Albany, Upstate NY

Albany, Upstate NY

Sept 27
Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts
Albany, Upstate New York

From this point on, our trip is chasing the fall foliage. We drove up to the Berkshire Hills and many of the trees have started to change their colors. It was overcast all day and we couldn't capture any great photos but some did turn up great. We went on a short trail in Mt Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. We drove all the way up to the top but the view was hampered by the thick fog that started building up very quickly. There is a Veterans Memorial Tower at the summit.

We left the hills in the evening and drove up to Albany, the capitol of NY State and spent the night there.

Berkshire Hills

Halloween around the corner

Mums grow extremely well in this region

Jiminy Ski Resort, leaves just changing color

Entrance to Mt Greylock

Berkshire Hills

Sept 26
Newport, Rhode Island
Hartford, Connecticut

We strolled along the 3.5 miles Cliff Walk, along the rugged cliffs of Newport to view the grand mansions . Some of the mansions were based on European palaces. The grandest ones are The Elm and The Breaker. The Elm has a garden similar to the one in Versailles. Many of these mansions are now under The Preservation Society. It is not possible to walk to all the mansions as they stretch through  a large area. We had to drive a large part of the way. There are many smaller homes but equally as nice. We spent a couple of hours doing just the mansions. We walked around historic Washington Sq, the center of Newport's political life during colonial times.

We drove 80 miles to Harford and decided to put up for the night here. The drive here is really pretty. Many of the trees are changing their colors and I know by the time we get to Vermont, we will not be disappointed.

Restaurant along Cliff Walk

The Breaker mansion

The Elm mansion

Grounds of The Elm

Sept 25
Hyannis, Plymouth and Providence in Rhode Island

On our drive out from Cape Cod, we stopped in Hyannis. Did a self guided walking tour, following in the footsteps of the Kennedy clan. We went to St. Francis Church, where they used to attend mass and also sat in the exact same pew where President JFK sat at with his family. We also went to the JFK Memorial which is right along the calm and quiet bay. We even had our picnic at the park next to the Memorial. The Kennedys were definitely a big influence in this town. I can just imagine how it was when they were the most influential and powerful family.

From Hyannis, we made the 1:30 minute drive to Plymouth, the landing place of the Pilgrims after their 5 weeks stay in Provincetown. We were surprised that it is quite a big town and most everybody were there to see the Mayflower. I didn't expect it to be such a small ship.  We also saw the Plymouth Rock which is on display in a fenced off area.

From Plymouth, we headed to Providence in Rhode Island. We arrived right smack in the city center and decided to skip the city.  Instead we walked down the tree lined Benefit Street where there are more than 100 houses built in Colonial, Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian styles. Brown U campus is dispersed in the same area and we walked on the campus grounds just to have a feel of this very old institution.

We found this Motel 6, about 4 miles out of Providence and decided to stay here for the night before we shoot off for Newport tomorrow.

The Kennedy clan

President JFK, Hyannis

The Mayflower in Plymouth

Plymouth, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Brown U campus in Providence

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Sept 23 and 24


Provincetown, this was where it all started, the place where the Pilgrims first landed a few hundred years ago but only stayed for 5 weeks.  Cape Cod looks like a bent arm and we drove through the whole length of the Cape and ended up at Race Point Beach. We climbed to the top of the Pilgrims Monument and had a birdseye view of Provincetown. There are many beautiful beaches and lighthouses dotting both sides of the Cape. The beaches here are different. They are flanked by sand dunes along most of the coast. 

We stayed at the upper Cape in the town of Orleans. It's off season and the hotel we stayed at had only 4-5 rooms occupied. It was ghostly quiet. In a way it is great as there is not much crowd and we didn't have to pay to enter the beaches and there are no lines into anything.

Nauset Marsh, Cape Cod

Race Point Light House

Race Point Beach

Race Point Beach with sand dunes

Pilgrims Monument

Cod Light House

Martha's Vineyard

We're kicking off our 2 weeks driving trip through New England from Martha's Vineyard, the island off Buzzards Bay. We’ve had a very relaxing 3 days. We didn’t even have to drive. We landed in Boston at 5.45am, picked up the car, drove to Woods Hole ferry terminal and parked our car there. It’s recommended that we don’t drive on the island due to limited parking spots. I’m glad we took the advice. There are many bus routes and we took them to all the different communities on the island. Every community has a different look and feel to it. The biggest town is Oak Bluffs where there are many restaurants and shops. We had dinner there on our 2nd night at “Nancy,” a restaurant overlooking the sea. This is a really beautiful island, with some very expensive and great looking homes. I can see why Obama vacations here every year. Things are pretty expensive and we noticed that there are no fast food chains to be found. I guess they don’t want their reputation for great food to be tarnished.

Many of the visitors are just day trippers. They arrive in the mornings and by evening, the island is pretty empty as all of them had left. The season is almost over as fall officially started yesterday. Many of the businesses close until spring of next year.

It is Derby time – for Stripped Bass and Bluefish fishing. It started mid Sept and will run through till mid Oct. It is taken seriously by folks around here. We see people fishing everywhere. Kids are introduced to this recreation from a very early age. We were at Lamberts Cove by Nantucket Sound yesterday. It is a really nice stretch of beach and a pass is required in high season. As we were leaving in the evening, we saw people arriving with their tables, beach chairs and food for the fishing party at night. The biggest catch so far was a 30lb striped bass yesterday. Fishes are weighed every morning to see who had the biggest catch. We saw a picture of a bass as tall as a man!

Our hotel is located in a perfect spot in Vineyard Haven. We are 2 blocks from the ferry. As a matter of fact, from where I’m sitting right now, I can see the ferry arriving and leaving. The beach is less than 20 feet from our room and at night as we lay down to sleep, the gentle lapping of the surf lulls us to sleep. The bus to Oak Bluffs stops right in front of our hotel. We catch all the other buses at the ferry terminal. It was raining and cloudy for the first part of today. We took the bus to Katama Beach and there were just 2 other couples. It is along the Atlantic Ocean and very isolated from the nearest town. It was miserable as it was cold and windy.

We will be taking the ferry back to the mainland tomorrow and make our drive up to Cape Cod for 2 nights.

Beach at Vineyard Haven

Edgartown pier

Gay Head Cliff and Lighthouse at Aquinnah

Gay Head at Aquinnah