Family trip to the East Coast

I have family visiting from India so I foresee a lot of fun travel in the future. The first of our trips was to the east coast. We covered Niagara, New York city and Washington DC over a period of 7 days.

Selfie in the flight

Since it was their first time in the US, we covered all the tourist spots and highlights of each city.

Maid of the mist and Cave of the winds in Niagara.

Maid of the mist

Niagara falls

Cave of the winds

Statue of liberty, One world observatory, Empire state building, Central park, Grand central terminal, Wallstreet, Brooklyn bridge were spots we covered in NYC.

Empire State Building

Grand Central

One World Observatory

Cruise to Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge

We barely had 24 hours in DC so that limited us to seeing the White House, Lincoln Memorial, US Capitol and Washington Monument. It was a super sunny day which drained our energy and walking the distance between each of these monuments made it even worse. Towards the end, we resorted to using Uber! The only place we could enter was the Lincoln memorial and the rest of them were merely photo ops. Since I wasn't too keen about American history, I didn't spend time learning more about the monuments and so I don't have anything to write about them :)

The White House

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

US Capitol

We were visiting most of these places for the second time so the excitement wasn't there. The only exception being the Niagara falls which invoked the same sense of awe as my first visit.

Trip To The Big Apple!

6 amazing days in New York city! Loads to explore and experience. After the stunning Niagara falls, we headed to 'The City that never sleeps.' Since there was so much to see and do, we were on the move constantly. This was one of the longest trips I have ever planned and I'm so thrilled that everything went smoothly. I absolutely loved the subways which gave me the freedom to travel to any place without the hassle of worrying about transport.

Honestly, there is just too much to write about each place. For the lack of time and patience, I'm restricting myself to a few lines and pictures for each place.

1. Rockefeller Center:

I highly recommend the one hour guided tour where the guide talks about the art, architecture and history of the place which was pretty fascinating.

Sculpture in Rockefeller Center

Art Work in Rockefeller Center building

2. Top Of The Rock:

A beautiful view of Manhattan from the top of Rockefeller Center.

View from Top of the Rock

3. Grand Central Terminal:

I never knew a train station can look so exquisite. We were late for the audio tour so missed it but it is an excellent spot to marvel at the art work and also sit in a corner and people-watch. Trust me, you will be amazed.

Outside Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal

4. Statue of Liberty

A ferry from Battery Park took us to the Statue. We only went up to the pedestal but I did not find it fascinating at all. What I really enjoyed was the museum below it which had quite a lot of interesting facts about the statue, replicas of various parts, history and engineering details.

Replica of Statue of Liberty's foot

Statue of Liberty

5. Wall Street, Times Square, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge:

All these places required us to walk leisurely at our own pace soaking in the beauty and energy that is so unique to this city.

Brooklyn Bridge

The Charging Bull at Bowling Green

At Times Square

Central Park

6. Empire State Building:

Since we went to Top of the Rock during the day, I planned this visit in the evening so we could get a view of Manhattan at night. I was not disappointed at all. It was a dazzling view. It was freezing so most of the time I stood instead the glass door. They also have an audio tour which I found interesting.

The Empire State Building

View from The Empire State Building

7. Museums:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and American Natural History Museum were the three we visited. They are very big museums each with several large galleries. My favorite was the Metropolitan Museum of Art especially the 16-17th Century painting and sculptures. There is no way you can cover everything in any of these museums in one day. It is best to choose a few exhibits that you're interested in beforehand and focus on those.

8. Broadway:

We did manage to catch one Broadway show called 'The Cripple of Innishman' starring Daniel Radcliffe. It was quite an engaging play.

Outside Cort Theater

Inside Cort Theater

Spectacular Niagara Falls

Two days in Niagara and my mind is blown away by the sheer beauty of the falls. All the time, effort, money and hardships (yes, loads of them but don't want to dwell on those for now) we endured to reach the place were absolutely justified.

I booked a tour on Viator that took us to all the important places. It picked us up at 1.30 pm from our hotel on Rainbow Blvd and took us to Goat Island. This is a small island in the Niagara River between the Horseshoe falls and the Bridal Veil falls. Our first stop was Cave of the Winds behind the Bridal Veil Falls. We were given sandals to change into and made to stand in line waiting for our turn. After a 45 minute wait, we got into the elevator that took us down the cave which had access to the Bridal Veil and American Falls. Ponchos were handed out to us as protection from the water. I will not be able to do justice in describing the magnificence of the falls. Take a look at the pictures to see for yourself.

We then walked over to see the Horseshoe falls photographed below. Again not much to describe but to visualize and soak in the sight.

Our tour guide then led us to the Maid of the Mist falls. It being a Memorial Day weekend, there was almost an hour and a half wait time. After a tiring wait and what seemed like eternity, our turn finally came. The elevators took us down towards the boats. 600 people on board at a time! The moment we started getting close to the falls, I was speechless. The stunning view, double rainbow and the cool water spraying on my face made for a moment that I will forever cherish. I was so grateful to have been given a chance to be at that scene made me incredibly happy.

Our last stop was the whirlpool located in the Niagara Gorge. This whirlpools flows anti clockwise during normal flow but during the winter months changes direction.

This was one of the most tiring but truly satisfying trips I have ever taken. If you do not care much about the history and can manage transportation on your own, then you don't really need to take the tour. It is much cheaper if you go on your own.