Tag: boat tour

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring New York, Museums & Tours, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Maid Of The Mist

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on Maid Of The Mist

One of the things that had been on Ben’s bucket list, was to ride the Maid of the Mist. He has wanted to ride it since he saw then on a trip to Niagara Falls when he was a kid.

We bought our tickets online the night before and headed over the Niagara Falls State Park when Ben was done with work. The ride lasts about 20 minutes, so even though there was a line, we didn’t have to wait long.

It was a pretty warm out, so we didn’t wear the poncho (per the recommendation of the staff). We did get wet, but it felt nice in the sun. We saw a couple of rainbows in the mist. The American Falls were easy to see from the boat and to get some pictures. The Horseshoe Falls had a lot of mist! If you wear glasses/contacts, I would wear contacts if you go so you can see better. I had my glasses on and they quickly became hard to see out of.

The boat did have speakers, but we couldn’t hear any of the recorded message being played.

Canada still had its borders closed, so we didn’t get to walk over the bridge to see the Falls from their perspective. I bet they are pretty amazing from there, although they were still great from the US side.

After the boat ride, we walked over to Goat Island and and saw the Horseshoe Falls from the top.

DETAILS:*

  • TICKETS: $25.25/adults, $14.75/child. COVID Restrictions: masks required.
  • HOURS: Depends on the season. (6/19-8/8 9am-8pm, 8/9-8/28 9am-7:30pm, 8/29-9/5 9am-7:15pm, etc. Check here for times.)
  • PARKING: Pay parking on street, nearby lots, or Niagara Falls State Park ($10-15)
  • BATHROOM: Yes in the buildings, not on ship
  • TIME RECOMMENDED: 20 minutes+ Reservations are not accepted, so there may be a line. The ride is 20 minutes long.
  • *Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
Posted in: Exploring South Carolina, Museums & Tours, National Park, National Parks, School, Sightseeing

Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina

Although Fort Sumter is part of the National Park Service, there was not an admission fee. However, the only way to get to the fort is by boat, and the ferry ride does cost money.

The boat ride was similar to other boat tours we had taken. They pointed out other sites and talked about the history of Fort Sumter. There was a Park volunteer on the ride to and from that handed out maps and the Junior Ranger programs and badges.

We had a windy, cold, drizzly kind of day, so the water was a little rougher. Once we were docked, there was a ranger led talk that lasted about 15 minutes and went over the history of why Fort Sumter was built and its role in the Civil War. Even after the Civil War, they upgraded the Battery to keep it as a coastal defense. After the talk, we were free to read all the signs and explore around the fort. However, we only had an hour once we docked before the ship left again. It definitely felt rushed. We definitely could have spent a little more time reading and learning, at least another 1/2 hour to an hour would have been nice.

DETAILS:*

  • TICKETS: Fort Sumter, $0. Boat rides were $30/adults, $18 ages 4-11. (Our total for 4 adults was $127.20, as there was an additional $7.20 fee on the online booking receipt.) COVID Restrictions: masks required
  • HOURS: Visitor Center 9:00am-5:00pm (in Charleston). Boat rides vary per season and per location When we went boats departed Liberty Square (Charleston, SC) at 9:30am, 12:15pm, 3:00pm, and Patriots Point (Mount Pleasant, SC) at 10:45 am and 1:45 pm.
  • PARKING: Pay parking on street or nearby lots. It was $5 for the day at Patriot’s Point, which was where we departed from.
  • BATHROOM: Yes
  • TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-2 hours
  • *Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.

Posted in: Exploring California, Museums & Tours, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

The USS Midway: Top Notch Naval Museum

Written by tepetravels

The USS Midway is a decommissioned (retired) aircraft carrier docked in the San Diego Bay. It now serves as a top notch naval museum that is open for tours. It cost us $82 for the four of us and was well worth the money. (Ticket costs are: $26/adults 18-61, $22/seniors, $18/students 13-17, $12/youth 6-12, $10/veteran.)

As with most things these days, there are COVID restrictions: your ticket is a timed start to control total visitors on board at once, masks are required, 6 feet social distancing is encouraged and it seemed like many parts of the vessel have been removed from the tour.

The boys loved the Midway. (All of my boys.) We got to see:

Several bunkrooms – these were so cramped it is amazing they didn’t go stir crazy.

The Captain’s lower quarters – really nice, but according to a Yellow Hat (tour volunteer) the Captain only used this area while the ship was in port. The Captain slept up top by the bridge when underway.

The radio facilities control room – amazing to see how they transmitted classified information over the decades of the aircraft carriers service.

NOTE: Some of the ship was closed or roped off. I’m not sure if that was due to renovations or to COVID. (For example, the website lists the chapel and sick bay below deck, and the bridge and quarters above deck, but these weren’t open.)

There was a free audio tour available. You held the device up to the headphone symbols and a recording started. You listened by holding it up to your ear. You could also connect to the tour on your phone.

NOTE: Ben was excited to get to the tour and was worried about parking so we got to the tour at least an hour before our start time. We listened to most of these audio tracks in the truck. He was grateful we did because we did not bring headphones and it was hard to hear some of these recordings while on the deck.

The flight deck of the carrier had so many planes and helicopters displayed. Most of the aircrafts had folding wings. These were really neat to see, and of course growing up watching Top Gun, Ben and I liked seeing the F14s. The Midway Museum also had all the helicopters that have ever taken off from an United States aircraft carrier. Amazing to see the older ones.

I think the whole experience was really well done. We spent over 3 hours at the museum and Ben wished we had longer. We ended up closing the museum down. With the audio tour, lots of informational signs, and eager Yellow Hats ready to help, it was a great time. The kids enjoyed learning which is a solid accomplishment for any museum. I would definitely recommend it if you are in San Diego.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring California, Sightseeing

San Diego Harbor Cruise On Hornblower

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on San Diego Harbor Cruise On Hornblower

Ben was interested in taking a harbor cruise. We found a great deal on Groupon (half off!) for Hornblower Cruises. We booked an afternoon 90-minute harbor cruise.

The first part of the tour was narrated by the First Mate. He gave lots of interesting information about local sights and history. The second part of the cruise was narrated by the captain, who was retired Navy and gave us lots of interesting information on the Navy ships we passed.

We saw sea lions sunning on piers, sea gulls and double crested cormorant (some species can dive 100 feet into the water!). We also passed the Cabrillo National Monument where the first San Diego lighthouse was located. You can still see it, although it is not in use. They found a better location for a new lighthouse. We also saw a three sided arch (Model Range Arch) that the Navy uses to help know where to put antennas on the ships.

It was sunny and warm, no shade on the decks, but there was a nice breeze, so it made it nice. I would definitely bring a hat and wear sunscreen. The staff was nice and mask wearing was definitely encouraged (required indoors).

It made for a nice afternoon event.

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