Gray Line Double-Decker Bus Tour:
In my earlier post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 3), I mentioned to you about Gray Line bus tour, so let me give you little info on what it is. Before booking my tickets to NJ/NY trip, I had researched a little bit on what kind of tours does NY have that we can use. My main purpose of this tour was to have a kind of transportation that would take us around NY and show us the famous spots without us being on foot a lot. The main reason for this is that my dad has a knee problem and due to that he can not walk long distances or for long period of time. So I came across Gray Line double-decker bus tours after googling around little bit. Now, Gray Line isn't the only bus tour that is out there in NY. There is also another bus called City Sights tour and some other companies, but the reason I chose Gray Line is because with the time and days we had on our hand to cover the things we wanted, they had the best price option per person. I looked at all their tours, and the one that attracted me the most was their Classic all loops tour (48 hours) which included downtown loop, uptown loop, Brooklyn tour, and night tour along with a ticket to either Statue of liberty ferry or citysights 60 minute cruise, either Empire state building or Top of the Rock, and South street seaport museum. They give you the option to cover all these things in 48 hours plus they give you little extra time (1 or 2 days) to cover the other things like museum or empire state building. Each of the classic all-loops 48 hour tour was about $95/person but I had called them up and one of the agents had told me that he could get us 10% discount on the tickets if we get it from him, so it was going to come up to $85/person. After all this research I finalized Gray Line double-decker tour to be our guide for NY.
Now, moving on to the trip details. I had not booked the tickets until the day before we were going to go, meaning until Day 6 I had not booked them. Initially, my dad was going to come with us to the tour but due to all the walking on Penn station and from Hicksville station, he was having knee pain and decided to skip the tour. So with that, it leaves 3 of us to go on the tour and I book our tickets the night before we go. If you ever need to book Gray Line through phone, ask to speak with Jared who gave us the 10% discount. I don't know if every agent you talk to gives you discount. I had talked to couple of different agents when I had questions but only Jared told me that he could get me 10% discount if I book it through him. Anyways, they just give you a confirmation number after you book it online and send you an email confirmation as well. The only negative comment I have for Gray Line is that no matter where or how you book your tickets (whether phone or online), you have to go to their visitor center on 8th ave. and 47th street to pick up all the tickets!! That's waste of time I think for everyone because that takes up extra time. I got the confirmation on the phone and went to bed hoping to get up early and start my NY adventure :).
Day 7 is packed with bunch of sight seeing and activities, so you better get some rest as well before reading my next post :)
Have fun!!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 3
.......Continuing the trip from previous post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 2)
Day 5:
Today we were going to leave from my cousin's place to go to one of my dad's cousin's home. Before that, they were going to come pick us up and take us to this place called "Siddhachalam" which is a Jain temple built in a hill station type location and is situated in over 120 acre land. When they came to pick us up, we bid farewell to my mom's cousin's family and left their place around 10:30 in the morning. Again, this was first time that my brother and I met my dad's cousin. In fact, my dad met them after long time (maybe after 12 to 13 years). We reached Siddhachalam around 12:00 pm and we prayed there and had lunch at the "Dharamshala (temple kitchen)". The food was too delicious. This place is managed by 2 families who live at the location and they care of the temple and also cook food for the people visiting the temple. The temple was also recently renovated to build "Shikharji" which is basically a lot of "deris (small temples)" which contains the footprints of all the Gods. These small temples are scattered around the 120 acre land.
This place is so beautiful and peaceful that you can just come here for a weekend to get away from all the noise and crowd of the city and have a peaceful and pleasant time with your family. After all the Darshan (praying), we started heading to my dad's cousin's place around 2:45 pm and reached home about 4:30 pm. We relaxed a bit and then had dinner together. The rest of the evening concluded with the democrat convention speeches and some Indian soap opera :).
Day 6:
Today we were going to leave from New Jersey to go to New York to one of my other cousin's place who lived in Hicksville, NY. The morning was pretty relaxing as we didn't have anywhere to go except to get up and get ready. We had nice family lunch and then we headed to the Matawan station to catch the NJ Transit to NY Penn Station. We said good bye to the family and headed to the station. Again, the NJ Transit train from Matawan to Penn station was very nice since the ride was smooth, had nice and comfy seats, and not crowded. I wish I could say the same for Penn Station. We got off at Penn station and it was completely different story. I felt like I have come to a bus stop in India where people are rushing, pushing, going crazy to get out of the train and catch their next bus/train whatever. Penn station was packed with people!!! It was insane.....and on top of that, we had to catch another train to go to Hicksville....that too on a different train!! So first we had to find where the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) track is so we can figure out where the trains take off from. Then once we figured that out, we needed to know which track the train takes off from for Hicksville. Unfortunately, they don't list the track numbers until 7-10 minutes before the train time, so we had to wait for the track number to be listed. Luckily, my cousin's husband was coming early from work that day and decided to take the train with us so he could help us out. And I was soooooo glad he came with us!! The LIRR train was packed with people, and can you imagine 4 of us trying to find a seat with 4 carry-on bags + 2 personal items :(. It was a disaster!! We all found 4 different seats and my brother-in-law stood all the way in the train (he said he was used to it). After all this chaos, you would think that we would have a smooth ride....no way! This train was worse that the NJ Transit train....the seats were small, there was no overhead compartment to put our luggage, and it was packed with people....seats were not comfortable and the train had too much turbulence that I felt like sitting in one of those roller coaster rides (except it didn't go upside down). We were happy to get off at the Hicksville station after 45 minutes, but we still had to walk a little to get to the elevator and then to the parking garage where my brother-in-law's car was parked. Thankfully, their home wasn't far from the station so we could only relax after getting to home. My cousin came from work early and we met her after almost 13 years!! It was good to see her and her daughter. We freshened up and then had dinner together. I felt being very tired from just from the LIRR train ride, but we had to get up early next day to start our Gray Line tour. More on that in the next post....
For now, I think you have had enough to read about my experiences of the NY already without even starting our tour of NY :P...haha.
Note: I didn't mention anything about the train tickets earlier, but since now I have finished talking about Day 6 it would be a good time to bring it up. NJ Transit train tickets are very expensive for a one-way ride depending on where you start from and where you need to go, but from my previous 2 experiences it cost us about $59 and $55 one-way for 4 people to get from Jersey City (Secaucus station) to Princeton Junction and from Matawan to Penn station. NJ Transit does not have any kind of discounted tickets for peak or off-peak times, but LIRR trains do!! LIRR train rides aren't cheap either, but they have cheaper ticket prices during off-peak time (which is anytime excpet 6-10 am in the morning and 4-8 pm in the evening). So it would have cost us $11.50 for one-way to go from Penn station to Hicksville but if we go in off-peak time, it would cost $8.25. Even better, if you know you are going to take more than 5 off-peak rides then you can buy the Ten-Trip tickets which is about 15% cheaper than the regular off-peak ticket which is what I did. We knew that we were going to come back to NY for our Gray Line bus tour, so we decided to buy the off-peak ten-trip ticket which saved us some $$.
Day 5:
Today we were going to leave from my cousin's place to go to one of my dad's cousin's home. Before that, they were going to come pick us up and take us to this place called "Siddhachalam" which is a Jain temple built in a hill station type location and is situated in over 120 acre land. When they came to pick us up, we bid farewell to my mom's cousin's family and left their place around 10:30 in the morning. Again, this was first time that my brother and I met my dad's cousin. In fact, my dad met them after long time (maybe after 12 to 13 years). We reached Siddhachalam around 12:00 pm and we prayed there and had lunch at the "Dharamshala (temple kitchen)". The food was too delicious. This place is managed by 2 families who live at the location and they care of the temple and also cook food for the people visiting the temple. The temple was also recently renovated to build "Shikharji" which is basically a lot of "deris (small temples)" which contains the footprints of all the Gods. These small temples are scattered around the 120 acre land.
This place is so beautiful and peaceful that you can just come here for a weekend to get away from all the noise and crowd of the city and have a peaceful and pleasant time with your family. After all the Darshan (praying), we started heading to my dad's cousin's place around 2:45 pm and reached home about 4:30 pm. We relaxed a bit and then had dinner together. The rest of the evening concluded with the democrat convention speeches and some Indian soap opera :).
Day 6:
Today we were going to leave from New Jersey to go to New York to one of my other cousin's place who lived in Hicksville, NY. The morning was pretty relaxing as we didn't have anywhere to go except to get up and get ready. We had nice family lunch and then we headed to the Matawan station to catch the NJ Transit to NY Penn Station. We said good bye to the family and headed to the station. Again, the NJ Transit train from Matawan to Penn station was very nice since the ride was smooth, had nice and comfy seats, and not crowded. I wish I could say the same for Penn Station. We got off at Penn station and it was completely different story. I felt like I have come to a bus stop in India where people are rushing, pushing, going crazy to get out of the train and catch their next bus/train whatever. Penn station was packed with people!!! It was insane.....and on top of that, we had to catch another train to go to Hicksville....that too on a different train!! So first we had to find where the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) track is so we can figure out where the trains take off from. Then once we figured that out, we needed to know which track the train takes off from for Hicksville. Unfortunately, they don't list the track numbers until 7-10 minutes before the train time, so we had to wait for the track number to be listed. Luckily, my cousin's husband was coming early from work that day and decided to take the train with us so he could help us out. And I was soooooo glad he came with us!! The LIRR train was packed with people, and can you imagine 4 of us trying to find a seat with 4 carry-on bags + 2 personal items :(. It was a disaster!! We all found 4 different seats and my brother-in-law stood all the way in the train (he said he was used to it). After all this chaos, you would think that we would have a smooth ride....no way! This train was worse that the NJ Transit train....the seats were small, there was no overhead compartment to put our luggage, and it was packed with people....seats were not comfortable and the train had too much turbulence that I felt like sitting in one of those roller coaster rides (except it didn't go upside down). We were happy to get off at the Hicksville station after 45 minutes, but we still had to walk a little to get to the elevator and then to the parking garage where my brother-in-law's car was parked. Thankfully, their home wasn't far from the station so we could only relax after getting to home. My cousin came from work early and we met her after almost 13 years!! It was good to see her and her daughter. We freshened up and then had dinner together. I felt being very tired from just from the LIRR train ride, but we had to get up early next day to start our Gray Line tour. More on that in the next post....
For now, I think you have had enough to read about my experiences of the NY already without even starting our tour of NY :P...haha.
Note: I didn't mention anything about the train tickets earlier, but since now I have finished talking about Day 6 it would be a good time to bring it up. NJ Transit train tickets are very expensive for a one-way ride depending on where you start from and where you need to go, but from my previous 2 experiences it cost us about $59 and $55 one-way for 4 people to get from Jersey City (Secaucus station) to Princeton Junction and from Matawan to Penn station. NJ Transit does not have any kind of discounted tickets for peak or off-peak times, but LIRR trains do!! LIRR train rides aren't cheap either, but they have cheaper ticket prices during off-peak time (which is anytime excpet 6-10 am in the morning and 4-8 pm in the evening). So it would have cost us $11.50 for one-way to go from Penn station to Hicksville but if we go in off-peak time, it would cost $8.25. Even better, if you know you are going to take more than 5 off-peak rides then you can buy the Ten-Trip tickets which is about 15% cheaper than the regular off-peak ticket which is what I did. We knew that we were going to come back to NY for our Gray Line bus tour, so we decided to buy the off-peak ten-trip ticket which saved us some $$.
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 2
....Continuing on from my previous New Jersey post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 1)
Day 3:
I was really tired from yesterday, so started the day late by waking up at 9 and getting ready by 11. New Jersey recently had a big Pratishtha (ceremony) to inaugurate a new Jain Temple in July, so we really wanted to visit that temple. Since my parents wanted to go do puja at the Jain temple, my parents & my brother headed to temple earlier with my cousin and then I went afterwards with my sister in law and nephew. The temple was beautiful from inside and very nicely built. After we left from temple, we went to Iselin, specifically Oak street which is supposed to be like mini India with bunch of Indian shops, restaurants, etc., to have lunch at Khasiyat....and boy the food was delicious!!!! I think we all overate it. We were all so sleepy after we had lunch but it was all good!! After lunch, we went to see one of our friends who also lived in Iselin. This friend had lived in Denver for couple of months and that's how my parents had met them. What was funny was that they had also prepared some snacks for us, so I ate some more snacks + one glass of juice which basically filled me to the edge!! I survived and then we all came back home and relaxed a bit. From the lunch + additional snacks, I knew I had to skip dinner. To sum up the day, I ended the day by eating a really nice desert (cake!!).
Day 4:
- It was Monday and holiday, so quiet morning. My parents went with my aunt and uncle to do some grocery shopping while my brother and I went with my cousin to stroll through Princeton downtown and Princeton University. The downtown and university are very close to one another and in walking distance, so we were on foot to explore both. I really loved the university. I loved where it's situated, the architecture of its buildings, and the whole campus atmosphere!! The buildings are built like old castles and my cousin even told me that the new dorms and buildings that are being built on campus, they are building it with the same old style to keep the feeling consistent and the architecture alike. Here is a snap from the university...
We came back home and had nice family lunch. After lunch we decided to head to Atlantic city around 4 pm and got there around 5:15/5:30 pm. It was raining, so went to the casinos instead (Caesars and Bally's), played machine roulette and then once the rain stopped for a while, we went to the beach for short while. This was the first time that we played machine roulette and my cousin taught us how to play it and how there are so many things you can bed on for each play. Obviously this was first time for us, so my brother played safe and started with $5 and my cousin started with $20. At the end, my brother won $10 and my cousin won $100 :)...it was great to see him win because each time he would bet all the money hoping he would loose so we can leave but each time he kept winning and so the money kept doubling, so finally he stopped at $100 and then we left. Around 8 pm, we had pizza in one of the casino's pizza place and then headed home around 8:30 or 9 pm. We got home around 10:45 pm and had malai kulfi :). We chatted and then went to bed around 12:30 am. Overall, it was really nice day.
This trip isn't over yet....more to come in the next post...stay tuned!!
Day 3:
I was really tired from yesterday, so started the day late by waking up at 9 and getting ready by 11. New Jersey recently had a big Pratishtha (ceremony) to inaugurate a new Jain Temple in July, so we really wanted to visit that temple. Since my parents wanted to go do puja at the Jain temple, my parents & my brother headed to temple earlier with my cousin and then I went afterwards with my sister in law and nephew. The temple was beautiful from inside and very nicely built. After we left from temple, we went to Iselin, specifically Oak street which is supposed to be like mini India with bunch of Indian shops, restaurants, etc., to have lunch at Khasiyat....and boy the food was delicious!!!! I think we all overate it. We were all so sleepy after we had lunch but it was all good!! After lunch, we went to see one of our friends who also lived in Iselin. This friend had lived in Denver for couple of months and that's how my parents had met them. What was funny was that they had also prepared some snacks for us, so I ate some more snacks + one glass of juice which basically filled me to the edge!! I survived and then we all came back home and relaxed a bit. From the lunch + additional snacks, I knew I had to skip dinner. To sum up the day, I ended the day by eating a really nice desert (cake!!).
Day 4:
- It was Monday and holiday, so quiet morning. My parents went with my aunt and uncle to do some grocery shopping while my brother and I went with my cousin to stroll through Princeton downtown and Princeton University. The downtown and university are very close to one another and in walking distance, so we were on foot to explore both. I really loved the university. I loved where it's situated, the architecture of its buildings, and the whole campus atmosphere!! The buildings are built like old castles and my cousin even told me that the new dorms and buildings that are being built on campus, they are building it with the same old style to keep the feeling consistent and the architecture alike. Here is a snap from the university...
We came back home and had nice family lunch. After lunch we decided to head to Atlantic city around 4 pm and got there around 5:15/5:30 pm. It was raining, so went to the casinos instead (Caesars and Bally's), played machine roulette and then once the rain stopped for a while, we went to the beach for short while. This was the first time that we played machine roulette and my cousin taught us how to play it and how there are so many things you can bed on for each play. Obviously this was first time for us, so my brother played safe and started with $5 and my cousin started with $20. At the end, my brother won $10 and my cousin won $100 :)...it was great to see him win because each time he would bet all the money hoping he would loose so we can leave but each time he kept winning and so the money kept doubling, so finally he stopped at $100 and then we left. Around 8 pm, we had pizza in one of the casino's pizza place and then headed home around 8:30 or 9 pm. We got home around 10:45 pm and had malai kulfi :). We chatted and then went to bed around 12:30 am. Overall, it was really nice day.
This trip isn't over yet....more to come in the next post...stay tuned!!
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 1
Hello Friends,
Here I am with the post of my 2nd trip (after St. Louis) to New Jersey & New York. This was a family vacation as opposed to the individual vacation that I took to St. Louis. It had been looooong time since we have had any family vacation together, so I was really looking forward to it :). This was a 10 day trip planned with first 5 days in NJ and last 5 days in NY. My parents had families in both the states so we were looking forward to meeting them as well. So here it goes....
Day 1:
The trip was from August 31 to September 9th and we head to airport early Friday morning to catch our 10:30 am flight. Even though it was labor day weekend, there wasn't much crowd and we got through security in less than 15 minutes. We boarded the flight to Newark on time, but apparently we were on the runway for over half an hour. So I guess the labor day weekend traffic was on the runway and not at the airport :P...hehe. Anyways, the flight took off after little over half an hour and luckily that didn't effect our landing time, so we landed on time in Newark. Surprisingly where we got off the gate at Newark (whichever terminal that was for southwest airlines), there wasn't much walk to the baggage claim. It was short distance so once we got to the baggage claim, we were greeted by my uncle and cousin. This was a first time for me and my brother to meet them and it was great to see them. We headed home which was about 45 minutes drive and we had a surprise waiting for us at home!! My cousin's son (about 2 and half years old) came running outside as soon as we got in the driveway and welcomed us with a big smile!! The rest of the day included meeting my bhabhi (my cousin's wife), and my masi (aunt), having a family dinner, chatting with them, celebrating my aunt's birthday with some yummy pastries and then finally going to bed around midnight.
Day 2:
Today's main agenda was to go to meet one of my mom's college friends whom my mom had not seen in over 15 years. She lived in Jersey city which was little over an hour away from where we were (Princeton) but they had decided to meet since we were in town, so my mom's friend's husband came to pick us up around 11 am and then we went to her place. Ohh...it was joy to see my mom meet her college friend after such a long time and it was great for us to meet her as well since she had seen us when we were kids. We had nice lunch together and then we decided to take the NJ Transit back to Princeton since we didn't want her husband to drive back all the way. They lived so close to the NY that the Hudson river is the only gap between them and Manhattan, NY. He took us to the JFK East side where you can see the entire Manhattan downtown which was beautiful!!
We stopped at one or two spots and then headed for the Secaucus train station to catch our 3:24 pm train. The ride was smooth and nice since the NJ transit train had really nice and comfy seats and it didn't have any crowd at all. The train also had small compartments at the top if you want to put your bags or any kind of luggage. We got to Princeton junction in 1 hour where my cousin was already waiting for us. Before we went home, we stopped by a Durga Mandir which was very close to their home. The Mandir was so beautiful and peaceful from inside. It had Durga Murti in the center along with Ram, Sita and Laxman, Shiv-Parvati, Krishn-Radha, Ganpati, Santoshi mata, Sarasvati mata, and some other Gods as well. We got home and then had nice dinner and then sat down to watch the movie Bol Bacchan. I don't remember but I fell a sleep around midnight when the movie was about 2 hours done..but honestly I wasn't a big fan of it!! For those who don't know, this is a Rohit Shetty movie and his movies are adaption to the old classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies. Bol Bacchan was adoption of Golmaal and it failed badly!! Of course, bollywood is running out of ideas, so that's why they have to adopt the concepts of old movies and torture it, or remake the old movies!!! In either case, I fell asleep during the movie and didn't care to finish the movie :)
To make sure that my posts are not super long and that they don't feel like essays, I am going to stop right here and continue the remaining New Jersey experience on to the next post.....
Hope you enjoyed reading and continue to do so :)
Here I am with the post of my 2nd trip (after St. Louis) to New Jersey & New York. This was a family vacation as opposed to the individual vacation that I took to St. Louis. It had been looooong time since we have had any family vacation together, so I was really looking forward to it :). This was a 10 day trip planned with first 5 days in NJ and last 5 days in NY. My parents had families in both the states so we were looking forward to meeting them as well. So here it goes....
Day 1:
The trip was from August 31 to September 9th and we head to airport early Friday morning to catch our 10:30 am flight. Even though it was labor day weekend, there wasn't much crowd and we got through security in less than 15 minutes. We boarded the flight to Newark on time, but apparently we were on the runway for over half an hour. So I guess the labor day weekend traffic was on the runway and not at the airport :P...hehe. Anyways, the flight took off after little over half an hour and luckily that didn't effect our landing time, so we landed on time in Newark. Surprisingly where we got off the gate at Newark (whichever terminal that was for southwest airlines), there wasn't much walk to the baggage claim. It was short distance so once we got to the baggage claim, we were greeted by my uncle and cousin. This was a first time for me and my brother to meet them and it was great to see them. We headed home which was about 45 minutes drive and we had a surprise waiting for us at home!! My cousin's son (about 2 and half years old) came running outside as soon as we got in the driveway and welcomed us with a big smile!! The rest of the day included meeting my bhabhi (my cousin's wife), and my masi (aunt), having a family dinner, chatting with them, celebrating my aunt's birthday with some yummy pastries and then finally going to bed around midnight.
Day 2:
Today's main agenda was to go to meet one of my mom's college friends whom my mom had not seen in over 15 years. She lived in Jersey city which was little over an hour away from where we were (Princeton) but they had decided to meet since we were in town, so my mom's friend's husband came to pick us up around 11 am and then we went to her place. Ohh...it was joy to see my mom meet her college friend after such a long time and it was great for us to meet her as well since she had seen us when we were kids. We had nice lunch together and then we decided to take the NJ Transit back to Princeton since we didn't want her husband to drive back all the way. They lived so close to the NY that the Hudson river is the only gap between them and Manhattan, NY. He took us to the JFK East side where you can see the entire Manhattan downtown which was beautiful!!
We stopped at one or two spots and then headed for the Secaucus train station to catch our 3:24 pm train. The ride was smooth and nice since the NJ transit train had really nice and comfy seats and it didn't have any crowd at all. The train also had small compartments at the top if you want to put your bags or any kind of luggage. We got to Princeton junction in 1 hour where my cousin was already waiting for us. Before we went home, we stopped by a Durga Mandir which was very close to their home. The Mandir was so beautiful and peaceful from inside. It had Durga Murti in the center along with Ram, Sita and Laxman, Shiv-Parvati, Krishn-Radha, Ganpati, Santoshi mata, Sarasvati mata, and some other Gods as well. We got home and then had nice dinner and then sat down to watch the movie Bol Bacchan. I don't remember but I fell a sleep around midnight when the movie was about 2 hours done..but honestly I wasn't a big fan of it!! For those who don't know, this is a Rohit Shetty movie and his movies are adaption to the old classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies. Bol Bacchan was adoption of Golmaal and it failed badly!! Of course, bollywood is running out of ideas, so that's why they have to adopt the concepts of old movies and torture it, or remake the old movies!!! In either case, I fell asleep during the movie and didn't care to finish the movie :)
To make sure that my posts are not super long and that they don't feel like essays, I am going to stop right here and continue the remaining New Jersey experience on to the next post.....
Hope you enjoyed reading and continue to do so :)
Monday, October 1, 2012
Back-to-back vacations!!!
Hi Friends,
How are you all doing? Hope all is well on your side. All is very well on my side as I have been on 2 back-to-back vacations in September. Also work was piled up a lot so that's why I have not been able to write any posts on the vacations yet. But not to worry, since I am back now and won't be taking any more vacations for this year (I think?)....so now I have all this time to update you guys on my 2 vacations - first one to New Jersey/New York (which I took in the first week of September) and 2nd one to Las Vegas/California (Last week of September). Both were fantastic and I have a lot to tell you about both the vacations that might help you when you are planning your trip to either of the places!! I will hopefully have the New Jersey/New York trip updates this week and Vegas/Cali will be updated next week. First, I need to remember myself of all the things that happened on the Vegas/Cali trip since it was so packed with all the activities. So stay tuned and I will come back with lots of trip information and some cool pics of both the trips :).
Until then, have a great day and great week ahead!!
How are you all doing? Hope all is well on your side. All is very well on my side as I have been on 2 back-to-back vacations in September. Also work was piled up a lot so that's why I have not been able to write any posts on the vacations yet. But not to worry, since I am back now and won't be taking any more vacations for this year (I think?)....so now I have all this time to update you guys on my 2 vacations - first one to New Jersey/New York (which I took in the first week of September) and 2nd one to Las Vegas/California (Last week of September). Both were fantastic and I have a lot to tell you about both the vacations that might help you when you are planning your trip to either of the places!! I will hopefully have the New Jersey/New York trip updates this week and Vegas/Cali will be updated next week. First, I need to remember myself of all the things that happened on the Vegas/Cali trip since it was so packed with all the activities. So stay tuned and I will come back with lots of trip information and some cool pics of both the trips :).
Until then, have a great day and great week ahead!!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
St. Louis Trip - Day 3 & 4
Day 3:
After 2 days of full fun....I was looking forward to the 3rd day!! Since it was Saturday, my friend, R, and his fiance, T, were able to join in checking out some places. We started the day late around 11 and had nice brunch and then left for Missouri Botanical Garden which was very close to where my friend lived. I got there around noon and checked out the entire park within an hour. They currently had the Chinese lantern festival going on, so the entire park was decorated with Chinese sculptures (which gets lit up at night). Overall, it was really nice park.
After the botanical garden, we went to the Cathedral Basilica around 2 pm. This is the first time when I have been to a Cathedral like this one. It was magnificent from the outside as well as inside. The Cathedral also has a small museum downstairs which you can cover quickly. After Cathedral visit, we had a quick bite at McDonald's and then headed to Montelle Winery which was about 40-50 minutes drive. The drive was beautiful since it was through forest-like road where both the sides of the road are covered with trees making the road feel like you are going through a passage to get to the end of the tunnel....sorry if this terminology confuses you...but that's only how I can explain it :P. To get to the winery stop, we actually had to walk up the hill on a very steep slope but we made it and it was a good time from then on!!
On the way back from the winery, we stopped by a mall and grocery store and then finally got home around 9 pm. We had nice dinner and delicious homemade blueberry pie made by T!!! We had great time chatting and then finally slept at 1 am. It was already time for me to leave St. Louis the next day and head back home.
Day 4:
The only thing that was left for me to cover in St. Louis was to go to the Jain temple. We all got ready around 11 am, had lunch and then headed to the Hindu temple. The temple was beautiful and it also has a small Jain temple within it. After that we covered the Swaminarayan temple which was also beautiful from inside.
We got back home around 2:40 pm, I checked my bag quickly, and then we headed for the airport around 3 pm. I bid farewell to my friends and then headed for the airport. The airport didn't have much of a crowd so got through security quickly. My flight was at 4:30 pm and got home around 7 pm.....Home sweet home!!!
Overall this was a much needed relaxing vacation!! I got to see my friend and meet his fiance, explore St. Louis and lots of good time!!! All thanks to my friend and his fiance for having me and showing me around town!!
Alright folks, that's it for my St. Louis trip!! My next couple of posts will be on my 2nd vacation coming up ;)....but for that you will have to wait and watch!! Until then, have a great time!!
After 2 days of full fun....I was looking forward to the 3rd day!! Since it was Saturday, my friend, R, and his fiance, T, were able to join in checking out some places. We started the day late around 11 and had nice brunch and then left for Missouri Botanical Garden which was very close to where my friend lived. I got there around noon and checked out the entire park within an hour. They currently had the Chinese lantern festival going on, so the entire park was decorated with Chinese sculptures (which gets lit up at night). Overall, it was really nice park.
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| Missouri Botanical Garden |
After the botanical garden, we went to the Cathedral Basilica around 2 pm. This is the first time when I have been to a Cathedral like this one. It was magnificent from the outside as well as inside. The Cathedral also has a small museum downstairs which you can cover quickly. After Cathedral visit, we had a quick bite at McDonald's and then headed to Montelle Winery which was about 40-50 minutes drive. The drive was beautiful since it was through forest-like road where both the sides of the road are covered with trees making the road feel like you are going through a passage to get to the end of the tunnel....sorry if this terminology confuses you...but that's only how I can explain it :P. To get to the winery stop, we actually had to walk up the hill on a very steep slope but we made it and it was a good time from then on!!
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| Cathedral Basilica |
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| Montelle Winery |
Day 4:
The only thing that was left for me to cover in St. Louis was to go to the Jain temple. We all got ready around 11 am, had lunch and then headed to the Hindu temple. The temple was beautiful and it also has a small Jain temple within it. After that we covered the Swaminarayan temple which was also beautiful from inside.
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| Hindu Temple |
Overall this was a much needed relaxing vacation!! I got to see my friend and meet his fiance, explore St. Louis and lots of good time!!! All thanks to my friend and his fiance for having me and showing me around town!!
Alright folks, that's it for my St. Louis trip!! My next couple of posts will be on my 2nd vacation coming up ;)....but for that you will have to wait and watch!! Until then, have a great time!!
St. Louis Trip - Day 2
Day 2:
Unlike first day, the 2nd day started little bit later after 10 am. Today's agenda was to cover St. Louis zoo and the Art Museum. Luckily, a lot of these attractions are very close to where my friend lives, so he came to drop me off at the zoo. Before I go in the zoo, he showed me around the area since zoo and art museum were really close (along with the Grand Basin). I started exploring zoo around 10:45 am and covered almost everything within 3 hours including the train ride around the park. The train ride was ok and if you don't get on the train, you won't miss much. I guess the kids will enjoy it much more.
After getting out of the zoo, I headed to St. Louis Art Museum which was just 5 minute walk from the zoo (north entrance). First thing I did was to grab a quick bite from the museum's cafe before checking out the museum. There were some really neat paintings and art that was pretty impressive. I think I covered pretty much all the galleries within 2 hours. It was about 3:15 pm when I got done with everything and then just went out to sit and relax a bit by the Grand Basin. My friend was not able to come and pick me up right away so I just waited by the Grand Basin. It was so nice and peaceful by the fountains and under the shade that I didn't know where the time passed. I also spent some time clicking some pics by myself near Grand Basin (experimented with the self-timer :) ) and then finally got home around 5:30 pm.
After coming back home, I ate something and then it was relaxing time!! I felt really tired since there was a lot of walking involved, but still a good day and the weather was pleasant as well so can't complain. My friend decided to go for the "Ek tha tiger" movie for 10 o'clock show, so we got ready quickly because we had to make few stops before that. We stopped by for grocery shopping, then went to Pizza Hut for some delicious pan pizza and garlic bread and then headed straight to the theater for the movie. Wow!! What a movie!! Amazing stunts and Katrina looked gorgeous!! And it just makes you feel that Salman is really the tiger that the movie claims him to be!! Love the songs too.....Definite Watch! Plus they showed the trailer of SRK's next movie - A Yash Chopra Romance.......Can't wait!!!!!!!!!
We got done with movie around 12:30 am and the weather was much cooler than expected!! We got home, chatted for a while, and then called it a day around 1:30 am and hit the bed. My vacation was going just great!! 3rd day coming with a lot more activities....coming up!!!
Unlike first day, the 2nd day started little bit later after 10 am. Today's agenda was to cover St. Louis zoo and the Art Museum. Luckily, a lot of these attractions are very close to where my friend lives, so he came to drop me off at the zoo. Before I go in the zoo, he showed me around the area since zoo and art museum were really close (along with the Grand Basin). I started exploring zoo around 10:45 am and covered almost everything within 3 hours including the train ride around the park. The train ride was ok and if you don't get on the train, you won't miss much. I guess the kids will enjoy it much more.
After getting out of the zoo, I headed to St. Louis Art Museum which was just 5 minute walk from the zoo (north entrance). First thing I did was to grab a quick bite from the museum's cafe before checking out the museum. There were some really neat paintings and art that was pretty impressive. I think I covered pretty much all the galleries within 2 hours. It was about 3:15 pm when I got done with everything and then just went out to sit and relax a bit by the Grand Basin. My friend was not able to come and pick me up right away so I just waited by the Grand Basin. It was so nice and peaceful by the fountains and under the shade that I didn't know where the time passed. I also spent some time clicking some pics by myself near Grand Basin (experimented with the self-timer :) ) and then finally got home around 5:30 pm.
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| St. Louis Art Museum |
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| Grand Basin |
We got done with movie around 12:30 am and the weather was much cooler than expected!! We got home, chatted for a while, and then called it a day around 1:30 am and hit the bed. My vacation was going just great!! 3rd day coming with a lot more activities....coming up!!!
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