MA / VT / NY / IL - USA '08

As part of the annual trip that Andy, Nick, Aaron and I go on - having visited Iceland last year - it was off to Vermont in the States this time, and I'd tacked a bit on to the start and end of my trip to see some more of the US and catch up with some other friends.

The plan was to fly into Boston, and make my way to Vermont to meet Nick, Andy and Aaron - then continue via the Niagra Falls to Chicago, to catch up with my mate Rob who I have known since University days who lives there.

Saturday 9 August

I'd stayed the night at Caroline's place and had a relaxing day tempered only by the fact that the British Airways website did not let me check in online. We spent a relaxing day watching the first day of the Beijing Olympics before I got onto the Piccadily line to Heathrow. When I got to Terminal 4, I discovered the reason why Id not been able to check in via the internet. They had upgraded me to "World Traveller Plus" which in old money means Business Class. With the extra perks afforded me, the flight went well and got a quick nap before we landed in Boston.

I was a little disorientated when I disembarked, but got through all the finger printing and retinal scanning required of entry into the States and caught a shuttle to the subway which took me the rest of the way to my hostel in the Fenway area. I found the place with no problems at all, and checked in heading straight to bed. I dropped off to sleep very quickly, but my slumber was interrupted by a big fat bloke in the bed next to me who snored and sleep talked all night. The ear plugs that BA gave me on the flight came in very handy.

Sunday 10 August

I got up in the morning and had breakfast which was provided by the hostel. I hadn't been told when I checked in that it was free and tried to ask the hostel cleaner in the kitchen if I had to pay for the food, but she replied in Spanish that she didnt understand what I was saying! I left the hostel after chatting to an affable 60 year old Australian fellow who was travelling around by himself for a few weeks until his wife joined him later in his travels. Navigating via the map I'd bought in Heathrow, I found the Charles River and wandered along its bank towards the city centre. It was very peaceful and there were many runners, cyclists and rollerbladers passing me as I wandered along taking photos of the cityscape.

I walked along the river, passing the Havard and Longfellow bridges and eventually I crossed the Charlestown bridge and wandered past the USS Constitution which had been one of the main weapons in fighting the British during the American revolution. I then wandered up to "Bunker Hill" so-called because of the huge obelisk shaped bunker that overlooks the city. After climbing up the 294-step structure, I had to pause for a little rest from the exertions. My legs partially recovered, I managed to wobble my way to the next point of interest on the 'Freedom trail' the 5km route through Boston that contains points of historical interest. On the way back over the Charlestown Bridge I saw a guy fishing over the side, pull up a huge sea bass to the appaluse of all the passers by. When it was finally hauled up in a net, it appeared that he had actually caught a fish that had been eaten by the larger fish he'd pulled up. Im not very good at guessing weights, but it looked to be almost a metre long.

After continuing past such historically interesting places as a graveyeard, a church and a statue, I paused at at the far more interesting "Bell in Hand" - the oldest pub in America - for a bite to eat, a pint and to catch up on the Olympics.

After refueling, chatting with some of the other punters and catching a bit of sport, I continued along past Quincy Market where some street performers were drawing a large crowd of people to the Old South Meeting House - where the Boston Tea Party began. It is supposed to act as a symbol for free speach and revolution - but who knows if these values are really prevalent in the US today. It doesnt seem like it for an outsider like myself, but one thing you learn from travel is that you cant judge a country by its politians or government.

In any case, I meandered back to the hostel through Boston Common and the public gardens. The hostel had recommended a bar to visit, so along with a couple of blokes I met in the tv room I checked it out - but it was virtually deserted and I made it to bed early and in the absense of my snoring room mate had a good night's rest.

It was raining but still very warm when I got up, and after a relaxed breakfast I tagged along with a couple of guys who were heading out to Harvard. We looked around the campus and saw a bunch of entirely uninteresting buildings. The most interesting part was the story of a benefactor of the Widener library who stated as part of the donation that the exterior of the library should not be altered after it was built. The library was thus extended below ground, however we were not allowed to enter to verify if that was true. The story continued that as the son of the benefactor was killed in the Titanic disaster that all students should undergo a swimming test, but a quick search of the internet revealed that this is an urban legend and was probably invented to give tours of Harvard some kind of interesting aside. God knows they need it! One story that was true was that of the status of John Harvard that lies near the main entrance to the campus. The status is known as the statue of three lies- it claims that it depicts John Hrvard, Founder, 1638, but in reality Harvard was merely a contributor- (the institution was founded in 1636); and the statue is actually a likeness of someone else. All it all it makes a slight mockery of 'Veritas' (truth), the motto of the institution!

After getting back to the hostel, I wandered down the road to the nearby Fenway Park - the oldest baseball park in the US, and home of the Boston Red Sox.

Tuesday 12 August

I got up and was once again met with a grey, rainy day and a hangover. After mucking around for a while, I decided to go into town and do some shopping. I managed to get some cycling stuff for myself and Caroline and had more of a look around the Qunicy Market area downtown and the Wharf. Feeling much better, I returned to the hostel and organised with Anthony and Scott who Id met watching olympics in the tv room to go to the 'Cheers' pub - the pub that inspired the tv series. The pub was adorned with life sized cardboard cut-outs of the characters from the tv series and with the numbers of tourists coming through, was certainly an intersting place for a few drinks.

Thinking about my onward journey, I managed to contact a friend of Nick's, Dion, who confirmed that he could take me up to Vermont with him and his fiance on Friday.

We then went out to a comedy club night organised by the hostel. It was quite an experience as the aspiring comedians gave the audience - which consisted of a of a majority of internationally diverse members - a barrage of locally based humour, to which the rest of the assembly occasionally laughed. After that 3 of us decided to continue to another bar just down the road from the hostel where we finished quite late.

Wednesday 13 August

I found Boston to be a nice enough town, compact, clean and the people were pretty friendly and laid back. It was however a bit quiet and I was struggling to find a decent coffee or food that wasnt covered in cheese or other kinds of fat. On a reccommendation of one of the girls behind the counter at the hostel, I decided to take a ferry from the harbour and go to Cape Cod and the settlement of Provincetown.

Departing Boston (above) and arriving in Provincetown (below)

The late finish the previous night had meant that the 9:30am departure of my Ferry to Provincetown on Cape Cod was passed before I'd left the hostel. The next departure was not scheduled until 2:00pm, so after breakfast I got my head together and decided to walk into town. It was a nice day, and the exercise cleared my head, After purchasing my ticket, I sat in the gardens reading and watching people run in and out of the harbourside fountain to cool off from the heat - before looking around the exterior of the New England aquarium - which was most impressive. The free portion of the display had sea lions in a tank right beside the wharf, and had attracted a large selection of children that the sea lions watched with interest from behind their glass enclosure.

I met Anthony, one of the protagonists from the previous night, and we sat on the back deck of the fast ferry for the 90min ride to provincetown. I didnt have directions to "Cape Codder", the guest house that Id booked into and the main street of town was quite busy and difficult to negotiate wearing a large backpack, but I eventually found a taxi driver who pointed me in the right direction and 20mins later, I arrived. After getting changed and dropping off my stuff, I started wandering the streets from the Cape Codder. Id noticed that there were and inordinately large number of gay pride flags and thus gay community there. It is very picturesque and the light was perfect for photos, but I had left my camera at home and was very tired so I forewent the chance of taking the killer shot for a good night's sleep which was rapidly forthcoming.

Thursday 14th August

I was up early after a very long and deep sleep and had breakfast with a couple of the guests, a gay couple from New York City who were having a few months off while their house was undergoing rennovations. It was a very relaxing hour sitting in the garden drinking coffee and eating toast while the day got going.

I hired a bike in the village and rode out to the small park where the pilgrims first landed in 1610. There was a breakwater heading out accross the bay from the park, so I followed the masses accross it only to discover to my dispare that it didnt really lead anywhere.

After getting back on my bike, I continued exploring of the cape and found some cycle tracks that took me to the coast at Race Point, which I initially mistook for the place where a local car event was to take place, and where there is a beach and a coastguard station. After that I carried on to the visitor centre which provided details of some historical aspects of the area. Although it is now mostly sand dunes, the cape used to be lush forest before the trees were felled for fuel, building and heating by the new arrivals to America.

I continued around the rest of the tracks, and stopped briefly at the local library where I enjoyed some free interent access and a welcome air-conditioned rest before going back to the guest house for a swim in the very shallow sea water. It took about 200m of wading before I got to just over knee deep, and with the gradient not looking like it was going to get any steeper did my best at that depth. After a shower and a short rest, I took the bike back and met up with Anthony from the ferry ride over with whom I shared dinner and a few drinks before we parted company.

I decided against going out for more drinks and wandered home through the village and poking my head into a few of the little shops, and pausing for quite a while at a gallery that had photos of China, South America and of local subjects. It was a relaxing end to a good day.

The next morning I caught the ferry back to Boston, and enjoyed another beautiful, hot day which allowed me to sit in the sun, read, relax and watch people until it was time to meet Dion and Christy who lived near the end of the green subway line and with whom Id be travelling to Greensboro, Vermont with in a couple of hours. I managed to find their place having used google maps from their address - I even got a picture of where they lived!

I met Christy and she told me that Dion had been delayed a bit, so we went out to get something to eat before he got home - and we set off at around 6:30, only a little late - but into traffic and a day that had deteriorated into fairly heavy rain.

We stopped en route at a town called Littlejohn where we found a bar to watch Michael Phelps win his seventh gold medal of the olympics. Noone in this small town pub was even remotely interested in the television so we left immediatley after the race and got in at around 11:30 where we briefly said 'Hi' to a very tired looking Nick who had driven all day to get there, before bed.

Saturday 16th August

I awoke to a nice day, after the rather cooler temperatures we'd experienced on our arrival, and began taking in the wonderful location I found myself in.

Nick's Great-Grandfather had built the wooden house were were staying in during the 20's and it had five bedrooms upstairs and a large series of living areas downstairs. It was situated on the water's edge of Caspian Lake near the town of Greensboro and the only method of communiacation to the outside world we had was landline telelphone, no mobiles or internet here. Nick and Dion went off to the shops, and I went out for a short run. When Dion and Nick returned, we played some croquet on a course entheusiastically designed by Dion. The efforts of hitting a coloured ball around the lawn with a mallot made us hot enough to go for a swim in the lake, which was far warmer than I had expected. We celebrated by playing some more croquet, this time with Christy.

The afternoon rapidly turned into the evening, and we ended up having dinner, chatting and although I lit a fire out by the lake- it got too cold and we all retired insode to watch the women's marathon and Michael Phelps's record eighth gold medal at the olympics on tv.

We arose and after the requisite game of croquet after breakfast settled down to play a board game that involved us all responding to a question posed by one of the rest of us, who then tried to guess what the others had said. We adjourned and after yet more croquet, waved goodbye to Dion and Christie who had to return to Boston. Nick and I went into Willie's General Store to get a few things for dinner, played some croquet and organised a game of golf for the following day.

Monday 18th August

Nick and I got up early and went out to the Greensboro Country Club to play a round of their nine hole course. The course was as beautiful as the golf wasn't and after zig-zagging my way around eight holes, I managed to get hold of a drive, and from there put the pitch close to two putt for an incredible par! In the afternoon I wasnt for a swim in between reading and generally chilling out.

That evening Bills son who also lived in the area, Bill jnr came around to warn us that there were two storms forecast for the night, one small one in the late evening and a much larger one in the early hours of the next morning. He moved the kayaks that were sitting near the lake to higher ground and after chatting for a while left us to face the elements.

Tuesday 19th August

The forecast storms from the previous night arrived right on time, and I awoke to a cold, grey, rainy day. The proposed trip to Mt. Mansfield was immediately cancelled and in the morning I read to little Elizabeth for a time, before Nick and I went into the nearby town of Hardwick for lunch and to get some bits and pieces for a big dinner planned that evening. Lunch took quite a while - the mother and daughter team behind the counter at the diner argued about what should be in the special (mash, burger, colslaw, gravy and pudding= instant pudding) and there were a bit snowed under, so rang a bloke up from down the road to help. He duly arrived and our order was eventually delivered. We ate and then wandered through the town of Hardwick stopping at an organic famer's market near Greensboro on the way home. Andy, Aaron, Simone and Karen arrived from their Atlantic crossing about an hour and a half after our return, and we set about welcoming them while starting up the BBQ to cook the ribs Bill (snr) had bought over. We listened to stories of the new arrivals exploits on the cruise ship ride accross the pond and regaled stories of our golfing prowess well into the night.

Wednesday 20th August

I rose early for the first time since arriving and finished packing before breakfast and goodbyes then Nick and I hit the road to Burlington, VT where my flight to Buffalo departed from. We drove past the ski resort of Stowe and the ben & Jerry's Icecream factory on the way to the airport, and made good time arriving with plenty of time to spare - which was lucky because Id packed my sunscreen in my carry on luggage beofre the departure and it needed to be packed into my cabin baggage by a very helpful security service.

During my flight, I had to change in Washington DC as there are no direct flights from Burlightonton to Buffalo but I made the connection without incident. I arrived in Buffalo without any knowledge of the place - or any idea what to do when I got there, but I found a local bus to the Niagra falls for $2 which was substantially cheaper than the shuttle ($45) that was advertised all over the baggage collection hall. After arriving at the falls, I booked myself on a tour of the falls and surrounding area for the rest of the afternoon.

The trip was a little late beginning as the only other two people on the trip were from Spain and spoke very little English - so wandered off before the driver/guide could get them sorted, and spent the next 10 mins looking for them. The Niagra falls area consists of three actual waterfalls, the American Falls the Horseshoe falls (the more recogniseable/ spectacular of the three) and the smaller Bridal Veil falls. We started the tour by doing the "Maid of the Mist" boat ride, which took us right into the mist of the waterfall. It was quite good but over too quickly, and the multi-language commentary was barely audible against the engines of the boat and the roar from the falls themselves. We then ascended to the top of a huge observation platform the Americans had built, which doesnt give the best views of the falls, but because we'd just been on the river getting an up-close view, it didnt really matter. It was spectacular nonetheless. After that we were taken to the original site of the falls via 'the whirlpool' a bend in the river caused from a previous incaration of the falls and the power plant that uses the flow of the river to in part power New York City. All this was accompanied by a brief and not particularly knowlegeable commentary from our guide, Justin. He was a local lad, who told me that "there was only 2% of water in the lakes that the falls get their water from that was recycled" - but later confessed that he didnt actually know what that meant! He did tell me that the falls exist in a body of water that is actually correctly known as a strait rather than a river as I had originally thought - and explained how erosion had moved the site of the falls upstream over the past 12 000 years. We returned to the actual falls, and did the 'Caves of the Wind' trip which takes you down 17 floors from the top of the falls to the river (or strait) level below the American falls. From there you climb up to the 'Hurricane Deck' where the advertising tag lines say that "the wind from the downforce of the water drenches you in spray". I was skeptical about the ability of the wind to do this, as Id been on the Maid of the Mist tour earlier with similar warnings, and had no such drenching, even without the plastic poncho they handed out before the ride - but boy was I wrong about that. Drenched I was, with only a few hours to dry out before a 10 hour train ride!

Dripping wet, we continued along the side of the falls and a little further upstream to the three sisters island, as the sun was setting. Having dried off enough to be comfortable, I was dropped off at the Bus Station only 10mins after the previous bus, but one and a half hours before the next one back to Buffalo town. I settled in to a coffee shop and waited for the bus which dropped me in town, still quite some way from the train station in the suburb of Depew. I couldnt find any other way to get there, so was arranging a price with a cab, when a Canadian father/son combination asked if I wanted to split the fare which helped the price I was to pay significantly. Twenty minutes later I was in the waiting room at the station waiting for the train to Chicago that was scheduled to leave at one minute to midnight.

After a short while, a lady appeared in the waiting room to check tickets. She was cherry and commented on the size of my signature as I signed the tickets to somehow validate them, before issuing me with a boarding pass. There was no seat allocation yet she told me, they'd tell me where to go when the train arrived. She carried on going around the rest of the waiting room which included the Canadians I'd shared the cab with, an Armish family, a guy who had three tickets, but was travelling by himself and sat as though he was quietly fuming in between mobile phone calls that were very intense and required animated waving of appendages - and a few others who were uninteresting by comparison. When she had finished issuing boarding passes, she informed us that the train would be 50mins late. My first American train ride was not starting well. While waiting, I was reading the 8:55 to Baghdad which was describing the luxuary of the Orient Express, which seemed far removed from a brick waiting room containing four large vending machines, a huge pebble-dashed rubbish bin, a broken automatic ticket machine and ticket windows, the decoration being the obligatory American Flag.

Eventually the train arrived, but the coach carriages where it appeared all of us were supposed to board were at the rear of the train - a good 50m away. The conductor lady who had taken yelled out "Dont just stand there!" and we hurried down to the appropriate entry point where our tickets were checked outside the train and then again once we had climbed up the two stairs to enter. Apparently there is a substantial amount of fraud by people in the two steps whilst boarding a train here! I found a seat as the train pulled away from the station, and after such a long day, immediately fell asleep. I Woke up at around 6:30 in the morning, but made it back to sleep for a while as I groggily came to the realisation that the train had lost more time over the time Id been asleep. I aquainted myself with the chap sitting next to me, a flower delivery guy from Syracuse who was returning to his childhood home for a family wedding. We worked out that the train was about 2 hours late. He alighted at South Bend leaving me with an hour and a half to go.

The train finally started rolling along side Lake Michagen and a huge steel works that made the air heavy with its factory smell and then we hit the outskirts of Chicago and the Sears tower was visable in the distance. Id made contact with Rob and we started sorting out a plan for the rest of the day. We passed the White Sox statium and I saw the 72 of Carlton Fisk that had been retired by both this team at the Red Sox who Id been to the stadium of in Boston, and we slowly crept into Chicago Central Station.

Thursday 20th August

As I departed the station, I discovered that the arrangements that Id made with Rob, were all wrong as during my train journey, Id unexpectedly passed through a time zone and entered US central time. Rob was going to be busy at work for the next hour and so I amused myself by going up the Sears tower, formally the tallest building in the world which on a clear day would have had great views over the city and the adjacent Lake Michagen, but unfortunatley there was a fair amount of smog and haze preventing any decent views. The displays around the viewing area gave a brief insight into the windy city and the attractions and history thereof. More importantly, it was air conditioned so I could escape the hot humid air outside and relax in relative comfort.

Eventually I met Rob, and after leaving my gear at his place - went out for a couple of drinks, stopping at a few other places for some more on the way back. It was a busy night and we got to bed quite late.

Friday 21st August

I awoke this morning to find myself in a very hungover state. As Rob was putting his house on the market, I helped him do a few things around the place to tidy it up, and managed to sneak out to 'Streetside' a local bar for lunch. Later in the afternoon on what was a very hot (35degC) day, we wandered through town down to the area called 'Old Town' where we met some of Rob's friends and enjoyed a night out at another pub.

Having decided that my sore head was a result of not eating the previous night, I made sure I devoured a burger at the pub, and it seemed to do the trick. Rob on the other hand, was not quite up to my foresight and was a little worse for wear as the night went on. His girlfriend Carrie arrived later in the evening and we shared a cab back to her place, which was closer and had a spare bed - so I needed no other convincing after another big night out.

Sat 22nd August

Rob is a massive Liverpool fan, and he had arranged to meet the guys from the previous night out at a bar that shows sports from England the next morning. We arrived and watched Liverpool's game over a full english alongside a pub packed with mostly expats doing the same thing. There was a South Africa vs Australia rugby game in the morning after the football too, so I needed no second invitation.

Id arranged with an old school friend Karl, to meet in the morning and after the rugby had finished he joined Rob and I for a walk along the Old Navy Pier and along the lake, stopping while I took photos of the city from time to time.

Rob left us to continue catching up while he went back to continue tidying up his place, and when I got back we got ourselves ready to go out kayaking for the evening. The kayak trip was organised by Carrie and was a three hour paddle though the city at night to watch the fireworks over the Old Navy pier, and back. It was peaceful paddling through the black water but often disconcerting when you would pass some rubbish or a nasty smelling area on the bank and couldnt quite make out what it was.

After the paddle, we adjurned back to Robs where we enjoyed some native Chicago food, a Deep Dish pizza! Deep dish pizza, to all intents and purposes is a quiche - but either way, Id not had one before and after a long day, really enjoyed this one.

Sunday 23rd August

We were up early so I could pack before we were to head out to see the Cubs play at Wrigley Park, the second oldest baseball ground in the US after Fenway Park, where I'd already been on this trip. We managed to leave my bags at Carrie's and then got a cab out to the ground, settling into the seats saved for us in the left field stands by the guys we'd been out drinking with on Friday night. It was a hot sunny and clear day for the first time since Id been in town and the game was not bad, though I must confess to not really being a baseball fan everyone enjoyed the Cubs victory. The game finished a little early, so we managed a quick post-match beer at the pub before I had to get on the 'El' (short for Elevated train - the Chicago public transport network) out to the airport and home.