In honour (or is it honor?) of our friends across the pond celebrating their independence, I thought I’d write about two day trips we did a little while ago from New York City. We visited for a week so there was plenty of time to go off exploring and to find some other cool places to roam around. Don’t get me wrong, NYC is the place to be, but so are lots of other places!

Summary



Duration: One day x2

Amtrak (train): $98 per round trip, per person – that’s around £74 for us Brits

Rating: 10/10

To Boston

Outbound: 06:55 arriving at 11:05

Inbound: 18:45 arriving at 22:45

To Washington, DC

Outbound: 07:17 arriving at 10:40

Inbound: 19:10 arriving at 22:34

Day one: things to do in Boston

After getting the Amtrak from New York Penn Station, we arrived in Boston (South Station) with loads of time to mosey around. And because we took a train, there was no faffing about with luggage belts or passport officials.

Instead, we strolled straight out of there and over to the Fan Pier, which has beautiful views of the city skyline. This is a nice area to slowly meander around. We then popped back into the city, amongst the hustle and bustle, and started on the Freedom Trail. This red-line-marked path takes you all over the city, and is roughly two and half miles long. We decided to do a little piece of it and then took a detour to Fenway Park.

Even though (gasp!) I’ve never seen a baseball game, it was fun to see this world-famous ball park. We may have even bought t-shirts…

Once we finished there we walked all the way out to Cambridge to visit the hallowed halls of Harvard University. There are tours you can take, but we wanted to pop our heads in and say hi. And, after poking around the campus and meeting some of the students, we headed on back to the city for something to eat before shooting off back to New York. There is definitely so much more we could have done but this was our idea of a fabulous stroll through an underrated city. Where would you go on a day out in Boston?

Day two: what to see in Washington, DC

The cool thing about arriving at Washington station, is you can fall right out of it and into the centre of the action. Simply walk forward and you’re stood in front of the famous Capitol building. Turn about face and you’re onto a winner – just keep walking forward through the gardens and you’ll find some of the most amazing sights the city has to offer.

I mean, straight away you could find yourself enjoying the science-y goodness of the National Air and Space Museum. Or easily one of the other grand Smithsonian halls of wisdom. Venturing further into the gardens still and you’ll reach the Washington Monument. When we went, there were repairs going on although rumour has it by Spring 2019 visitors will be able to visit the top again. Fingers crossed!

Behind that marvellous behemoth is the famous reflecting pool (the one Forrest Gump waded through – please don’t try this). Sadly for us it had been drained for maintenance, but it was pretty neat to walk beneath the trees beside it. Those paths, of course, lead to the Lincoln Memorial. In fact, there are a lot of great memorials around here and you should also check out the one for Marin Luther King Jr and for Roosevelt. They’re equally as striking in my opinion.

Heading slightly away from the gardens in the opposite direction will bring you to The White House. Obama was still living there when we visited (ah, good memories) and so we were thrilled to be stood outside taking photos like goofs for a while. We actually then took a detour and crossed state lines in Virginia and paid our respects at the Arlington Cemetery and the US Marine Corps War Memorial. It was a humbling experience.

So, if you live in NYC or like us you’re planning a visit soon, remember to check out all the other cool places around it. In fact, this goes for most places in the world. Don’t stop. Keep on exploring. Walk until your feet hurt. And, as always, smile until your face hurts. After all, that’s what life’s all about, no?

See you next time for: London