Sunday, October 20, 2013

Day 15&16: Boston, MA; Yale Connecticut


Boston was in our plan as we have never been to there.  Situations surely changed since we arrived at Connecticut with Sandy and the preparations.  However, the life yet looked quite normal when you get out. Its brilliant fall colors everywhere and the CT- 15 drive to Hamden was so beautiful   that we were thinking it may be a good idea to go to Maine to see more of them.   May be it was a bit deceptive and after lunch at Srikanth’s home at Hamden, we packed the bags and proceeded to Boston.  We arrived at Boston at evening and checked to a Hilton hotel. The hotel had a nice pub that served good food and some local micro brews.   We all had a nice sleep and woke fresh next day only to hear more bad Sandy news.   Things got worse as the airlines started cancelling some flights and Srikanth called to update the news.   We had booking in United but it was really hard to get through the customer service to reschedule our flight for the next day. We even thought about advancing it and flying out of Boston but nothing worked out. Our flight was not cancelled yet.  Then we thought its better to get back to Connecticut and take shelter and reschedule the travel plans from Srikanth’s place. However, we just wanted to check out some of the downtown attractions before we start for Hamden.

Our first stop was the MIT campus and while driving around it, we saw the roads are being close along the riversides and the water levels are really up.  It was also raining but still there were tourists going in groups.  We drove around a bit through the old town area and harbor front but did not stop for lunch as we initially planned. We had a place in mind for a good bowl of Boston clam chowder but now we decided to drive back to Hamden instead. Picked up some food in wholefoods and ate it in their dining area that saved some time. I90 was quite empty while driving back and the rains stopped as we approached Connecticut.  News of flight cancellations and shut-down of public services in New Jersey were flowing in through the Radio but the Connecticut roads were still open.

Yale University was closer to Hamden and since the weather looked fine we decided to stop over at Yale to take a peak. Sheena also sent a picture of us standing in the campus to Aunty as she thought they would love the idea. Vasanthi went to Yale for her medical studies and uncle and aunty visited the campus many times that way.  We spent time there and then went to Srikanth’s home.

The media was so high on Sandy news and the local governments were reacting to it by shutting down toll roads and public transportation.  For the heck of doing preparations we went out and got some more food and groceries, just in case things go out of hand. Alok, at Milford, was a mile close to the beach so we suggested him to move to Hamden.  But by then the hwy 15 was shut down and he was stuck there with his many friends. Hamden is about 8 miles from New Haven water front so there was nothing to worry.    The night was windy and the rain started. Also a lot of news of evacuation and closure of public services came in. And we slept with one window half open as it was raining outside.

No comments:

Post a Comment