One of the battles we had fought with our travel agents in UK, DialAFlight, was based on the strange arrangement that they had agreed with their USA tour provider, American Driving Vacations, whereby we were to travel in hope and pick up all our information for the remainder of our tour at our first hotel. We had objected so strongly to this process, and kept on about it, to force DialAFlight to send us the details and fortunately I had downloaded it and printed it out. This meant that when our email reply from ADV was to go via the first hotel, Best Western Adams Inn, Quincy, on the way to the third, Best western Acadia, Bar Harbor, we decided against the detour that implied and continued on with what information we had.
We started by getting breakfast at the deli, Perfectos, on the next block to the hotel – the staff were most helpful even though we had to give them lessons in tea-making. We had a great bacon bagel and were soon in conversation with two local guys who gave us several travel hints. They also told us “if you don’t like the weather wait a minute”. We walked up and down the Main Street in the thin rain just to say we had seen the place but then decided to move on.
Having checked out of the hotel we followed our friends’ directions to Kennebunkport. It was very quiet and we started to realise that while much is made of New England in the Fall in truth it seemed that the holiday season was all but over by the end of September.
We paid to park in an almost empty parking lot and ventured into the town. There was a mist over the place which I hoped would lend itself to some moody photos but the results didn’t repay my creative optimism. Nevertheless it was a fascinating experience, much of the town is built on wooden stilts driven into tidal mudflats and the wooden walkways between buildings can be at any height, thus you can leave an establishment on the first floor and appear in the next two flights up.
As the day cleared there was a bit more activity but still very few cars were parked as we set off towards the sea shore to view Goose Island. This time we parked easily and nobody even thought to charge us. At this more remote area the feel was of a real working harbour which had no need of, nor courted, any commercial tourism. The boats were small working fishing boats and they were coming and going in pursuit of their trade. The only concessions to commercialism, if that’s what it was, were houses which were decorated by brightly painted floats and other fishing equipment.
As the weather continued to improve we set off to reach our next destination.
Its worth noting that in most journeys in England if you set off reasonably early you almost have a day to spend at your destination, in America often the travelling takes up the day and you only expect to sleep when you arrive.
This time we were hoping to have time to do some exploring after checking into our hotel but the final hour of the trip was dimmed by the return of the rain and we checked into the Best Western Acadia just outside Bar Harbour at about 4.00pm. From the folksy do-it-yourself approach in Kennebunk we drove into a motel which looked to represent corporate America but appearances did deceive, the motel rooms were brilliantly designed and the staff were helpful even to the point of directing us to the coffee free in the lounge all day and the regular shipment of free cookies in the afternoon.
The light rain persisted long enough to cancel any sightseeing that afternoon but we still needed to come to terms with the disjointed sleep-patterns so we napped before going out to the recommended restaurant, the Chart Room, which we found easily on the way in towards Bar Harbor.
We arrived without a reservation so we couldn’t expect a waterside table and indeed the place was very busy so we were seated on the road side of the restaurant. As was to become the pattern, we ate well but not cheaply, and the meals were not the huge, you wont need to eat again this week, portions which we were accustomed to in Oklahoma and Texas. In those places it is almost obligatory to leave with the uneaten part of the meal in a box to fight off hunger in future – also it was suggested to us that any meal of $10 or over could be split between a couple and the establishment would provide plates and silverware fort the purpose without question. In the Chart Room I ate a main course, “Baked Stuffed Haddock - Baked and stuffed with our Seafood Stuffing topped with our wonderful Shrimp Sauce $18.95” it was excellent and filling enough but Texans would have used it as an appetizer and expected to pay $6 for it. When we realised that two taxes were still to be added to the tariff and in the USA 20% is the expected tipping level we had to come to terms with the idea that most evening meals were going to break the $60 mark.
It was our first exposure to New England dinning and we noticed that a full restaurant at 7.30pm is emptying by 9.00 and very few new diners arrive after 8.00, this seemed to be the case nearly everywhere we went.
The following morning the weather had improved and we set out to the free buffet breakfast before investigating the Acadia National park. Breakfast was very nice and made better by the waitress, an older lady who really just kept everything topped up and explained the best features of the park to nearly every table of guests. She remarked at one point that she had been a hippy in the day and had never expected to be alive in 2010 so she still needed to work.
We followed her recommendations and entered the park. We paid our $20 for the carload, just two in our case, the lady at the desk asked if we had any over 60’s with us, this would have reduced our costs but, helpful as she was, she was unable to rent us such a person.
We left the visitors centre and set off round the Park Loop Road, the first stretch of this is one-way and alongside the coast, from this high position we could see a cruise ship anchored in Bar Harbor and when we parked to see Thunder Hole there were groups of cruisers labeled with their bus numbers. Thunder Hole is a small inlet, naturally carved out of the rocks, where the waves roll into. At the end of this inlet, down low, is a small cavern where, when the rush of the wave arrives, air and water is forced out like a clap of distant thunder. Water may spout as high as 40 feet with a thunderous roar! Hence the name: Thunder Hole. It wasn’t our day, or time of day, to hear thunder but it is a great view of the cliffs and rocky coastline and the weather was cooperating by providing great light.
We continued round our circuit and turned into the parking area at Jordan Pond. At the Jordan Pond House we were supposed to tackle a popover for lunch but the place was packed and we sacrificed this unknown delight to walk round the lake which proved much further than advertised. While the people were suddenly plentiful in the area the wildlife had taken a break leaving their sole representative, a cormorant, to sit contentedly on a tree stump, I imagine his popover lay heavily in his stomach.
On the Jordan House side of the lake the path became a board walk of one, two or three plank’s width, the planks were slippery in places but my poor choice of footwear, sandals, on gravel paths found much less problem with the planks.
When we got back into the car we drove up the Cadillac Mountain Road to the summit, where we were rewarded with great views an all directions. I include the following mainly for its final line!
At 1,532 feet, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6. Cadillac Mountain is largely composed of pink granite with forests of spruce and pitch pine. Views of Acadia National Park from the top of the mountain are spectacular. Bar Harbor, Maine, the most well known town on Mount Desert Island, is to the northeast. The Cranberry Islands are to the southwest. The winding and scenic road that ascends to the top of Cadillac Mountain is approximately 3.5 miles long and was officially opened in 1931. During the 1880's, there was a slow cog railway excursion to the summit, but unfortunately, due to a much faster descent, it was short lived. The wreckage of the winding gear is still there to be seen, it was hard enough to get it up there we could hardly expect anyone to bring it down just to tidy up.
After our descent we found our way out of the park and into Bar Harbor. In the dock area we were able to watch a Holland America Line cruise ship tendering her passengers to and from the ship at anchor in the bay. There was also a four-masted sailing ship returning from a shorter cruise round the islands. Apparently the Margaret Todd sails three times a day for a two hour cruise at $35 per head but the evening cruise is clearly the best value as free cheese is provided, is there anyone out there who can eat $35 worth of cheese?
All in all we found Bar Harbor beguiling but we didn’t spot anywhere obvious to eat in the evening, so when we returned to the motel we looked at the restaurant guide and selected a place, the Town Hill Bistro, on the land side of the motel. Following remembered directions from the map we left in the motel room we began to lose hope of success as everywhere seemed dark and deserted, and then we recognised a landmark, the Brewing Company, and shortly after pulled into the small parking lot. The Restaurant was in a small outbuilding and there was a short debate between two of the staff if we could be accommodated at such short notice but greed prevailed and we were given a table. The food was good but the homemade bread overshadowed it – superb and it kept coming while we waited for our main courses. The meal again broke the $60 barrier but we were already starting to expect that. We were full as we returned to the motel and asleep by 10.00pm.
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Friday, 29 October 2010
New England – Fall 2010 – Day 1: LHR to Boston - New Start.
After a slow breakfast and a leisurely morning we caught the hotel hopper to the terminal and were in more than adequate time to check in our baggage and pass through security to wait for our flight.
This journey was ground-breaking because our struggle with carrying our bags on our recent cruise and the realization that we were the last people in the world without wheeled baggage had persuaded us to purchase bags with both handles and wheels. Thus my huge stock of Prince kit bags will remain in our loft until such time as they become historic exhibits in their own right.
We joined our flight without problems and, when we were in the air, a PA announcement asked us to make ourselves known to the cabin crew. We were then greeted by the senior stewardess and given our friend’s best wishes – the cabin crew then looked after us very well serving us champagne and chocolates.
Without these special kindnesses we would still have been well impressed with the Virgin treatment that we received it was a very pleasant journey.
We flew out of LHR at about 15.15 and because the time change was on our side we arrived in the USA at about 17.45.
On arrival in Boston we passed through Immigration and Customs painlessly and quickly found our way to the shuttle bus and on it to the car hire depots.
We were booked with Hertz and we had been advised that we needed to reprint our car voucher rather than present yesterday’s – the faint printing of the hotel machine was still acceptable and we were assigned a Chevy Aveo Sedan which seemed almost brand new. It is about the size of a Ford Focus and easily accommodated our two major bags and all hand luggage in its trunk.
We must have appeared to be veterans of this process because the couple behind us was collecting their car and setting out to drive in the states for the first time and they asked us for any advice. We tried to help but when they told us that they had no SatNav we were concerned as to how they would manage. I had switched my SatNav on in the office not to find our way to the desk but to let the device find itself, to speed our progress when we had the car.
We set off from the depot by about 19.30 and we were aiming at our second day’s hotel – The Kennebunk Inn in Kennebunk, Maine. This was a problem in itself because it was further from the airport than the first hotel and also the tour details that we needed to proceed we waiting for us at the first hotel. We now had a two hour journey in front of us in a miserable damp evening. We were not prepared for there being roundabouts in New England as all our American friends had claimed to have met them for the first time driving in England – I guess the clue is in the name – New England.
Our navigation was excellent and we arrived quicker than the SatNav expected, we parked behind the property and walked round to the front door on Main Street. The door was open but there were no other signs of life, we wandered the ground floor and in the office area were two envelopes one of which had our name on it. Inside was our room key and bill. I wrote on the invoice that we had paid in advance and we took possession of our room.
It was quaint and for the only time on our tour we used a real key.
After depositing our luggage and sending an email request to American Driving Vacations for our tour details to be forwarded to a later hotel, we set out into the drizzle to find sustenance, and possible a beer.
Two blocks up the Main Street we found both at Duffy’s Tavern and Grill. The disturbed eating pattern of the day was such that we only required a bedtime snack but the place was pleasant and the regulars came and went while we kept half an eye on the Packers losing from a winning position against the Chicago Bears.
This journey was ground-breaking because our struggle with carrying our bags on our recent cruise and the realization that we were the last people in the world without wheeled baggage had persuaded us to purchase bags with both handles and wheels. Thus my huge stock of Prince kit bags will remain in our loft until such time as they become historic exhibits in their own right.
We joined our flight without problems and, when we were in the air, a PA announcement asked us to make ourselves known to the cabin crew. We were then greeted by the senior stewardess and given our friend’s best wishes – the cabin crew then looked after us very well serving us champagne and chocolates.
Without these special kindnesses we would still have been well impressed with the Virgin treatment that we received it was a very pleasant journey.
We flew out of LHR at about 15.15 and because the time change was on our side we arrived in the USA at about 17.45.
On arrival in Boston we passed through Immigration and Customs painlessly and quickly found our way to the shuttle bus and on it to the car hire depots.
We were booked with Hertz and we had been advised that we needed to reprint our car voucher rather than present yesterday’s – the faint printing of the hotel machine was still acceptable and we were assigned a Chevy Aveo Sedan which seemed almost brand new. It is about the size of a Ford Focus and easily accommodated our two major bags and all hand luggage in its trunk.
We must have appeared to be veterans of this process because the couple behind us was collecting their car and setting out to drive in the states for the first time and they asked us for any advice. We tried to help but when they told us that they had no SatNav we were concerned as to how they would manage. I had switched my SatNav on in the office not to find our way to the desk but to let the device find itself, to speed our progress when we had the car.
We set off from the depot by about 19.30 and we were aiming at our second day’s hotel – The Kennebunk Inn in Kennebunk, Maine. This was a problem in itself because it was further from the airport than the first hotel and also the tour details that we needed to proceed we waiting for us at the first hotel. We now had a two hour journey in front of us in a miserable damp evening. We were not prepared for there being roundabouts in New England as all our American friends had claimed to have met them for the first time driving in England – I guess the clue is in the name – New England.
Our navigation was excellent and we arrived quicker than the SatNav expected, we parked behind the property and walked round to the front door on Main Street. The door was open but there were no other signs of life, we wandered the ground floor and in the office area were two envelopes one of which had our name on it. Inside was our room key and bill. I wrote on the invoice that we had paid in advance and we took possession of our room.
It was quaint and for the only time on our tour we used a real key.
After depositing our luggage and sending an email request to American Driving Vacations for our tour details to be forwarded to a later hotel, we set out into the drizzle to find sustenance, and possible a beer.
Two blocks up the Main Street we found both at Duffy’s Tavern and Grill. The disturbed eating pattern of the day was such that we only required a bedtime snack but the place was pleasant and the regulars came and went while we kept half an eye on the Packers losing from a winning position against the Chicago Bears.
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
New England – Fall 2010 – Day 1: LHR to Boston
Our flight to Boston was with Virgin Atlantic for the first time ever and we were due to leave these shores at 15.15. We set off from Hilton by 10.15 despite having promised ourselves to be on the road by 10.00 but we made good progress down the M1 and joined the M25 with no problem little knowing what was in store for us.
My father was a great reader of history and his contention was that the really notable disasters usually come about when in a chain of circumstances every link goes bad rather than good. Scott would have survived his return from the South Pole but for bad luck upon bad luck and the Titanic would have survived if the lookout had seen the iceberg earlier or later.
Our disaster cannot rank with these but in our experience it is hopefully unique – therefore notable – we missed our flight because everything that could have saved us went wrong.
We had set off earlier than necessary having been warned of roadworks in the area of Purple Parking where we regularly leave our car some 15 minutes from Heathrow but those roadworks were to win out against our precautions.
As we left the M1 we heard on the radio there had been a serious accident on the M4 close to the final leg of our journey, we had no way to avoid the M4 so we pressed on. We passed the Airport turnoff and were able to leave the motorway at the correct junction – we thought briefly that we were in luck – but we quickly found almost gridlock as traffic that had been diverted from the blocked motorway merged into the already congested area and progress to Purple Parking was painfully slow.
When we reached the parking lot we sat for over twenty minutes in the next minibus to our terminal before the driver arrived – we then set off and again the slow progress was grueling. The minibus took advantage of the bus lanes and local knowledge to drop us at the terminal by about 14.00.
We located the Virgin Baggage drop for all flights and took our place at the end of a line blessing the fact that we had checked in online. We noted the time was now close to the one hour before flight when the baggage check closed for our flight but there were still many people in front of us and we hoped that some of them were trying to get to Boston. We were further encouraged when passengers to Los Angeles were pulled out of the line to get their luggage checked in – we thought briefly that pretty much all the flights were being delayed.
As we reached the head of the line the hour deadline had passed and on presenting our documents we were told we were very late and needed to get to desk 19. At this desk we were told that the flight had closed and we had limited choices. Either fly to New York and transfer to Boston by internal flight, which we would have to pay for, or fly the following day on the same flight. We chose the latter and paid the £50 each to change our flights, we were allocated seats but we could not confirm them by online check in because it was not yet within 24 hours of the flight.
Before I move on to the arrangements we made to sort out our situation I need to clarify that our “disaster” was an inconvenience and the serious accident on the M4 cost three people their lives so I hope we managed some grace and sense of proportion in our upset.
Incidentally the modern generation of mobile phone users would have contacted Purple Parking as soon as the radio warned them and switched their depot parking to “Meet & Greet” and driven straight to the terminal leaving the car wherever they were told, to be picked up by Purple Parking and returned to us when we flew back but I don’t think like that. The damage was already done when I phoned my travel agent, DialAFlight and made sure the first hotel and the car hire were cancelled for that day.
While Julia got on the internet using her credit card and a public PC I went to find the Hotel Desk, they offered little hope of a reasonable solution to our accommodation problem, a local hotel would be at least £150 room only and if we were prepared to be over 20 minutes away it was still £95. I was unimpressed and may have mentioned it to the smirking operator. Meanwhile Julia had got the number for a local Premier Inn which charged only £52 for the night and sorted out the entire booking over the phone – impressive.
We grabbed a taxi to the hotel and signed up for their meal package at £21 each which provided a three course dinner and a full breakfast. I have to say the hotel was excellent and we will look to use them in the future possibly for a two or three day stay ahead of any future flights to avoid any risk of repeating this debacle.
It was at the hotel we discovered that a kind friend who works for Virgin had arranged us to be upgraded on our flight and was now worried about us.
We watched Newcastle United, whom I have a soft spot for, lose at home to Stoke City, whom I don’t, so life felt less than good as we retired for an early night on the wrong side of the Atlantic.
My father was a great reader of history and his contention was that the really notable disasters usually come about when in a chain of circumstances every link goes bad rather than good. Scott would have survived his return from the South Pole but for bad luck upon bad luck and the Titanic would have survived if the lookout had seen the iceberg earlier or later.
Our disaster cannot rank with these but in our experience it is hopefully unique – therefore notable – we missed our flight because everything that could have saved us went wrong.
We had set off earlier than necessary having been warned of roadworks in the area of Purple Parking where we regularly leave our car some 15 minutes from Heathrow but those roadworks were to win out against our precautions.
As we left the M1 we heard on the radio there had been a serious accident on the M4 close to the final leg of our journey, we had no way to avoid the M4 so we pressed on. We passed the Airport turnoff and were able to leave the motorway at the correct junction – we thought briefly that we were in luck – but we quickly found almost gridlock as traffic that had been diverted from the blocked motorway merged into the already congested area and progress to Purple Parking was painfully slow.
When we reached the parking lot we sat for over twenty minutes in the next minibus to our terminal before the driver arrived – we then set off and again the slow progress was grueling. The minibus took advantage of the bus lanes and local knowledge to drop us at the terminal by about 14.00.
We located the Virgin Baggage drop for all flights and took our place at the end of a line blessing the fact that we had checked in online. We noted the time was now close to the one hour before flight when the baggage check closed for our flight but there were still many people in front of us and we hoped that some of them were trying to get to Boston. We were further encouraged when passengers to Los Angeles were pulled out of the line to get their luggage checked in – we thought briefly that pretty much all the flights were being delayed.
As we reached the head of the line the hour deadline had passed and on presenting our documents we were told we were very late and needed to get to desk 19. At this desk we were told that the flight had closed and we had limited choices. Either fly to New York and transfer to Boston by internal flight, which we would have to pay for, or fly the following day on the same flight. We chose the latter and paid the £50 each to change our flights, we were allocated seats but we could not confirm them by online check in because it was not yet within 24 hours of the flight.
Before I move on to the arrangements we made to sort out our situation I need to clarify that our “disaster” was an inconvenience and the serious accident on the M4 cost three people their lives so I hope we managed some grace and sense of proportion in our upset.
Incidentally the modern generation of mobile phone users would have contacted Purple Parking as soon as the radio warned them and switched their depot parking to “Meet & Greet” and driven straight to the terminal leaving the car wherever they were told, to be picked up by Purple Parking and returned to us when we flew back but I don’t think like that. The damage was already done when I phoned my travel agent, DialAFlight and made sure the first hotel and the car hire were cancelled for that day.
While Julia got on the internet using her credit card and a public PC I went to find the Hotel Desk, they offered little hope of a reasonable solution to our accommodation problem, a local hotel would be at least £150 room only and if we were prepared to be over 20 minutes away it was still £95. I was unimpressed and may have mentioned it to the smirking operator. Meanwhile Julia had got the number for a local Premier Inn which charged only £52 for the night and sorted out the entire booking over the phone – impressive.
We grabbed a taxi to the hotel and signed up for their meal package at £21 each which provided a three course dinner and a full breakfast. I have to say the hotel was excellent and we will look to use them in the future possibly for a two or three day stay ahead of any future flights to avoid any risk of repeating this debacle.
It was at the hotel we discovered that a kind friend who works for Virgin had arranged us to be upgraded on our flight and was now worried about us.
We watched Newcastle United, whom I have a soft spot for, lose at home to Stoke City, whom I don’t, so life felt less than good as we retired for an early night on the wrong side of the Atlantic.
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