Quest into the north-east USA

Seat0B · Tuesday at 5:07 PM

Yes I thought I was late to the party on this TR @Drakecula, but turns out I've timed it just right. Sorry that your trip is starting with a delay and re-route, but I'm sure it will all be worth it when you are enjoying the beautiful north east of the US.

VPS · Tuesday at 6:40 PM

Good luck - that is not a good start to the trip but hopefully things will get better

Drakecula · Tuesday at 8:22 PM

Despite it not being my choice to stay here, I figure I'll give a mini review of the Ibis near SYD airport.

The check in staff were friendly and efficient, a plus in having to deal with a gaggle of tired, grumpy and stressed travellers.

The room is small, but it's fine. The bathroom is one of those enclosed closet types.

We were given some food allowance, which covered lunch, but the chef didn't arrive til 4 so had a very late lunch. The staff member taking food orders was lovely and did her best to calm the kitchen staff who were freaking out at the hungry horde. Twas a bit chaotic when food was coming out, but it was tasty.
Dinner a few hours later was a bit more calm.

The hallway shows wear and tear, there's some damp, musty smells, but overall it's fine for what it is. We were booked in Y after all. I guess J might get you nicer digs in this scenario?

And United did well to manage the situation. Clear guidance on what to do, arranged the hotel, food allowance and a shuttle to the hotel. I was also able to call up and get on an earlier flight than what we were initially re-booked on.

Compared to our cancellation in Mexico City with Air Canada on our 2019 trip, it was handled far better.

antycbr · Tuesday at 9:06 PM

Aeryn said:
No but they fly to IAH (Houston) daily which is a major hub for them.

So ask about LAX and IAH (or if they can put you on a Air NZ flight), noting they also fly AKL to IAH so they could put you on Air NZ to AKL and then IAH flight form there if the times align.

As an aside SYD-IAH is seasonal, last flight was on 29 March until the Northern Winter season starts.

Drakecula · 2025-06-26T11:37:54+1000

We're here! We left the SYD hotel at 6am local and reached the Providence hotel at 8pm local. I'm not sure how many hours that is in travel time, but I'm glad it's over now.

Thankfully our SYD-LAX flight went smoothly, and we got through customs, collected bags/dropped bags, walked forever to the next terminal, back through security and straight onto our connecting LAX-BOS flight.

We were flying Y and were right up the back of a very full flight (no doubt others got re-booked on this one too). Lunch was chicken and rice, we got a chicken roll snack (I devoured it so no pic) and eggs and sausage for breakfast with some kind of coconut muesli.

Now, I was a bit miffed that for the nearly 6 hour flight from LAX-BOS all we got was a small snack (I got a stroopwafel, MrD the pretzels). There were options to buy, but would've been nice to get a larger complimentary snack at least.

Then from BOS to South Station to get the train to Providence. Of course the train was delayed too, but it worked in our favour this time. I think we might have had to wait an hour for the next as it was cutting it close.

We're staying at the Omni Hotel which is a short walk from the Providence station and is conveniently attached to the convention center. Nice room too!

Drakecula · 2025-06-27T04:27:25+1000

Today we visited the Rhode Island State House which is much like one of our state parliament buildings, a working building with politicians in residence. It's got the 4th largest self supported marble dome in the world. Pretty impressive for sure.

The State Library is also housed in this building!

It was free to enter and once through security we were able to wander. There was a free audio guide, or an actual tour from 10am, plus they had a brochure that pointed out key features/rooms.

Drakecula · 2025-06-27T04:36:01+1000

Afterwards we wandered along Benefit St, checking out old houses, then down to Brown University to have a sticky beak. We found the oldest Baptist Church in the US as we went. Also found a house that apparently H P Lovecraft lived in at some point.

Love the style of the old houses. I'm not sure what the feature is called, but the round tower bits on some houses are so cool (at least to me). I always imagine having a good comfy chair in the middle, with a good book and able to look out all the windows. Sounds wonderful to me.