Rails, Sails, and New England Islands
June 4 to 13, 2010
Tour from $2399.00
THIS TOUR IS CLOSED TO ALL BOOKINGS!
For 2010, Rail Travel Center again
offers our unique tour in the Northeast, concentrating on Rhode Island,
Block Island, Nantucket Island, the Cape Cod area of southern
Massachusetts, and part of southern Connecticut. Our program is
timed for late spring, just before the major tourist influx comes to these
extremely popular destinations. The tour includes a five-night stay
in Providence RI and two nights each on Nantucket Island and in Hyannis MA.
Transportation highlights include
dinners in the diner on the
Newport Dinner Train and
the
Cape Cod Central Railroad; rides
on the
Essex Steam Train,
Shore Line Trolley Museum,
Amtrak’s 150 mph ACELA EXPRESS, Block Island Ferry, and
Hy-Line ferry to Nantucket;
and mass transit rides in Providence. All train trips on the tour ride
scenic lines once part of the vast New England empire of the New York, New
Haven and Hartford Railroad. Other attractions include touring
Newport RI,, a day on Block Island
(tour and lunch included) with free time, touring and free time on
Nantucket, and visiting
Cape Cod National Seashore, the
wonderful
Heritage Museum and
Garden in Sandwich MA, and Plimoth Plantation. Please consider
joining Rail Travel Center Vice-President/General Manager Carl Fowler on
this great spring program. All aboard!
Day One, Friday, June 4
Independent arrivals into Providence RI. Our
program begins with independent arrivals today into Providence, Rhode
Island. Our hotel for the next five nights is the
Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Providence in the historic Union
Station Plaza, just one block from the current Amtrak station or about 15
minutes from the airport. This was the landmark former New Haven RR depot.
Day Two, Saturday, June 5 (L,D)
Newport
 sightseeing:
Marble House; The Breakers; Newport Dinner Train. A short ride this
morning takes us to Newport RI. Lunch is included on arrival, followed by
tours at famous
Marble House
(built for William K. Vanderbilt in 1892) and
The
Breakers, the grandest of Newport’s summer “cottages”, built by Richard
Morris Hunt in 1893 for Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
Following a brief tour of the general area, we have free time before
boarding the
Newport Dinner Train for
a run along the shores of beautiful Narragansett Bay as we enjoy a
four-course dinner in their Budd dining cars.
Day Three, Sunday, June 6 (L)
Essex Steam Train; Shore Line Trolley Museum; Amtrak
ACELA. Our motorcoach takes us southwest today, stopping first in the
lovely village of Essex CT for a late morning ride behind steam along the
Connecticut River on the
Essex Steam Train. Upon our
return, we have a fine included luncheon at the
Griswold Inn, a Colonial
 inn
operating since 1776. The Griswold claims to be America’s oldest
continuously operated inn, although the Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck NY makes
a similar claim! There is free time to walk, shop or make an optional
visit to the
Connecticut River Museum in
the village before we depart for the
Shore Line Trolley Museum.
Here we can visit the museum itself, which contains almost 100 historic
U.S. and Canadian trolleys, and ride a three-mile line (the last portion
of the Branford Electric Railway in operation) on an historic trolley. Our
day concludes with a ride on Amtrak’s
ACELA EXPRESS high-speed
train from New Haven to Providence, a ride of approximately
one-and-one-half hours. We reach speeds of 150mph as we follow the very
scenic former New Haven “Shoreline” along the coastline of the Long Island
Sound and Narragansett Bay.
Day Four, Monday, June 7 (L)
Day trip to Block
Island.
We depart this morning from Point Judith RI for a 30-minute
high speed ferry trip to Old Harbor on
Block Island. We then tour
the Island, learning about its history and current life on this detached
part of Rhode Island. Our day includes a visit to the Block Island
Historical Society, an oceanside lunch, and free time in Old Harbor before
our return ferry trip later in the afternoon. Block Island has a matchless
Victorian feel and seems like a place lost in time.
Day Five, Tuesday, June 8
Free day in
Providence. Everyone on the tour
is provided with a LINK trackless trolley pass for today, which allows
visits to many of the important sites in Providence. The Gold Line in the
Capitol Hill area stops at the Amtrak station; the State House (which
contains a painting of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, the original
1663 Royal Charter granted by King Charles II of England and other objects
of interest); and Waterplace Park, a four-acre park in the city center
which hosts WaterFire on some evenings. The Green Line includes Restaurant
Row, the Eastside Marketplace, the First Baptist Church in America
(established 1638 and housed in a 1775 structure with a 1792 Waterford
crystal chandelier), and the famous Rhode Island School of Design. The
Museum of Art at the Rhode Island
School of Design contains over 80,000 works of art and is well worth
the visit! The Gold and Green Lines join at Kennedy Plaza, within walking
distance a few blocks from our hotel.
Day Six, Wednesday, June 9 (D)
Motorcoach to Hyannis; ferry to Nantucket. This
morning our motorcoach transfers us to Hyannis MA for the noon fast ferry
to
Nantucket, with optional lunch
available on the ferry. Upon arrival on Nantucket, we (and our luggage)
are transferred to our hotel for the next two nights, the charming
Nantucket Inn.
This property has both indoor and outdoor swimming
pools, an exercise center, tennis courts, billiards and bicycle rentals.
We are located about three miles outside the village, so the hotel
provides complimentary hourly transfers to/from town or Surfside Beach. We
have free time this afternoon before an included dinner at A. K. Diamond’s
restaurant.
Day Seven, Thursday, June 10 (B)
Tour of Nantucket and free time. Following a
lovely included breakfast buffet, we have a mid-morning tour of Nantucket
Island, ending by mid-day. The afternoon is ours to explore on our own.
Nantucket has a number of historic sites, shops and restaurants. We have
included History Passes on this tour which allow free visits to the
spectacular new
Whaling Museum, the
historic
Hadwen House, the
Oldest House, the Old Mill, the Old Gaol (jail), the Quaker Meeting House
and the Fire Hose Cart House (fire equipment). The Historical Association
also offers walking tours of downtown Nantucket at an optional cost. An
inexpensive bus service is available to visit areas outside the village.
Day Eight, Friday, June 11 (B,L)
Cape Cod National Seashore. Following our
breakfast buffet, we are transferred to the Nantucket ferry dock and ride
the ferry back to Hyannis, where our motorcoach meets us. We then drive
the
Cape Cod National Seashore, with
box lunches included, stopping at points of interest en route. The
Seashore stretches for forty miles along Cape Cod, consisting of towering
sand dunes, forests, cliffs and marshlands. Cottages, lighthouses and
villages are found along the route. In late
afternoon we return to Hyannis, where we stay two nights at the Holiday
Inn Hyannis. Dinner is on our own this evening.
Day Nine, Saturday, June 12 (D)
Heritage Museums and Gardens;
Plimoth Plantation; dinner on the Cape Cod Central Railroad.
This morning we make a very short drive to Sandwich MA to
visit
Heritage Museums and
Gardens, which specializes in American history and art. A
replica Shaker round barn houses a wonderful collection of antique
automobiles including a Cord 812 Phaeton, a Duesenberg Model J, a 1962
Corvette and a 1932 Auburn 8-100A Boattail Speedster. A working
hand-carved carousel, Nantucket baskets, scrimshaw and numerous art works
are located in the Art Museum; and the American History Museum includes
antique toys, military miniatures and Native American artifacts.
Paths and a shuttle service provide access to the 100-acre site which
includes gardens, nature trails, a maze and an old mill. Optional lunches
are available on site. 
We then continue on to Plymouth MA and
visit Plimoth Plantation, a fine
living history museum depicting both the 17th century English
settlement established nearby and the Wampanoag Indian culture. Here
we learn the reality of life for the Pilgrims in that time.
Agriculture and crafts of the period also are presented. Returning
to Hyannis, we have time to freshen up at our hotel before our Farewell
Dinner on the
Cape Cod Central Railroad.
Our journey of three hours takes us along the Cape Cod Canal and across
the historic Cape Cod Canal railroad bridge to Buzzards Bay. We pass
cranberry bogs, marshes and sand dunes while enjoying a five-course
meal in the dining car. Our diesel-powered train follows 23 miles of
original trackage on the Old Colony Railroad.
Day Ten, Sunday, June 13
Tour ends.
This morning we depart on our chartered motorcoach back to
Providence, where we provide drops at the Amtrak Station and the
Providence airport for flights/trains leaving after noon.
TOUR PRICES include all hotels; tour manager
services; admissions; meals noted as included above; rail, motorcoach and
ferry transportation; and luggage handling from arrival at our hotel on
Day One to drop-offs at Amtrak and the Providence airport on Day Ten. Not
included are connecting transportation to/from Providence, other meals,
alcoholic beverages and items of a personal nature.
$ 2399.00 per person, double occupancy
$ 2999.00 single occupancy
Conditions and Booking Information (the fine
print)
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