Niagra Falls and a few other pics

We got to Niagra Falls at about 9:00 a.m. We spent about 40 minutes there. From there, we drove home. Some pics below. The first is the new World Trade Center as seen from the ferry. The second is the motley crew at the ferry dock waiting to board (Ricky was not really wanting his pic taken). The next couple are of the museum at Nintendo World. Then, a few from Niagra Falls.

Left Bar Harbor and arrived in Batavia, NY

The drive was something like 700 miles. But, it puts us in a position to be home tomorrow, a day early. Also, due to the route the Garmin and google maps picked out, puts us right by Niagra Falls. So, we will see that on Friday and then drive the 50 miles home. Before we left Bar Harbor, I decided, at 5:00 a.m., to go visit a little used part of Acadia (used mostly by the locals). It is on the map but it is obscure and not even labeled. It is called Compass Harbor. While there, the experienced hiker that I am forgot to pay attention and slipped on the rocks and fell (hurt my right thumb breaking my fall). Anyway, the internet was a little slow at the last place and took forever to upload photos. I don't have too many from Bar Harbor left to upload...but here they are:

If I get some good pics from Niagra Falls, I will upload tomorrow or Saturday.

Bar Harbor

The drive to Bar Harbor was uneventful. However, we had thought that my brother lost his wallet at the hotel in Freeport, ME. We looked everywhere and couldn't find it. So, that left all the driving up to me. We took the coastal road over to Bar Harbor. Frankly, it was a little disappointing. Some nice views but that was few and far between. We arrived at the Bar Harbor hotel at around 12:00 and ate lunch at the hotel (Stewmans Lobster Pound). Excellent Clam Chowder. I could just get an IV of the stuff. Even converted Tony to liking seafood. Everywhere we go up here, it is mandatory that we try the Clam Chowder. So far, the Stewman's is the best overall. However, the Bar Harbor Brew Company's is not far behind and was absolutely full of clams.

We also ate dinner at Stewman's. Lobster rolls, crab rolls, etc...all just so fresh. Then, we made the mistake of going to Bar Harbor to shop. Mistake because I spent way too much money. Bar Harbor is a great little town. Lots of nice shops and places to eat.

The weather bewteen two days couldn't be more different (though I hear the same for Indy in talking with family). Absolutely beautiful when we arrived yesterday. Today, nothing but rain and overcast.

Here are a few pictures...but not much...simply couldn't get out enough today to get good pics.

The motley bunch...

TJ at Sand Beach

More from Sand Beach...

More pics later..takes forever to upload them here.

Day 4 and 5

On Day 4, we were still in NYC. We walked down to see the Empire State Building. We also went to Rockefeller Center and saw Radio City Music Hall. More barely dressed people in Time Square. We had planned on trying to find a Mediterranean restaurant to eat at. So, we used the smart phones and went to find one. When we got to it, none of us wanted to go in...So, we ate at the Kosher restaurant next door. It's names was Ben's. We did some shopping (Lego Store, Nintendo World, and NBA store). On Sunday, we left NYC. On the way out of town, we drove by Central Park. Then, we drove through Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and into Maine. We stayed in Freeport, ME. Apparently, it is the home of LL Bean. We had some Lobster Rolls, Clam Chowder, Haddock Chowder and Lobster Stew from a local eatery. After swimming, we noticed on the back patio, some guys had gathered and had two Lobsters. They were getting ready to steam them. But, they were playing with them a bit...they were sticking their fingers right by their claws. Everyone still had all their fingers when we left.

Bonus Blog posts Saturday

Literally a stones through from our hotel is both the Hell's Kitchen area and Times Square. A couple blocks away is one of the Old McGraw-Hill buildings. For those of you who watch the Big Bang Theory (Sheldon would be proud of this trivia item) , or simply like comics, this building was the original home of Timely Comics. They are better known as their current name - Marvel Comics. The building was completed in 1931, the same year as the Empire State Building. The address to the building was actually included in Captain America Comics #1 as the address kids could write to the Captain. It is on the list of US Historic Buildings.

A few more pics from day 3

View from our hotel room down 8th Avenue:

A few from Toys 'R' Us

And one from Times Square at night. You will see a firework going off. We think that is an event at Central Park.

Day 2 and Day 3

Day 2 saw us, or should I say me, drive 505 miles from London, OH to Clinton, NJ. We did see the Commonwealth Connections Academy building just outside Harrisburg, PA on the drive. Was not a bad drive except PA apparently wants to purposely slow travelers by randomly having 55 mph. Day 3: We drove from Clinton, NJ to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. We then ferried over to see the statue of Liberty. Pics below. Aferwards, we ate at a McDonalds in a neighborhood where everyone has bars on their doors and windows. We then drove into NYC to go to our hotel, The Intercontinental on Times Square. We ate at Carmine's which is just right down the block. Afterwards, we walked the couple of blocks to Times Square (the central area). We saw where the ball drops as well as several dozen people in costumes and a few girls who suffered from a lack of costume, or apparel. Though, they were very skilled with body paint. We went to the Toys 'R' Us on the square. They have a ferris wheel in the store as well as a full size T-Rex (animatronic). They had several large Lego sculptures (the Empire State Building which took 700 hours to build and 180000 blocks). Statue of Liberty Pics:

Ellis Island pics:

The ferry boat:

The skyline of NYC from the ferry:

Times Square pics:

Day 1 - to London, OH

Nice easy drive after work to London, OH.  

On our drive, we drove by Wright Patt Air Force base.  We were able to see a gigantic air force cargo plane coming in for a landing.  I think it was a C17 Globemaster.  We couldn't believe how big it was.

Here is a link to some info about the C17.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_C-17_Globemaster_III