Yupps,NYC,New England and Japan.

[drron]

Starting a new TR for the second half of our recent trip as the cruise TR was getting rather long.These takes up the trip from our arrival in anchorage until we get home.
The taxi from the Port to our hotel-Hilton Garden inn Anchorage cost $20.We arrived ~0930 and waited for our room until 1030.No big deal as we were obviously way before checkin time.however another couple from the Shadow arrived after us and got their room earlier-and they did not even belong to the Hhonors program.Our room also looked out onto the dovecot above the lobby-ie no view.

It was a beautiful sunny day so we got the free hotel shuttle downtown and walked around.There was a shopping mall which mrsdrron couldn't resist after 2 weeks of no retail therapy.Walked all around the Nordstrom's store.Went to the Glacier Brewhouse for lunch,nothing fancy.Had a burger and ribs.Then called the shuttle to go back to the HGI and nanny nap before catching up on my hundreds of emails.
booked a wakeup call for 0345.You had to be in the lobby to have shuttle called to take us to airport,couldn't book it.

So our thoughts on the HGI in anchorage.physically like virtually all HGIs-decent size rooms,free internet for all,a laundry and a restaurant if you cant be bothered going out-we had fish and chips there for dinner.No complimentary water,but breakfast vouchers though on this occasion of no use.Shuttle is OK but shared with the Embassy suites,Homewood suites and Hampton Inn so always you had to be in lobby to have it called.You also had to phone for pickup-though downtown the visitors centre has a free phone for hotels.
It was quite expensive though the cheapest option of any Hilton or SPG property in Anchorage-it was Memorial day weekend.

So we arrived at ANC just after 0430.Took a little while to find the F checkin line.Got BPs all the way to LGA.We are on a Yupp fare ANC-SEA-ORD-LGA.If everything had gone to plan it would be 330 SCs for mrsdrron.Cost just over $800.Quickly through security-no scanners here.Was made to take everything out of my pockets including hanky.We had had a Cinnabon for breakfast to keep the pangs away until we had our inflight meal.The Boardroom wasn't open until 0600.Doubt we would have got in anyway but would have tried-my old blue lifetime QP card always confuses people as not on any list and can be misconstrued.

When we arrived at the gate there were 11 on the upgrade list but already 10 F pax had checked in.10 minutes later 15 F pax had checked in and now 13 on upgrade list.obviously some disappointed flyers that day.
Next-our day of flying.

 

[KitKat]

Love your trip reports, keep it up.
Was the ANC-SEA-ORD-LGA flights the most direct route? (you have done well to get mrs.dr.ron to do a status run otherwise)
It sounds like an OMG early flight start as well...

 

[drron]

The more direct flights from ANC-NYC leave between 2400 and 0200.At least on this it was 0600.it was also cheaper than more direct flights.
So flight 1-AS730 ANC-SEA. ETB-0530,ETD-0610,ETA-1030
Boarding began 0530,push back 0603,take off 0610,touch down 1010,at gate 1017.

The AS service in F was quite good.A hot breakfast-why cant QF do this into BNE in longhaul J?Basic but tasty-

Our next flight vwent from A9-the opposite end of SEA to where we came in at D9.No AC at SEA now.We only arrived at the gate at 1045 anyway and there is free wifi so mrsdrron checked her emails.
Flight 2-AA1152 SEA-ORD.ETB-1115,ETD-1200,ETA-1755.
Boarding-1125,push back 1152,take off 1200.
All was going smoothly,flights on time,no hassles at all.The service on this flight was really good.The white wine an Aussie chardy though the label,Gossip,I had not heard of.Mrsdrron had the salmon salad-

And I the hot chicken sandwhich-

Both quite tasty and acceptable airline food.Both the sectors were operated with B738s.The AA plane though was one of their new deliveries and i felt much better than the older AS plane.Overflew ORD at 1725 and went into a holding pattern,eventually landed 1745 and at gate 1755.As we were coming into land we were given a gate for our next flight.As we had BPs and boarding was 1815 we decided just to go to Starbucks and have a coffee.A board outside Starbucks though had our flight as cancelled so into the AC we went.A line up and the 3 in front of us on the same cancelled flight.Aagent said she had got us on the next flight but couldn't allocate seats as the gate had assumed control.Thought everything was OK so went to the Flounge.The Aagent there rang the gate as did the first and gave us the same story.Checked back with agent at 1900-he rang gate again but no change.We went to gate at 1920 as boarding was supposed to start at 1925 only to find it well under way and we were handed our BPs-20E for me and 28E for mrsdrron.We have learnt our lesson and next time we will be at the gate carryingon like anyone else.

The young French woman beside me is angry-her partner is in 16E-and spends the flight chatting up the woman beside him-if looks could kill.As soon as the plane starts down the runway the small woman in 19E reclines right back.i stick out my legs otherwise my knees would be in her back.As I do I get her in her Achilles tendon-she has her legs bent under the seat.she turns around and starts telling me off.i firmly tell her under her seat is my space so move your legs or my knees will be in her back the whole flight.She remained reclined the whole flight chatting to her friend-loudly.I did not recline.

Mrsdrron's situation was worse-middle seat,second back row.But the seat next to her was empty.it did though have the stench from the lavatory that the older AA planes have.worse she was not even offered a refreshment when the crew came around.however the fact that she had an empty seat besides her meant the gate had not tried very hard to seat us together.Because of this I made my first complaint email to AA.I thought it wrong that mrsdrron as an OWE was bumped from 4F to 28E.and of course earnt 75 less SCs.I got a reply in 10 days apologising.They noted they could not help out with QF SCs but they knew from my upcoming Aaward booking she was also an Aadvantage member so posted the day's flights to her aadvantage account as well.about as good as you could get.So dont let any one tell you that you cant credit a flight to 2 FF programs!

So flight details-AA336 ORD-LGA.ETB-1925,ETD-1955,ETA-1059.
Boarding commenced early.push back-1955,take off-2002,landed 2245,at gate 2252.
The flight deck was all female.Captain Kathy in her message told us FO Erica will be doing the flying.No problems until a very bumpy touchdown with the plane pointing about10-15 degrees to the left as the wheels made contact.

next NYC.

 

[docjames]

We went to gate at 1920 as boarding was supposed to start at 1925 only to find it well under way and we were handed our BPs-20E for me and 28E for mrsdrron.We have learnt our lesson and next time we will be at the gate carryingon like anyone else.

The young French woman beside me is angry-her partner is in 16E-and spends the flight chatting up the woman beside him-if looks could kill.As soon as the plane starts down the runway the small woman in 19E reclines right back.i stick out my legs otherwise my knees would be in her back.As I do I get her in her Achilles tendon-she has her legs bent under the seat.she turns around and starts telling me off.i firmly tell her under her seat is my space so move your legs or my knees will be in her back the whole flight.She remained reclined the whole flight chatting to her friend-loudly.I did not recline.

Mrsdrron's situation was worse-middle seat,second back row.But the seat next to her was empty.it did though have the stench from the lavatory that the older AA planes have.worse she was not even offered a refreshment when the crew came around.however the fact that she had an empty seat besides her meant the gate had not tried very hard to seat us together.Because of this I made my first complaint email to AA.I thought it wrong that mrsdrron as an OWE was bumped from 4F to 28E.and of course earnt 75 less SCs.

Welcome to Y class, AA-style. Honestly, they just couldnt be any more starkly different between F and Y could they? It's like flying a different AAirline.

As always, enjoying your TRs.

 

[drron]

Indeed it is and has confirmed our belief that it is truly value to travel in premium cabins.
As we make our way to the baggage carousel mrsdrron tells me that my CCs will feel her displeasure starting tomorrow!As we arrive our bags are cvoming out so we are soon in the taxi line and off to The Hilton Club on 6th Ave.It is right on midnight when we arrive.We have to Checkin in the lobby instead of upstairs at the Club lounge.Sacre bleu-we have to queue!

Get our keys and upstairs we gur room is the furthest from the list.Cant complain thats what it says in our preferences.Standards have slipped-water bottles are opened,no luggage rack and the safe is locked but fortunately no other evidence of others in occupation.Will sort it all out in the morning.We crash and awaken just before 1000-so we have missed the breakfast offerings.However there is always fruit in the lounge so bananas and coffee serves as breakfast.

Then we walk down to Macys.20 blocks so it is 1 mile.Easy to know how far you have to walk.5 blocks East/west is also 1 mile.The Amex gets a pounding.Fortunately some good sales on.It makes mrsdrron much happier so I am happier.I get to do a lot of people watching whilst mrsdrron tries on several outfits.Have a good talk with a russian american.Also a Greek guy who was a sitter for the father in My Big Fat greek Wedding.He however was waiting for his wife and her 2 sisters-poor man.

Another incident caused me a little mirth-mrsdrron had to go to the restroom.A young guy turns up but it is women only.Now there is a location board about 5 metres away and 2 Macy's staff close by.So what does he do-look up where the men's room is on his I-phone.We really are improving communication with all these gadgets aren't we?

Lunch in the basement.Nothing special.The problem now in NYC is if they think you are a tourist a tip is automatically added-I generally double the tax meaning a tip of ~ 18%.Here they add 15% so thats what they get!We get back to the Hilton Club in time for Happy hour at 1700.Now just remember-get your Macy's international discount card before you shop.
I will end each day with a few pics from NYC.I just love looking up at the buildings.

All of these were taken from 6th Ave in the vicinity of Bryant park(40-42nd streets)
Next I get my new toy.

 

[drron]

Thursday and we go and window shop on 6th Ave before we go to lunch at Le Bernadin.This is something we do every time we come to NYC.You can reserve on Open Table-though you do get a table towards the back of the restaurant when you do it this way.The food though is superb,just the way we enjoy our seafood though some may consider it underdone.We started off with a salmon rillette as the Amusee bouche-very morish
We both had the prawns with mushrooms and foie gras-just perfect-

Mrsdrron then went with the lobster with a red wine braised sunchoke and a wilted fava sprout bergamot emulsion-

All memories of 28E had vanished.I had the black bass with Lup Cheong and bean sprouts,mini pork buns and a hoisin plum jus-

Great.Then desserts.Mrsdrron had a dark chocolate cremeaux,cocoa sablee,mango,cashew and coconut sorbet-

She thought it rich but lovely.She enjoyed mine more though-

A lime pannacotta with an avocado and tequila mousse.Fantastic.
On the Amex the total bill with a bottle of wine,tax and tip came to $275.
After lunch I rang B&H and they have the Sony HX100V in stock again.So it was over to Ninth Ave to pick one up.Seems to be ideal for dummies like me.Food shots still taken with the old cybershot but all others from now with the new toy.Once again back in time for happy hour.

Now for some shots around the Rockefeller centre.

next more retail therapy and catching up with family.

 

[ric_melb]

Fabulous trip report so far. Glad to see someone else shares my fascination for buildings in New York.
And the food at Le Bernadin looks fabulous. Eagerly awaiting more reports.

 

[drron]

Thanks ric-melb.Yes we have spent more than 6 months in our various visits to NYC but i still derive great pleasure from looking up.Some amazing buildings indeed.
But back to Friday.It is off to Lord & Taylors on 5th and 39th-a short walk from Macys or Grand Central.What many are unaware of they also have a foreign shoppers discount-and it is 15%.Available from the Executive offices.Not only that they tend to have better sales than Macys and are less busy-making it one of mrsdrron's favourite destinations.and if that was not enough great sales assistants that can increase your discount-eg I bought a Lauren shirt,handed over my 15% discount certificate only to have the assistant whip out his own card and give me 25% off a shirt that was already on sale.

After that it was a walk down 5th ave to Tiffany's to collect a little blue bag.Light grazing for lunch as we were going out with family tha night.They came to our suite in the Hilton and we downed a few drinks.Got the concierge to book us a restaurant as there were 6 of us on a Friday night.We went to Bobby Vans grill on 49th.Now the food was good,the service poor and a compulsory 20% tip was added.The prices were also higher than warranted for the quality of the food.I would not go back.Mrsdrron and I had the soft shell crab-

and the pork chops-

My nephew and neice had some nice left overs to take home.By the way my nephew and my neice's partner were half of the medal winning Aussie 4 man bobsled team in Lake placid earlier this year.The fairy tale though has ended with both retiring because of injury.

So again a few photos-this time around 53rd street and MOMA.

Next- a New york Street fair

 

[drron]

saturday and it is a 6th Ave street fair.Now basically these are always the same but I still enjoy strolling through.This one went from 42nd to 56th so right outside the Hilton.We walked down to 42nd then back to the Hilton.Bought a few cheap socks,belts,scarves.Shared a mango smoothie and a lobster roll-this was good value at $12.So a few pictures of the fair.First the food options-

And that was not all.Was good to see a team of food inspectors going through each outlet.
Next more of the fair

 

[drron]

A fair is a great place for people watching.All shapes,all sizes and any sort of clothing.It was here i saw the fellow in coughtail dress and heels-surely he should have known it is not proper to wear coughtail dresses at 11am.
first-does this coiunt as meeting someone famous?

But these 2 lovely young Korean ladies were happy to talk to drron.though both had lived in NYC all their lives-

An endless variety-

and endless numbers-

Even from 38 floors up-

With some moments that were special-

And other moments i just enjoyed such as listening to Bob marley-

And 6th ave as it is seldom seen-no cabs-

after dropping our parcels it was up to central park.That next.

 

[drron]

it was a lovely sunny day with temperatures rising to the high 20s.there were a couple of wedding parties sharing the park with thousands of New Yorkers and tourists.And a good deal of wildlife-

But again it is some of the different buildings that capture my attention when walking through the park-

And who can tell me how many murders have been committed in this tunnel on Law and Order?

And it wouldn't be Central park without the carriages-

Or a lake-

With my knee playing up we did not walk far this time but a walk in the park should be a part of an NYC visit.

 

[drron]

We left Central Park and headed for the Trump towers having an icecream at the Trump Ice cream Parlour.He does like the look of his name-

at the ice cream parlour there had been a robbery 30 minutes earlier.fortunately got our cones before the servers had to go off and view the security videos.On our way we passed these autos-

The one behind had Mr adnan Khassogigis name upon it-a blast from the past for us older Australians.So now a few more building shots-

just before we got back to the hotel we stopped at Rite aid.love this medicine-

When we got back from the hotel I turned on my TV-NBC had Rugby on!The US 7s from Philly so missed my nanny nap.
Next-last night in NYC and dinner with the family again.

 

[drron]

After pre dinner drinks at the Hilton we got the subway down to Union Square.Our destination tonight-Olives at the W Union square.Another celebrity chef-Todd English.Has restaurants on the Cunard queens.The food was very good as was the service meaning the tip was higher than the 18% added-in this case because there were now 8 of us dining.Unfortunately I obviously had a few too many pre dinner drinks and it was quite dark,so the photos are not the greatest.I started with oysters wrapped in beef carpaccio.

My sister had the asparagus and egg-

For mains i had the prime rib with a rhubarb BBQ glaze,it was great-

My sisters veal-

I then had a white chocolate bread pudding that was very good-

Mrsdrron's different banana split was also good-

But neither were as good as the vanilla souffle-

A taxi back to the hotel with all of us a little full.Would certainly go back here.
The next morning we slept in.Didn't feel like breakfast.So next we are off to New england.

 

[drron]

I hope you got a little of the magic that is NYC.We have been many times before but still enjoy it.Also apart from your accommadation it doesn't have to be expensive-there are so many things to do that dont cost much,or indeed anything.although we like to indulge in food there are so many choices and many great cheap restaurants.
OK back to the trip.The Avis office is only 200 metres from the Hilton.Unfortunately several non-English speakers get there just before me.No Avis Preferred queue here so a long wait.Then when we get a car it is empty as no refuelling at this location.Agent tells me the nearest gas station is on 57th and 11th-writes this down for me.Get there and no gas station.The pair of NYs finest at the intersection have no idea but we find it just in time with the fuel gauge reading 21 miles left.
Then it is north on 11th until we are past Central Park-it is the Israel Day parade on so we cant get t to the East side in mid town(hence why NYs finest where at major intersections).Easy on to I95 and north we head.No stops until we get to Clinton crossings outlet.The Amex ran red hot.Fortunately for us Connecticut had declared a sales tax holiday.

Then it was on to the HGI Groton.As Hilton gold we got exactly the same room we did as diamond.getting late so dinner was a snack at the HGI.Groton is a place to consider on your itinerary.It is the main Nuclear submarine base for the US.So we had been both to Russia's and america's main nuclear base in the one trip.There is a museum and you can tour the USS Nautilus-and it is free-
Hours of Operation — Submarine Force Library & Museum: Submarine History, Gifts & Memorabilia
Groton is also close to Mystic Seaport and Olde mystic town.And of course not that far to the outlets!

The next day we had the usual HGI hot breakfast which really is quite good.Then started out on a 5 state day-CT,RI,MA.NH and ME.First stop is the Wrentham Premium outlets on I495 in MA.Just near Gillette stadium,home of the Patriots.After giving the Amex another workout it was bypassing Boston and on to Portsmouth,NH where we were staying at the sheraton portsmouth.Review here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../sheraton-portsmouth-new-hampshire-31459.html

Maine is next.

 

[drron]

After checking in to the Sheraton the first thing we did was go out to eat lobster and earn some AA miles.yes the 2 are not mutually exclusive.even better when we arrived at the Weathervane restaurant on badger's island it was happy hour so our bowl of mussels only cost us $3.So we each had a bowl-

Then mrsdrron went for a single lobster and I went for the 2 lobster special-

the lobsters came with slaw and fries.with a bottle of wine,tax and tip it was $100 and 300 AA miles.
It was very pleasant sitting in the late afternoon sunshine watching the bridge to the Island open and close-

And watching the trawlers waiting to leave-

Upriver was I95-

The light played on the water-

And next door was a great example of a New england wooden buiding-

Feeling satisfied it was back to the sheraton to make sure mrsdrron was ready for some more outlet shopping in the morning.

 

[drron]

After breakfast at the Sheraton it was off to Kittery just over the border in Maine.Before the outlets though it was a trip to Walmart before the outlets.Dont knock Walmart there is some neat stuff available at really low prices now.The outlets at Kittery are spread out(as are the other Maine outlets at freeport though there you have the L.L.Bean outlet).There is another Weathervane restaurant there but much more touristy.But we ate there and had the Lazy Man's lobster-meat of 2 lobsters baked-not as good as the freshly steamed lobster but easier-

The benefit of eating in kittery is that you can get coupons at the outlet offices giving you 10% off at Weathervane.And gladly accepted the extra AA miles.After lunch we motored straight through to Springfield MA and again stayed at a Sheraton in the CBD.Review here-
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ch-place-springfield-massachussets-31460.html
It was very hot so only had a short walk around.Really not much going for the CBD.If i was doing this again i would stay in the burbs probably at an HGI or Hampton.Just over a week before a tornado had touched down here.The CBD wasn't the worst hit but the effects were obvious-

The next day-what else-another outlet-this time a biggie.Woodbury Commons north of NYC on I-87.For Australians this is worth it.More upmarket label shops here than virtually any other outlet.The Amex once again got heated.We had a very late lunch here at Positano-an italian restaurant of quite reasonable quality.We always start with their mussels.Again the bonus that AA miles are earn't here-just register your CC card on AA dining rewards.
We stayed at the new Hampton Inn at Harriman-very close to Woodberry commons-would not do it again.Our profile says high floor away from lifts so we got ground floor,next to lift in one of the 2 smallest rooms on the floor.a much better option is a few miles south or north and stay at an HGI which were cheaper than this Hampton and much better hotels.
Next-last full day in the USA.

 

[drron]

After the usual Hampton brekkie we drove down to the Palissades mall at Nanuet.a bit of last minute shopping for mrsdrron.No movies on that we wished to see.however Legal seafoods which had closed on our last visit had been replaced by Tony Romas.So as we had not had a good meal of ribs we had lunch there.The new selection was with Maker's Mark bourbon sauce,sweet potato fries and maple butter + coconut shrimp was very nice.

We then drove down the Palissades Parkway thinking we could get on to I-95 south and easily reach our nights stay at the Sheraton Newark Airport.We had picked this as close to the Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall and an easy drive for our 1145 departure from JFK.Unfortunately AA combined their NRT services and now departure was at 0830 so another OMG departure.But that was tomorrow.
Unfortunately the Parkway ended by merging into I-95 north so we diverted down local road 505 South which went down the Hudson river with good views over Manhattan.Unfortunately it ended in extensive roadworks at the Lincoln tunnel but eventually found our way on to route 9S and found the hotel easily.Checked in.once again upgraded to club floor.Staff were very friendly and helpful.The temperature when we arrived was 105F.Unpacked and drove to Jersey Gardens.
Jersey Gardens has one big advantage over Woodbury-NJ has no sales tax on clothing.Also it has a Lord & Taylors outlet which gave the Amex one last run.Back to the hotel.Lounge had the typical US lacklustre evening snacks.bathroom was very small.Old CRT TV so when a thunderstorm hit reception went.booked wake up call for 0430 and set alarm.neither happened.but mrsdrron awoke at 0418 anyway.However she doesn't like setbacks at that time of morning so the fellow on the desk at checkout bore the brunt of her displeasure-better him than me!
Next-to JFK then NRT.

 

[drron]

Early in the morning the run from EWR to JFK is reasonably quick.However the fuel tank goes onto the reserve tank as we are crossing the Verrazano Narrows bridge.This is also something that freaks mrsdrron out.However we arrive at the Avis depot with the gauge showing 30 miles to go-exactly the same as at pick up.What precision!Though at first the agent doubts we picked it up empty and wants to charge us for the tank of petrol.Our documents though show it was picked up empty.

Up to the Air Train but of course the AA terminal is the furthest.Then a long queue at the J/F check in as 2 pax have 2 of the 4 agents tied up the whole time we are there.When we arrived in the US we had 2 bags weighing 42 and 49lbs.Now 3 bags at 49,51 and 51lbs!No problems though.Then through security and another hold up.because I had to take everything out of my pockets at ANC I did again.TSA agent says put that all back in your pocket!I love consistency.We are then held up for 7 minutes whilst they wait for a supervisor to check a bag.However this means we all miss the scanner as they try to catch up on the backlog.

By this time mrsdrron was in a surly mood so I was keeping quiet.fortunately the aagent in the AC was diplomacy itself and escorted us to the Flagship lounge.Was interesting watching all the pax hanging around the Flagship door and trying to sneak in when it opened.Most failed but a group of swarthy fellows managed to create a distraction and got in,spreading themselves around the lounge and talking loudly on their phones.

A group of younger fellows in hoodies i thought may be a band but turned out to be a TV crew on the way to Japan.Was able to have a little breakfast.Was soon time for boarding.We were on F Aawards.
AA 167.JFK-NRT. ETB-0750. ETD-0825. ETA-1110. Seats-3D,G.
Actual boarding-0750,push back-0825.take off-0900.At gate-1105.
Take off was delayed as there were turtles crossing the runway!

Walked to the plane with the first officer.He was from ATL.Decide to have a champagne,Pommery.Well it is 2200 back home!Apart from us there are 5 of the TV crew.An older Japanese couple with 3 adult daughters,a Japanese man with 1a and 2A for crew rest.Unfortunately as this is an early morning flight now the meals are breakfast and 2 snacks.
brekkie was cream cheese and chive omelette,ham and egg crepe,french toast or a shrimp cake-none particularly appetising.
First snack-Bento box or Uno's pizza.
Second snack-creamy pumpkin soup or sesame chicken.
But they did have a Lenswood SAV Blanc which I followed with a glass or 2 of Graham's Vintage Port.

After breakfast it was lights out and blinds down until NRT.Watched 4 light hearted movies.As we overflew Sendai there was a good deal of turbulence but that was the only rough patch.The FAs however were always visible,efficient and did a good job.Very smooth landing.We were first out and it was eerie-no one in the terminal corridors,only staff as we entered Immigration and the baggage hall.Bags out within 5 minutes and ours were first!
Then we went through Customs into the arrival hall-only 3 placard holders.

Next-the Westin Tokyo.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Early in the morning the run from EWR to JFK is reasonably quick.However the fuel tank goes onto the reserve tank as we are crossing the Verrazano Narrows bridge.This is also something that freaks mrsdrron out.However we arrive at the Avis depot with the gauge showing 30 miles to go-exactly the same as at pick up.What precision!Though at first the agent doubts we picked it up empty and wants to charge us for the tank of petrol.Our documents though show it was picked up empty.

Now let me give you a bit of background info as to the reason having not much petrol in the tank "FREAKS MRSDRRON OUT ". That is because many moons ago ( I think in 1988) drron ran out of petrol in the DESERT in the Northern Territory.

NUF SAID

 

[attood]

I love to read about both sides of a story  Nice work mrs.dr.ron! Keep him honest.
Great TR.