Author: Aarabhi
My father-in-law stared at the brown ring of bread in his palm.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's a bagel Appa, a kind of bun. Here, they eat it with butter sometimes, for breakfast" I replied.
He sighed and bit into it determinedly.
I pulled a face at Vasistha.
We were at the Boston airport in USA on the layover of our flight to New Jersey; on our way to a short vacation along the east coast of USA.
The Trip:
The day Vashu got his onsite posting at Dallas, Texas, he had started planning for this trip. It had always been a dream for my hubby to show his parents at least one other country apart from our own. Once he married me, my parents naturally got included in the equation. So, here we were, 6 vegetarians. Hunting for a proper meal, reading labels and wondering if the Caesar dressing mentioned on the salad box had eggs in it or not.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It is awfully cliched these days. The whole "Niagara and east coast" trip. Every desi with a relative visiting him/her plans it. Almost like the tirtha-yatra of USA. Even though we planned the exact same trip, I simply do not understand the hype, that is Niagara falls. I mean, our own Jog falls, Athirapalli falls and plenty of others seem more breathtaking than it.
The Change in Plans:
"Hello Mama, Amami! Yepdi irkingo?" asked our cousin Shammi. We were 3 hours early due to our connecting flight being brought forward unexpectedly. He had most kindly taken a day off and was chauffeuring us to his home.
The Hype:
Our next stop was the famous Niagara falls. Such hype has centered around this falls that our troupe felt quite a bit let down when we finally saw the falls! At the risk of repeating myself, I concure that it is beautiful, and wide, aand well maintained. But, to call it the best waterfall would be stretching it. After having seen the majesticness and lush greenery of our own Gagana Chukki-Bhara Chukki and the Jog falls during the monsoons; Niagara seemed ordinary enough to us.
Had the first truly filling lunch of the entire trip at the small Punjabi mobile cart outside the Chinese mall. Since we all were starving and quite desperate for a proper vegetarian meal, the simple roti and dal were a heaven sent blessing.
The truly great thing was the lighted view of the falls in the evening. It was something worth seeing. Jerry had arranged for us to watch a cultural show- a dance and display about the American Indian people. Though the costumes were a little too garish (I suspect they were pandering to the crowd and not too authentic), this too was worth the pretty penny.
Vivid blue of the St. Lawrence:
The last stop on this particular trip were the 1000 Islands. After making another long bus journey from Niagara to the jetty on the St. Lawrence river, we set off on an hour long cruise down the river, past the big mansions of reclusive billionaires.
The story goes that George Charles Boldt was a billionaire hotelier of the eighteen hundreds who drew up plans to build a magnificent 6 story castle for his wife. But, her untimely death put a halt to the construction for nearly 75 years. The castle rebuilding restarted only in 1977. Quite a tale worthy of our Taj Mahal.
Not much needs to be said about the elitist society of Skull and Bones (select students and alumni of Yale University) which Hollywood has immortalized in the movie "The Skulls". The summer retreat of this society is located here on Deer Island.
The Zavikon Island has two parts with the smaller Island allegedly being located in the USA and the larger one in Canada. This is a false but popular tale carried by most of the tourist guides (including our own). The Island is actually located entirely in Canada.
We enjoyed amazing vistas of the castles and the brisk breeze which set our clothes flying hither. The background of the vivid blue of the river made for some amazing portraits for our family.
Photographer: Vasistha
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| At a rest stop in Texas, first US trip with parents |
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's a bagel Appa, a kind of bun. Here, they eat it with butter sometimes, for breakfast" I replied.
He sighed and bit into it determinedly.
I pulled a face at Vasistha.
We were at the Boston airport in USA on the layover of our flight to New Jersey; on our way to a short vacation along the east coast of USA.
The Trip:
The day Vashu got his onsite posting at Dallas, Texas, he had started planning for this trip. It had always been a dream for my hubby to show his parents at least one other country apart from our own. Once he married me, my parents naturally got included in the equation. So, here we were, 6 vegetarians. Hunting for a proper meal, reading labels and wondering if the Caesar dressing mentioned on the salad box had eggs in it or not.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It is awfully cliched these days. The whole "Niagara and east coast" trip. Every desi with a relative visiting him/her plans it. Almost like the tirtha-yatra of USA. Even though we planned the exact same trip, I simply do not understand the hype, that is Niagara falls. I mean, our own Jog falls, Athirapalli falls and plenty of others seem more breathtaking than it.
The Change in Plans:
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| At our cousin Sri Rama's place. A delightful time spent with his family. Shammi is in the grey T-shirt |
"Wasn't that a Stop Sign we just passed?" asked Vasistha.
Amused, Shammi replied: "It's ok Vasistha, the rules of the road are a little relaxed here in New Jersey."
Speeding was the only rule we had witnessed being broken in Dallas.Used as we were to the mostly strict adherence to traffic rules there, this was news for us.
Spending a delightful night with his family (with the world's biggest chatterbox of a 3 year old) and after visiting another relative, Sri Rama; we discovered that my dad-in-law's foot ulcer had worsened overnight, he had a burning fever and was in no state to travel. He had been the most enthusiastic person in our little troupe and we were all quite sad. Seeing our long faces, he ribbed, "I am taking some much needed rest here. I'll enjoy a couple of days with the kids. You guys go ahead."
The Story of the Bathroom:
"The beauty in front of you is NOT the whi hou, I repeat, it's not the whi hou!" said Jerry.
The five of us were exploring with our guide Jerry (Take Tours) with a bus full of Chinese tourists.
The Chinese-American accent of Jerry, was largely unintelligible to our ears. His "building" sounded like "beauty", "white house" sounded like "whi hou" and the Chinese translation of the place-descriptions amusingly took twice as long as in English.
We almost just passed through Philadelphia; viewing just the Liberty Bell and the Independence Hall. The fun thing was using the first public bathroom in the USA (opposite the hall, said to have been the one George Washington used). Reading the board proclaiming this, my dad remarked: "These guys turn everything into a tourist hot spot! Really? A bathroom?"
Memorials and exhaustion:
The usual circuit of Washington D.C took us to the National Air and Space museum (our guide gave us such little time here that most of the museum just got a cursory look-see; just had time to stamp a souvenir coin and withdraw some much needed cash from the ATM), the Madame Tussaud's wax museum and the four major landmarks around the Washington monument: the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the Supreme Court and the grounds around them (read Korean war veterans memorial and such).
The Story of the Bathroom:
"The beauty in front of you is NOT the whi hou, I repeat, it's not the whi hou!" said Jerry.
The five of us were exploring with our guide Jerry (Take Tours) with a bus full of Chinese tourists.
The Chinese-American accent of Jerry, was largely unintelligible to our ears. His "building" sounded like "beauty", "white house" sounded like "whi hou" and the Chinese translation of the place-descriptions amusingly took twice as long as in English.
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| Independence Hall, Philadelphia |
We almost just passed through Philadelphia; viewing just the Liberty Bell and the Independence Hall. The fun thing was using the first public bathroom in the USA (opposite the hall, said to have been the one George Washington used). Reading the board proclaiming this, my dad remarked: "These guys turn everything into a tourist hot spot! Really? A bathroom?"
Memorials and exhaustion:
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| The Capitol building, "The beauty in front of you is NOT the whi hou, I repeat, it's not the whi hou!" |
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| With Abe Lincoln |
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| Walking with the Beatles at the wax museum |
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| Grecian Colonnade huggers, right out of a movie song |
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| Behind the Lincoln Memorial |
We had some fun taking pictures in front of the huge Grecian colonnades, but were mostly tired by the long walks these places required us to make. At the end of the day, footsore and mostly exhausted, the elders decided to take some much needed rest and Vasista and I set out to get the last of the pics around the Lincoln Memorial in the fading light of the day. The lake waters and the huge golden statues flanking the roadway behind the memorial were really mesmerizing.
Glass: Infinitely varied, Inexplicably beautiful:
The second day saw us making a loooong journey by bus through green valleys. The tall trees were sadly lacking in flowers but were mysteriously shrouded in mists. They vividly reminded us of our Nilgiris. We were to visit the 60 year old Corning Museum of Glass.
The museum was absolutely wonderful! The meager 2 hours (including the lunch time!) that we were allowed to spend there was nowhere near enough to really enjoy and appreciate the amazing glass artifact displays. From exquisite tulips (contemporary) to 3500 year old glass-wares, the museum has it all. THE favorite place for my mother-in-law whose love for color, glass and intricacy was thoroughly satisfied here. We barely had time to rush through the museum and see a quick hot glass show, where professional glass-makers blow molten glass into vases, bowls and other such pieces of art.
Glass: Infinitely varied, Inexplicably beautiful:
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| Gorgeous Tulips |
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| My MIL Rajani with her favourite pieces |
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| The glass making show at the Museum, mesmerizing molten glass |
The Hype:
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| A view of the falls |
Still, we had come to visit it; so we did the usual touristy things-went on the Maid of the Mist boat ride and watched the short movie about the falls in the IMAX theater.
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| On board the Maid of the Mist |
The truly great thing was the lighted view of the falls in the evening. It was something worth seeing. Jerry had arranged for us to watch a cultural show- a dance and display about the American Indian people. Though the costumes were a little too garish (I suspect they were pandering to the crowd and not too authentic), this too was worth the pretty penny.
 |
| The Native Indian dance |
The last stop on this particular trip were the 1000 Islands. After making another long bus journey from Niagara to the jetty on the St. Lawrence river, we set off on an hour long cruise down the river, past the big mansions of reclusive billionaires.
The stories of the Bolt castle, Skull and Bones society of the Deer Island and the alleged shortest International bridge made spicy little tales for us to carry home.
The story goes that George Charles Boldt was a billionaire hotelier of the eighteen hundreds who drew up plans to build a magnificent 6 story castle for his wife. But, her untimely death put a halt to the construction for nearly 75 years. The castle rebuilding restarted only in 1977. Quite a tale worthy of our Taj Mahal.
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| The Boldt Castle Yatch House, the actual Castle was hidden among trees and we couldn't get a good enough pic |
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| Alleged shortest bridge in the world- Zavikon Island |
The Zavikon Island has two parts with the smaller Island allegedly being located in the USA and the larger one in Canada. This is a false but popular tale carried by most of the tourist guides (including our own). The Island is actually located entirely in Canada.
 |
| Our official photographer ;) against the backdrop of t vivid blue of St. Lawrence river |
We enjoyed amazing vistas of the castles and the brisk breeze which set our clothes flying hither. The background of the vivid blue of the river made for some amazing portraits for our family.
A truly memorable experience for us all.
p.s. Before I came up with the current title for this post, I had considered using:
OK, TX for all the great memories... we see you (CT) & enjoy (NJ)... All my friends would envy (NY) us...
The most atrocious title ever! But I couldn't help it. I just had to put in all those state names in it; it was just too irresistible.
These are the states we visited in the USA:
OK- Oklahoma (of the clanking oil wells)
TX- Texas (of the blistering sun and flattest land I'd ever seen)
CT (my CU)- Connecticut (lovely state, of which we saw so little)
NJ- New Jersey (of the Indian-style driving)
NY- New York (of the weirdly clean and posh Chikpet feel)
OK, TX for all the great memories... we see you (CT) & enjoy (NJ)... All my friends would envy (NY) us...
The most atrocious title ever! But I couldn't help it. I just had to put in all those state names in it; it was just too irresistible.
These are the states we visited in the USA:
OK- Oklahoma (of the clanking oil wells)
TX- Texas (of the blistering sun and flattest land I'd ever seen)
CT (my CU)- Connecticut (lovely state, of which we saw so little)
NJ- New Jersey (of the Indian-style driving)
NY- New York (of the weirdly clean and posh Chikpet feel)
