FROM SKYSCRAPERS TO SCENIC VIEWS WITH PETER PAN BUS LINES

When you board your PETER PAN BUS LINES bus, the announcement tells you that the company is a “fourth generation family owned business” and “Your driver is highly skilled and one of the best in the industry” plus “This bus is one of the most modern in operation.”  Well, two out of three seemed to be true. 

We used Peter Pan Bus Lines 5 times to help us travel across New England and our experience was mostly positive - but unlike journeys by bus 5 years ago, the price wasn't low. 

The total we spent on their services was $333.93 and we travelled approximately 383 miles with them in total.  That's nearly $1 a mile!

(1).  NEW YORK TO NEW HAVEN (WED JUL 31 2024)

🚐 2 adults = $46.00

😖 Booking fee = $3.99 via Megabus

💰 Total = $49.99

🪑 COMFORT RATING: 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (4/5)

⏳ JOURNEY TIME: 1 hr 49 mins

08:31 - departed the Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York

10:20 - arrived at Union Station, New Haven, Connecticut 

It was a challenge to find the correct bus stand as the signage was insufficient and also misleading at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. The journey out of Manhattan took us up to Washington Heights, across the Alexander Hamilton Bridge into The Bronx then northeast to New Haven. 90 minutes into the journey we crossed and got a good view of the Housatonic River, Connecticut. 

(2).  NEW HAVEN TO DOWNTOWN PROVIDENCE (THUR AUG 1 2024)

🚐 2 adults = $72.00

😖 Booking fee = $3.99 via Megabus 

💰 Total = $75.99

🪑 COMFORT RATING: 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (3/5)

⏳ JOURNEY TIME: 1 hr 50 mins

10:38 - bus arrived at New Haven Union Station, late. 

10:42 - departed Union Station (17 mins late)

12:27 - bad congestion on the outskirts of Downtown Providence

12:32 - arrived at Downtown Providence, Rhode Island 

There were no signs at Union Station telling you where to wait and board, but thankfully we knew where, as we had got off the same bus the day before upon arriving in New Haven, and we were able to reassure fellow passengers about this. We looked inside the historic New Haven Union Station and took advantage of the small Dunkin’ Donuts inside. 

The bus arrived 17 minutes late but we didn’t mind waiting in the sunshine and we shared our cold cans of Coca-Cola and water with others waiting there. The bus was quite full, which we had a feeling it would be, so we ended up squashed on the back row alongside the toilet door and another passenger. We got talking to him and he gave us some good tips and advice about New England, as well as sharing stories about his time working in LA and New York plus his visits to Martha’s Vineyard. He explained he was a stand-up comedian and it just shows you never know who you might meet on public transportation!

(3).  PROVIDENCE BUS TERMINAL TO BOSTON (FRI AUG 2 2024)

🚐 2 adults = $64.09

😖 Booking fee = $3.99

💰 Total = $67.99

🪑 COMFORT RATING: 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (5/5)

⏳ JOURNEY TIME: 58 mins

09:07 - departed the Peter Pan Transportation Center, Providence, Rhode Island

09:16 - crossed the Rhode Island Massachusetts state line 

10:05 - arrived at Boston South Station

The Peter Pan Transportation Center was a short Uber ride away from Downtown Providence and we waited there a few minutes for the bus to arrive. We have some custom to Dan’s Depot Cafe inside and the owner told us he had only being trading a short while but was pleased to now be his own boss. Dan’s coffee was good and reasonably priced, but we had to dash when our bus arrived. 

As the bus pulled away we got to see other parts of Providence including the huge North Burial Ground, and a bit more exciting - a Coca-Cola truck finally!

(4).  BOSTON TO WOODS HOLE (MON AUG 5 2024)

🚐 COST: $69.98 for 2 seats

🪑 COMFORT RATING: 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (4/5)

⏳ JOURNEY TIME: 1 hr 37 mins

10:04 - departed Boston South Station

11:13 - Bourne, Cape Cod, MA

11:31 - Falmouth, MA

11:41 - arrived at Woods Hole, MA (4 mins early)

We struggled to book this trip on the Megabus website, despite using multiple cell phones, cellular data and WiFi to try and eliminate the problem. We think it didn’t like it being booked as a roundtrip, so we took a chance and booked it one way on the same day we travelled. Luckily we got seats!

(5).  WOODS HOLE TO BOSTON (WED AUG 7 2024)

🚐 COST: $69.98 for 2 seats

🪑 COMFORT RATING: 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (4/5)

⏳ JOURNEY TIME: 2 hrs 14 mins

16:51 - departed Woods Hole (late by 6 mins)

17:05 - arrived at Falmouth Station

17:13 - departed Falmouth Station 

17:47 - Bourne (almost an hour after we left Woods Hole; the other day, the same journey in the opposite direction took only 28 mins)

17:52 - departed Bourne

19:05 - arrived at Boston South Station (late by 35 mins)

We booked directly with Peter Pan Bus Lines again, as had lost faith in using the glitchy Megabus website. 

At Woods Hole ferry terminal, we stood alongside the parked bus in good time. The driver went through a weird rigmarole of loading passenger luggage into the hold (on previous trips you pop your own case in); he worked from the back of the line to the front, and stood studying the holds. When a passenger arrived late he whinged a bit, not that we were going anywhere fast. 

The passenger power sockets and WiFi were not working on this trip; fortunately we always carry a couple of charged power banks as a backup. 

CITY OF ILLUSIONS: THE REAL AND FAKE FACES OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK is the kind of place you need to visit multiple times – it is that big!  Within the space of a week, we had visited twice, as we had a few days visiting Vermont in between, and we packed in as much as we could.  Prior to that, we were last in New York City in summer 2017, and we are sure to return at some point in the future.  There is that much to see and do!

Times Square was as crazy as it always has been and weirdly it seemed to smell a lot better than when we last visited!  The place was heaving with tourists and crawling with costumed characters, wanting gratuities in exchange for a selfie.  We laughed at ‘Mucky Mouse’, a kind of off-brand Mickey, as we had seen him last summer on Hollywood Blvd.  Despite their questionable likeness to the characters they were meant to be, visitors were lapping them up and it was great for us to people watch as we came and went over the course of our time in Midtown Manhattan. 

On our night of arrival (Sat Jul 27 2024), there was a bit of commotion: a group of Trump supporters were waving flags and placards in a barriered corner.  NYPD cops were in attendance, presumably ensuring the group remained in their designated area.  

Elsewhere, early in the morning, we saw that a section of Times Square had been cordoned off for ABC’s Good Morning America show to broadcast live from.  The ABC studio, of course, looks down on Times Square. 

On another occasion, apparent NYPD civilian workers were double-lining 7^th Ave. with crowd control barriers, creating a sizeable void between the road and the sidewalks.  It made us wonder if an event was due to take place?

 Always something going on in Times Square!

The streets of New York seemed to be awash with vendors selling counterfeit Gucci and Louis Vuitton bags and accessories.  In the past, they were few and far between, with their goods laid out on big sheets, ropes attached, ready to be cleverly bundled up in an instant should the need arise; this time, their displays were more elaborate and brazen.  We saw one tourist hand over $100 for a small bag!

We walked many miles around the city and didn’t use the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Subway as much as during our first visit to New York, but we found the system just as easy to use this time, if not easier, for we were able to tap and go with our cell phones thanks to the contactless fare payment system at the turnstiles.

Our journey down to Tribeca from Times Square and back again cost us:

17:30 = MTA NYCT Paygo = $4.25

17:31 = MTA NYCT Paygo = $2.90

19:45 = MTA NYCT Paygo = $2.90

The subway is typically as hot underground as it is on the surface.  On the way back to our hotel, we spent a while waiting on a platform at Rector St. station for the next train and the heat was torturous.  Worse still, when we boarded, a group of Italian teenagers surrounded us, chattering loudly in Italiano and talking over us.  I couldn’t tell them to shut up or ask them to show some consideration, as I was unwell and had lost my voice.  That journey felt like an age!  Other than that, we found the Subway to be efficient and safe – we thankfully encountered no indigenous crazies or smellies this time!

Up until this visit, the words ‘New York’ conjured up the iconic cityscape images of skyscrapers and crowds, seen in all the marketing, but as we left Manhattan by Amtrak for a couple of days in Vermont, we got to see Upstate New York and how green it was!  Graffitied concrete faded away to be replaced with river scenes, woodlands with wild turkeys, a castle and mountains.  Yes, a castle and mountains: a great view of the Catskill Mountains across the Hudson River, and Bannerman Castle sat on Pollepel Island, an abandoned military surplus warehouse!  

We rolled through places with unusual names such Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff (population: 425 in 2010) and Schenectady.  On the way back, we noticed that the railroad even cut through the center of the infamous Sing Sing Correctional Facility!  Only in New York.

 New York has many faces - the good, the bad and the beautiful – and we felt like we’d seen them all during our all too brief visit!

 

 

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TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR TIME IN NEW YORK CITY, SEE THESE SPECIFIC BLOGS OF THE PLACES WE VISITED:

 

SAT JUL 27 2024

JFK International Airport

The Long Island Rail Road

Grand Central Terminus & the Chrysler Building

Hard Rock Hotel New York City

Hook & Ladder Firehouse (Ghostbusters)

Edward’s Bar (Tribeca)

National September 11^th Memorial

O’Hara’s Pub & Restaurant

 

SUN JUL 28 2024

The Empire State Building

5^th Ave., New York Public Library & Bryant Park

Rockefeller Center

Amtrak, Penn Station & the Moynihan Train Hall

 

TUE JUL 30 2024

Hard Rock Cafe New York

Sean’s Bar & Kitchen

The Port Authority Bus Terminal & Peter Pan Bus Lines

HARD ROCK HOTEL (NEW YORK CITY)

We stayed at the HARD ROCK HOTEL NEW YORK on two separate occasions in July 2024: for one night upon our arrival to New York City then again for another night after we’d had a couple of days away in Vermont. 

The Hard Rock Hotel is a 4 1/2 star hotel and we chose it as a treat. Rooms ranged from $359 to $404 a night. The additional resort fee we had to pay upon checkout was $45 per room per night. 

The hotel is centrally located and is close to Times Square and around 10 minutes walk away from the more famous Hard Rock Cafe. we were pleased to see it had secure elevators - you scan your room key before being able to select the floor you want to go to. 

We had rooms on the 6th and 26th floors, both offering good views of Times Square. The rooms were compact, clean and modern. The king sized bed had loads of room and was very comfortable. 

We had no complaints whatsoever, but a couple of small quibbles: the mood lighting in the rooms was great but we could have done with some additional lights for those times when you need them all on. There was also no iron or ironing board: you are provided with a hand steamer which was powerful but became the bane of our lives as if you weren’t careful it was easier to add creases to your clothes than get them out. 

We didn’t have time to visit the restaurant and bar in the hotel, but as we passed through the lobby we heard some of the live music being performed there. 

The hotel has a Rock Shop and we popped in to purchase a magnet to join our growing collection of Hard Rock Cafe and Hotel magnets, which are based on the chain’s famous logo. The Hotel versions are purple but sadly (and unusually) they didn’t stock them, so we left empty handed. 

This is a welcoming hotel; all the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. The Hard Rock Hotel opened in New York in April 2022 and its newness is still there. We highly recommend a visit if you’re ever staying in New York City and the hotel is within your budget. 

ROOM FACILITIES 

Amazon Echo Show with Alexa

Coffee machine

Bottled water

Refrigerator (not the coldest)

AC

Table and chairs

Hand steamer

Room safe

Shower (rainfall and handheld)

THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Upon check-in we were told we’d been credited with $20 for food and beverages. This made it sound like you were getting twenty dollars for free but was actually part of the $45 Destination Fee. 

Like many hotels across America, the Hard Rock Hotel charges a “resort fee” or as they are now being called, a Deatination Fee. Hotels can claim this is for the WiFi you use, the coffee in your room, access to the gym facilities etc. Really it is just another tourist tax, an up charge to increase the cost of your visit, without it being quoted in the room price. We try to avoid hotels with these fees and while it can be a challenge, they do exist and often promote themselves as such.