New York City

NYC Day One

Thursday morning was bright and sunny, we were at Enterprise right when they opened, we returned our car  and got a ride to the train station.  No problems with the train ride other than it was over 2 hours long.  We arrived at Penn Station and were immediately struck by the sheer number of people.  When we climbed the stairs to the street OMG, people everywhere.  The vendors trying to sell you tickets for sightseeing buses where everywhere and “in your face”  did not care for that.  At one point we stepped into a subway entrance and John had the map out and was looking at the subway map and a nice gentleman came by and asked us if we needed directions or had any questions, such a nice gesture after all the “in your face” people. Goes to show that it's not all bad.

We did do some shopping at Macy's on 34th Street (the one from the movie Miracle on 34th Street) I had not brought a coat along and had wanted a new rain jacket anyway.  We were amazed at the old building with the wooden escalators.

We then  headed off to the Empire State Building and more “in your face” vendors.  The lines were quite long for security, tickets and elevators.  We ended up taking the stairs to the Observation deck on the 86^th floor.  We enjoyed the views, but again very crowded.  The elevators had a wait to go down, so we took the stairs down from the 86^th floor.   The building was quite impressive with it’s Art Deco style and the views were beautiful.

We then started walking “uptown” and came across a neat little park by the name of Bryant Park in back of the city library.  The Army band was there putting on a free concert in honor of Flag Day.  We had lunch in the outside cafe and enjoyed the festivities.  After lunch we continued our walk and ended up at Time Square.  Major sensory overload -  people, traffic, buildings, signs, streets closed.  Now mind you we are not from some small town in Iowa, we have spent lots of time in both Chicago and Washington DC but New York is something else.

Bryant Paark

Times Square

We continued uptown and came to Central Park, still lots of people and those “in your face” vendors but you were away form the buildings, streets and traffic.  We wanted to find the Bow Bridge were Christy and Eric were engaged and after a bit of a walk we did.   

Central Park

Bow Bridge

By that time we were beat and decided to find a subway back to Penn Station.  On the way out of Central Park we went through Strawberry Fields and came across the John Lennon Imagine tribute. Very neat.

The subway was easy to manage other than being very old, we were on the lower story and  sure hoped the old rusted beams held up the trains we could hear above us. Other than the fact John almost didn’t get off the train at our stop due to  all the people entering the train it went well. 

After a stop at Starbucks we attacked Penn Station.  We found an electronic display with our route on it but it was not giving the track number. John found our train listed but it was scheduled to leave in two minutes.  He also noticed that everyone was just standing there listening. Well there was a guy who heard the track number and was like a bullet, John said follow him and we were off.  Have I mentioned all the people, well getting down to the train was the most crowded part of the day.  We made it on to the train just in time and settled back for our two hour ride back to Manasquan.  We then had a nice walk back to the marina and dinner at a place next door.

Oh by the way at the Empire State Building, we started and ended our stair climbing from the 80^th floor.  Even though it was only 6 stories we sure could feel it.

New York Day Two

Due to a fishing tournament beginning on Friday we had to leave our slip.  So the plan was get up early and  head out into the ocean (even though the waves were still predicted to be 4 foot) and see what it is like and if not too bad run to New York.  If too rough John said we would turn around (I had my doubts) and find another slip for a couple of days.  Well we pushed on and while not the most comfortable ride it was doable, according to John.  The waves were more like big swells than a short breaking wave we are used to on the Great Lakes. 

Once past the Veranzo Narrows Bridge the waters calmed down and we were able to enjoy the sights. Then once  we passed the Statue of Liberty the ferry boat wakes increased and the Hudson River became quite rough.  That’s right we are in the Hudson River - no more ocean, we are thankful for that.   Except for the beautiful waters of the Bahamas we did not like the ocean very much.

Veranzo Narrows Bridge

After we were secured in our slip and gave  both the boat and ourselves a good washing we walked over to the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty.  Both sites are run by the National Park Service.  Ellis Island was very informative with the main building fully restored.  The Statue of Liberty was neat to see up close but due to ongoing renovation we were  not able to get inside.

Ellis Island

Memorial to N.J. victims of 9/11

We had dinner aboard and really enjoyed the sunset and the NYC lights.

Another beautiful sunset

NYC Day Three

Saturday we boarded the ferry to Lower Manhattan and who should board right after us but  Sid & Evelyn from Something Special.  We had a nice reunion and walked towards Ground Zero with them.  They were headed uptown to Central Park and were meeting the crews from Boreas and Glory Days at Ground Zero at 3pm.  All three boats are still in Atlantic City and hope to make the run to NYC tomorrow.  Unfortunately we will be leaving tomorrow so we will miss them again.

We then stopped for a quick lunch and  headed for the Ground Zero Memorial.  It was very impressive with two pools that represented the twin towers and surrounding the pools were all the names of the people who lost their lives on 9/11. As you look at this sky line, you cannot help but remember the pictures on the TV screen showing over and over the planes that flew into these buildings. 

Our kids had given us a gift certificate at Christmas for Broadway tickets and we had decided to see Memphis since we were fortunate to have seen most of the other plays.  What a great show, we were very impressed and enjoyed the performance very much. 

John wanted to stop at Sardi’s for an early dinner which was right across the street.  While not cheap it was very good. I don’t know when I have seen more wait staff. Johnny Carson talking about Sardi's when he used to do his show in New York.  The place was loaded with caricature's of all the show biz people who have been there. It was fun to see. 

We then walked back to the subway station and after a couple of tries we found the right one.  We had about a 6 block walk from the subway to the ferry back to New Jersey.  We timed it just right as we walked right onto the ferry.

Plans are to head up the Hudson tomorrow morning before the ferry boats start running. We have three days to get to the Erie Canal and then four to get to Lake Ontario.  We may make a long run, spend two days, rent a car and tour the Hyde Park area.  


Happy Father's Day to any of the dads reading this blog.
Mary and John