Day Fourteen Of Our Historic East Coast Tour

Sunday September 28th:

Today we had a Motorcoach tour of Valley Forge Battlefield & General George Washingtons house & head quarters at this army encampment. Unfortunately we have another rain storm coming from Florida's hurricane but it cleared up enough so most of our tour it did not rain but it down poured all the way back to the RV camp and for a couple hours after we got home.

Valley Forge was a part of the 8 year revolutionary war. George Washington choose this are becaue it encircled area where you could watch for the British. Also it was farming community and he hoped they would share with the soldiers which did not happen. A lot of the soldiers lost their lives here from small pox, tiphoid fever, diptheria, and other illness. The almost starved to death and had no clothing so it was very devistating time.

This statue is of General Anthony Wayne where he commanded the troops in this area he faces general Washingtons home where he kept guard to alert him of the British Solders if they come to this area.

This is a picture of General George Washingtons home and headquarters here. We got to look in all the rooms and walk up the stairs that George actually walked up and touch the banaster that he touched. At the left of this house is where the kitchen was.

We also got to go in to the Washington Memorial Chapel where George attended and sit in the pews for a overview of the Church. It is a Episcopal parish and 300 members worship there every Sunday.

Our day today was only about a 4 hour day.

Day Thirteen of our Historic East Coast Tour

Saturday Sept 27:

Today was a travel day and we all had to be out of the RV park by noon. That was good it was later because of our later Friday night. We traveled from Jersey City, NJ to Philadelphia, PA. Which was a 135 mile trip. We are now all settled in a KOA camp ground.

Barb thinks with all the tolls that we paid since we come through the Chicago area tell the end of the trip they should have a lot of new roads in a very short time. There was two tolls today.

Barb thinks there will need to be some RR when we get to AZ. We have been on the go since we started Sept 15th. But it has been great and we have enjoyed every bit of what we have toured.

Day Twelve of Our HIstoric East Coast Tour

Friday Sept 26th: Another big day in down town NY. Well we woke up to pouring rain at 3:30 am guess the storm in Florida was heading our way. Well this was a big day for touring we were to go to NBC studios, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller center and go to the Top of The Rock and then to a dinner cruise. The bus picked us up at 8:30 and we headed into NY. Now traffic on a normal day is total grid lock and now we have pouring rain on top of that. We also have to be dressed up for the dinner cruise. We arrived back to the RV park at 11:00 pm.


We were dropped off at NBC studios and had a tour through the areas of where the shows are filmed. Totally shocking to see that it is not as fancy as it looks when we are watching it on tv. We toured where the news is done and where Brian Williams reports from. It was about 2 hours long very interesting. We also seen a video back in time when tv first began.


The Radio City Music Hall is accross the street so we wondered through the traffic accross the street and had a two hour tour of where they do musical concerts that we see on tv. Very large and Jerry and many other men had their picture taken with one of the Rocketts which is the dancers that perform in this building.


Next we wondered back over accross the street and next to NBC studios in the Rockefella center. No filming was being done outside because of the rain. At the top of this building it is called the Top Of The Rock. It is 850 feet above sea level. It is over 70 years ago. We went up 76 stories to the observation deck but of course could not see anything but fog. So we had to settle for the post cards of what we were suppose to be able to see.



Then we at 6:30 we got on board this beutiful dinner vessel and had a 4 hour tour of the hudson bay around NY. The weather had cleared a little bit but one can only imagine what it would have been like if it was clear night.






The dinner vessel took us by the Statue of Liberty and this is what it looks like at night. The most awsome sight day or night.

We were all pretty exhausted betime we got home because we had been on our feet most of the day walking around but get to sit during our dinner cruise.

We have a lot of pictures, postcards, and material to read on all the sights we toured.

Day Eleven of Our Historic East Coast Tour

Thursday Sept 25: At 7:30 we were car pooling to the ferry dock to go to the Statue of Liberty and to Ellis Island.




This is the building that we got the ferry at. Security is very tight we had to go through security before we got on. Anyone with a pocket knife had to take it back to their car.


This is a view from the ferry of all the boats out in the Hudson bay waiting to come into NY to be off loaded. We were told most of the product coming is comes in by water.

This is picture is from the ferry and it is of Ellis Island and then the Manhattan NY city in the back ground. Ellis Island opened January 1, 1892. This was where all immigration began. We learned that if anyone had any incurrable health condition they were sent back and also if they were mentally handicapped they were sent back. There were several school field trips so was very crowed.

This sky line is the Brooklin NY area

This picture is taken from the ferry as we are going into board. Security is really tight here. Since nine eleven you can only go one observation deck. the ridge above what looks like windows is the observation deck. We went through two securities the first asked if we had any food or water . They handed us a card like a credit card we walked through a long line and then some guy took these cards and ran then through a machine. They were checking our finger prints. Next we went through like airport security. They give you bins and you put everything out of your pockets, watches, coats and on and on. They then have you walk into small area they
did like air puffs all over us guess they were xraying our bodies. You had to stand in this are tell the light turned green then you could walk on and start getting your stuff out of the bins.
We finally got inside the first floor.

This picture is of the orginal torch. The statue was put together in 1886.
This is a mold of the foot of the statue it is in the museum part that you walk through and learn the history. Then they direct us to the observation deck. You can wait in line for the elevator or walk 156 steps so we decided to do the steps. Must say it was easier coming down. Think Barb needs to get on that tread mill as soon as she gets to AZ. Don't take long to get out of shape. It was awsome view from the top.

We spent 5 hours and it was a full day especially after being in NY for 12 hours yesterday.

Day Ten of Our Historic East Coast Tour

Wed Sept 24: Down Town NY WOW what a eye opener. We were in the down town NY area for 12 hours. The poor bus driver driving in that qrid lock for 8 hoursw deserves a reward. We had a guide ride with us and tell the history.
The majority of people don't have cars. NY has 5 transportation methods to move people, subway, light rail, bus, taxi and ferry. Plus there is no parking and no vacant spaces to develop a parking lot. We saw one lot that stacks the cars on wire racks like you see going down the road. The city controls how many taxi's and they have approved 13,000. If a person wants to become a taxi driver he has to pay for a license and they cost up to $480K. There are still 2 million cars in NY.
NY is split in three parts down town, mid town, uptown. Manhattin is the smallest it is 12miles long and 2 miles wide (in the widest part). Central Park is located in this area. We got off the bus and walked through central park which was a 4 block walk. We walked through the Strawberry Field area which is accross from John Lennon's home. The city bought 843 acres in 1852 and build this beutiful park. It is all man made because before it was swamp, old homes, and nothing much there. There is 300 parks in NY peoples homes have no yard so you have to take the kids and pets to a park. Homes are alot like in Boston all side by side. Our guide said NY kids don't know what animals are so they have a big children zoo so they can learn what a cow, pig, and etc is. The China town in NY is one of the largest in the US.

1.2 million kids that go to public schools, there is 68,000 teachers and 2 million dogs. A lot of the children in NY go to private schools

We stopped down town at Grenach Village at a bakery that had pastry to die for. We had coffee and a Kinolli it was similar to a sugar cone but filled with a sweet cream cheese filling that looked like a hot dog bun with pom poms on the ends which was the filling. Very good. I know what we will be doing when we get to AZ it is called dieting. haha.


The M&M factory is down town so Barb took this picture for Teresa.
This billboard on the factory building does like a slide show of different pictures.

This a picture of all the taxi's and mass people. We went to the broadway show "Jersey Boys" so we had two hours to get something to eat and meet our Wagonmasters at the Theatre. There was so many cars and People and this was a week night. But we found out there was 40 broadway shows so that makes sense why so many people was there.

This building is the court house and where they film Law & Order and CSI and those kind of shoes.

This picture is a statue of Angels in time. This is in Central Park. This was about half way through our 4 block walk.

This is carriage rides that also go through the Central Park.
This is a memorial area for John Lennon that is located in the Central Park.

5th avenue was the end of our walk. Also 5th avenue is where the weathy live and upper class individuals. There is signs in this area that say "DO NOT HONK YOUR HORN IN THIS AREA" You can be fined if you do. Also signs that say "DONT EVEN THINK OF PARKING HERE". I guess these people who live in this area don't like to be disturbed.

We now are at ground zero. This building is the work financial center and from this building we observed Ground Zero. When you see all these big buildings side by side you can't imagine that
it did not destroy everything around them.

Picture of the construction going on at ground zero. They have rebuilt one of the buildings and it is over half done.
The bluish building behind these cranes is the rebuilt building.


At 5:30 the tour guide had finished her part and we were dropped off a block from the Theatre where we were to see THE JERSEY BOYS. We were very exhausted when we got back to our RV's at 11:00 pm. But it was a great experience to see and here about the history of NY. We were told it is very clean and up scale today but back in the 80's it was a very run down city.

Day Nine of the Historic East Coast Tour

Tuesday Sept 23rd. Today was a travel day and what a trip it was no one in their right mind would be traveling in this area alone. We are in a RV park in Jersey City in NJ this RV park is the nearest RV park to New York City. We are accross the Hudson river from the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center.


We took this picture real near to where our motor home is parked in the far back through the trees you can see the Statue of Liberty.

This is picture is of the Brooklin area that we see from the park.

What a way to RV. We would have never found this on our own. The park is very small and not many luxeries but we do have water and electricity. We will be parked here for 4 days.

It costs 90.00 a day and we are sitting on gravel and the RV's next to us are so close we can here when they close their cupboard doors. We are gone most of the days so not a big deal but it seems funny to be so close but we are in NY.

Day Eight of our Historic East Coast Tour

Monday Sept 22:

Today is another guided motorcoach tour to West Point Military Academy and then on to the Hasbrouck House which was George Washington's Army Head Quarters when he was general of the wars.

This picture is a view of the Westpoint Academy campus. It started in 1802.

This picture is of the Cadet Chapel a outside view it is very very large.

This is our guide giving us the history of the West Point Academy. This the inside of the Cadet Chapel. The length of the Chapel from the entry to the alter is 210 feet. There are stained glass windows located througout. The 192 along each side of the chapel are gifts in honor of every graduating class since 1802. The Memorial Window which is above the main entry. The main entry is directly below the organ in the picture below. The memorial window was installed in 1923 in memory of the granduates that died in the First World War. The windows above the alter display the parables, miracles and teachings of Christ. The flags represent the Battles or wars and they are replicas from 1812 to the 19th century.

This is the pipe organ that is mounted in the ceiling and above the entrance. It was originally purchased in 1911 and has been enlarged over the years. When first installed it contained 2,406 pipes today it has 23,500 pipes the smallest being the size of a stubby pencil and the largest being 32 feet long and over 30 inches in diameter. After the guided tour we had a hour to tour the museum of the history.

Our next stop was at George Washingtons Army Headquarters from 1782 to 1783. This was one of the 124 places George had that he spent time at. This was the most important place he worked from because the British could be observed from this location if they tried to come accross the Hudson River. George spent 16 months here at the end of the British war.

This was a look out for George to see what was going on in the Hudson bay. Now it has his statue in it.

The area that this museum is located in was a very bad part of town. Very run down area of Newburgh, NY. Not a safe place to be on your own.

Day Seven of the Historic East Coast

Sunday Sept 21: Today is a travel day and we traved 152 miles to Plattenkill, NY. We travel in groups of 4 and we were leading and Barb was appointed the travel navigator. Barb was a bit nervous but they give us a log book with all the detailed directions so that helps. There camp grounds are out away from the towns and not easy to find.

Barb did laundry so we are ready for another week of touring.

Hope this finds all well with our family and friends .

Day 6 of The Historic East Coast

Sat Sept 20: We toured the Mystic Seaport. This is a small town called Mystic and the down is surrounded by the bay. They have a Museum of American and the Sea and the artifacts date back to the 1700 and 1800. The area was a shipyard and other businesses in its time.


This is a light house that used to be used back in the period of time.

This is the bay and the scenry from all the buildings that we were got to tour through.

This is a picture of a fire cart that they used to go on fires and look at the bikes that was used in those days.

After touring the museum we drove to the largest Indian Casino in the US or the World we heard both not sure which but it was huge and we ate lunch there.

In the evening we had a pot luck dinner with all the group in the caravan which was a nice get together.

Day Five of Our Historical East Coast Tour

Sept 19:Friday

Today was a travel day to CT. so we caravaned in groups of 4 and 20 minutes apart. It worked very smoothly. The Wagonmasters go ahead about a hour ahead of the first group. The Tailgunner leaves 20 minutes after the last group. We all arrived safely and set up camp and then headed out ride sharing to do some site seeing.



The sites for today was the Submarine Force Museum and go aboard a actual submarine called the Nautilus a (Nuclear Submarine).





This picture is of the harbour where the submarine is docked.

This picture is the Nautilus submarine which is the first submarine in service. Barb got half way through and then decided to exit that it was to tight of a area for her to finish. What a weeney! Barb was not the only one that had to turn back so she didn't feel so bad. It was very small and confined. Guess Barb could have never been in the service.

This picture is the front entrance to the Submarine Force Museum.

This picture is the bay in the town of Old Mystic CT. The town and homes surround this bay very neat little town. Very busy there was a antique car show and lots of people and small narrow roads.

Day Four of Foxboro MA Historical Tour

Thursday Sept 18:
This was a 11 hour day bus tour of Boston, MA, with a tour guide that new the city like a book, but guess that is his job. Scott was his name and he gave us very important information about the rules in Boston. You do not purnounce your R's in words unless it begins with R. When you step out in a cross walk don't depend on the drivers to stop there are two types of people the quick and the dead. You are considered red meat for dinner if they hit you.

There are 100 Dunkin Donut shops there corporate offices reside in Boston and only 50 Starbucks. Barb would ask Teresa her daughter do you think that is fare? She would say NO!

In MA their are 100 colleges and 50 are in Boston. Rent is very high it cost $1600.00 a month for 500 Square Feet. One third of the people who live there does not own a car because there is no place to park them. 13 Million residents use the subway for transportation. The parking is on the street or you pay big money to try and get one in a parking garage close to where you live.

This picture is houses yes, your house is virtical it is 4 story this building is several homes and they are side by side and this complex could be a block or two long. So you understand the parking complexity and the streets are two way but only room for one car at a time.

The tour was called Boston's Freedom Trail which is a 2 1/2 mile walk or ride that covers 20 of Bostons historic points or landmarks, we saw Bunker Hill & Beacon Hill, The OLD NORTH CHURCH, the USS Constitution & Museum, Harvard college, & Quency Market. The Church, the USS constitution, Harvard, and Quency Mkt was the places we got off the bus and spent time.

This picture is of a early century Epispical Church and it was interesting to see several students sitting on the ground drawing pictures of this church. They more than likely was going to a college and it was part of their assignment. This is the 9th most beutiful church in the US.

This picture is Harvard University, we stood on the lawn of the main campus in front of the library. The guide told us 1 in 10 students get accepted that apply. 24,000 applied this year as freshman and only 1640 got accepted. The criteria is based on straight A grades, acedemics, community involvement, the application Essay, and the WASAL test scores are last. If you are from a wealthy known family you may have some advantage. The guide said even valvictorians was rejected and having a perfect criteria base is no guarantee you can get accepted. 98 % of the students graduate in 4 years, 2% graduate in 5 years. We shopped and ate lunch in the Harvard University area.

Another big college in Boston is MIT (MA Intitute of Technology), very strick school, high intensity of discipline, very hard to get accepted to because of the volume, it has a higher rate of suicides than some other colleges. You do nothing but study at this college 24 /7.

This market is a big open market some stores in buildings and some on the street. Very large
area we spent a hour and half and had dinner there but it was at the end of our day so did not do much shopping but we could all go back to our home state and say we had been there. We understand if you go to Boston you will be asked that question.

This picture is a sky line view of Boston from accross the harbour.

This is a picture of the harbor from the same place the skyline picture was taken from.

This picture is bunker hill a impressive granite monument, 221 feet high and marks the location of the Battle of Bunker Hill fought on June 17th 1775.

The picture above this picture is the entrance to the Old North Church this old colonial church dating from 1723 was the highest pooint on the skyline of Boston when the night of April 18, 1775 two lanterns were hung in the steeple. These lanterns was a signal to Paul Revere how the Redcoats were advancing on Lexington and Concord either by land or sea. One lantern lit was by land if two lit it was by sea.

This is a picture of the steeple where the lanterns were placed by the janitor that night.

They had room for 300 + of us tourist was ushered into this church and listened to a speaker on the history of the church. There is still church services every sunday in this church. The picture above is of the organ that you see is on the upper level of this building. Notice the 4 angels on the posts in front of the organ. They come from England. The clock was built by the sea captains. Notice where we all sat in boxes of 4 that is the way it was in the early days and that was because there was no heat in this building. But little heaters sat in each window (as you can see in the far window accross the way the black square object) with small boxes like this people stayed warm from each other sitting so close a confined space.
This picture was of a box of a sea captain that started the chuch and gave a large sum of money so if you did that you could decorate your box any way you wished.

This picture is of the USS Constitution and then there was a Museum also. We toured this ship.

Wow only with help of the Souvenir Guide books could Barb & Jerry pull all this information out of their brain. We have some great reference material for our grand children to read and do papers for their school history classes.

I took 43 pictures with the Camera that Teresa and Steve gave me for Mothers day and I love that camera it is so small and compact and easy to have in my purse THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Jerry took more than I did with his camera which is the big digital camera which he likes.