New York to Martha's Vineyard.
I had the TV on and it seems that I have timed my departure perfectly - today is the first day of fall and they were talking about the trees changing colour soon - let's just hope it is in the next nine days! They were also talking about the bombing in Kenya and how there will be increased security in Times Square and other popular tourist spots, so it will be more difficult to move around.
There was an item on how they are looking to get Internet connection into the Metro and had grabs with heaps of people saying how they need it so they can contact their kids if there is an emergency. Seriously?? For the whole ten minutes you are underground, you must be contactable at every moment?? How did they survive before the cell phone?
I had mapped out the route on the Metro but I decided to get in a cab - wrestling a suitcase down the street and on a couple of trains and trying to find Penn Station at the other end, I just couldn't face so a quick taxi ride it is. Very nice taxi driver and I got there, quickly and painlessly.
Got an egg and cheese sandwich - which came in a croissant, interesting but actually quite nice. I had got there a bit early to make sure I was there in case there were any dramas. I'm still waiting for something not to be booked or a reservation not to be there!
They announced the train at 9:50 which meant they had to get everyone on in 10 minutes. There was the inevitable queue. A nice English man asked me if we needed photo ID - as you so often do here. I wasn't sure so we had passports at the ready. Followed him and his wife on and ended up sitting with them coz the train was quite crowded. They were lovely!
Ivan and Ruth are on their 50th wedding anniversary trip, which they are taking so they don't have to have the family over to their place for dinner, like they do every year. They had been in New York for three days and were heading up to Boston to rent a car and drive around for two weeks. So very nice. We had a lovely chat for the whole three-hour trip. Ruth and I went to the snack car to get a coffee. She got a banana and when we came back, there was a whole conversation of "that's your third banana this trip. You had one..." Can't remember where, but it was a hilarious conversation. "Was that when we had the fish and chips?" "No. It was on the ferry ride." And so on.
This is the sea, Ivan, and Ruth's glasses from where I was sitting.
..and Ruth and my empty seat.
The scenery was beautiful. The train goes almost along the coast and there was lots of lovely things to look at.
Got to Kingston station and found my ride. Very pretty half hour drive to the ferry terminal, which was not so pretty...
And now I can add Rhode Island to my list of States I've been to.
Am currently writing this while waiting for the ferry.
This is random but while waiting, some notes for theatregoers - coz I have an hour to kill here -
If the line for the loos says enter to the left and exit to the right - enter to the left!
If you are going to open your lollies, do it quickly - that slow careful ripping is waaaay more annoying than one swift rip.
When you exit a row into the aisle, don't stop there to discuss where to go next - keep moving, discuss it when you get out.
If you don't want your Playbill, maybe hand it back in rather than just drop it on the floor.
Try and stay awake
If you're bored, try not to read the Playbill and distract others.
If it's two minutes til the show starts and you're sitting in front of Shaun Kingma, please do NOT get up, make the aisle get up for you to leave to go to the loo. There's no way you're going to get back before the show starts, in which case the whole row will have to stand again while you get back in. Thus stressing said Mr Kingma out no end.
And to New York audiences - if you automatically stand in your seats the minute the bow music starts, you have no way of indicating that a show was exceptional. You're already giving a standing ovation - it becomes a matter of course then.
Anyway, back to it. On to the ferry and it's rough! At a couple of points, the whole front of the ferry lifted out of the water to slam back down. There were some lovely homes on the banks. The ferry ride was just over an hour. It was very nice to be out on the water - particularly after the hustle that was New York on a Saturday night.
It's somewhere around here that John Kennedy Jr crashed his plane on his way to Hyannis, which is my destination tomorrow. The Kennedy compound is there somewhere.
Arrived at Oak Bluffs - a very picturesque harbour village. The guy on the boat told me just to follow that road, it's a 10 minute walk to Oak Bluffs Inn. Trouble was that road came to a dead end. I went into a service station to ask directions. I always feel obliged to buy something and it used to be cigarettes - coz that was easy. Picked up some trail mix to have in the bag in case of hunger along the way and got the required instructions.
Up to the Inn - it's so quaint and cute...
The guy has his spiel down pat and there is no interrupting him - fruit and coffee are there, towels for the beach are there, etc, etc. I got upgraded to room 4, which looks so much better than the photo (should you be so inclined to have a look). The bed is as high as my hip, and I do love a high bed! That turret area on the second floor is my room.
I set off to see the gingerbread houses this town is famous for. They are amazing - there's a large park with a rotunda and a church and then all these winding lanes with the most amazing little brightly painted cottages. Just gorgeous. I'd love to see inside one.
These photos aren't showing it to its best - it's quite extraordinary. Might go back tomorrow and get some more. Then wandered down to the beach - that was stunning too.
The beach is to the left.
Stopped for a veggie burger then along the wharf...
Day one of New England and it's already stunningly beautiful!
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