Day 18: Dinosaurs and Ghosts!

Day 18 was the only day of this trip where I had something firmly planned before I left the UK - in the form of tickets for the Broadway show, Phantom of the Opera. Aware that the show started at seven, and knowing it was at least a 40 minute walk & we wanted to eat beforehand, that actually took up a far larger chunk of the day than I realised! With this in mind it would probably have been wise to have a relaxing day beforehand - but I haven't been listening to wisdom so far on this trip so why on earth should I start?!

So I thought to try and visit the American Museum of Natural History during the day, and do a little tour round in the afternoon. It probably would've been fine had my cough not returned, most likely brought on by the air-conditioning, which considerably slowed progress. And also, anyone visiting New York soon should take note that the Museum of Natural History is huge! So all in all we didn't really get our money's worth, although we did get to see some cool dinosaur skeletons, the like of which I haven't seen since I was a kid. It's still enough to make you marvel at the wonders of nature, and just how chronologically insignificant man's presence on earth is. We also saw the Hall of Biodiversity, with a lot of information about environmental problems we are causing (nothing new to me but interesting to see how they present it to the general public). I did enjoy my brief time there (in between coughing fits!) but we had to cut it far shorter than I'd hoped in order to give myself time to recover for the evening’s festivities. Maybe I will return later on in the trip, particularly as the next few days are meant to be rainy.

Not yet braving the public transport system, we opted to walk down to Times Square, where we met up again with Tubb and Helen for food at Applebee's. The company was great although the food was largely uninspiring chain-restaurant fare - pretty much as expected but not as good as the two other restaurants we've already visited near our hotel on the Upper West Side, which have both been accessible yet cosy, offering an interesting menu and portions that are not grossly oversized! The point of eating near Times Square however was to put us in close proximity to our theatre for the evening’s entertainment.

We split up with Tubb & Helen who went off to try and get last-minute tickets for a show (Stomp in the end), and made our way to see Phantom. Supposedly the longest-running show on Broadway, I have to say although I found it watchable I wasn't left feeling culturally enriched! And to be honest, it doesn't take much for me to feel that way from a musical - a compelling story or a few very good musical numbers, neither of which I felt Phantom really delivers. My dad was even less appreciative, in terms ruder than I can say on here! That’s what he gets for leaving the choice entirely up to me I guess - although I do admit I could probably have made a better choice! Given the ease of getting tickets and the fact we are on Broadway means we might very well see another show this week anyway.

Not a particularly positive blog on reflection, but looking back on it even the less inspiring days here still feel exciting - yes maybe the show wasn't the best I've seen, but the whole experience of walking along Broadway seeing theatre after theatre is quite an experience in itself. And there's something really nice about walking out of the theatre at 9:30 at night in short sleeves and walking round in the open air quite comfortably. On our way back, we stopped at the huge Toys "R" Us store, dominated by a decent size Ferris wheel in the middle of the store four stories high. Me and dad had a look round like a couple of big kids, and will be back before we leave to buy presents! I was thinking my brother and sister-in-law would probably appreciate me buying my niece Millie a drum kit...

Day 16 & 17: Welcome to New York!

Day 16 saw the four of us; myself, my dad, Marius and Steffen (the two CSV volunteers) squeeze into the car with all our luggage, a feat which was actually surprisingly easier than we expected to be. With the sat-nav set for our hotel at 2130 Broadway, we began on our four and a half an hour journey, which was a largely uneventful, monotonous drive, pretty exhausting for my Dad who nevertheless did a pretty stellar job of getting us there. Particularly in the last final push, which involved some quite stressful driving through the New York traffic, and a narrow escape from some low-flying hub caps from the car in front which threatened to slice us in half! As we arrived at the hotel we found the car rental guy outside waiting to take the car off our hands, and I don't think my Dad has been so pleased to see anyone in his life!

Our New York hotel, the Hotel Beacon is located on Broadway, about a 40 minutes walk from Times Square and the theatres, so in a slightly quieter location than you might first expect from the address. It's quite an old building but the two suites we are in are very nice, with a double bedroom and a separate lounge and kitchen with a fold-out bed, and lots of amenities from a large flat screen TV to individual iPod stereo systems. Not bad, and a bit of a step up from the Hilton in Boston although that was not bad itself!

The evening was largely focused on relaxing, and we did little in the way of exploring, even to the extent of going to a restaurant in the same block as the hotel. Still, it was nice food and after what seemed like a long day we were quite glad not to have to traipse around on an extensive restaurant search!

Today, Day 17, started off with an unusually early start for me - for little reason other than excitement at being in New York! I'm not sure exactly why but coming into New York I seem to suddenly have more energy and seem to be getting into my stride with the trip. This is exactly the opposite of how I felt a day after coming into Boston but cannot quite explain it - but whatever it is I'm glad for the change. As some of you may know, I have for quite some time been planning to meet up with my friends Tubb & Helen during this leg of the trip. Although it was a bit iffy at one point whether they could make it due to the BA strikes, I was thrilled to find out that their flights were not affected and they arrived safely yesterday. We agreed to meet up at midday today at our hotel.

As they are staying at a hotel directly in Times Square, they decided to walk the 30 odd blocks to our hotel, which took about 40 minutes. We found them in our lobby as we came down, looking a little worn out as you might expect from the combination of jet lag and the 85 degree heat outside! After a brief catch-up, we resolved to spend a leisurely day wandering around Central Park and finding somewhere to have some drinks of the alcoholic variety - although not for me as drinking in the afternoon tends to send me to sleep! In the end, it turned out that the only bar in Central Park was closed for Memorial Day (the US bank holiday weekend). So we began a long search around the streets adjacent to the park, with Tubb’s beer-radar working overtime but to no avail! Humour was provided briefly in Tubb’s complete failure to eat an ice cream with any degree of dignity. Eventually we decided to head in the general direction of Times Square in the hope of what Tubb called “civilisation”, i.e. somewhere serving beer. Not sure I would classify that as the defining element of human endeavour but then I'm more of a wine man myself anyway!

As we were all about to collapse in the heat, we finally found a French bistro which was thankfully accessible, and tucked into drinks and some lunch. It was a rather understated affair but the food was good and portions generous. As ever with these places, it was appreciated all the more for the long search leading up to it! Sitting round the table gave us a good chance to catch up and chill out, and a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

After the bistro, we decided to continue our walk on to Times Square, where we ended up stopping at Tubb & Helen’s hotel for more drinks. I bet you're beginning to see a theme here! Times Square was just as loud and in your face as you might expect, and made me glad we are located a little further out, although having said that Tubb’s hotel did seem quite peaceful once you were in there.

Walking around New York was great fun, and even though we walked probably about the same distance as in Boston, it seemed far easier, mostly due to pavements (although not the roads strangely) that were better kept and also the simple layout of streets that means you always know where you're going and how far. If you've got some sense of direction that is – not mentioning any names, eh Dad? Hey, it’s OK – that’s not his name! But seriously, although it can be a little claustrophobic between the tall buildings, there is this buzz about the city, full of life and energy. Or maybe its just my own excitement I’m sensing. Whatever, I’m just glad to be here!

Day 15: Taking in some country air

Although it might seem strange for the last day in Boston, I opted to spend the day getting out of the city again and into surrounding Massachusetts. In truth, after spending a week here, Boston city life doesn't really appeal all that much. I suppose my expectations were a little off, expecting a bit more of a quaint, historic town rather than the bustling, urbanised city we find ourselves in. I think I had this somewhat romanticised notion more akin to Boston as it was during the War of Independence - of a newly emergent city full of ideas and innovation. Now it all feels so big and commercialised, with huge concrete freeways full of traffic, and the remaining historical buildings surrounded on all sides by multi-storey parking lots and skyscrapers.

On reflection, as my expectations have begun to move closer to reality, I can appreciate that Boston has a lot of charm in some areas. Some of the neighbourhoods are very pretty and historic and it is set in an attractive harbour. But ultimately it is a large, modern city – an environment which no longer really appeals to me on either side of the Atlantic. Having said that, I am sure with people you love and a job you enjoy in the city, it could be a nice place to live. But it would be that rather than the location itself which would draw me here. Of course, there is a big difference between wanting to live here and wanting to visit, and I can say I have enjoyed the visit. The days I have enjoyed the most, however, have been those spent outside the city limits.

Which brings us back to today, Day 15. Today we decided to travel out to one of the national parks in Massachusetts, called Ashland State Park. I had prepared information on the park and other Boston attractions before I left the UK, but somehow cannot find these anywhere in my carefully-planned holiday folder. And there was I thinking I would be hugely organised (of course, 29 years of evidence to the contrary probably should have taught me otherwise). Ah well, although I do like to plan (and get horrendously mocked for the fact even though I am far less of a plan-geek than my Dad), I'm quite capable of adapting to the situation too! Fortunately we found it listed in the sat-nav, just 40 minutes out of Boston.

Unfortunately, however, when we got there we found it closed and unstaffed. So, back to the drawing board - remembering another park I had researched which I knew was nearby, we set the sat-nav for Hopkinton just 10 minutes down the road. After driving around for a bit we had to stop and ask directions (yes, it really was getting that desperate!) so Dad popped into the local police station, and amazingly came out a few minutes later without having been shot or arrested, and with good directions!

We finally found Hopkinton State Park, which was quite a large, wooded park set around a reservoir. It was very scenic, although lacking in any wheelchair accessible trails which was a little disappointing. However, we decided to sit at the side of the reservoir, watching the canoes and various water activities, including some dogs doing some running jumps off the jetties, chasing toys thrown into the water. Good setting to do a bit of reading, and I think the dogs made my dad miss our own at home. By the end of the afternoon, as we were beginning to get hungry, we bundled back into the car and stopped by a McDonald's on the way back to the hotel - for Marius & Dad to start packing while I carry on reading my book. Yes, I know I have a hard life!

Tonight, it's back to the cheesecake factory for our last meal. And then tomorrow, it's up fairly early to make the trip to New York, for the final US leg of the trip. I'm quite excited, and this time I think my expectations are fairly reasonable, as it seems through the various TV shows and films I've watched I've already spent a lot of time there!

Day 14: Lexington, Concord and those evil Brits again!

Day 14 started off again with a leisurely morning, although slightly earlier than the previous day so we thought we would get in the car and drive a bit further out of Boston. One of the visits I had planned for quite a while was to go out to the battle sites at Lexington and Concord which marked the start of the American War of Independence. After our experiences with the John Adams Museum and Salem we've come to the conclusion that the various museums and exhibits run by the National Parks Service are generally of significantly better quality and value than any of the private museums and collections. With that in mind, we decided to visit the Minuteman National Park as the main part of our trip.

First off, however, we stopped at Lexington, to see the spot where the first shots were fired, as well as to get directions to the National Park. There was a good visitor centre here with a diorama of the battle at Lexington, although “battle” is pushing it as it was essentially just 700 British troops charging down 70 militiamen and killing 8 of them (the real battle came later). After we got directions, we went out to the green where this all went down and where there are flags and statues to commemorate it. Now it's just a very pretty looking village green, with some attractive American houses with perfectly manicured lawns. Apparently house prices here are double that of nearby areas which I can well believe.

Moving on from Lexington, we stopped at the Minuteman National Park visitor centre on the road to Concord. Here they show a 25 minute video - sorry, “multidimensional movie experience” - about April 19, 1775 - the day those first shots were fired. It was a really fascinating video which also traced the movements of British regulars and colonists on a map on the wall. It gave a really good overview of the conflict, which essentially came about because the British had set out to march from Boston to Concord to destroy arms and munitions the colonists had stockpiled in preparation for rebellion. The colonists, getting word of this, decided to make a stand, first at Lexington, where several were killed, and then again at Concord where they were more successful, and with their numbers swelling over the course of the day they forced the British to retreat and kept them under constant gunfire all the way back to Boston. Obviously there's a whole lot of history before and after that day, but that wasn't really the focus of today's visit. Today just focused on the first momentous day. I'm sure it sounds a lot better if you're watching the video in the historic location!

After watching the video and exploring the visitor centre, we decided to walk part of the route to Concord, hoping for a slightly better reception than the Brits 230-odd years ago! Aside from the fact that it's next to a busy highway (it is a direct route to Concord after all so make senses that it would still be used), it’s all very scenic: a very green, wooded area with multiple markers along the route depicting points of interest. Pretty smooth, even surface for a wheelchair as well. Very nice to walk along in the sunshine, but we kept it quite brief as we hadn’t eaten and knew that none of the buildings along the path were actually open.

Back in the car, we decided to move on to Concord for some food and take a brief look around. We drove around for a bit and saw as much as there seemed to be to see, then just stopped off at the local Starbucks for refreshments. It had to be done at least once!

In the evening, following up our intention to be more adventurous, we decided to take a look for a new restaurant. After a rather circuitous route, passing by a couple of quite pricey restaurants that we really weren't dressed for, we found yet another American bar and Grill which I decided we should try. Seem to be quite a good choice as they serve a very decent steak frites. My Dad seems to be developing his role of cheesecake aficionado well, rating tonight's cheesecake as fourth out of the four he has had so far. That actually seems remarkably restrained considering we've been here seven nights! Still, tomorrow it's back to the cheesecake factory so he'll be able to fit in at least one more!

Another good day today, and just one more left in Boston which I still haven't decided what to do with yet! Most likely however it will be another trip out from the city.

Day 13: New England Aquarium & Boston harbour

Today saw a much welcomed air change with a cool, northerly breeze coming into the city. This has made it far less sticky and significantly better for exploring. As soon as we were all up and about, somewhat later than I had anticipated (although it is a holiday so I’m allowed to indulge in leisurely-paced mornings!), we headed down to the New England Aquarium, one of the recommended attractions to visit in Boston. I had done some research so was aware it was going to be an expensive day, but vowed to ignore the cost and just enjoy it! In case you're wondering, it's $20 each entry, and the nearest car park is $30 for anything over a 90 minute stay. We could probably have found something cheaper five minutes’ walk away, but nothing cheaper than $20 and the busy traffic put us off searching.

Anyway, we arrived just in time for one of the seal shows in the external enclosures, which was feeding time with a running commentary. Was quite interesting and a good way to get us in the mood. The rest of the aquarium basically comprises quite a number of small tanks with a wide range of aquatic life including quite a good collection of tropical fish. In the middle, there was a very large central tank with everything from large fish to turtles and a tiger shark (at least I think that's what it was), it seemed pretty well stocked to the point of apparent overcrowding. There was also a penguin exhibit, which was pretty impressive and full of cute little penguins, which we also saw at feeding time. Finally, outside there was a second seal enclosure, with about five fur seals, which again were quite cute, and seemed to be pretty intelligent and reading up on them they apparently had their own distinct personalities.


Overall it was quite a reasonable aquarium, although nothing outstanding and it was lacking a underwater tunnel which seems to me an essential part of any aquarium! The one thing that was noticeable was the huge numbers of American schoolkids, who I think seemed to drain my dad of the will to live - although I can't say I was really that bothered either way! Once again this visit was something that didn't really seem to appeal to either my Dad or Steffen, but to be honest I knew this from the start so didn't really expect anything else. I guess my interest in aquariums stems from my Ph.D. research, which was actually studying the interaction between fisheries officials and scientists rather than fish themselves, but nevertheless piqued my interest in the little blighters. Of course, whatever I say I will always be Dr Fish to my friends so I might as well live up to the name!

After the visit to the aquarium we popped over the street where we strolled around Quincy market and Fanueill Hall marketplace, to look at the shops and restaurants. We stopped at Sam’s cafe at Cheers, which I guess was a replica of the cafe used in the TV show - we've already seen the bar elsewhere. I'm not really sure or particularly care that much how genuine they are as I never watched the show - a bit before my time really, although I did watch Frasier, the spin-off.

On our way back to the car we stopped to look out at Boston harbour and take some photos. It's quite an impressive view and was nice to just sit and enjoy the breeze. That was it for the day pretty much, and in the evening we returned to the pizza place we visited on the first night. Not particularly groundbreaking as we are all a bit exhausted of trying to find new places to eat and sometimes just feel like being lazy! We determined that tomorrow we would try to be a bit more adventurous in seeking out somewhere to eat.

Days 11&12: Salem, a town of Witches and Pirates

In writing this blog, I am aiming to be as honest as possible, while also focusing primarily on the positive rather than negative parts of the trip. In light of this, Day 11 is probably best left largely unchronicled – suffice it to say, as I use a ventilator to breathe overnight, I am in a constant struggle to get the balance of air humidity right, too humid or too dry and I end up with a cough which means I have to lie down for most of the day. Yesterday (day 11) was one of those days, so extremely frustrating and largely experience-less. Having said that, in-between coughing fits we did manage to pop to the shopping mall next door, and through here into the top of one of the tallest buildings in Boston, the Prudential Tower. This gives a fantastic 360-degree view of Boston and surrounding areas, which made me realise just quite how big Boston really is.

Moving on to Day 12, this was a far better day which we decided to use to get out of Boston with the car. One of the first big tourist spots going north of Boston is Salem, most famous for the site of a number of witch trials, and the location of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. As we pulled into Salem, my Dad coolly and calmly found a parking space and released the wheelchair restraints, without so much as a hint of stress...*cough*. However the temperature must have already been around 30° so this might have played some part!

First stop was the Salem visitor centre, to get a map of the area and plan our exploration. In the end, we decided to walk towards the port while stopping to look at any museums on the way. The first choice of museum, the Witch Village museum, was probably driven less by considerations of quality and value for money and more by the desire to get out of the oppressive heat and into somewhere air-conditioned! As such, it was a little bit of a disappointment as it consisted of an unreasonably perky tour guide showing us around some wax models and teaching us about the misconceptions surrounding witchcraft, and not what I had hoped for which was some proper exhibits and information about the trials. I say unreasonably perky as if I had to conduct the tour several times a day for months on end I would be considerably less chipper! I think we just picked the wrong museum, but it made us a bit reluctant to try many of the other private museums around for fear of being completely ripped off!

After the witch Museum, we headed down to the port and waterfront, where we found a maritime exhibit hosted by the National Park Service. Here they showed us a 20 minute video on the maritime history of Salem, for free I might add, which detailed the role of Salem’s ships in fighting the naval element of the War of Independence as privateers, and the subsequent glory days of international trade. Cheesy dramatisations aside, the video was really interesting and told us a bit more about Salem than what we already knew about the witch trials.

Moving on from this exhibit we took a look at a replica of an 18th-century twin-masted merchant ship, and further along the port, the House of the Seven Gables, the setting of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel which I quite recently read. Not a particularly eventful novel, but one of the oldest houses still standing in New England, and nice to look at. After walking round the streets for a bit and admiring the attractive houses and harbour view, we decamped into one of the waterfront restaurants. Another food lesson for me, buffalo sauce is essentially just vinegar, and no longer something that will feature in any of my meals!

In the evening we headed back to Charley’s again, if anything for lack of other ideas as to accessible places to eat reasonably close to the hotel. Still, it's decent food so no complaints here. If anyone was wondering, it's 12 days that my Dad and I can spend together before we start to annoy each other - so this evening we decided to split up with me and Steffen popping down to the sports bar in Charley’s for a drink - a particularly good idea as I definitely needed some alcohol! And I'm sure it gave my dad a welcome respite from me as well!

Overall today was a very good day, good to get out and about, which is hopefully something we can do more before it's time to give up the car.

Day 10: Putting the T into MIT

Today started off a little better than yesterday, with some tweaks to my humidifier and the more relaxed schedule for the previous day seeming to pay off as I woke up a little bit more energised than before. After a bit of breakfast and a look at what to do, I decided to devote the day to exploring MIT and Harvard, both just over a mile away from our hotel, over the Charles River.

First stop was MIT, where we decided to visit the MIT Museum, which had been rated as one of the better attractions to go to. The fairly reasonable price of $7.50 each got me, my Dad and Marius entry into the museum, which had a wealth of information and videos on current projects at MIT, or at least the ones that look good on video. On the second floor, they also had videos and exhibits from the history of robotics, DNA mapping, and the history of MIT. I found it quite interesting to read all about it, although the lack of anything particularly interactive did make it feel incomplete, and my Dad seemed to get bored as a result.

After we finished in the museum, we hopped back in the car to check out Harvard and to try and find somewhere to eat. We drove around for a bit but unfortunately couldn't find anywhere to park as we were all out of quarters, so didn't really get to see anything. Maybe we'll come back another time!

After we got back to Boston, which took all of two minutes, we decided to continue with the technology theme by checking out the flagship Apple store. This had a whole load of brand-new i-pads for anyone to come and try out, which apparently many people just use to check their Facebook when in the city – well so says Marius who has a knack of picking out all the cheapskate tricks! The store was pretty busy, but unless you wanted to buy an iPod or Mac was a little superfluous - but then I can't say I expected much else!

It seems like we are all competing for the stupid award for this trip, from me forgetting my disabled badge (which would have got us free parking), Jan last week getting lost on the Queen Mary 2 (yeah, it's big - but it's not that big, and there is only one pub!), Dad nearly turning into oncoming traffic as he forgot to drive on the right, Marius risking his life by crossing streets without the use of his eyes, or Steffen trying to control lifts via mind control instead of actually pushing buttons. At the moment we are all pretty even, but there's still plenty of time to go!

This evening we ate at Charley's, an American bar/restaurant which although seeming inaccessible on all sides, actually had a disabled access entrance around a back alley. It was rather a roundabout route, and it was good to see them clearing boxes so that I could get through the corridor - obviously a well used route - not! Still, it's nice to see that it is not only in the UK that that happens! It's made me a bit more optimistic about the accessibility of Boston, which so far hasn’t looked particularly good.