This was our first major trip after Kathleen retired from Kaiser/Group Health so we decided to really make a trip out of a 14-night cruise by adding a big road trip and a stay in NYC before.

We started our trip on Friday, September 28 when we flew Alaska Air to Detroit at 7:15 am. Now, we don't know anyone in Detroit but we wanted to visit our great friends Tim and Perry in Toronto. So, why didn't we just fly to Toronto? Well Detroit had to be our choice because picking up a rental car in Toronto and dropping it off  near NYC (or anywhere in the US) incurred an almost $1000 drop off charge. But if we rented it in Detroit (or any other US city) we could drop it off near NYC for only a $200 drop off charge.

The drive from Detroit to Toronto was supposed to take about four hours but with construction delays and a quick stop for lunch, those four turned into six. We arrived at Tim and Perry's around 8:00 pm in the pouring rain to find that Tim had made some amazing lasagne. We spent a few hours eating and catching up.

We spent the rest of the weekend with Tim, Perry and their new roommate Mark at Nuit Blanche, an annual overnight art fest in downtown Toronto.

After an awesome visit and a wonderful early morning photo walk along Lake Ontario, we headed south to New York. First up I wanted to take Kathleen to see the American side of Niagara Falls that I had seen on a previous trip but she had never seen. Then we headed further south to  Geneva, NY where we were going to spend the night before driving to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown the next morning. We had an amazing dinner at a restaurant I had found on Open Table named Kindred Fare If you live anywhere near Geneva, eat there.

The next morning we started what would be our norm for the rest of the road trip; get on the road early, stop after about an hour for a big breakfast, travel and tour all day and then stop for a nice dinner. In the next three days of road trip we drove from Geneva, NY to Cooperstown NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame (a lifetime bucket list for me). Then on to Bennington, VT where we spent the night. The next day included a run up to Waitsfield, Vermont to visit Small Dog Electronics (where I have bought every Mac I have owned since 1985) and then on to do the tour at Ben and Jerry's on a very rainy afternoon. Then a drive back down to Brattleboro, Vermont to spend the night. Just want to mention that we used a combo of points and cash to pay for our three hotels, all were Hampton Inns. The Geneva Hampton is older and needs updating, the Bennington Hampton was the best of the three and the Brattleboro Hampton someplace in between. All were fine and we would stay them in again on the same road trip. I want to mention that we didn't see much in the way of fall color even though it was the first week of October. A lot of green and a little yellow and orange as you can see from the pic at right. Compare that to what we saw in Quebec about 10 days later.

After our short three-day tour of New England we headed south to Norwalk, CT where we dropped our rental car and took a town car from Carmel Limo into NYC. Yes, I know we could have returned the car in Manhattan but I really did not want to drive into the city, have to find the rental car place, then find transport in the crazy city. This worked out so much better. Our driver was early, ready when we got there, loaded our bags in his trunk and then after a 80 minute drive, dropped us right in front of our AirBnB at the corner of 7th and 28th in downtown Manhattan.

A few words about our AirBnB experience in NYC. We were looking for a place to spend four nights pre-cruise in downtown Manhattan. We had booked this one almost a year in advance and I will admit that I had no idea until about a month before our trip that all the NYC AirBnB places we saw on their website are basically, illegal. New York laws do not allow people to rent out homes, apartments and condos on a short term basis. When I finally figured this out, it made a lot of things clear that had happened since we had done the original rental. From the start, the owner of the unit we had chosen was very secretive about where exactly the unit was, how we would meet him to get in and get the keys.

Once we had all that settled we liked the place (see it by clicking here). Here's my quick review as posted on the AirBnB website:

This place was exactly as advertised but with a few caveats. First, because of the current legal situation for AirBnB type places in NYC, we had to be kind of sleuthy to get in with our luggage. Buddy was very helpful with that. The place is exactly as described and surface clean but it truly needs a coat of paint. Buddy was a SUPERB host, even bringing in a room AC when the weather turned unseasonably hot. The location is outstanding. Having a washer and dryer was great for us as we had been on the road for more than a week when we arrived but the dryer takes HOURS to dry one load. Not sure how that could be improved. Ended up taking some shirts out to a laundry service. Buddy was very easy to work with the entire time of our stay. If we return to NYC we would surely consider his place again.

We were in NYC for five days and we did so much. Our first night (after arriving from Connecticut) we saw the musical Kinky Boots which totally exceed my expectations. Kathleen already knew it would be a great show but I was blown away. The one thing about that first night was that I vastly underestimated the distance we had to walk to get to the restaurant and theatre and totally wore Kathleen out. We ended up making a lot of use of Uber while we were in NYC.

We started the day early when we hopped a subway to lower Manhattan and our 9-11 tour and museum visit. Again, I wore Kathleen out early in the morning because how was I know to that there was a West Broadway and a Broadway and that they ran parallel to each other a few long blocks apart. This meant a very long walk from the subway on West Broadway to our meeting spot on Broadway. But it was worth the walk as we met our guide Abby from 9/11 Ground Zero Tours and she gave us an awesome tour. Here's what I said about the tour on TripAdvisor:

On a very warm morning in October we met our incredible guide Abby for what would be a very moving experience. We had previously visited the site almost 10 years ago before so much of what is there today was built. We wanted a guided tour to make sure we didn't miss anything. We were hoping for a guide that would not only give us the facts but also have some true insights and we got that in spades with Abby.

A native New Yorker and someone who was going to school not far from Ground Zero on 9-11, you could tell by her passion that this tour means much more to her than just a job. She led us at a very nice pace (not too fast, not too slow) around the sites in lower Manhattan. She had great stories to tell with many wonderful but sad anecdotes.

One of the best things about the tour is that when it is over, you get to skip the VERY long line to get into the amazing 9-11 museum. The tour company can also arrange your trip to the top of the new Freedom Tower but we decided to skip that part of the day.

If you come to NYC and want the best tour of this historic site, ask for Abby.

After the 9-11 Tour and spending about an hour in the museum (you could easily spend 2-3 hours) we headed uptown via Uber to our next adventure, an architectural cruise around the entire island of Manhattan that began at Chelsea Piers. We had booked a tour based on a high recommendation from our next door neighbors with Classic Harbor Line Tours. We took a three and a half hour sailing tour that was supposed to completely circumnavigate the entire island. Because of bridge repair in the Harlem area we weren't able to go all the way around Manhattan but rather did a big U tour around the bottom and then back. The tours are completely narrated by an architect that has been doing them for a while and is quite interesting. We learned a lot and had a really nice sail. Here's my TripAdvisor review:

We took this architectural tour early in October 2018 and truly enjoyed it. Our neighbors had recommended it to us and we thought it would be a great way to see more of Manhattan's architecture and learn something in the process.

We loved the fact that this is on an older, smaller yacht-like boat as opposed to the other, larger tour vessels we saw sailing around on the Hudson. We also truly appreciated the free beverage (your choice of wine, beer or soft drink) as well as the food that was included (a really nice Greek buffet).

Following the tour we hopped another Uber (we really made great use of our Uber app—until it started going nuts and showing our location in the East River) to get back to Times Square quickly to have dinner at Dos Caminos an outstanding Mexican restaurant in the W Hotel. When I say outstanding, I truly mean it. We did not expect to find this kind of quality Mexican food in Times Square. The taco special (which we both had) was easily one of the best meals of the entire trip (and we ate a lot of great food on this trip.)

After dinner we did what we suggest everyone who tours the 9/11 sites do to end your day. You see when you tour those sites it is really quite depressing. Seriously so. But if you want to find something that will raise your spirits and remind you that something good came out of that horrid time, then you should go see Come From Away. It is now (after seeing it twice) my favorite musical. It's the story of what happened in Gander, Newfoundland on September 11 and the days following. It is a wonderful story that provides hope and more. Go see it.

The next morning (our second in NYC) I was up early to walk the Highline while Kathleen rested up from our very long first day. The Highline is a super experience to walk. This old, elevated railroad bed that runs through parts of Manhattan starting at around 34th Street and running down to around 12th. It is all pedestrian, beautifully landscaped and one of the best photographic opportunities in the city. It was the perfect (if a little cold) way to start the day. And it's free.

After our long day on Thursday, we only had one thing on the books for Friday, a food tour of Greenwich Village with Foods of New York. Our tour guide Paulette was a total wise-ass and a pastry chef and she took us to eight absolutely great venues all around the Village. Along the way she told us go many great stories about the Village and the food. It was one of the best food tours we have taken and we would do this one again or any other tour that Paulette leads. We tasted Indian, Italian, Cuban and even oatmeal cookies while hearing great stories about the history of the Village.

After the tour we were both full and exhausted plus we had a lot of laundry to do so we headed back to our AirBnB so Kathleen could work on the laundry and on some resting while I ran some errands and went to buy some discount theatre tickets at TKTS. This is a good place for me to say something about buying theatre tickets. We saw three shows in three days and didn't pay full price for any of them. And we had some great seats. We bought two sets of tickets before we left home through the TIKS website. Some great prices and our seats for Kinky Boots were in the third row. For our third night we decided on the straight (non-musical) play, The Play that Goes Wrong (which was a HILARIOUS farce) and we were in the second row. To buy from TodayTIKS just go to their website but to buy from TKTS for "day of" discounts, you need to go to one of their booths in NYC. You should know that if you want to see a play (as opposed to a musical) there is a special line(s) which you can jump into. On the day I was there the waiting time for tickets to musicals was about 90 minutes. In those 90 minutes I walked from our place to Times Square, bought the tickets, walked back, stopped at a cash machine and got the tickets. I heartily endorse both methods of buying tickets. Use TodayTIKS for shows you HAVE TO SEE and TKTS for last minute shows when you have a free evening.

On Saturday morning, our last full day in NYC we were out of bed to meet our best buddies Bob and Holly (who had taken a red-eye in from San Diego overnight) for a carriage ride in Central Park. We had prearranged the ride with New York Horse Carriage Rides. We were met by our driver Clemente who is from Italy. He was an awesome guy who took us around the park on a great ride regaling us with stories about the park. We would ridge again with Clemente anywhere he wants to take us in the park.

After our carriage ride we spent the rest of the day getting ready to embark on our cruise the next day before heading to Greenwich Village again for a dinner with Bob and Holly and our new friends Eileen and Bob who are also from Southern Cal. They had joined us on the food tour the day before and were touring with us on the cruise as well. Before we left home I had found a truly authentic Sicilian restaurant near Washington Square Park; Cacio e Vino. We had a great time, the food was fantastic and it was one of those occasions when you say...a good time was had by all. The three bottles of an amazing ripasso helped in that respect.

The next morning we were up and off by 9:30 in another Carmel Limo (they did great for us and I can't recommend them enough to get you to or from the ship) to start our cruise. For more about the cruise, click here!