CC Travels

Hi everyone!

My dad flew to the east coast this week all the way from Oregon! We met up in NYC to kick off a vacation of baseball in historic stadiums, which was probably the only way I could convince him to travel all this way. Dad booked our apartment in the Bronx just a short walk from Yankee Stadium. While this was ideal for the 3 hours of baseball, the location was very limiting for the main Manhattan tourist options. After walking 5 miles down the island in January (burr), I had a decent idea of where you want to be based for site seeing, but I would rather have taken that trek in -7-degree Fahrenheit than the 80-degree weather we were currently melting in. I’ve only been to NYC a couple of times, so my knowledge of public transportation is minimal and I didn’t want my first few lessons to risk my dad’s patience (just as minimal). I wracked up plenty of Uber fee’s, but the A/C made it optimal for breaks in between the August heat.

Our first day we met at our apartment in the Bronx and walked to Yankee Stadium. We are avid Yankee fans, so experiencing the stadium was an important block on the itinerary for both of us. We named our dog, Jeter, if that tells you anything.

After the game, we caught an Uber down to the Upper West Side for dinner and stopped at Patsy’s Pizzeria off of Columbus Ave and 74th Street. I had a delicious Margherita pizza to myself and my dad dug into a plate of chicken parmesan. While the restaurant was bustling with families, the service was good and the food was just what we needed after a long day of traveling.

Conveniently, the west side entrance of Central Park near Strawberry Fields was just a few minutes down the block. I had two desired checkpoints: The Mall and Bethesda Terrace. We walked to The Mall, which of course another classic dad move, I heard multiple comments of “Why would anyone want to go shopping in a park?”. I was so impressed by Central Park. How could this place exist within all the hustle and bustle of the city?

We continued down to The Terrace and my mind was blown with the arches leading out to the fountain. Beautiful tile and a rainbow of colors tucked away underneath sweeping arches.

There were kids dancing on the other side, chasing bubbles. A young couple kissing on a bench near the water. Soft music playing in the background. Old men sitting together probably in the same place they had been meeting every week for the last 20 years. My heart was buzzing.

We decided to catch a ride with a bike tour guide. You know one of those things where you’re in a little carriage on wheels and someone tows you on a bicycle? There has to be a better name for that. It was a great way to see the rest of Central Park and give our feet a rest, but watch out for the price! They advertise $3.00 on their carriages, but if you look closely it’s $3.00 per MINUTE. The normal ride time is 60min, but we stopped at 30min…if you’re doing the math that’s still almost $100.

I was able to catch some amazing pictures out of it. It was like it had been designed that way, every corner we turned was almost the “perfect shot” with hardly any effort needed on my end aside from my Lightroom editing presets. I took on a new editing style for this trip. My eyes are really liking the slight overexposure and dreamy hues, it feels a little too good to be true and that’s exactly how I want it.

Back to the Bronx we went for the night and then caught our train from Penn Station into Boston the next morning. Flying from NYC to Boston compared to taking the train is just about the same time, 4 hrs, but the Amtrak was a little more scenic. We passed through Connecticut and Rhode Island before stopping at South Station.

What brought us to Boston? Another baseball game of course! We knocked another major stadium off our list and watched the Yankees and Red Sox play at Fenway Park. I wish that I could’ve experienced the old Yankee Stadium. Despite my loyalty to the Yankees, there was an obvious shift in energy inside Fenway Park–the walls come alive with history and the passion of generations of Red Sox fans.

We made it back to our amazing hotel across the harbor, the Hyatt Regency, with views overlooking the Boston skyline. Conveniently located right next to Logan Airport, my dad flew back home to Oregon the next morning.

BUT THE FUN DIDN’T STOP THERE!

I stayed with my friend Cory and his family in Salem, New Hampshire, for the rest of the weekend and he allowed me to drag him along throughout the entire city. For someone that is from the area, I ended up being the one to show him new sites 😉

Give a girl a bucket list and watch her check it all off in 36 hours…

To name a few:

Boston Public Libray

Acorn Street

Brattle Book Library

Harvard University Campus

Bench from the movie Good Will Hunting

Mike’s Pastry

Now to dig in a little more personal, I primarily wanted to explore Boston because *drumroll* I’M MOVING THERE NEXT YEAR!

I’ll be attending UMass Boston after I get out of the Navy to finish my Bachelors in International Relations. UMass Boston is located in South Boston, right on the water, and in the prime location for a travel bug like me to explore. If all goes accordingly, I should only have a little over a year to complete undergrad. I have no idea where I’ll end up after I graduate.

There are so many doors waiting wide open for me, I can feel it. There have been countless up’s and down’s these past few years in the military, but the one thing that has stayed consistent is the pursuit of my education. This trip to Boston really confirmed everything for me and I can’t wait to live in Massachusetts in 2019!