July 9 = Day 13

Synopsis:  397.5 miles driven; 6 hours on the road; Middleboro, MA to Binghamton, NY; Visited Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II

OK, if you don't know it, Holiday Inn Express has these great cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I'm not sure how many we ate altogether (besides the eggs, bacon, biscuits and danishes)! We headed out for Plymouth (about a 30 minute drive). We got there early so we could see Plymouth Rock and some of the displays and monuments around the area. Go early and take time for these things - there is some great information to learn.

At 9:00 am, we entered the area for going onto the Mayflower II. Again, while they are merely displays, take the time to read them to be better educated on the Mayflower and the Mayflower II. It's quite amazing to learn of the history of both ships - I guess I forgot that no one knows what happened to the original Mayflower.

We got on board the Mayflower II, which has several guides and several people playing the parts of the Pilgrims. You can visit below deck and see where the 102 Pilgrims stayed for the 9 week voyage. It's not only incredible that they spend most of their time there (only several were allowed on deck at a time when they were allowed on deck), but that they also had their livestock there as well as the smaller boat that would be left with them (it was in pieces). While it isn't the original, it really gives you a great understanding of what the original was like.

After leaving the ship, we looked around the area at some of the statues and monuments including one to all those that died during that first winter in America. Some quick souvenir shopping and then we got on the road for Uncle Scott and Aunt Weezie's house in Binghamton, NY. This evening the kids stayed with family while Lisa and I got together with my high school graduating class (Central Baptist Christian Academy - Class of 1985). It was so good to see friends from long ago - to see how we all have changed and how we haven't. We have a really good class! We're getting together on Saturday for a "family" picnic including all our kids (there are 3 or 4 of us who have 5 kids and 3 or 4 who have 4 kids so there should be a lot of kids.

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at Uncle Scott and Aunt Weezie's for $0 including time with cousins and free child care!

July 8 = Day 12

Synopsis:  132.2 miles driven; 3.75 hours on the road; Woburn, MA to Middleboro, MA; Visited Old North Bridge, Concord, Lexington Battle Green, Bunker Hill, USS Constitution, Old North Church, Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, Old South Meeting Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Bull & Finch Pub, Roger Williams' House

Not only a hot breakfast at the hotel (Marriott) this morning, but a GREAT hot breakfast including eggs, sausage, home fries, bagels, oatmeal, muffins and more. Breakfast makes the rest of the day go better on a vacation like our's. It gives strength for the morning and allows us to move lunch to a little later. Also, because it is at the hotel, we save time from having to find and stop some other place. And, we already paid for it with the hotel (if we had paid).

We drove from the hotel to a place that not many seem to be aware of and very few visit - the Old North Bridge. We arrived there around 8:00 am. Now the Visitor Center doesn't open until 9:00 am but if your not going to the Visitor Center, go early and no one is there. We walked the .25 mile down to the bridge and monuments around or near it. What an amazing thought that "regular" people came out to protect their community.

From the Old North Bridge we went to the Minute Man Visitor Center. It is one of the main places to get a review of the events of the first conflict of the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately for us, we got there around 8:30 am and it doesn't open until 9:00 am. We had other things to do and since there is it is not a historical site, so we got back on the road. We next stopped at the Lexington Battle Green, the site of the first conflict of the Revolutionary War. Walk around the Green and you will find some houses that were there when the battle was engaged - cool.

We then headed into to Boston, actually Charlestown. That's when we ran into Boston traffic - the worst of our trip (worse than DC or NYC or Philadelphia). With a GPS, we jumped off the planned route when it was at a standstill and allowed it to direct us another way. We finally got to Bunker Hill and found a place around the corner to park for free. The Monument was closed (normally you can go into it and climb the stairs to the top), but the Ranger station was open and we could appreciate the monument from the outside.

From there, we walked on the Freedom Trail down to the USS Constitution. It is a free adventure but there are 2 options: one is a speed tour on your own and only on the top deck, the second is a guided tour that goes to the three decks below. We were going to go on the guided tour but we couldn't get on the first tour, it was full, and so we would have to take the second tour. That would mean waiting 25 minutes for it to begin, taking 30 minutes to be on the tour, and being below decks with 40-50 other people. We "jumped ship" as it were and went on the speed tour - partly because we knew that we would visit the Mayflower II tomorrow.

After getting back to the van and driving it over into Boston and finding a parking garage to put it in, we headed out again on the Freedom Trail. I can't say enough what the Freedom Trail does and provides for tourists. You really don't need maps (although I would still take one) and you can get to all the places you want by following the bricks or red line on the sidewalks. Our first stop was the Old North Church. Jedi loved the "family" pew boxes. The kids sat in the Revere Pew.

We then went to Paul Revere's house (one of the few places to charge an admission fee but it is very reasonable). An added bonus on our day to visit, during this Heat Wave, is that the house is air-conditioned. It was cool to get to know him a little better and his house is the only 17th century house in downtown Boston. You might consider skipping it, I wouldn't.

We then walked to Faneuil Hall (Boston's original marketplace - that still serves as a marketplace), the Old South Meeting Hall and the Boston Massacre site. We then broke away from the Colonial times and walked across Boston Common to the Bull & Finch Pub (made famous in the TV show Cheers). BTW - along the way Beacon street was closed off with firetrucks, paramedics and police because of a house fire (we saw no flames but plenty of smoke and plenty of ladder trucks). We had lunch at the Bull & Finch. If you go to Boston, eat there. The food was great. My only suggestion would be to share dishes as they are large portions (and a bit pricier fro a family of 7). We got and loved the Norm Burger (see picture of Lisa) and Coach's Power Club Sandwich.

We then walked back the entire Freedom Trail, did some souvenir shopping (loved the little lobster but decided not to get him), got to the van, and tried to get out of town but got stuck in Boston traffic again with the "Low Fuel" light and bell going off. I'm sure I upset some Bostonians (Florida driver) as I cut through or in front of them to get off and to a gas station before running out of gas.

Finally, we got to Providence, RI and stopped in to see the Roger Williams' House. The House itself is not much but we felt it was an important visit for three reasons. One, to fully appreciate the US Constitution and our freedoms in this country you need to know the origins of some of our critical beliefs that come from Williams. Second, as believers there is a lot we felt we could learn from Williams' life and teachings. Third, I was born in Providence and it gave a good reason to visit my hometown.

Finally made it to our hotel for the night in Middleboro, MA - a town I spent some time growing up in as a baby/toddler. Tomorrow is Plymouth and then driving to Uncle Scott and Aunt Weezie's house.

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Holiday Inn Express for $11.50 by using points accrued through previous stays and buying additional points to get to the amount needed for the stay.

July 7 = Day 11

Synopsis:  422 miles driven; 9 hours on the road; Greenfield, MA to Woburn, Ma; Visited Mount Washington, Atlantic Ocean in Maine, Salem

Yes! Another hot breakfast at the hotel including sausage and eggs - I had a sausage, egg, muffin sandwich for breakfast before hitting the road at 7:30 am. We drove for about 4 hours from Massachusetts into Vermont, then into New Hampshire. The ride is very peaceful - including wide open highways with hardly any other cars and state roads passing through quaint little towns. We kept seeing "Moose Crossing" signs everywhere. We kept looking for a moose but this is as close as we got!

We got to Mount Washington and got one of our first surprises for the trip. I did all the research for the trip and in all my research I never came across anything about a cost. Well, it does. It cost us $55 to drive up and down in our own van. But that's better than the $169 it would have cost us to have them drive us up or $345 for our family to ride the cog railway up and back. If you go to drive yourself, make sure you read their directions on how to navigate the 12% grade of the mountain up and down. Also, (Lisa's advice) make sure the driver and passenger are comfortable with heights, huge drop-offs and no guardrails.

After we got down, we headed for Maine. I remember a place our family (my parents) visited in Maine called the Clambake (http://www.clambakerestaurant.com/).

We stopped in for lupper (lunch and supper. If you go with a large family like our's, order a couple of kid's meals (anyone of any age can order them and they are a good quantity) and (1), that's one, #1 Fisherman's Plate - Captains edition. They say it feeds two. We had a full leftover box. The plate of fish, shrimp, clams, scallops and fries was a 12" plate piled about 6 inches high. People actually made comments as I brought it to the table! We stopped around the corner for the kids to dip their feet into the Atlantic.

We then drove south to our hotel just outside Boston. On our way, we stopped in Salem to visit the memorial to those who died as a part of the Salem Witch trials. There are a lot of commercial, touristy (tacky) things you can do in the town that have nothing or very little to do with history. There are many old historic houses but the memorial is the only "free" thing to do. So...being who we are, that's were we headed. Also, given that we didn't make it into town until 6:00 pm limited our choices. Finally got to our hotel and enjoyed some fresh chocolate chip cookies courtesy of the front desk.

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Marriott for $0 by using points accrued with initial purchase on credit card.

July 6 = Day 10

Synopsis:  313 miles driven; 5.75 hours on the road; Mount Pocono, PA to Greenfield, MA; Visited Steamtown USA, Mall at Steamtown, Amistad Memorial

Hot Breakfast including bacon at our hotel got everyone off to a good start, that and we didn't leave our hotel until 8:00 am. That's sleeping in on our vacation! We drove from Mt. Pocono into Scranton and stopped at a couple of "Office" sites before heading to Steamtown USA. We also visited the Mall at Steamtown after the Park and got a couple of "tourist" photos taken.

I visited Steamtown as a small child when it was located in Massachusetts so I really wanted the kids to experience it. We got there at 9:00 am and got to look at some of the exhibits before catching the short train ride at 10:30 am. I would say the train ride is probably usually very worth it but not so much on our trip. First, they do not run the steam engines on Monday or Tuesday (which we knew before we got there) - they run the Diesel engines. Second, the train is not air conditioned and it was between 90-100 degrees while we were there. Third, the train never got above 20 MPH so the air barely moved.

I would recommend Steamtown to anyone who loves trains or wants to learn about an important part of our nation's history. Make sure you see the film in the museum as it helps you understand the impact on our country and the changes in our country that influences the railroads.

After picking up some lunch at the Mall at Steamtown, we hit the road for a 3 hour drive to New Haven, CT. We were going there to visit the Amistad Memorial located in front of City Hall. As we got close, we were looking for a parking space when we could see that the whole street was closed in front of us about three or four blocks ahead. We quickly pulled into a side street and got a parking space. We walked towards the memorial and could see that the police had the road blocked off. We heard from people walking nearby that there was a bomb threat at City Hall and they were evacuating the area. Since they didn't stop us, we walked up as close as we could (they did have it taped off) and got a picture or two.

We then got back on the road and found our way to our hotel in Greenfield, MA.

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Quality Inn for $0 by using points accrued with stays on last year's trip.

July 5 = Day 9

Synopsis:  98.5 miles driven; 2.25 hours on the road; Jersey City, NJ to Mount Pocono, PA; Visited World Trade Center site, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building

We had stayed up late last night watching the fireworks over the Hudson River (Macy's celebration of the 4th for New York City). We only had to walk .3 mile from our hotel (Marriott in Jersey City) to a river walk where we could see the fireworks. We had no breakfast at our hotel and we left around 6:45 to head into the city. We had made a parking garage reservation and rate guarantee (www.bestparking.com) at a garage right between the WTC site and Battery Park.

In Battery Park, we stopped off at Clinton Castle to pick up our pre-ordered tickets. They opened the doors at 7:45 and I was the first in line at the second will call window. It was then that I was told that every adult going into the Crown (which we were) would have to have a photo id. Lisa's driver's license was back in the van in the parking garage. A short mile (round-trip) jog back, got the driver's license in her hand in time to catch the first ferry to Liberty Island.

Once there, Crown ticket holders (limited to 240 people per day compared to 3,000 per day in the monument and 12,000 per day to the island) go to the Ranger office (Information Center). We got our special wristbands and special instruction and then headed over to the lockers ($1 for 2 hours and required to but everything but you and your camera in - no wallets, bags, drinks, etc. allowed). We then checked-in with another Ranger and got a 9:40 am time to go up into the Crown. Jedi led our pack up the 334 steps to the Crown. We then came down and visited the monument and the museum. We caught the 11:35 ferry to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island was cool and we only spent an hour there. FYI - we were told to plan about 5 hours for Liberty and Ellis Island. That should be 5 hours not including check-ins or transportation OR about 7 hours total. We blitzed through Ellis. It was special to me to walk through the Registry Room and to think that both my great-grandfather and great-grandmother Kroll passed through this room as they immigrated to the US. Returning to Battery Park from Ellis Island, we made our way to the Metro.

I like and appreciate the NYC Metro system but the ticket machines are horrible. The machines in DC are SO MUCH better. The ones in DC did not allow you to buy multiple tickets at once, half the machines were not in service, most the others sold limited options (only single use or only metrocards), they would only allow you to use a credit card twice, some required exact change, all would only give a maximum of $6 change - all of which make it difficult to buy a ticket for 7 people when you are not carrying a pocket of change. On the way back (later today), two of the cards we had just bought wouldn't work so Makenzie and I had to pass under the turnstile (no agent or attendant was there or available to help).

We took the Metro north to 34th Street to visit the Empire State Building (ESB). The guys out front, trying to sell upgrades to the 102nd floor observatory, said the line was 90 minutes long. We gave it a shot and found it was only 40 minutes long. The view from the top was great and the experience was wonderful. By the time we finished visiting the top and the gift shops, we were about an hour off of our estimated schedule (looking to arrive at our hotel for the night around 8:00 pm) and a little worn out so we made the difficult decision not to walk up 5th Avenue from 34th Street to Central Park...and so we missed a visit to Central Park but as Jordan pointed out - we saw it from the top of the ESB.

We took the metro south, got the van back, headed out of town, drove for a couple of hours and finally got to our hotel for the night. The indoor pool is entertaining the boys and the laundry facilities are helping mom. Postcards are being written and bedtime is just around the corner. Thanks for reading!

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Quality Inn for $0 by using points accrued with stays on last year's trip.

July 4 = Day 8

Synopsis:  161 miles driven; 4 hours on the road; Chester, PA to Jersey City, NJ; Visited "Rocky" stairs in Philadelphia, Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, Ben Franklin House and Printing Press, Washington's Crossing (in PA) and NYC boroughs (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan)

We had a light breakfast on the go - cereal in the car while driving into Philadelphia. We left the hotel around 6:45 am so we could beat the crowds into Philadelphia. Our first stop was the Philadelphia Museum of Art - made famous as the steps that "Rocky" ran up during his training for the big fight. Unfortunately, so many streets were blocked off for special events for the 4th, we could get to any of the streets we had planned to. Finally, I (Tim) "parked" illegally near the Museum while everyone else ran up to the Museum for a great photo op.

We then tried to drive to Independence Hall. But since we hadn't parked where we thought and with many streets blocked off, we had quite an adventure. We finally got to a street we knew and found our way there. If you go, use the National Constitution Center parking garage. It is competitively priced and is centrally located and has a lot of space. Independence Hall gives out free tickets/reservations every day except July 4th. We knew that and thought there would be a long line, so we decided to show up early. The Visitor Center opened and so did the security for Independence Hall at 8:30 am. We were there by 8:00 and no one was there. FYI, there are no tickets for July 4th so don't wait in line (Visitor's Center) for them but go directly to Independence Hall (unless you want to do the Junior Ranger program, then you need to pick up the booklets at the Visitor Center first).

Well, we were in the first group to go into Independence Hall. It's smaller than it looks or than you would think but very worth it. Visit the Great Expressions display nearby. It has one of the original "prints" of the Declaration of Independence, which is actually older than the signed version. From there, we went and visited the Liberty Bell. It was great and the kids really enjoyed it.

We then walked a couple of blocks to the Betsy Ross house. We got there earlier than our plan which was great because we got there right before it opened. As such, we got there for the flag raising ceremony when it opened (10:00 am). Jordan and Jedi were selected to help. What a blast for them! The house is nice and worth the admission at least to be able to see what a house of the time was like. There is a "Betsy Ross" impersonator that does a good job.

From there we walked back to Market Street, where the preparation for the 4th of July parade were going on. We were told that it would be the biggest that Philadelphia had ever have. We stopped into Campo's for some cheese steaks. We got one with the works, one that was a chicken cheese steak and one called the Heater (jalapeno cheese and buffalo hot sauce). They were so good. By the time we finished and headed back to the Visitor Center, the parade was about to begin. It was sponsored by Wawa and they were handing out free American flags and bottles of water, tea and leamonade. Thanks Wawa!

Right as we got to the Visitor Center, the parade was starting right in front of it. We got to see some great parts of the parade. When we checked Jedi and Jariah in to get their Junior Ranger badges, the Ranger shared with us about Ben Franklin's house and print shop. There were free and we were ahead of schedule so we decided to head back down market street and check it out. Technically, neither the house or print shop still exist but there is a good museum and a replica print shop were the kids got prints of the Declaration.

Leaving Philadelphia, we stopped at Washington's Crossing in PA to see the place that General Washington crossed the Delaware. The spot is nice but if you only want to see the spot you are limited. They have a whole set of original and replica buildings and they charge an admission to see all of that as well as the spot. If you don't want to pay, there is a great movie in the Visitor Center and in the back of the Visitor Center you can see out some large windows to the monument marking the spot - only about 12 feet away. From there, we decided to drive to our hotel in Jersey City, through Staten Island and Brooklyn - so we visit more of the New York City boroughs and so we could go across the Verrazano and Brooklyn bridges.

In just a little while, we will be going down the street (within .3 miles of our hotel) to see the fireworks over the Hudson.

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Marriott for $0 by using points accrued with initial purchase on no-fee credit card.

July 3= Day 7

Synopsis:  151.9 miles driven; 3.25 hours on the road; Westminster, MD to Chester, PA; Visited Gettysburg Battlefield, Amish country in PA

After a quick continental breakfast at our hotel, we drove about 30 minutes from Westminster, MD to Gettysburg. What a neat thing that we get to be here on July 3 - the 147th anniversary of the last day of the battle in 1863. We had bought our tickets on-line before going and so we could skip the line when the doors opened at 8:00 am and go right to the "Will Call" booth and pickup our tickets.

The battlefields and ranger programs are all free as part of the National Park Service but I highly recommend buying (that's right, spend money) to get the tickets to the film, cyclorama and museum. Every single one of them is worth the price of the ticket. The film gives you a great overview and understanding of the battle and what lead up to it. The cyclorama is amazing. Painted over 100 years ago on a 42 x 377 foot, it is an amazing depiction of the battle and the new presentation with audio and visual additions is fantastic.

The boys took part in the Junior Ranger program - at Gettysburg, a family can do one booklet and every kid in the family can get to be a Junior Ranger. Again, we worked on it as a family and learned a lot more than we would have otherwise. A special program for kids in the summer at Gettysburg, is that they can join the army. They only take about 30 kids and you have to sign-up in person. All three of our guys got in and went through some training to be in the Union army. They really enjoyed it.

Beside the army training, film ,cyclorama, and museum, we took the 1.5 miles trail and walked on the battlefield, visited the cemetery, saw the place President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address, and attended a Ranger talk about the battle. Altogether, we spent about 5.5 hours at Gettysburg. From there, we took a drive through Lancaster county and stopped at an Amish restaurant (smorgasbord) for lunch/supper. We then drove out of our way by about 30 minutes to go through Delaware (another state for our list) before getting to our hotel for the evening.

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Days Inn for $0 by using points accrued from hotels on our trip out West.