New York and the New England States

This is long overdue! Very huge is an understatement when describing United States of America. It is a country with 50 states and almost occupying most of the North American continent. Living here doesn’t mean seeing all of it. Living in the west side of the country with the beach and sunshine Southern California has to offer, still it makes us wonder, what the other side looks like. My husband and I recently started our instagram travel account and looking at other travelers makes us think, “Oh man, these people are rich! They don’t have 9-5 like us”. We are only weekend travelers and planning on going to the northeast may cost a lot of money for ordinary young urban professionals like us.  But being recently married last September of 2018, we had the reason to explore the other side and put going to other countries for our honeymoon aside.

And so much for the introduction, here is our 2 week trip to the East Coast from the West Coast! As the song says, “…From California, to the New York island,  from the Redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters….”

First Stop: NEW YORK CITY

We fly with United Airlines to La Guardia Airport in New York City from Hollywood Burbank Airport. It is the largest and most famous city of New York State yet situated way farther than the mainland/ upstate New York. We spent our first 3 nights and 4 days in New York City thinking we might not have the energy to look into Times Square and Broadway and walk all throughout Manhattan if we had it last in our East-coast trip. Unlike Los Angeles, we can't live with our day to day without our cars, yet in the vast urban jungle of NYC, we don’t need one. Familiarize yourself with the subway, streets, the map. You will be on your feet the whole day. (Detailed New York City trip next on the other blog)

 

Second: RHODE ISLAND

It may be impractical to go directly to Upstate New York since other smaller states are closer in proximity to the city. So we decided to put in next one of the New England States I am wanting to visit, Rhode Island. We rode the Amtrak from Manhattan to Providence, and from Providence we had a car rental to Newport, RI. The place was underrated. In our itinerary we will just spend a night there. For me, that was real quick. I love the serenity of the port side, friendly people and laidback community. Everything seems so calm and peaceful compared back home. (But don't get me wrong, I love LA more than any other city. It is my home). After visiting some mansions of the Vanderbilt family and having fine dinner at a local restaurant, sad but true, we have to move on to the next adventure.

 

Third: BOSTON, MA

Thinking of Harvard School, this was way way way in my bucketlist long ago. Boston was rich in history and substance. Even a ramdom talk to an Uber driver, will give you a hint that almost all Bostonians are intellectuals. It was rainy and gloomy, when we were there. The sun was indeed hiding from us but that didn’t stop us! We had this “Duck tours” to have a glimpse of the city in a short period of time, but I would not recommend it, especially if you have more time to spend than us.

Fourth: HEW HAMPSHIRE

After Boston, we passed by Hew Hampshire on our drive to the state of Vermont. But we had few stops and we happened to visit the State Capital, Concord, New Hampshire. That was a brief stopover.

 

Fifth: VERMONT

It was October of 2018 when we traveled East Coast, and yes,  you got it right! We happened to see the fall colors of Vermont! We stayed the night at Brattleboro. The old town was to die for. We went to the Marlboro mountains to have a much better view of the autumn colored forest of the state of Vermont

And the long drive begins….

My husband’s childhood hometown was in Amherst New York and we drive all the long way from Vermont to Buffallo.

Sixth: UPSTATE NEW YORK

This was not really “touristy” as my husband just showed me the community where he grew up. His old school, the canteen he used to eat at, the apartment he stayed at while in College, his go to Chinese fastfood store, even the school bookstore.  It's nice to be nostalgic  bringing back the good old days.

After spending 2 nights in Amherst, we will drive all the way to  MARYLAND, but we have to cross the state of PENNSYLVANIA (Seventh)

Eighth: MARYLAND

Since Washington DC is just few miles away from Maryland, we decided to stay at Maryland for 4 nights as we explore DC!

Ninth: WASHINGTON DC

Ohhhh.. this is one of the best! Not included in the 50 states but I can tell you, in just a second, in a heartbeat, I fell in love with DC just like that. I ran out of words. I am a history and culture vulture and I loved every bit of it!

 

Tenth: VIRGINIA

We had this side trip to Arlington, Virginia during our last day stay in DC. We joined the Arlington Cemetery tour and just a quick stop to see the colossal cemetery of American Soldiers who fought for the country. And the graves of some previous US Presidents too!

 

Sooo.. yeah! This is quite a lengthy blogpost. Totaling 9 States and the District of Columbia!
I promise to share with you a detailed blog for NYC and DC!

Hope this helps and inspires you to travel more! Even ordinary people can see what the world has to offer, so pack that bag and go! Don’t forget to share yours too!