Southwest had this great sale and I just couldn't resist: $139 roundtrip Orlando to Providence and back. Good, no? I thought so. Booked 4 nights at a Comfort Inn right near the airport in Warwick since hotel rates are cheapest there and TripAdvisor had nothing but high praise for this hotel. I'm planning on using public transportation for most of my stay so it's a good hub for that being right at the airport.
My Fairwinds credit card rewards got me a discount on a rental car but since I want this, like all my vacations, to be as budget-minded as possible, I'm only reserving a car for one day.
So here's my loose itinerary right now:
Day One: Arrival late morning, hotel check-in, then bus into Providence. Tool around there for the afternoon and evening. Maybe meet up with old friends.
Day Two: Get rental car at nearby airport, drive up to Woonsocket, eat lunch at Chan's, maybe visit Nastralia, basically sight see in my hometown a bit. Then drive in the mid-afternoon to Newport. Check out a couple of my fav mansions. Dinner by the bay featuring REAL New England seafood. Maybe visit friends. Drive back to Warwick in evening.
Day Three: Return car, bus into Providence and hop on a train to Boston. Check out my old haunts like Fanueil Hall and some museums, the Common, whatever...just be a tourist. Evening train back to Providence, bus back to Warwick.
Day Four: Guzzle some energy drinks since now we step it up another notch...Bus into Providence and train (maybe bus) into New York City, Baby! Yeah we're making this a whole Northeast Tour trip. Visit as much as I can physically tolerate in Manhattan, then head back in the evening.
Day Five: Fly back to Orlando in the mid-afternoon.
As you can see, this is a very ambitious itinerary. Even accounting for lots of bus/train/subway use there'll undoubtedly be a lot of walking. And most everything will be on a tight timetable. Why is it I have vacations that are much more stressful than my usual routine? Well, I guess I'd be bored on one of those supposedly idyllic "lounge around all day" vacations.
Well this all won't happen until May 30th anyway so I have plenty of time to get in better shape in order to handle this intense long weekend. It's bad enough as it is I'll be returning to my home state after an absence of 14 years some 120 lbs. heavier!