Road Trip - Day 6! (MA, CT, NY)

May 31, 2012 (Thursday)

Springfield Armory NHS -
"Organ of Muskets"

We started our day with a visit to the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. The Armory is one of two National Park Armory sites, the other being Harpers Ferry in West Virginia. The site offers an 18 minute video that is worthwhile to view. After the video, we looked at the museum displays. We spent about an hour and fifteen minutes at the site, but one could spend more time if you wanted to view the other buildings surrounding the main exhibit building.  The Historic Site commemorates the role of the nation’s first armory by preserving the world’s largest historic US military small arms collection.

Originally, I had planned for us to visit the Armory site the prior day, but we ran out of time. This changed our schedule a bit. I had wanted to visit New Haven, Connecticut since it is an old city with lots of architecture.  Stay tuned on a travel adventure to that area in the future!

Springfield, CT - Capitol

After the Armory, we headed towards our next destination, Weir Farm National Historic Site. Along the way, we stopped off at the Capital of Connecticut – Hartford. The Capitol is very pretty. We noticed some weird things in the area, at least to our prior experience/knowledge. There seems to be a lot of mini-vans all decked out as school buses. There also seemed to be a lot more police in CT than anywhere else, we noticed in our travels. It seemed weird to see police officers directing traffic at construction zones – that does not happen in Michigan. Maybe CT has a high police budget?

The Weir Farm National Historical Site was under major renovations during our visit. The site is the second National Park Site dedicated to an artist, the first already being mentioned. Weir Farm was an artist colony, founded by J. Alden Weir.  Weir was a well known American Impressionism artist. Again, we were not familiar with the works or life of Weir. The short film at the visitor center was very informative and definitely worthwhile if you know nothing about Weir. There were many artists painting while we were onsite. There is not a lot of parking at this site, if visiting you may want to arrive early in the day.

Vanderbilt Mansion NHS

View of the Hudson from the Vanderbilt Mansion Site

We ventured back into New York State, this time to visit some sites in the Hyde Park area. The Hyde Park area is very nice. Our first stop, in the area was Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. The grounds are free to visit, but the mansion is $8/person (under 15 is free) or free with the National Park Pass. The hour long tour was GREAT! Our tour guide was a gentleman named Mike. He did a great job and was very interesting. The views of the Hudson River are superb, be sure to check that out if you take a visit! There really is not a lot to see here other than the Mansion and the River.

The Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site was the next destination.  Tours run from 9:30-4, but the grounds are open until dusk. The museum is open until 6:30. It was a bit late for a tour and the museum, but we did walk around the grounds.

It would have been another excellent evening for camping, but there were absolutely no campgrounds in the area, so we ended up staying at the Quality Inn for $89/night + tax. The room and lobby were very clean, but the stairwell areas were dirty and a bit smelly. The room that we stayed in had a single double bed and was a bit small in size. The room décor was mismatched.

We grabbed dinner at a place just down the street from the hotel, called Pete’s Famous Diner/Restaurant.  The menu was very large, and was defiantly busier than they expected, since they were understaffed.  Mike and I both had Calzones. The Calzones were very large and only were $5-$6 each.  We had planned to head to the Dairy Queen next door, but we were too full from the calzones.

Road Trip - Day 5! (VT, NH, MA)

May 30, 2012 (Wednesday)

We headed to Quechee Fall/Gorge first thing in the morning. There is parking along the edge of the road. All the rain raised the water level in the gorge quite dramatically from when we drove by the previous evening. The gorge looks nicer when the water level is lower, since you get to enjoy the ribbon effect created by the rocks to a larger extent. It is a short walk in either direction to the dam and to the base of the gorge.

After the gorge, we drove around checking out some covered bridges and then headed to “Sugarbush” farm where they make cheese and maple syrup. They offer samples of the products and have a store where you can purchase items. It was a bit out of the way to get to “Sugarbush” but it was a nice place to visit if you have some time to kill.



Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP

 Our journey, next took us to the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. This park was established to tell the story of conservation history and the evolving nature of land stewardship. The park represents three generations of conservationist, as well as, the history of three quintessentially families. The visitor center has shows a 30 minute film about the site, which is very informative.  There is also a tour of the mansion, which cost $8/person or $4/person if you have the National Parks Pass. There are many miles of hiking trails within the park. The mansion tour was an hour long. Photography is not allowed inside of the home. The woodworking and décor is extremely class, as to be expected from the families that lived in the home. The information in the video is repeated in the tour, so you could skip the video if you wanted.

Across from the National Park site is the Billings Farm & Museum, which is a working dairy farm and a museum of agricultural and rural life. The Farm & Museum charge admission $12 for adults, children price varies $3-$6 depending on age. They do offer a combination ticket package for the two sites. We did not visit the Billings Farm & Museum.



Saint-Gaudens NHS - Studio

 Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site was our next stop. This park is one of two parks that has been dedicated to an artist.  Prior to our visit, we knew nothing about Saint-Gaudens, so we learned a lot at this site. Saint-Gaudens is one of Americas’s greatest sculptors. Over 100 of his artworks are on display at this site. There is a $5/person fee charged at this site, unless you have the America the Beautiful Pass, which is then free to enter. The grounds are beautiful – pretty buildings and flowers, not to mention the pieces of art that are displayed. The Aspet house was undergoing exterior renovations during our visit. There are 15 minute tours of the interior of Aspet house and well worth the visit if your time allows. There was another tour available, which included the grounds and the studios. The grounds/studios tour lasted about an hour.  I would not recommend this tour, it seemed to drag on – spending too much time on certain sculptors. The visitor center also shows a video, which other visitors said was really good. We did not watch the video, since we anticipated that it would cover the information that would be discussed on the tours.

The weather appeared to be good for the night we decided to camp. The next day we planned to head to the Springfield, MA area and found a campground nearby to stay at. The campground was called Sodom Mountain Campground. It was $29/night for a tent with no electricity. The campground was very peaceful with lots of birds chirping away. The sites were very small, in our prior experience/knowledge, and pretty much all dirt surfaces. The camp roads were windy and would be difficult to maneuver a trailer in.  The bathroom was a bit small and showers cost $0.25/5 minutes. Camping rates vary depending on the month. I would not recommend this campground, but it seems that there are very few campgrounds in the Springfield area.

Road Trip - Day 4! (NY, VT)

May 29, 2012 (Tuesday)



Lake Placid, NY

 We headed to the downtown area to check out the shops and views of the lake. Most of the shops open at 10am, with just a few opening at 9am. We attended the tour at the Olympic Center at 10am. Our tour group was guided by a pleasant guy named Howard Riley. Howard did a great job at providing us with information about the Olympic Games and how the Olympics choose Lake Placid to host. The tour was $10 per person and lasted approximately one hour. You do not see a lot, but you learn a lot. There is a store in the Olympic Center, but it is not always open. If you would like an Olympic gear it is best to check out the store downtown, which opens at 9am. Also be sure to check out this website to see what is open if you visit any Olympic sites:  www.whiteface.com. The hours at each facility varies with season. Not too many things were open during our visit.

Whiteface Mountain was open during our visit, so we headed towards “Veterans Memorial Highway”. Along the way we stopped at “High Falls Gorge”. The Gorge was nice, but a little on the pricey side - $20 for 2 adults, but that was because they had some construction going on. The trails and boardwalk were well maintained. The trail is about ½ mile long and takes about 30-45 minutes to walk.



Whiteface Mountain

 We continued towards “Veterans Memorial Highway”. There is a toll booth at the bottom of the mountain. The cost is $10/car/driver and $6 for each passenger. Before going up the mountain, there is a sign stating the conditions at the top of the mountain. There are many pull-out locations along the roadway for photo opts. The highway pavement condition is quite rough, they might keep it that way to keep vehicle speed down. The sign warned us of black flies at the top, oh man were they bad! Needless, to say our visit at the top was cut a bit short because the black flies were relentless!  Once to the top of the mountain, you can take the elevator to the very top or you could hike to the peak. The elevator operator told us that the flies are really bad in the spring and early summer.



Covered bridge near Woodstock, VT

 Upon heading to our final destination we had a decision to make – take the freeway to White River Junction, VT or take side roads. The GPS said it was the same time regardless of the route we could take. We opted to take the side roads; the only disadvantage was that we would not be able to take photos of Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. Our travel route took us through Ticonderoga. We did not stop since it was raining very hard, but the town seems to have all sorts of tourist shops.  We continued driving in the rain and reached Woodstock, VT. Woodstock is a very quaint town with a mix of storefronts and beautiful old homes.  At last we arrived to White River Junction. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. The hotel was nice and the room was updated and in good condition.

Road Trip - Day 3! (NY)

May 28, 2012 (Monday)

The morning started out with a drive down to the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. The house costs $5 per person to get in (valid for 7 days) or $12 for a family (valid 7 days). There is no charge to walk the grounds. The National Parks Pass gets you into the place for free. The park service offers a house tour hourly from 9am to 4pm.  The visitor season runs mid-May to the end of October.



Martin Van Buren NHS -  "Lindenwald"

 The home tour was good and lasted about 45 minutes. You will surely learn some information about Van Buren on the tour. I thought that the most interesting thing was the cane (but I cannot tell you more about that since if you take the tour they will ask you about it). If you decide not to take the tour there are some signs available to read along the pathway leading to the home. The home is called “Lindenwald”, after the trees in the area. There are also hiking trails located across the road from the site. Time did not allow us to check them out.




Saratoga NHP Battlefield

  Continuing our journey, we headed back to the north to Saratoga National Historic Park. Again, there is a fee at this park - $5 per car, unless you have the “America the Beautiful” pass. There is a 20 minute film at the visitor center that does a good job of describing what occurs back in 1777. There is also a light up display which shows the locations of the troops throughout the scuffle.  There is a nine mile driving tour the battlefield area. There is one home that remains on the battlefield. Other stopping points are located along the route which have talking display boards. Locations off the main battlefield area are also present to visit. We stopped by the memorial, which is located at a cemetery. If the memorial is open you can take the stairs up to the top which provides an okay view of the surrounding area. The Battles of Saratoga are sometimes known as the “Turning Point of the American Revolution”, and historians often consider the battles fought here to be in the top 15 battles in world history. In short, the British, led by Burgoyne were attempting to end the rebellion in the American colonies. The American troops eventually surrounded the British, causing them to surrender.



Parasailing on Lake George, NY

 We continued heading north and crossed into the Adirondack Mountains. Lake George, NY was on the way our next destination so we stopped to check out the area. Lake George is very touristy. We opted to take an hour boat tour, via the Minne-Ha-Ha. There is a parking lot operated by the boat tour group at is $7/day. The area around the boat area and downtown tourist area cost $2/hour. We parked in the $7/day lot, it was easier to get a spot and the price was not too outrageous. The boat tour provided us with some history of the lake and the “million dollar” beach homes. An AAA discount was offered for the boat tour, but the cost was still $11.50/person. Personally, I would not recommend the tour, but then again I am not crazy about being on boats. There is a lot of hiking in the Lake George area, and if my leg had been feeling better we probably would have ventured out. We did a little bit of wondering around town, hopping into the tourist shops. A bit out of the more touristy area we played putt-putt golf at Pirate’s Cove. Mike managed to get three hole in ones, which we believe is his personal record.

We ate at a little place called “Giuseppe’s”. They have free parking at the restaurant. We had potato skins and a ham pizza, which both were decent. There were four potato skins ($7) and we had a medium pizza ($14). The pizza was NY style – six large slices. Mike also got a beer ($4.50).



Chapel Pond - near Lake Placid, NY

 Our final destination of the day was Lake Placid, so we continued north from Lake George. The drive along I-87 and Route 73 was very scenic. There are many roadside pull-outs along 73. There are suppose to be some waterfalls right of the road, but we did not happen to spot anything too substantial.  There was a really pretty lake, Chapel Pond, right off the roadway that we stopped at for some photos. There is also a hiking trail at that location.  Closer to Lake Placid a river runs along the roadway – very pretty!

We stayed at the Best Western Adirondack Inn for the night. The hotel is directly across from the Olympic Complex and very close to the downtown area. The hotel looks very nice on the outside but the room itself was a bit dated, but much better than the hotel from the night before. A warm breakfast was included at this hotel.

Road Trip - Day 2! (NY)

May 27, 2012 (Sunday)



Senaca Falls, NY

 We headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast was excellent and it only ended up costing us $1.12 + tip! After eating, we headed north to Senaca Falls, NY. Our first stop for the day was Women’s Rights National Historical Park.  We watched the video, which lasted about 30 minutes. The video was informative, but portions were outdated (90’s). We planned to do the tours, but we waited around at the chapel and no one showed up. There was also a tour at the Stanton House, but we did not stick around for the tour. We did drive to the location and read the sign in front of the house. The information at the visitor center was not very well organized, but they did have some interesting things.

Senaca Falls is a typical mid-sized town with an older downtown area.  The town also has a mile long river walk with sculptures.



Fort Stanwix NHS - Re-enactment

 Off we go to our next destination…Fort Stanwix National Historic Site. Fort Stanwix is in Rome, New York. It was really weird to see the fort in the middle of the city! Built in 1758 the fort is typical of many other forts in terms of construction. Fort Stanwix is known as “the fort that never surrendered” and was also important because it was the homelands of the Six Nations Confederacy (Indians). There was a re-enactment going on while we were there. The displays at the visitor center were better than most NP displays. They had videos going on continuously, which were also very good.

We continued on our journey to the east. We headed to Cooperstown, New York, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  There are a lot of shops, restaurants, and resorts in Cooperstown. We did not see any “chain” type of places. There is public transportation available so you can park in a lot and a shuttle bus will pick you up. The Hall of Fame was interesting. The founder of baseball reigns from Cooperstown, thus the reason of the Hall of Fame to be there. It took us about 3 hours to see everything, or nearly everything. You could definitely spend more time at the Hall of Fame. There were some videos and a lot of information to read. The little video trivia games were fun also! The cost was $17 with the AAA discount. On the positive, note you can get your hand stamped to re-enter if you so desire.

We ended our day in Albany, New York. The drive from Cooperstown towards East Springfield is scenic with a lake off to the one side of the road. We also noticed some signs for a cavern tour, Howe Cavern to be exact. We got to wondering what is the difference between a cavern and a cave? We have been to a far amount of cave tours, but none that claimed to be caverns. After some quick research, we discovered that the difference is that caverns grow, but technically all caverns are caves. Caves however, cannot be caverns.



Albany, NY Capitol

 Referring to a map in the Albany guidebook, we noticed a Cheesecake Factory Restaurant! We ate there since it is so yummy and because there are not any located in Michigan. After eating, we headed over to the Capitol building. It was dark outdoors by that time, but the lighting on the building was excellent. Be sure to use a tripod if you want to get crisp shots in the dark.

That evening we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Rensselaer, New York. The hotel provided a great overview of Albany. The hotel its self was just okay. It was clean and breakfast was good. There was a sign posted in the lobby stating that they were remodeling. The rooms definitely need updating. Priority Club Rewards did not get you much at this location – just a bottle of water.

Road Trip - Day 1! (NY)

Let’s see...where should I start this blogging adventure…

I planned this trip last summer and spent a ton of time researching destinations, but then along came Hurricane Irene to cancel it. The trip was originally to take place after Labor Day 2011, which did create some schedule changes in my trip itinerary. Be advised that NPS sites very hours depending on the season. This road trip included destination visits to the following states: New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.   All expenses are based on 2012 rates.

May 26, 2012 (Saturday)

My husband, Mike, and I left home before 7am, but then quickly returned since we forgot to grab the “Hard Rock Rewards” and various hotel rewards cards. We cut through Canada, via Sarnia ($3.25 toll), to get to Niagara Falls, New York. We probably arrived to the bridge in Port Huron by 8am and had to wait about 15-20 minutes to get through customs. It was smooth sailing through Canada, very little road work. We crossed back into the USA at Rainbow Bridge ($3.25 toll). The customs wait at the bridge was less than five minutes. We were concerned about taking food thru Canada, but it appears that it would not really have been much of an issue.




Niagara Falls

 Rainbow Bridge provides excellent views of Niagara Falls. People are allowed to walk across this bridge ($0.50 toll). There are numerous parking lots and decks near the falls. We were able to find some on street parking that allows you two hours of free parking, which worked well for us since we only planned on taking some photos (we were in Niagara Falls, Canada a few years back). The Canadian side is much more touristy than the US side. There is a Hard Rock Café in Niagara Falls, so we had to make a quick stop so Mike could add to his Zippo collection. 



Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural NHS

 Once we completed our quick stop in Niagara Falls, we headed to Buffalo for another quick stop. Buffalo is an interesting place to say the least. Our main reason for visiting Buffalo was to go the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.  Tours are offered at this site. There is a $10/per person fee for the tour, there are other fee options for families, senior citizens, students, and children.   The tour was very informative and interesting. Our tour guide guided us through the house starting with the Pan American Expedition exhibit, presented as it would have been when President McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz on September 6^th, 1901.  Roosevelt was requested to get to Buffalo as soon as McKinley was shot. McKinley initially appeared to be recovering from the bullet wound to the abdomen but then took a turn for the worse on the 13th and he died early the next morning. Roosevelt had headed back upstate after it appeared that McKinley would recover; only he had to return back once McKinley expired. The tour provides a short video of the previous mentioned events and additional information leading up the swearing in of President Roosevelt. The home at one point in history was converted into a restaurant. The home now has a few of the rooms restored to what they would have looked like during the inauguration, via photographs.  Other rooms in the home have been made into interactive activities. Photography is allowed throughout the tour. Allow at least one hour for this site.



City Hall - Buffalo, NY

 We picked up a walking tour guide at the NPS site that had a ton of walks listed, which showcased historical and architectural sites.  Unfortunately, I had run a half-marathon the previous weekend and was still recovering from tendonitis and had to limit my amount of walking. We did stop by a few places for photos. City Hall proves to be very good example of art deco architecture!

We had an afternoon snack at the place where “hot wings” were invented, the Anchor Bar. I am not a huge wings fan, but Mike had an order of the medium hot wings and said they were the best he has ever had. There were about double the size of the wings that you get at most places. I opted for a Caesar salad, which was good, other than it had a bit too much dressing and no cheese. The Anchor Bar also has a gift shop where you can buy all sorts of merchandise and sauces.



Letchworth State Park - Upper Waterfall

 After our yummy snack, we headed to Letchworth State Park. It was $8 to enter the park. The park has many picnic areas, overlooks, rafting opportunities, hiking and waterfalls. There are 3 waterfalls – lower, upper, and middle. The upper falls require you to go down about 130 steps to get a good photography. There is a hiking trail that connects all three waterfalls. There is parking available at each of the falls areas.



Watkins Glen State Park

 Our last destination for the day was Watkins Glen State Park. The falls at this park are much smaller than those at Letchworth State Park. The falls at Watkins Glen flow through some very interesting stone formations. The trail goes through some rocks and has stairways. The trail was a bit muddy (slippery) in places. The park offers an option that you can hike the entire trail length and take a shuttle bus back to your vehicle for a small fee.  We were at this park after 7pm, so it was not very busy and the shuttle was not running that late.

Our biggest challenge of the day was finding a place to stay! It was a holiday weekend, and since we did not make reservations prior to our travel we had to call about 15 hotels to find a place for a reasonable price. It was graduation at some nearby colleges – prices were like $300 a night at some places!! We had hoped to stay someplace near our destination for the next day, but of course hotels around there were booked too!  We ended up staying at the Holiday Inn in Elmira, NY. The hotel was GREAT!  It was definitely one of the better ones that we have stayed at. The carpet was very clean and everything looked relatively new.  Being a Priority Club member, we received our welcome bag at arrival and we also received a $20 voucher for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Score!