The weather forecast for today anticipated rain so we set off up the Cape looking for batting cages and crazy golf. The traffic was pretty horrendous and I did wonder just how long it would take to get all the way to Provincetown tomorrow if it was going to be like this. Google wasn’t helping us as all and we turned off and asked some Park Rangers if they knew of any cages, without success. Read the rest of this entry »

Today was about not doing much. We had a good breakfast in the house and got ourselves ready for a short 5 minute drive to Hardings Beach. This was rated by the tourist office as one of the best. Really nice sandy beach that stretched for miles. It seemed pretty popular but was so big it didn’t get remotely crowded. Read the rest of this entry »

I preloaded on Redbulls for the drive to the Cape anticipating another hellish day but it was a fairly clear drive. After picking up maps and leaflets at the local tourist office we found our cottage (that’s ridiculous, just call it a bungalow) which was absolutely fine. Clean, spacious and in a quiet cul de sac 5 minutes walk from a small bay with town landing. Helen was Read the rest of this entry »

Today was the day the boys had been looking forward to the most. We had beta tested the theme park experience in Alton Towers a few weeks ago and suffered badly on day 1 due to problems with rides not running and horrendous queues. We had partially made up for it on day 2 but with a single day at Six Flags I couldn’t take that risk. So, I hate to say, we Read the rest of this entry »

Friday was our departure day with a supposedly relatively straight forward 2½ hour drive up to Springfield in Massachusetts. We were up at 7am and went via the gym to the Gemini Diner for breakfast. This was conveniently located half way between the hotel and the Dollar rental place on 22nd Street. Helen went back to the hotel with Tom & Harry to lug all the luggage down to reception whilst Joe & I picked up the car. Read the rest of this entry »

Times Square has to be on everyone’s list when visiting New York and Joe was desperate to see it. We were running out of time on our final day now and there is so much to do in New York you could easily spend a fortnight there. We were finding it impossible to get everything we had planned done though as we were moving at a frenetic pace and getting too tired. The Museum of Fine Art lost out as we realised it just wasn’t possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Breakfast this morning was in an even better (we returned the next day too) diner a few blocks up 2nd Avenue from our hotel. The boys said the pancakes weren’t as good but the eggs and breakfast fries were better (and that’s what I had). We had booked bikes for Central Park and needed to charge up. I had found a place online and booked for collection on Broadway which meant Read the rest of this entry »

We chose the top of the Rockefeller Center for our skyscraper trip because it’s much much cheaper than the Empire State and I don’t like getting ripped off. Once you’re at 70 stories high I don’t think the extra really makes a lot of difference. The view is nothing short of amazing, you really do feel on top of the world. Read the rest of this entry »

The first day of the holiday started with a grueling Tabata session. We headed to the gym at about 6:30 (feeling good thanks to jet lag) to start the workout. It’s 8 sets of 20 seconds intense exercise plus 10 seconds of rest on an exercise bike at the hotel gym. We went in with confidence but it’s surprisingly painful, Read the rest of this entry »

We had agreed with the boys not to get up before 6am and weren’t surprised with a text at five past from Harry. Tom, Harry & I visited the hotel gym and started our Tabata regimen which we intended to do every morning we were in the hotel. I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were setting alarms to get up in the morning so it was no problem today. Read the rest of this entry »