My First Real-Life Introduction to New England

For anyone who knows me, the mention of “New England” makes me immediately think about cheating and underserved championships. But on this trip, I could not be more excited about the opportunity to see the New England states for the first time in my life. And I was not disappointed.

Leaving NYC, I very quickly was introduced to Connecticut and was pleasantly surprised at just how much traveling I was able to do in what I had thought to be a relatively small state. Of course, I had to start with New Haven and a trip to Yale, which was my third Ivy League school so far on this trip (Penn and Columbia). This was a decent oceanside city and I saw my first lighthouse of the trip while I was here (Five Mile Point Lighthouse).

After a quick lunch, I headed northward and, after a quick stop in Bristol to check out the ESPN campus, it was a visit to the basketball hall of fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. So, when I say I am enshrined permanently in the basketball hall of fame, I can assure you I left behind enough skin cells to always have a home in this illustrious site.

Back on the road in Connecticut, I headed back south and visited two places with a limited amount of fame and with mixed results. The Foxwoods Resort Casino wasn’t much more than any other casino I’ve been to, but at least now I can say I’ve been there. The oceanside city of Mystic, on the other hand, was quite impressive and definitely a place I’d like to return to on a future trip. It seemed like a great place to hang out for a few days and enjoy in a less hurried manner.

With Connecticut in the rearview mirror, I was off to the smallest state in our massive country and also the only one to have “island” in its name. I didn’t spend much time in Rhode Island but did take enough time to check out the capital city (Providence, or Quahog for us Family Guy fans). Providence didn’t offer up a whole lot to look at other than a couple of statues, but then again it wasn’t expected to be one of the highlights of the trip.

Having been on the road most of the day, it was time to pull into one of the trip’s definitely highlights - Boston.

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple

On a trip like this one, it can be hard to identify what the actual destination is. With so many states on the itinerary, every place I stop feels like a destination. But when I arrived in New York City in the early evening of my second day of the trip, I was relatively certain I was about to experience some of the more memorable highlights of the trip.

Getting to NYC wasn’t too bad either, as I left Philadelphia and drove into New Jersey, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it was a much nicer-looking city than it had always been described, even if my brief time in Atlantic City wasn’t all that exciting. Once I rolled past Newark and drove into the Holland Tunnel, I knew I was on the verge of a great time.

My first night in town wasn’t all that productive as I took a few pics as I walked around and then focused on being on time to my dinner reservation to Harding’s and then off to check out the local bar scene in Chelsea. The night itself offered up little excitement but I did get to have a nice chat with a couple sitting next to me at the restaurant. That conversation broke up my people watching but only briefly. Once I was back out on the streets heading back to the hotel, I was taking in the sights and sounds (and smells) around me.

My second day in NYC was an adventurous one, starting with me taking longer than expected to learn the subway system. But once I learned how everything ran, I became enough of an expert that I was actually able to help a couple of tourists get on the right train to reach their destination. Theoretically.

I visited the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Central Park, and took in a Broadway play (Wicked) that night. It was definitely an exciting and memorable day! Alas, recognizing that I should have probably booked a couple of additional days in the Big Apple, I had to move on the morning of my third day and begin my trek to the next destination - off to my first time in Beantown.

The interesting thing about NYC is that this was my third time there and I still feel like I have so much I haven’t seen yet. Maybe next time!

The City of Brotherly Love?

Ah, Philadelphia - the City of Brotherly Love. Well, it took me a short amount of time to learn that wasn’t necessarily the case (see prior blogpost about the car rental business). If I didn’t already know from reading stories about Philly sports fans, it didn’t take long for me to find out that Pennsylvania’s most populated city (more than 1.3 million more people than Pittsburgh) has plenty of opinionated and somewhat disgruntled people. The good news, however, is that the historical nature and interesting sites of one of our nation’s most famous cities outshone the negativity that occasionally presented itself during my time in Philadelphia (basically half of my first day and the half of the second day).

On the historic side, there were plenty to see. Starting with the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, I was able to also see the Betsy Ross House and Penn’s Landing. Philadelphia was a major city in the early part of our nation’s history and these sites were evidence of the pride the city has shown in promoting that history.

An unexpected treat early on in my journey was walking up to a local drinking establishment called Paddy’s Pub. Having read and been told that there was no such bar as Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia (the show is mostly filmed in California), I had to go inside. This was definitely not the same place - it was a fairly small dive bar - but they took full advantage of having the namesake of one of the best shows still going.

In addition to the history and the coolness factor that goes with Paddy’s Pub, Philadelphia is also well known as the home of Rocky Balboa. He is well represented outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and I added my name to the long list of those who ran the steps as they were run in the movie. I actually handled it relatively well, but I have to admit it was my first exercise of the day on my second day of the trip.

I was able to check out some other cool locations such as Penn University, the famed Dickens and Little Nell statue, Citizens Bank Park, and Love Park. But I also had to make sure I checked out what Philadelphia is most known for - for foodies, anyway - the Philly cheesesteak. I went to the corner where two of the more known cheesesteak locations are separated only by intersecting streets - Geno’s and Pat’s. I chose the former and while I thought it was good, I also learned that cheesesteaks in general are a little overrated.

With Philadelphia out of the way (until my final night of the trip), I was now focused on moving on to my next destination to close out day two - a drive through New Jersey (with a brief stop in Atlantic City) before arriving to the brights lights of the Big Apple!

What You Don't See On Vacations

With every vacation I’ve taken, I tend to focus on the highlights and keep the negative details to myself. My big vacation near the end of 2021 may have seemed like a trip of a lifetime (and it was), but the start of the trip was not without complications and certainly was the most nerve-wracking of my trips since I decided to make traveling a priority.

Going into the trip, I was nervous about a couple of things. Since it was a flight following back-to-back multi-state trips that involved all driving, I had to prepare for taking just enough clothing and miscellaneous items to bring with me to the airport. Since it was American Airlines, I was allowed one 50-pound suitcase at check-in, one carry-on computer bag, and one carry-on personal bag. 

As it turns out, being nice at the counter paid off in Oklahoma City and Philadelphia as I was slightly over at both places. In OKC, I had to shift a couple of clothing items over to my personal bag. In Philadelphia, they were willing to overlook that I was a pound over the limit. But, at the end of the vacation, this turned out to be a concern that was no big deal.

What did turn out to be an issue - and a learning experience - was the car rental situation. For years, I have used Enterprise for car rentals. Mostly due to their willingness to accept debit cards. But this time, Enterprise was so much higher than everyone else that I decided to look at other options. I almost settled in on Dollar but they increased their costs before I pulled the trigger. So I ended up booking Hertz through Expedia.

With the car rental all set up and seemingly ready to go, I even double-checked via Google to make sure Hertz actually would accept my debit card. According to their website, that was an option.

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, I found myself at Hertz and quickly discovered that Hertz in Philadelphia operated under its own set of rules and would not in fact be honoring our agreement to rent me a car unless I paid for it with a credit card. Exasperated and with no backup plan, I began to consider my options. Bus, train, another rental car place, or a mix of the three - everything was on the table. What I hadn’t considered turned out to be an option that was presented to me minutes later.

I decided to Uber to the hotel and get checked in and try to at least enjoy my first day in Philadelphia. I could make a decision and put together a new game plan when I settled in that night.

My Uber driver listened as I told her my predicament and immediately suggested I try something called Turo, which as it turns out is what I would call AirBNB for vehicles. I looked into it and by the time I had checked into the hotel, I had already figured out which car I was going to rent and had already signed up on the app.

This option turned out to be slightly cheaper than my original rental and saved me money on gas (I chose a 2018 Honda Accord hybrid). On the downside, on the second day the sensor showed I had a tire needing air but didn’t say which one or what the PSI was. Despite multiple attempts to locate an air pump that worked over the course of several days, I was only able to get that sensor issue remedied the day before the trip ended. But overall, it was a good experience and the owner was really nice and didn’t do anything that was outside of what was expected through the agreement.

With the negatives of the trip out of the way (mostly), the trip itself is next up. First stop, Philadelphia!