New England - 2023

My sister and brother-in-law moved to Connecticut a few years ago, but we have not been up there to see them, so Thanksgiving 2023 turned out to be a good time. The whole family went, since the kids were off on college break.  Here was our itinerary:

Day 1: Fly into Boston, Drive to Maine for lunch, Drive to New Hampshire for hotel and UT game

Day 2: Discover North Conway, New Hampshire area

Day 3: Drive to Connecticut - detour through Rhode Island and see Ocean Drive

Day 4: Yale University, Indoor golf

Day 5: Train to New Haven and Apizza, Pez Museum, Madison 

Day 6: Home for Thanksgiving

Day 7: Back to Boston and fly out

Day 1

Portland Pier

Today we took an early flight to get to Boston by noon.  Rental car experience was the BEST ever. Despite having to take a bus to the offsite rental counters, the process once we got there was extremely efficient - from getting the paperwork done, to picking up the car and checking out.  Return was also great.  Five stars.  We got an almost new Ford Excursion which was very comfortable although maybe a bit large for northeast parking.  

We had previously been to Boston for a week, so this trip we only used it as an airport hub and made our way up the coast to Portland, Maine.

I chose Luke's Lobster on the Portland Pier and, after a freezing cold walk from the parking lot a couple of blocks away, we were treated to a fantastic meal with generous piles of lobster and delicious bisque and chowder. We also had the Sea Dog blueberry beer, brewed in New Hampshire - see below.  It wasn't too much of a detour to come up this way (we drive everywhere in Texas), so an extra hour was worth it and from Portland it was pretty much a straight shot to North Conway.

The sun went down very quickly - shockingly for us, it was dark at 4pm - and dark, dark - like they turned out the lights.  We pulled into our hotel and got situated then headed to Applebee's - one of the few places in North Conway open past 9pm (or open at all). We got great service and two TV's to watch Texas beat down Iowa State.

Day 2

Hmm... Not much snow

We headed north to see the White Mountains or Mt. Washington, but mostly to find snow.  After about 40 min we found some flurries, but not enough to accumulate. We were there at a bad time, basically.  The leaves had mostly changed color already, but there was no snow for skiing or tubing.  A lot of businesses were shut down for the winter and spring or had not started up for ski season.  We turned around and headed into town.

Awesome lunch at Delaney's with great waitstaff, awesome French Dip and Sushi (yes) and good beer and espresso martinis. Could also watch games, including Red Zone!

We left there and visited Sea Dog Brewing - right across from our hotel.  I tried an IPA and the others tried some different beers.  I still think the blueberry was our favorite.

We just snacked for dinner - and Bix and I played pool and darts for a couple of hours - again not too much was open.

Day 3

Sunset on
Ocean Drive, RI

Today we drove south, through New Hampshire and Boston, into Rhode Island, and then west to Connecticut.  The highlight of the trip was Rhode Island which was really beautiful everywhere.  The Ocean Drive in Newport was pretty and the houses were large, but not as big as the ones we saw coming in on Bellevue Ave. - huge castles and mansions which were jaw-dropping.  

Of course, it was about 3:30 so the sun was already setting and before we could get out of Newport it was dark, dark.  We pulled into our hotel in Branford around 5:30 and went to eat at an Asian restaurant across the street which was mid.

Day 4

Yale AOB - Another Old Building

Today we started out by visiting Yale University.  It was still cold and we might have not been dressed ideally to walk around in it, but we covered the few city blocks, playing "church or building?"  Every building at Yale looks like it's from medieval times or maybe Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.  So many cool buildings to look at - and a cemetery right there on campus.  

Lenny's

Ivy League

We went to the Yale bookstore and spent an hour or more inside looking at and buying books and souvenirs.  

For lunch, we went to a popular seafood place called Lenny's which is famous for heaping platters of seafood.  It was good but a little too much breading for our taste. Huge portions too - which was great, but we ordered too much.

Golf / Skeeball

Then we hit the Essex Indoor Golf Center where we played family games hit golf balls in a bay into a video screen of Solo Cups (like beer pong), Darts, and a couple of other mini-games.  It was really fun and somewhat relaxing (we're all competitive).

We drove back to Branford and had dinner at Los Charros where we had good Mexican food (not Tex-Mex) and strong flights of margaritas.  Bix and I drove around looking for beer, but the convenience stores didn't have it.  However, there was a liquor store / beer barn next to the hotel and we found some cool things to try.

Day 5

Today we met my sister at her house in Madison near the shore and walked to the beach.  It's directly across from Long Island, on the sound, and on a clear day you can see across. We piled in the car and went to downtown Madison for coffee and then boarded the local commuter train to New Haven to go to a famous pizza place called Sally's Apizza.  Apizza is a type of pizza local to the area and made in coal-fired ovens.  I thought it was really good.  There was a 30-minute long line outside the restaurant (brr), but once we got in, it was great.  

After apizza, we took Ubers to the Pez Museum in Orange, CT.   We saw how Pez dispensers were made and all the different ones made.  I have my own small collection at home, so my sister knew this was a good place to go.

We Ubered back to Madison and then went to eat Italian at Amarone in Guilford. The service was very good and I had a veal burrata special that was delicious.  We went back to Michelle's house to unwind and she played some tape recordings from when I was a baby - we all had a good laugh at the way I said "Beth-le-hem!" when my dad asked me where Jesus was born.

Day 6 and 7

Chill day at the Drobots.  Watched Sumo and Football and ate an awesome breakfast and Thanksgiving dinner - my sister is a very good cook.  It was nice spending time with her and Glenn and reliving old memories.  I will visit them again - I hope very soon.

The next day we got up early to drive back to Boston, allowing enough time to return the rental, but everything went so smoothly that we got there four (4) hours before the flight.  We flew back through Detroit, which was OK, and then got to Austin around game time - we played Texas Tech. We sent the kids home on Uber and Shellie and I drove up to Pflugerville to get Baby Finn (corgi) who was being dog-sat there by friends.  We had to listen to the first half of the game on the radio, but it was a fairly uneventful  (thank goodness) 57-7 beatdown.

Shoreline - Madison, RI

At the Beach

Sunset from the Drobot's Porch

The Gang in New Haven

Amarone - All of Us

Thanksgiving Dinner

Fiji

Today we traveled to Fiji for five days / four nights.  This was the first trip for either of us to the southern hemisphere.

Why Fiji?

We talked about someday going to one of the places with the over-water bungalows - like Bora Bora or Tahiti or Maldives. Although Fiji has only one option for that, it also has a lot of other stuff to do - the island is comparable in size to the Big Island of Hawaii.  

Getting there

From Texas, we had to take a flight to LA or San Francisco to get a direct connection via Fiji Airways.  This meant a long eight-hour layover in the American lounge.  We used points and watched the final game of the World Series - Texas won.

The 11-hour flight left at midnight, so we touched down just after 5am.  We lost a whole day crossing the dateline so we took off on Wednesday and arrived on Friday. What? 

We had to wait a while for the Budget counter to open up and then it took a while to get the car.  This is how we were introduced to Fiji Time.  This is like Mexico Time, but about twice as slow.  It's an actual saying there.  Basically, there's not a lot of urgency to get things done. Just enjoy the scenery and chill out.

Day One

The best policy to mitigate jetlag on trips flying west is to power through the day, so I booked us an excursion starting at 8am.  We hopped in the car (right-hand drive) and headed to the meet-up point at the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple, the largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere.

Our tour guide Avi, told us about the significance of the temple and that Hindu people support the faiths of others as exhibited by the flag flying both the symbols of Christianity and Islam.  Fiji is largely a Christian population - a long way from the stories about the Cannibals of Fiji, ruthless inter-village warriors before missionaries introduced Christianity in the 1800's. 

After touring the temple grounds, we went to a local souvenir shop - Jack's.  Jack has his name on a lot of stores in the area, as does Tappoo.  And then we visited a local produce market with fresh fruit and ou first taste of Kava from a vendor.  Kava is a root, which when ground and mixed with water creates a drink that may leave your mouth numb and your body relaxed.  Celebrating with Kava is an integral part of ceremonies in Fiji.

The next stop was a botanical garden called the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, named for the backdrop hills which resemble a giant person laying on their back.  We took about 45 minutes to walk the grounds and take in the native fauna.

Our last stop was the Sabeto Hot Springs Mud Pool.  Here we changed into swimsuits and lathered up with volcanic mud.  After it dried, we washed off in a series of four hot pools where we got cleaner and cleaner.  It was a fun experience - something we never did prior.  We got lots of goofy pictures.

On the way back to the starting point, we went with another family as they were dropped off at their hotel on Denauri Island - an area near the airport with several high-end hotels and shopping.  

Back in the car, I got my second taste of driving on the left side of the road in our right-hand steering car. On previous trips to the UK/Scotland, we had others drive or we took public transportation so this was my first time outside of Forza (video game) to drive this way.  Turning into the correct lane and even the roundabouts weren't that difficult, however, I turned on the WIPERS every time I meant to turn on the turn signal.  This did not get better on days 2-5.  As we were to find out (foreshadowing), this was not the most challenging thing about driving in Fiji.

We arrived at our hotel at about two in the afternoon and the room wasn't ready, so we took advantage of Fiji Time and got a cocktail at the bar.  We decided to stay at the Marriott Momi Bay which is a really nice hotel south of Nadi about 30 minutes.  It was closer to our activities than Denaru, so it was a good place to choose.  Also, it is the ONLY hotel in Fiji with over-water bungalows (or "bure").  

We went with the All-Inclusive package which was fine.  I think the food options were adequate (three restaurants were on the plan), but not many people did it.  I didn't do the math, but it may have paid off.  We didn't drink a lot or it really would have.  We found the cocktails on the plan were consistently bad - the paid ones were better, but they may need better bartenders in general. I drank plenty of Fiji Bitter (beer) and Shellie drank Pure Blonde (Australian).

We were pretty tired after the long flight and a full day so we wrapped it up early and hit the sack.

Day Two

Today we drove an hour southeast to the town of Sigatoka to take a River Safari Jet Boat tour.  On the way, I got a speeding ticket (90km/hr in an 80 zone - national speed limit, taken very seriously).   The super nice cop did not let me off with a warning, but he did offer to help me get my fine to the right people, so I didn't have to find the location and deal with that on our limited timetable.  He wrote a full account of my transgression in longhand on a large piece of paper - no fill-in-the-blank here - and I was glad we left much earlier than needed to allow for the extra Fiji Time. The stop set us back at least 20 minutes.

From the shop in Sigatoka, we took a short drive into the interior and arrived at a base camp.  We split up into about 12 to each powerful, but flat, jet boat.  The captain, Fabulous Freddy, stopped a couple of times and told us about the history of Fiji and life in his village and others like his - how the kids swim across the river with books and dry clothes piled onto an innertube to go to school and then swim back.  

After jetting around (the water is low in this time of year, November, before the rainy season), so boating is more fun, with more obstacles, we docked at the base of the Mavua village and ascended a path to the village grounds.  Very simple houses are arranged around a green yard and that area is surrounded by farms.

If you get a chance to visit a village such as this one (or this one - take this tour!) you will get a real appreciation for how simple a life can be and also how fulfilling.  These people have very few modern conveniences, but they have food (grown or hunted) and any money they get from family working outside of the village or from tourism funds basic necessities or is saved for kids' education and natural disasters.  

The people of Fiji, whether in the resort, at the airport, on the road, or in the village are the main reason to visit.  Sure, it's breathtakingly beautiful, but the people are the kindest people I have ever met anywhere.   Every single person will greet you with "Bula!" which is basically "Hello!" but better - see below. In the village, we met the residents in a Kava ceremony and introduced ourselves one at a time. We ate a meal, we danced and they played music and sang songs with beautiful harmonies, showing off lifetimes of practice and the soul of a religious and joyful people.

The children of the village joined us for dancing and some of the visitors offered toys and coloring books, stickers, and a soccer ball.  All thoughtful gifts for kids who don't sit around and play on phones all day. We spent about three hours at the village and then it was time to go.  

On the way back, Freddy piloted the boat into several 360 spins where we got drenched and then finished up back in town in the early afternoon.  We spent the rest of the day at the resort and went to bed relaxed and happy.

Day Three and Four

Day three was a resort day - started by watching the Longhorns beat Kansas State (barely, pure luck) at 4am, then hanging out by the pool, catching up on sleep, and doing some research on Fiji customs and the history of Cannibalism in Fiji.  We ended the day with a buffet spread at the outdoor restaurant, with local delicacies.  We had to get to bed early to get up at 3am for our next adventure - a river rafting tour.

At 3:50am we set out in the dark for Pacific Harbour - allowing enough time for traffic and the slow 80km/h max speed limit. (It's 137km/h on the highway by us in Texas).

Turns out this was a good move as we got a flat tire only 40 minutes into the trip.  Luckily, there was a lit shop on the side of the road and I was able to change the tire. It was probably a pothole - Fiji is the land of potholes - there are more potholes than people and the main roads have tons of them.  

Five miles from our destination, the spare went flat.  Also likely one of the potholes along the way.  I took out road hazard insurance before the trip (will update this to verify it worked).  But the car was now undrivable.

I called the tour company, Rivers Fiji, and asked for their help, and true to Fijian ways of friendliness and helpfulness they came and picked us up, offered to work it out with the rental company while we were off the grid all day, and even got the car back to their place to wait for a replacement.  

The tour was a two-hour drive into the interior and then a five-hour rafting adventure through narrow canyons and some small rapids. (When the water is higher, the scenery is worse but the water flows faster). Our guide, Moses, was an original guide from when the company started 28 years ago.  He had tons of stories and details about life in Fiji.  All of the guides were great, but Moses was a special treat. There were only four of us paddling with Moses - Shellie and I were joined by Adi and Vidya from the San Fran area. They were great traveling companions.  The scenery was unbelievable and I don't say that lightly - check out these photos. Canyons and waterfalls, and clear water. 

We got a picnic lunch halfway and at times we could get out of the raft and swim.  It was a total blast and worth doing again.  When we finally got back to the starting point, our new rental was there - they had taken care of everything and I can't thank Rivers Fiji enough.  We navigated every pothole on the way back and arrived at 7:15pm tired from the long day.

Day Five - Departure

We got a late checkout (only noon, but the Marriott offers hospitality rooms for an hour if you want to go do something and then get freshened up before a late flight).

We chose to drive to get lunch at Club 57 on top of the Ramada near Denaru, with beautiful views of the Pacific from this rooftop spot.  We gassed up and then headed for the airport to duke it out with Budget.  

After working out the cost of the tires and the gas, we were still way early for our flight but just hung out at the airport for the last four hours.  10 hours to LA, 5 hours layover, and an earlier-than-expected departure got us home at close to 1am.

Takeaways

1) Go to Fiji for the people.  Nicest ever. Not an exaggeration.

2) Learn Bula and Vinaka (Thank you) before you go. If you don't, don't sweat it - you will hear it hundreds of times.

3) Bula doesn't just mean Hi.  It's more like "Hi, I am so glad to see you and it's going to be a great day." And "Bula! Bula!" means double that or more.

4) Don't drive or Do take car insurance - the potholes are plentiful and aggressive

5) Rainy season is November-March with the bulk in Jan/Feb (plan accordingly) 

6) It's a beautiful country to hike or explore

7) Take the chance to visit a village on a tour like Sigatoka River Safari

8) If you tour a village, try to take along some small toys for the kids - coloring books, crayons, stickers, etc.

9) Recommended tours are Rivers Fiji, Sigatoka River Safari, and Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool

BONUS:  "Islands in the Stream" is an immensely popular song here - don't know why but it was performed at the resort, heard on the radio, and a girl was singing it while cleaning in the coffee shop - bizarre...