served on a bed of salad with fresh carrot, cucumber and beansprouts. It was an appetizer, so it wasn’t a big portion, but it was fine for me…
Mark got the slow braised lamb shank in a rosemary and redcurrant sauce served with puy lentils, pancetta and gremolata. It didn’t look like much…
Notice Mark’s T-shirt in the background of the shot?
The reason I only had an appetizer is that I was saving room for dessert. The first I had, in my defence, was healthy – pineapple, Greek yoghurt and honey, served with refreshing berry coulis. It wasn’t bad, but the pineapple was a little tart for my liking…
I also had the warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, which was Ok, but it did taste like something you’d heat up in a microwave, and I am under no illusions, as I suspect that’s exactly what happened.
Mark had the sticky toffee pudding…
All in all, it wasn’t a great meal. We waited forever for the food to turn up in the first place, and then when it did, it wasn’t fantastic. The only saving grace was that we were pretty chilled, as we’d shared a bottle of wine. It was just as well we had, as we’d need it only a few minutes later…
I took some photos of the lobby area as we headed back to the room…
It was when we got back to the room and logged on that the whole evening changed. I saw Marnie’s post on Facebook that Bill (LizardCop) had died, and I was just completely shocked and stunned. I immediately burst into tears and I think it’s fair to say I was inconsolable. It felt just like the loss of Lorie (isn’t it terrible, I can’t remember her board name now ) back in May 2011, when she and her husband Glenn died in the terrible tornadoes that hit Joplin. I was just so angry at everything and why on earth good people get taken away like this. My heart went out to Bill’s wife, Jan, who is such a lovely person. It took a long time for the tears to stop, and I think that probably tells you a lot about the high regard we both hold Bill in. We were both just shell shocked.
I just couldn’t summon up any enthusiasm to post anything further on our pre-trip report. I know we’re going out to celebrate a wedding at the weekend, but right now, all I can think about is the loss of Bill and how senseless his killing was. I’m sure by the time we get to Saturday, we will be in a mood to celebrate, but right now, all I can think about is how awful life can sometimes be to take such a lovely person in such a cruel way.
The weather today was torrential rain earlier in the day, then dry in the evening with temperatures in the high 50s. The best thing today was the beautiful sunset, which now forever will remind me of Bill. The worst thing today was learning the terrible news of Bill’s death. Today we tried staying at the Holiday Inn by Terminal 5. And the result was it was Ok, but nothing special. The most magical moment today was well, given the events, it just doesn’t seem appropriate to have one for this day.
Super cute bag - is that specifically for a laptop? Or just a bag? I may look into that design!
Yes, talk to the farmer and see if he can get those cows to cooperate.
This turned out to be a tough day, in what should have been the start to a relaxing getaway. Unbelievable still. And MinnieLor is Lorie's board name.
(I'm not even going to correct my typo there - I typed "is" not "was.")
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A very difficult day. That heart-stopping moment when you read that news and nothing else in the world matters. Not easy to summon any enthusiasm for a pleasure trip at a time like that.
I'm so sorry that your trip got off to such a sad start . I too thought of Lorie when I heard the news about Bill, and how it's so terrible that senseless things happen to good people.
(On a happier note, I love your Vera Bradley Mickey bag!)
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I'm not sure we'll be heading back to the Cape on a future trip, as we got a fairly good feel for it, but the whale watching is a reason to go back. Hmmm.... 
Well, that's what I'd do! 
He and his wife plus kids live on one of the smaller inlets and the views are amazing! 
It's about a 3.5 hour drive, depending with probably a couple of stops with at least one for lunch at Cheesequake stop on the Garden State Parkway. The weather should be better as the morning progresses and more to the south. The worst of the rain is forecast more to the north and west. So, we'll see.
It could be nothing or quantities of rain and high winds....too early yet! 
Could be Saturday for this storm, when I drive back, but will keep my eyes and ears open! 
Well, anyway I'm dining at the Chart House tomorrow night and looking forward to it as I know you all loved it for the PP meet on Saturday. This one has views of the marina a few floors up and will request window seating. Made a ressie for 6 pm before the sun sets for some good photos, but we'll see with the weather! 
for his birthday card and present. Bless! 
They don’t go on sale to the general public until tomorrow, so I was very glad to have snagged them. I did want to visit another station, but not when I saw the price of £80 ($120) per person, I decided I didn’t want to visit it that badly. 
It told me I didn’t have enough ink to do that and I needed to change the ink. Fair enough, that’s what I’ll do…. Or not… the printer just wouldn’t let me. Good grief! 
) back in May 2011, when she and her husband Glenn died in the terrible tornadoes that hit Joplin. I was just so angry at everything and why on earth good people get taken away like this. My heart went out to Bill’s wife, Jan, who is such a lovely person. 
It took a long time for the tears to stop, and I think that probably tells you a lot about the high regard we both hold Bill in. We were both just shell shocked. 
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