The East Coast Trip

So we are going off to JFK on June 29 through July 28. Carmen and family will be joining us on July 5 in NYC.

Manhattan July 5 - July 10

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Carmen will arrive at 6:05 PM take the shuttle from JFK to Leo House located

332 W 23RD St
New York, NY 10011-2289
Phone: (212) 929-1010

Family rooms go for 160 bucks a night and accommodate 4 to 6 people. Given it's Chelsea location, it is supposed to be a real bargain. We will stay from Saturday July 5 through Thursday July 10. It is located one Metro stop from Penn Amtrak station (NYP).

First thing is to get some 7 day Unlimited Metrocard! 24 bucks for a week. Sounds good.

Originally we were going to rent a 15 passenger van, but given that Amtrak 15 day North Eastern Rail Passes are available to all of us (we have our Italian residency) for 299 for adults and 149 for kids, $1800 bucks vs perhaps $3500 for a van , fuel, tolls and parking, we decided to use public transport. Helen and I are probably going to spring the extra 150 each for the 30 day Eastern Pass which goes to Florida to the South, and S Dakota to the West. Hummm Orlando? We need to buy our passes when we get to an Amtrak Station. You can buy online, but you need to actually need to pick it up in the States anyway. Customer service says to pick it up at Penn Station as the salesperson will be better informed about the rail passes.

TO DO

1. Dim Sum in Chinatown
2. Statue of Liberty
3. Bronx Zoo
   

Washington DC July 10 - July 14

From NYP, we will move onward to Union Station at Washington DC. We will take the red line to the Metro Station and transfer to the orange line to Arlington where were are booked at the

Westin Arlington Gateway
801 North Glebe Road · Arlington, Virginia 22203 · United States ·
Phone: (703) 717-6200 ·

Thanks to www.hotwire.com we were able to book this 4 star hotel July 10 through 14 at only $113 plus tax per night per family. It is located 2 blocks from the Ballston Metro on the Orange line. Ballston shopping center is also at the Metro stop as is PF Changs which Helen and I have meaning to try for years.

Hopefully we will meet up with and old friend Karen Huang, her husband and three year old Michael who live in Chevy Chase.

From this location we can get to the Udvar Space Museum at Dulles to see the Lockheed Spy plane an the Space Shuttle Enterprise by going to the Rosslyn Metro about 4 stops on the Orange line and catching the 5A to Dulles. It is a 45 minute ride and we need 3.10 a head in exact change. The bus is supposed to be crowded but maybe on the weekend or later in the morning we might catch a break. From Dulles there is a bus to the Udvar for 50 cents. Can we catch the Imax?

TO DO

1. Arlington Cemetery
2. Udvar Space
3. Smithsonians
4. Union Station
5. Holocaust Museum
   

Philadelphia, PA from July 14 -17

He who hesitates loses and I hesitated when I had the chance to book the Westin Philadelphia at 131 a room and therefore... I lost. So I settled for the 3 star Doubletree Philadelphia City Center West for $65 a night from Priceline.

Doubletree Philadelphia City Center West
237 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107-5686

Tel: 1-215-893-1600 Fax: 1-215-893-1664


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Amtrak takes us from Washington DC's Union Station to the 30th street station in PHL. 3 Metro stops to Walnut Locust and we are there. 1.8Miles.

I did a little research and found that our Amtrak passes also take us to Lancaster, PA. "Lancaster" you say. There was a kid in my elementary school name Lancaster. He was a bit... challenged and people would mock his name. But that is not my interest. At least no longer. Lancaster... think AMISH. Also there is the Tanger factory outlet. From 30th street station, the train for Lancaster leaves on the hour (1h 8m). The outlets are 4 miles from the station and you can get there on Red Rose Transit route 14.

TO DO

1. Lancaster
2. Jim's for Cheese steak and Hoagies
3. Liberty Bell

Boston from July 17 - 20

From PHL 30th street Amtrak we go to Boston Back Bay - Copley Place where the Westin Copley Place awaits right across the street from Amtrak BBY. Booked another 4 star again through Hotwire for $129 a room plus tax for three nights.

Westin Copley Place
10 Huntington Avenue ·
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 · United States ·
Phone: (617) 262-9600 ·

Six Flags AGAWAN