Tim and I have returned from our vacation on the East Coast. Whether you were keeping up with our exploits via Facebook, Flickr, email, or not paying any attention at all, here's your chance to read about the whole trip in one blog post.
We chose the East Coast at the last minute because of the volcano trouble that was preventing travel to and from the UK. As many of you know, we had planned the UK trip for months, but at the last minute it got derailed. I'm happy to say that we received a full refund on the plane tickets from Iceland Air, no questions asked, so needless to say when we do actually go to the UK, we will be using them!
Our trip began in New York city, when we landed at JFK. We stayed in the New Yorker Hotel, just a few blocks from Times Square (and everything else in this densely packed city!). While we were there we got to spend time with my good friend Julie, and we got to see lots of landmarks and eat lots of really good food.
We saw The Addams Family on Broadway (my first Broadway show!), toured NBC at 30 Rockefeller Ave, had amazing food at Katja Café and at that breakfast place in Brooklyn, rode the ginormous ferris wheel at Coney Island, shopped at The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co and walked The High Line.
We walked and subwayed and cabbed and ran around like little kids in a candy store – of course, we were kids in a candy store later in the trip when we went to Hershey, PA, but I am getting ahead of myself.
We went to church at the Riverside Church. It was a pretty amazing experience. One of the orators sounded like Darth Vadar.
Check out the selected photos from the NYC part of our trip.
Two guys (and sometimes a girl) running around Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem and Coney Island with iPhones, snapping pictures away at our little heart's content. Thanks to Julie for being the perfect host, and steering us to some of the best restaurants in The City. We had a Fabulous time hanging out with you!
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While we were in New York, we also did a run through at the American Museum of Natural History. Mostly a disappointment, many of the exhibits would have been right at home in the foyer of a 1950s high school, next to the trophy cases with sports achievements and homemade posters for homecoming queen.
After what seemed like hours, we finally found the part with the dinosaur bones (it's on the fourth floor, btw). Those are presented here for your viewing pleasure.
We entered the museum from the subway, so we missed the grand entrance (which was closed anyway, as it turned out) and ended up having to hunt for the dinosaur bones.
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Then there was our Fire Island adventure. Fire Island is a favorite destination of The Gays, and neither of us had ever been, so we decided to go over and check it out for a night.
Of course, the season for Fire Island doesn't open until the week after we were there, and it doesn't kick into high gear until the actual summer arrives. Our room listed for $1200 per night, but since it was still off season (and the resort wasn't even officially open), we got it for a mere $50.
And it was cold. And miserable. And there was a lightning storm. And we were only about 2 feet above sea level. And the hotel looked like a set from a vampire movie. It was indeed and experience. If I could actually afford it, I'd like to go back sometime when the season is in full swing (and when it's warm).
Our great adventure, catching the last ferry to the island at night and the first ferry off the next morning.
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Then we headed to upstate New York. Our ultimate goal was Niagara Falls, but since we were driving through Buffalo we decided to stop at a famous place and have a famous meal.
One of the primary destinations for our trip was Niagara Falls. Neither of us had ever been there so it seemed like a good time to go. Besides, isn't it the #1 honeymoon destination in the world? (Not that this was our honeymoon, I'm still holding out for the UK on that one)
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A good halfway point back towards Washington, DC, seemed to be candyland. None other than Hershey, PA. And we were kids in a candy store! We traipsed through the Hershey corporate museum, and took a ride on the fake factory tour.
I know I ate too much chocolate while we were there, but hey, it's not like I'm there every day… right?
Chocolate chocolate chocolate. Everything in this town was about the Hershey's Company and about chocolate. And that's exactly why we went…
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Then on to Unger's Corner, West Virginia. Tim's ancestors came over to West Virginia from Germany. Everywhere we turned in this place, there was another Unger sign. Of course, we got there too late to actually talk to anyone, but we did see lots of signs and gravestones.
Also, this part of the world seems to like having giant things in their yards. Look at the photos, then you'll understand.
We took some time to look up the old Unger grounds in West Virginia. Who knew there were so many Ungers around?
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We tired of rural Virginia pretty quickly, so we headed into Washington DC a day early. We surprised Naomi on her birthday (she wasn't expecting us until the next day) and took her and John out to eat.
During our 4 Days in the DC area we did all the touristy stuff. We went to the Smithsonian, we hung out at the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, we wandered up and down The Mall, we ate and ate and ate (altho the food was nowhere near as good as the food in NYC) and we spent a lot of time with my Nephew and his wife.
We went to church at the National Cathedral on Sunday. Instead of having an orator that sounded like Darth Vadar, they had an actual Darth Vadar head as one of the gargoyles on the outside of the church.
For some reason, we ended up in Washington, D.C., on the hottest day of the year (so far). It was literally 90 degrees F.
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We tracked down Charm City Cakes (from the tv show "Ace of Cakes") and actually saw Geoff as he was leaving work. I was pleased as he is my favorite guy on the show. We had some cake and bought a t-shirt across the street.
And finally, the last city on our whirlwind tour was Philadelphia. We took in the Liberty Bell and all things Benjamin Franklin, as well as Independence Hall and Macy's with the world's largest pipe organ.
Whether is eating cake across the street from the Ace of Cakes place, looking at the Liberty Bell, or listening to the world's largest pipe organ, you know we're going to find something to do…
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It was a short trip, but as you can tell we packed a lot of things into it. Every night along the way we would add the comments to the photos you see here, so those are all pretty fresh along the way. You can see all of those comments when you look at the individual galleries.
And as always, feel free to leave comments. I may have left something out…
