U.S. East Coast - 2007

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Prolog

At the beginning of March 2007, Tova and Sharone discussed Sharone’s vacation plans to the East Coast. Sharone, upon her return from Honduras made a plan to travel, along with Ya’ara and Elan, to Connecticut and New York and visit her friends there. They discussed the idea that we (Tova and I) will join Sharone and together will travel the East Coast.

I contacted AAA and asked them to squeeze in as many places as possible for a nine day trip.

A couple of days later we had our reservations made and waited for July 27th to realize our plans.

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Day 1: Friday - July 27th, 2007

Upon our arrival to LAX, we found out that our Delta flight to New York City was delayed by 90 minutes. We finally boarded the plan and just before take off, the pilot announced that we needed to return back to the terminal as the control mechanism on the airplane, had detected that something was wrong with one of the wings. It took the maintenance crew about three hours (!) to fix the wing and we used this time to take a nap in our seats. We finally took off at around 3:00 am (instead of originally scheduled 11:15 pm).

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Day 2: Saturday – July 28th, 2007

After receiving our luggage at the airport, we shared a taxi ride, with a couple from New Mexico and arrived at the Salisbury Hotel in Manhattan. The hotel’s location was perfect: 57th Street, between 7th and 6th Avenues, across from Carnegie Hall.

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We checked in and walked down 7th Avenue. We planned to eat at “Carnegie Deli” but as we arrived and saw the line of people waiting to enter the famous deli, we decided to postpone our visit and instead “settled” to have lunch at another favorite deli: “The Stage Deli”.
Lunch was excellent and with our stomach full of pastrami and hot corn beef, we took the “R” train to Lower Manhattan and to our first destination of our tour: Ground Zero.

There is a lot of construction going on at the site where the World Trade Center Towers once stood. The city plans to build a huge complex, which will replace the legendary towers.

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The Freedom Tower is the centerpiece building of the new World Trade Center complex currently planned for Lower Manhattan. The tower will be located in the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site. Three other high rises are planned for the site along Greenwich Street, plus a residential tower that will surround the World Trade Center Memorial that is currently also under construction, and a museum.



Across the street from Ground Zero stands St. Paul's Church. The church, the site of many funerals to victims of the September 11th attack, is surrounded by a spiked iron fence which hosts one of the now famous walls of commemoration to the victims of the disaster.



It's hard to describe the feeling there, it was one of such intensity. I can only compare it to what I felt when I walked around the Vietnam War Memorial in DC in 1992. So many lives were lost in such a short time – consider how long it would take to count to three-thousand. But in contrast to the Vietnam Memorial, this is a living memorial created ad hoc, not by a single architect, but by many, many people, pouring their heart out in very moving and very creative ways.

The variety of commemorations was impressive: T-shirts, US flags of various sizes, colorful posters and banners from various parts of the world declaring their love for New York, baseball hats, hard hats, children and adult artwork, teddy bears, prayer and memorial cards, photos of the victims (some with post-mortem birthday wishes). Particularly touching were the numerous baseball hats atop the spikes of the fence, representing some of the victims and some of the visitors from all over the world.

There was one picture that I will never forget: A father holds his baby in one arm, while the other arm is holding a picture of his missing wife.

We left the church with watery eyes as we strolled along Broadway toward Greenwich Village. We continued to walk passing by 34th Street where we crossed into 5th Avenue and then back to Broadway walking along 42nd street and into Time Square where thousands of people were walking by.

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We arrived at our hotel at around 8:00 pm with plans to take a shower and then return to the streets but once we took the shower we realized how tired we were and opted to go to sleep instead.

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Day 3: Sunday – July 29th, 2007

We woke up twelve hours later (!) and walked to Rockefeller Center, where we boarded the “F” train to Downtown Manhattan. Our plans were to get to Delancey Street, find a bagel shop or a bakery, have breakfast and then look around.

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When we left NYC in 1976, this area was famous for its Sunday happenings. Delancey Street used to be one of the main shopping streets in the Jewish Lower East Side. We were kind of dissapointed to find the street kind of empty and there was no sign to what once used to be so lively.

We found a café, had breakfast and walked toward the bustling commercial center of Canal Street, in the middle of Chinatown. Hundreds of vendors were spreadout in the street and we shopped around for some garments and suvernirs.

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After spending a couple of hours at Canal Street, we boarded the “6” train uptown to Central Park. We strolled around the famous park as rain drops strated to fall down. We arrived in our hotel, to leave all of our shopping bags and pick up our umbrella, as the rain drops became heavy
showers and we were literaly drenched!

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Our next stop was at the Carnegy Deli. The line was not as bad as yesterday and we opted to wait in line this time. The wait was worth it, considering the delicious and quantity of food that we consumed.

We returned to our hotel (only 3 blocks away from the deli) took a two hour nap and preapred for our next activity: We had tickets to see “The Color Purple” on Broadway, along with Sharone, who we met in front of the theater.
The show was great even though the star of the show (Fantasia) was not available for the Sunday performance. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it a lot.


We stopped at an Italian resaurant (Angelo’s) on 57th street, for a delicious pizza and salads. We then took Sharone to the subway station on Broadway Street, next to Columbus Circle.

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Day 4: Monday – July 30th, 2007

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel we checked out, stored our luggage and walked to the Rent-A-Car office on 50th street between 3rd avenue and Lexington.

We picked a full size van and drove it to the Upper West Side, to meet Sharone, Ya’ara and Elan. Watching how happy the grandkids were to see us just added another dimension to our joy.

We left Manhattan at 9:00 am, using the Washington Bridge and Interstate 95 northbound and we arrived an hour and a half later at New Haven, Connecticut to tour Yale University.

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Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is a member of the Ivy League. Particularly well-known are its undergraduate school, Yale College, and the Yale Law School, each of which has produced a number of U.S. presidents and foreign heads of state. Ya’ara climbed on top of my shoulders as I carried her thoroughout the campus.

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We spent a couple of hours on campus and then continued on Interstate 95 to arrive at Newport, Rhode Island. The city was founded in the 17th century (1639) and soon grew to become the most important port in colonial Rhode Island.

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As we entered the city we quickly found the famous lighthouse and stopped for picture taking. We then entered a local supermarket (Stop ‘N’ Shop) and bought bread, meat, vegetables and other goodies, which we took to the park next to the lighthouse on Goat Island, overlooking the bay and the beautiful bridge. We found a bench and prepared delicious lunch for everyone.

Ya’ara and Elan were chasing seagulls at the park to our enjoyment.

Our next stop was the town’s famous synagogue. In the mid 1600s, a group of Jews fleeing the inquisition in Spain and Portugal were allowed to settle in Newport. The Newport congregation is the second oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. To our dissapointment, the synagogue gate was locked. We found a parking spot next to the wharf and strolled around enjoying the beautiful summer day.

We left Newport at around 5:00 pm, passing by Providence, the capitol of Rhode Island, as heavy rain welcomed us to the city. We promised ourselves to return to Providence, on our way back to NYC, as it was on Tova’s “Must See” list. We headed toward Massachusettes, taking Route 28 South and found a motel in East Wareham.

After a delicious dinner at “Club 99” we returned to the hotel.

For the next two hours I was surfing the Internet, trying to find a hotel room for Saturday in NYC, for no avail!

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Day 5: Tuesday – July 31st, 2007

We woke up rather early and headed to Falmouth to catch the ferry to Martha Vineyard. We planned to board the van on the ferry but when we arrived at the dock (located at Woods Hole) we learned that it cost $130 roundtrip for the van. We opted to park our van in Falmouth and use the shuttle, which took us back to the ferry. We had about 45 minutes to board the next ferry, and we spent them at a local bakery biting on delicious bagels and sipping hot coffee.

The ride to the island was pleasant and lasted about 45 minutes. I was sitting outside on the deck with Ya’ara as we watched the beautiful scenery and the magnificent seabirds following the ferry. Ya’ara’s job was to locate seagulls and let me know where they are so I could take some close-up pictures of them. She did such a fantastic job. Along the way we saw many sail boats and yachts.

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Since I called Ya’ara “Princess” she had decided to call me from now on “Prince”. For the remainder of the trip that is how we called each other!

We landed at Harthaven and after a stroll on the main street we decided to rent a car and tour the island.

We drove through little towns and villages for about 25 minutes and admired the peaceful and lovely surroundings.

Our first stop was at the city of Aquinnah (population 344!) where we visited the handsome Gay Head Lighthouse, which stands tall in one of the most picturesque locations in New England, atop the 130-foot multicolored Clay Cliffs at the western shore of Martha's Vineyard.

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The local beach was our next stop. We stopped at a rural location for few minutes picking round rocks and shells along the beach.

We climbed back to our van and called Odie to wish him a Happy Birthday.

The scenery was just out of this world.

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Our next stop was Edgartown, one of New England's most elegant communities. Main Street, Edgartown, looks the way Main Street in a small New England town should look: a one-way street barely two lanes wide; a few blocks of inns, shops and restaurants; a church or two, and a movie theater.

Main Street ends at the harbor, at the Edgartown Yacht Club that was once the dock for the town's whaling ships. Standing there, we saw the hundreds of yachts, sail and motor boats.

The world famous lighthouse is adjacent to the Yacht Club. Tova & I walked over to take some close-up pictures. I walked into the Harbor View Hotel, located at the end of Main Street and across from the Yacht Club, and asked for their rates. I was told that “It costs $600 per night and reservations for the summer season should be made six months in advance!”

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The next stop was at the town of Oak Bluffs, a resort town on the northeast shore of the island. We parked at the beach area and enjoyed as Ya’ara and Elan were running on the warm sand.

We arrived at the main street Circuit Avenue, where we returned the van.

Located at the foot of Circuit Ave, the Flying Horses Carousel is the nation's oldest operating platform carousel. This treasured carousel has been enjoyed by the locals and visitors for more than a century. Ya’ara and Elan had such a great time riding the “flying horses”.

We walked up the street and arrived at another street, consisting of hundreds of imaginative and colorful gingerbread cottages containing the most perfectly preserved collection of Carpenter Gothic style architecture in the world. We walked the street admiring each and every one of the cottages, talking to the local owners and taking many pictures.

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At 6:15 pm we boarded the ferry back to the mainland. On our way back, a flock of seagulls flew

alongside the ferry and dived (in turn!) to our hands as we fed them with crackers and popcorn.

Once on shore, we drove to Plymouth, MA where we found a quiet and comfortable inn. We were given recommendations for dinner, from the inn’s owner, who said: “Isaac Restaurant serves the best in New England seafood. It’s not expensive and dress code is casual“. We found the restaurant on Water Street without any problems and feasted on delicious seafood variety, which included Fried Calamari, Clam Chowder, Seafood-Fettuccini, baked salmon and more. (Note: Isaac was probably the best restaurant in our entire trip!)

We returned to our hotel at around 11:00 pm. I tried my luck again in finding a hotel room for Saturday but the one ones I had found were between $400 and $500 a night.

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Day 6: Wednesday – August 1st, 2007

We had breakfast at a local restaurant on Sandwich Street.

Our first stop was at the Plymouth Rock, the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims (1620) who founded Plymouth Colony, in what would become the United States. The rock is located in the Pilgrim Memorial State Park.

At the rock we found a woman-ranger, working for the state park, who gave us a lesson in history about the meaning of the rock and the Mayflower, which its replica (Mayflower II) docks adjacent to the rock. (The original Mayflower sailed back to England and never returned to America)

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Our next stop was at the Plantation, about 4 miles south from the rock. As we arrived there we realized that it will take few hours to go through this giant complex and since we had plans, enough for a full day in Boston, we decided to skip the tour.

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We arrived in Boston an hour later and parked the van in a parking structure, right next to the Holocaust Memorial.

The memorial is comprised of 6 fifty-four foot glass towers. They represent the 6 major Nazi concentration camps: Majdanek, Chelmno, Sobibor, Treblinka, Belzec, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Each tower is illuminated from the top and bottom. There are six million numbers etched into the glass, from one to six million (to commemorate the 6 million Jews who perished). Smoke rises from the base inside each tower.

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We strolled down on Congress Street toward Boston Common Park,

which is known to be one of the oldest public parks in the country. The park is almost 50 acres in size. It was really nice to walk through the clean park in the middle of the city. We came across little bronze duck and ducklings. Ya’ara performed a dancing “number” as we and other passersby’s all laughed.

We headed towards Beacon Street and found Cheers Pub, “Where everyone knows your name and you’re always glad you came”. The pub was the inspiration for the Cheers television series, which ran for 11 years and won a number of awards. The exterior was very familiar to the one in the show, but the inside was nothing like the TV version.

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We returned to the park for a short break and then started the highlight of the day: The Freedom Trail.

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile long path (sure felt longer than that!) through downtown Boston that passes 16 of the city's historic landmarks. It starts at the visitor information center in Boston Common where we picked up a map and brochures. Many of the sights along the red-painted line are free of charge.

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As I mentioned, the Freedom Trail starts at the Boston Common as this was the area where the British Forces were encamped during the occupation from 1775 to 1776. While walking towards the Massachusetts State House, we passed the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, where I met a history professor who gave me a lesson in history: Robert Gould Shaw served in New York and then recruited by Massachusettes Governor John A. Andrew to raise and command one of the first regiments of black troops of the Union. Although he was initially unenthusiastic about his assignment, the dedication of his men deeply impressed him and he grew to respect them as fine soldiers. The story of Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts was dramatized in the 1989 movie, Glory, with Shaw portrayed by Matthew Broder (also starring in this movie was a young Denzel Washington, who won an Oscar for his role).

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The next stop on the Freedom Trail, Park Street Church, is known for its involvement in political, social and humanitarian issues. In 1829, William Lloyd Garrison gave a speech from the church's pulpit condemning slavery. He was the first to do so in public.

Right next to Park Street Church is the Old Granary Burial Ground, named after the granary that once stood on the site of the church. Some of Boston's most famous revolutionaries were buried here, including John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine (all three signed the Declaration of Independence) as well as Paul Revere and victims of the Boston Massacre, where five men had been shot to death in Boston town by British soldiers. Precipitating the event known as the Boston Massacre was a mob of men and boys taunting a sentry standing guard at the city's customs house. When other British soldiers came to the sentry's support, a free-for-all ensued and shots were fired into the crowd.

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Following the red line of the Freedom Trail on Tremont Street led us to another burial ground, the oldest in the city: King's Chapel and Burying Ground. The only burying ground in Boston for 30 years, it is the resting place of some of Boston's historical figures, including John Winthrop, Massachusetts’ first Governor and William Dawes, one of the three riders who alerted Minutemen of the arrival of the British army. The burying ground is located near King's Chapel, a granite building completed in 1754.

The trail now turned down School Street, where a mosaic on the sidewalk commemorates the site of the First Public School. As the name suggests, this was the site of the country's first public school, established in 1635. Benjamin Franklin attended classes in this school before he dropped out. His statue can be found nearby in front of the Old City Hall.

The next stop was Old Corner Bookstore Building. This brick landmark building at the corner of School Street and Washington Street stands on a plot once owned by Mary Hutchinson, a religious reformer who was expelled from Massachusetts in 1638 for profanation. Built in 1718, the Bookstore Building was long home to a publishing house and later a bookstore.

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Just south of the Old Corner Bookstore Building, on Washington Street, stands the Old South Meeting House. The building had the largest capacity for town meetings in colonial Boston, often used by patriots who encouraged crowds to revolt against British taxation. One of these meetings, on December 16, 1773, led to the 'Boston Tea Party', which sparked the Revolutionary War.

The Freedom Trail line now leads back north towards the Old State House, the seat of the British Colonial government from its construction in 1713 until the end of the American Revolution in 1776. After the revolution the building was used as the Commonwealth's State House until 1798, when they moved into the new (and current) State House.

The square in front of the Old State House is the site of the Boston Massacre.

The next stop on the Freedom Trail was Faneuil Hall, a building known as the 'Cradle of Liberty'. While Faneuil Hall's first floor was Boston's main market place, the second floor served as a meeting place. Samuel Adams was one of the patriots who gathered here, trying to convince fellow colonists to unite and fight against British oppression. A statue of Samuel Adams stands in front of Faneuil Hall.

We stopped for lunch at Legal Seafood, where “it is illegal to serve non fresh seafood” and enjoyed a delicious meal.

We returned to the trail, passing the market with its many stalls and stores.

We visited Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in Boston and the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the U.S. — the doors have always been open to diners since 1826. Union Street was laid out in 1636, but there are no municipal records documenting the Oyster House's date of construction. All that is known is that the building has stood on Union Street as a major local landmark for more than 250 years.

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Our next stop was at the Paul Revere House. Paul Revere lived in this wooden house when he made his famous 'midnight ride' to warn minutemen in Lexington of the impending arrival of British troops. Revere, a silversmith, bought the house in 1770. Originally built in 1680, it is now the oldest house in downtown Boston.

We crossed the street into a small park where Paul Revere on Horse statue stands tall and then saw a magnificent building: the Old North Church. On April 18, 1775, Robert Newman, sexton of the Old North Church, hung lanterns in the tower of the church, signaling to Paul Revere that British troops arrived by sea. Hence Revere knew he could best warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the arriving British troops by riding over land.

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We continued with the trail and arrived to Boston's second oldest burying ground after King's Chapel's, the Copp's Hill Burying Ground. Many of the early colonials are buried here as well as many slaves and freedmen. Robert Newman is also buried here.

The Freedom Trail now leads across the Charlestown Bridge towards Bunker Hill Monument, a granite obelisk commemorating the battle of June 17, 1775 between the British and colonial forces. The battle was won by the British but they were forced out by George Washington's troops nine months later. Dedicated in 1843, the monument was the tallest in the U.S. until the Washington Monument was built in 1885.

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I taught Ya’ara how to say “On your marks, get set, go!” as we raced through the quiet streets.

Our last stop was at the Navy Yard. This was one of the country's first shipyards, set up to create a naval force which up to that point had been no match for the British. The U.S.S. Constitution, built in 1797 and the oldest warship of the U.S. Navy, is moored here. Possibly the most famous vessel in the U.S, it won no less than 42 battles while it lost none and was never captured by the enemy. We also saw the “Dry Dock” and learned how the ships are led into the dock as water fills up the space and the ship floats, making it easy to unload.
We headed back to downtown Boston, The time was 7:45 pm when we stopped for a much needed coffee and snacks and few minutes later we were sitting in the van.





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We arrived at our next destination, Freeport, a town just north of Portland, Maine where we found our motel for the next couple of days. It was after 11:00 pm when we finally went to sleep.

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Day 7: Thursday – August 2nd, 2007

We woke at 7:00 am, had a continental breakfast at the motel, and then headed toward Boothbay, Maine: “the soul of the Maine coast!”

As we approached the city, Ya’ara threw-up in the car and we stopped at the parking lot of a local supermarket. We used this opportunity to buy bread, cheese, vegetables, and lox to be used later on for lunch.

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Our plan was to take the Whale Watching tour. We missed the 9:30 boat and since the next boat was scheduled to sail at 1:00 pm, we opted to take Route 96, to explore the surrounding of the city.

We arrived at Ocean Point and marvelous scenery was just in front of us. A glorious lighthouse, sailing boats, trees along the shore and inspiring homes. Route 96 is a loop, which surrounds Boothbay so that at the end of our tour, we arrived back to the wharf where we started. We sat alongside the pier and ate the food we had purchased earlier. We then strolled in the lazy streets, shopping and just having a great time. Ya’ara received a private lesson on how to make ice cream, at the Ice Cream Parlor, and we all enjoyed the tasty cream in three different flavors.

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At 1:00 we boarded one of Cap’n Fish boats and started our journey to watch whales. The guide informed us at the beginning of the journey that: “If we do not spot whales we offer a rain check good for another whale watch or any of Cap'n Fish's other cruises.”

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We passed the lighthouse (the one we saw earlier from route 96), other sailing boats, and an island. We arrived an hour later at a spot where whales usually “camp”. However, we could not spot any. Another boat of the company spotted a whale about 15 minutes away from us and our captain raced our boat to this spot where we saw a huge Humpback whale. I was able to take few pictures of this huge mammal. We headed back and arrived back at the harbor at 4:00 pm.

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We left this picturesque town and headed south toward Portland, Maine.

We arrived at this port city an hour and a half later. A shop owner recommended for us to eat at Street & Company, but when we arrived to the restaurant we found out that they were booked until 8:30. We sat down for dinner at another local restaurant.

After dinner we walked to the harbor and then drove for about an hour looking for Portland Headlight. By the time we found the site, it was already closed. We did manage to find Twin Lighthouses in Fort Williams Park.

We returned to our motel at around 11:00 pm. I tried again to get a room in Manhattan, for Saturday. This time I was lucky and found a room at http://www.lastminutetravel.com/

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Day 8: Friday – August 3rd, 2007

After breakfast we started our drive toward New Hampshire.

We took hwy 115 to route 302 driving north-west, passing small villages, forests and lakes. We stopped at Naples (about 30 miles from Portland) situated on the famous Sebago Lake.

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We arrived at Glenn, New Hampshire and stopped at a bagel shop and a health food store to buy sandwiches and other goodies, which we took with us.

We continued our journey and drove through the beautiful White Mountains National Forest.

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Our next stop was at the Mount Washington Cog Railway. We arrived at 12:30, purchased (the ridiculously expensive) tickets and sat down at the adjacent park to eat the delicious goodies we had bought at Glenn.

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We climbed the train and waited for the journey to start. The train was about to take us to the peak of the mountain. Mount Washington, the highest peak in northeastern U.S, attains an elevation of 6,288 feet above sea level!

The railroad is the only one on Earth whose entire run is built on trestles, bridges that consists of a number of short spans, supported by splayed vertical elements.

The climb took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Along the way we stopped at Waumbek Tank (each train stops here en route to the summit to fill up on water needed to complete the ascent), passed Halfway House (this little red hut stands at 4500 feet in elevation, 1½ miles from the Base Station. When passing it, the gradient gives a strong illusion that the building is severely tilted), and Jacob's ladder (this is the steepest part of the ascent. The 25-foot high trestle has a maximum gradient of almost 38%, making the Cog Railway the second steepest mountain climbing train on Earth). Hikers, who climb to the top of the summit, starting at the base of the mountain, have a special way to greet the tourists on the train: they moon!! We witnessed one of them doing just that.

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The summit is covered with several buildings, including the Sherman Adams Visitor's Center, TV and radio antennas, the Yankee Building and the Mt Washington Observatory. The summit is known for having the worst weather in the world (there is a sign, which declares that fact), especially bad in the winter. There are many monuments to hikers who've died on the mountain. The original Tip-Top House is a simple stone building with a wooden extension.

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After a 20 minute tour of the summit we returned to the train, which started its downhill route toward the basin. 20 minutes into the ride the train had stopped as the engineer discovered a fire alongside the tracks. It took the crew of three people a few minutes to put out the fire and we continued.

We arrived at the basin an hour later and drove the van to Concord, New Hampshire, passing along the way Shaker Village, which was already closed for the day.

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In Concord we were able to find the popular Makris Lobster and Steak House, a local favorite restaurant that serves up American cooking with an emphasis on lobsters and steaks. The food, service, and presentation were excellent.

Our last stop of the day was at a motel nearby Providence, Rhode Island.

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Day 9: Saturday – August 4th, 2007

We woke up at around 7:00, thinking that it was 8:00, and after a quick breakfast we drove to Providence.

Our first stop was at the Capitol Building, which its cornerstone was laid in 1896. While Rhode Island is the smallest of the American states, its capitol building can stand with the best of them. It is the usual shape for most of the American capitols -- a long rectangle box with a dome on a barrel in the middle.

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We found Benefit Street without any problems and started our tour. Benefit Street is also known as “Mile of History”. This is the street in Providence with the best collection of 18th century homes lovingly restored.

We stopped at the Old Cable Car and Cinema Café on Main Street. The place is a favorite of locals in Providence who want a comfortable night of viewing foreign or independent films. The seating is comprised of rows of sofas for two, making this a good place for a date as well as for a solo film night. The cafe, which is attached to the cinema, is a pleasant place to enjoy coffee and conversation. A birthday party, inside the theater, was in progress when we arrived.

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We continued our tour and walked along the Riverwalk and then made a turn on Waterman Street to find Brown University, which is not only one of the world's leading universities; it is a very attractive landmark (founded in 1764) to tour on top of College Hill. The complex has a mixture of architectures in its older buildings.

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As we continued our tour, the heat and humidity became unbearable and unpleasant. We decided to return to our van and drive to Mystic, Connecticut and spend a couple of hours there.

We arrived at Mystic an hour later. Historically a leading seaport of the area, the story of the town's nautical connection is told at the Mystic Seaport, the world's largest maritime museum, which has preserved both a number of sailing ships (most notably the whaler Charles W. Morgan) and the seaport buildings ashore. We walked for awhile, had lunch and since we needed to arrive at JFK airport before 7:00 pm, we had no choice but to leave town. We promised ourselves to reutrn one day and spend more time in this beautiful sopt.

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We arrived at JFK airport around 6:30 pm.

After saying our goodbyes to Sharone and the kids, Tova and I checked in our luggage at terminal 4 and drove toward Manhattan.

We arrived to Midtown Tunnel and used the most left lane to pay the toll. In front of us was a nice Mercedes sedan and we saw that the driver and the booth’s attendee were exchanging words. A couple of minutes later a New York policeman approached the booth holding in his left hand a pepper spray container and he too was exchanging words with the driver. All of the sudden the policeman drew his gun and shouted to the driver: “Put your hands on the wheel where I can see them”. At that moment the booth’s attendee also drew a gun and pointed it directly at the driver. The policeman used his speaker device and screamed into it: “Code Red at number 1”. In a matter of a minute 15 policeman surrounded the Mercedes all with drawn guns. I thought for a minute that I am watching a movie and Tova kept screaming: “Let’s get out of here”. Two ladies came out of the Mercedes (with their hands up) and were ordered to put their hands on the trunk while the other passenger (sitting in the front) and the driver were ordered to get out of the car. One cop came to our car and asked us (he was actually yelling) to back up and use the other lanes. He was pretty nervous.
We backed up the car, paid the toll and drove away. I will never forget that experience.

(Note: The following morning I purchased 3 different newspapers hoping to find out any other details about the incident but nothing was mentioned.)
We returned the van to the Rent-A-Car company, located in Midtown Manhattan and walked toward Time Square, looking for our hotel.

We arrived at our hotel, on 43rd and Broadway. The time was 11:00 pm when we decided to have a snack before going to sleep and walked to 11 blocks to have a meal at “Carnegie Deli”. By the time we finished our delicious sandwich, and arrived to the hotel, the time was 1:30 am!

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Day 10: Sunday– August 5th, 2007

We woke up at 8:00 and hit the streets. The NY Marathon was taking place right next to the hotel and we watched and encouraged the runners. We bought bagels, cream cheese and lox and found a Starbucks Café where we consumed the delicious meal along with a super strong Vanilla Latte’.

We walked to 34th street for some shopping and then walked back to 43rd and 8th Avenue to climb the “A” train, which took us to Howard Beach station where we found the airport’s Air Train, ehich took us directly to JFK Airport.

We arrived to LAX at 5:45 pm.

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