http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Geriatric Pilgrims/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Geriatric Pilgrims en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:38:18 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:38:18 BST In glorious weather had a great last day of our trip exploring the full length of Cape Cod. Cape Cod is about 60 miles long and is shaped like a beckoning arm see photo. It is generally flat and there are miles of sandy beaches and sand dunes on every coast. The Pilgrim Fathers first landed in America on the northern tip at the site which is now occupied by Provincetown the major resort. They http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Plymouth/blog-95644.html Instead of starting In Plymouth the Geriatric Pilgrims have ended there. After a long drive from Acadia down the Maine New Hampshire and Massachusetts coasts and through Boston we are now staying in Plymouth Massachusetts. The locals call it the gateway to Cape Cod which we hope to explore tomorrow.Before we left Acadia we went on a short walk up Flying Mountain to give us superb views along S http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Plymouth/blog-95378.html The cloudless skies returned today and with very clear viability we had a magnificent time introducing ourselves to the Acadia National Park. The park was denoted to the nation by several rich families including the Rockefellers. It has a glaciated coastline including one of only two fiords on the east coast of America and several hills of over 1000rsquo with bare granite summits poking through http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/Southwest-Harbour/blog-95155.html We spent a rather unpleasant day driving 200 miles through Maine in continuous rain from Bethel in the west to the Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island on the Atlantic coast. We are staying in a very pleasant bed and breakfast house in Southwest harbour.Fortunately the weather cleared in the evening and we able to take a pleasant walk along the coast by Bar Harbour the largest town on the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/Southwest-Harbour/blog-94941.html On another dull day which was also fairly cold windy and at times wet we explored the North East of the White Mountains. The area is dominated by Mount Washington at 6288rsquo it is the highest mountain in North East USA. Being exposed it tends to have severe weather conditions.We first went to look at the bottom station of the cog railway that runs up Mount Washington. This was followed by a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maine/Bethel/blog-94672.html Unfortunately as we headed north into the high altitudes of the White Mountains the weather turned dull. We were also disappointed to find that high winds had blown most of the leaves from the trees so the foliage views were not as good as further south.This did not stop us from enjoying our drive up the lake and taking a mountain walking trail through the forest for a couple of pleasant hours.We http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Hampshire/Franconia/blog-94352.html We moved from Vermont to New Hampshire today.During the trip we visited Woodstock a small town with many fine buildings and the Queche gorge one of the more impressive geological features in Vermont.We are now staying in Wolfeboro a delightful small town on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in the lakes region of New Hampshire. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Hampshire/Wolfeboro/blog-94120.html We are now staying at the Fullerton Inn at Chester Vermont. Many of the towns and villages in this area have English names. It's an American bank holiday Columbus weekend.On a gloriously sunny warm and still day we toured around the area and began to appreciate the prettiness of the countryside and the beauty of the Fall foliage colours. Although someone told us itrsquos not a good year for http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Vermont/Chester/blog-93906.html On a glorious sunny autumnal day we left Massachusetts and headed North into Vermont.Our first stop was at small village called Jacksonville where we bought delicious apple and blueberry pies from a stall set for Columbus Day up by the local Womensrsquo Guild.A drive into the Green Mountains on what I expected to be on minor tarmac roads turned out to be on tracks. However after a couple of hour http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Vermont/Chester/blog-93642.html The weather is becoming autumnal now with temperatures barely reaching 60F during the day and dropping to near freezing at night. However it is still dry and mainly clear.Today we explored the Berkshires a forest covered hilly area in the far west of Massachusetts. Many New Yorkers and Bostonians have their summer homes here and it is a centre for the arts in the summer. At this time of the year http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Charlemont/blog-93635.html On another fine but colder day we picked up our hire car from the airport and with some difficulty due to roadworks made our way out of Boston and headed west into the Massachusetts countryside. We were soon into hilly areas covered by trees which were beginning to turn into their Autumn colours.We stopped at a farm shop which was selling pumpkins and squashes of all shapes size and colour to bu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Charlemont/blog-93634.html Another glorious warm and sunny day saw us viewing Boston from the top of the Prudential Tower taking a cruise of the harbour walking through a beautiful park called The Public Garden and visiting Harvard University which is located in nearby Cambridge.Tomorrow we start our tour of rural New England and hopefully get a good view of the fall foliage colours. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Boston/blog-93066.html The weather for our first full day in Boston was terrific but our journey around this historic city was to a certain extent frustrating.We started with a bus tour which was on a single deck trolley. Neither the views from the vehicle nor the commentary were particularly good. We then took the harbour ferry to Charlestown which gave us a grand outlook over the city skyline. The two main attractions http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Boston/blog-92808.html Last night on our way to watch the fireworks Wendy put on a jacket. Later she also needed her woolly hat but it was no longer in the rucsac. On reflection we felt the hat may have dropped out with the jacket so as we left for the airport this morning we asked the taxi driver to divert via the spot and amazingly it was still lying on the pavement. Honest folks these NiagaransThe rest of our trip http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Boston/blog-92657.html What a day The falls lived up to and probably more than we expected. The weather started dull but cleared up later to give us perfect viewing conditions.We visited both the American and Canadian sides of the gorge to see the different aspects of this wonderful natural phenomenon. We saw spraybows from several different locations. We had a ride on the Maid of the Mist boat right underneath the Hor http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/Niagara-Falls/blog-92396.html We said goodbye to New York today and after a walk round the locality of our hotel took the train and bus to La Guardia airport. We would have had a smooth flight to Buffalo had it not been for a 50 minute queue of over 20 planes waiting to take off and a further 30 minute delay for our luggage to arrive at the baggage reclaim. We thought we had lost itHowever we eventually arrived at Louise and http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/blog-92354.html Our last full day in New York started with a delightful walk across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of New York for our cultural fix.From there we caught our final bus tour around Uptown Manhattan including Harlem.In the evening we explored Greenwich Village which reminded us of Wimbledon in London. As well as enjoying the vibrant atmosphere of the place we were entertained by a street pl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-92000.html A lovely sunny day was ideal for going up the Empire State Building so we did. We were consequently rewarded with wonderful views of the whole of New York City and beyond.The rest of the time was spent taking bus tours of Downtown Manhattan by day and night. The informative and amusing guides increased our knowledge of the city no end.Between the tours we had an excellent oven baked pizza at John http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-91822.html In fairly dull but dry weather today was our day on the ferries in New York.We took the Circle Line boat first to Liberty Island for a tour around the Statue and then to Ellis Island to visit the museum in the former immigrant reception centre. This took most of the day but we did have time to walk to the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge to catch a good view of the financial district in Manhattan.Af http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-91601.html As we approached New York under clear blue skies on our flight from Atlanta we had an unbelievable introduction to the city with perfect views from the aircraft of the Statue of Liberty the Empire State Building Central Park and the rest of Manhattan. Unfortunately no photos as the seat belt sign was already on with my camera in the overhead locker.An exciting journey to our hotel by bus and sub http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-91380.html