(A long read, but worth it if you are planning a trip to the city)
It was everything I hoped for and so much more. Although I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do, I did do a lot, and what I did do was very enjoyable. On this trip, I was accompanied by my daughter (Autumn), her significant other (Randy), my granddaughter (Jordan), my granddaughter (Carly), my grandson (Billy), my sister (Melody), my sister (Kathy), my niece (Amy), and my nephew (Russell).
Stuff I Did:
- Rode the Metro North into the City
- Took the downtown tour
- Took the Brooklyn tour
- Ate Brooklyn Pizza
- Took the uptown tour
- The Empire State Building
- Rode the Staten Island ferry
- Rode the subway
- The Statue of Liberty
- Ate at Uno's Pizza
- Walk across the Brooklyn bridge
- Walk around Times Square
Stuff I didn't do:
- Go up into the Statue of Liberty
- Go to Ellis Island
- Walk through Central Park
- Take the night tour
- See a Broadway show
- Drive in the city
- Go to Coney Island
I picked up Carly after school on Monday (06-07-10) afternoon and about 1:30 AM the next morning we began our journey. We met up with Melody, Kathy, Amy and Russell at a rest stop on I-75 and headed towards NYC. Although I had programmed my TomTom GPS unit (Mandy), the night before with the route I wanted to take, for some reason she decided not to use that route and came up with one of her own. I figured this out after we headed out of Columbus, OH eastbound on I-70.
Rather than take the time to go back, we decided to continue on with the journey she had mapped out for us, which took us across PA via the PA turnpike, a toll road. I tried my best to maintain a constant 75 MPH speed, but quickly discovered Melody was having none of it, so I constantly had to slow down and wait for them to catch up. Despite all of that, we found ourselves in the parking lot of the hotel north of NYC that afternoon about 3:30 PM.
I think the tolls for this route added up to nearly $20, but it was an adventure and great fun talking back and forth along the way via the walkie-talkie radios in each car. For the most part, Melody followed me, but somehow we did manage to get separated at the George Washington bridge across the Hudson river into New York. Amazingly they showed up at the hotel shortly after we arrived.
We mostly spent the rest of that day relaxing after the long drive. I hadn't gotten any sleep at all, so I took a well deserved nap. I awoke to discover Autumn and her group had arrived later that evening and so began our NYC stay. Russell had went off on his own to visit with his friends from the city as was the case most of the time we were there.
We began the next day with a nice free breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards we went off to ride the Metro North train into the city which was necessary each day as we stayed north of the city at the Hampton Inn, Yonkers. This basically amounted to $100 a day for the round trip for my bunch which to me says a lot for staying at a hotel right in the city instead. At least the hotel provided a free shuttle to/from the train station most of the time. If your train pulled into the station after 10:30 PM you had to call a taxi for the ride back over to the hotel.
We kind of screwed up the tours as no one actually paid for theirs online before leaving home and therefore we had no way of doing it once we arrived. (No printer to print out the necessary voucher.) So we went into the city to just buy the tour packages from the service center which was located at Times Square. To our surprise and as it turns out, good fortune, as we walked out of Grand Central Terminal, we were promptly greeted by a rep of the Gray Line Tour company where we all secured our tour packages right on the street! The tour we chose was promptly upgraded to 72 hours for free, which saved us a bunch of money as we bought a total of 1o packages. As it turned out, the Gray Line reps are running around the streets all over the city.
- My beautiful daughter Autumn peeking around her giant of a BF, who looks a little like Mr. Clean in this shot!
As for the tours themselves, they are very informative and most of the guides are very good at their jobs. For example, on the Brooklyn tour we were encouraged to go into one of the many local establishments to grab a slice of pizza and soda while the bus waited. I'm sure the tour company or guide receives some kind of kick back for the deal, but it was good pizza at a reasonable cost so no one was complaining!
Of course the downtown loop was the most enjoyable as most everything of interest is located there, but the guides do a good job of making the less attractive locations seem more interesting by spicing up the descriptions with stories about celebrities who may or may not actually live there. We didn't get a lot done the first day as we were so unsure of what to do next. It had been rainy and cool most of the day so we decided to get an earlier start the next day. We left Melody in the city who was going to join Russell to see the Lion King on broadway that evening, while the rest of us went back to the hotel.
As we mainly used our tour packages for transportation around the city, it was on the second day that we decided to use our free pass for the Empire State building observatory, located high above the city (86 floors to be exact). Melody and her group went off on their own as they had other plans. I believe her and Russell attended a taping of the David Letterman show while Amy and Kathy did some shopping.
- The Chrysler building, among others, as seen from the observatory of the Empire State building.
The view from the top of the building is simply breathtaking, once you finally get up there. As with most things worth doing, the time it takes in line and for security checks, etc. do detract from it a bit, but it was still worth the effort to see this site. This picture was taken looking northeast towards Queens. The Chrysler building was the world's tallest for awhile, as were a lot of the buildings in New York at the time they were first built.
We got done with the Empire State building too late to catch the last ferry to the Statue of Liberty, so we took the one to Staten Island instead. This free ferry has been in the news a lot lately as it crashed into the dock no less than twice recently. Thankfully, our trip was much less eventful, but I did get some great pictures of the Statue of Liberty as well as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Autumn, Randy, Jordan, and Carly had to get back home on Friday so they left very early that morning for Indiana. Russell went off on his own again, so only Melody, Kathy, Amy, Billy and I were together on Friday. So we decided to do the Statue of Liberty first so we would be sure to be in time for the ferry.
- Magnificent Lady Liberty herself, as seen from the ferry approaching Liberty Island
The main reason why these things take so long to do is because of the lines. It took 2 hours just to wait in line for the ferry, but wait we did and finally we were on our way. The ride to Liberty Island is much the same as the one to Staten Island, but of course you can get off at the statue which we did. By the time we stood in line as long as we did and then walking around Liberty Island, I was far too tired to actually walk up all the steps to enter the base of the statue. But I did get some good pictures and video as well. We were all too tired to stop at Ellis Island on the way back to Manhattan, so that will have to wait for our next trip to the city.
Once back on the main island, we were once again too late to catch a ride for our next attraction, so we decided to catch a bite to eat instead. We found an Uno's Pizza at the South Street Seaport to satisfy our hunger and also pick up the necessary info on the best way to get over to Brooklyn so we could walk back across the bridge. We were told where to find the nearest subway entrance which would take us under the East river and drop us right where we needed to be.
It was at this subway entrance that we encountered a true New Yorker who helped us scam the MTA out of a dollar, while making ten bucks for himself by swiping old metro cards which he collected and have 2 of us go through the turnstile at a time. Actually it was great fun for us to see how people in the city operate as well as bringing us closer together while we bunched up to get through!
- Billy, Kathy, Melody, Amy, and someone who looks like Rush Limbaugh rushing by, on the Brooklyn bridge
As promised the short one stop subway ride under the East river brought us exactly where we needed to be and our walk across the famous historical structure began. I had been waiting a long time to do this and I have to say that this was the highlight of the trip for me as I am a big bridge buff and this walk, filled with the sights, sounds and history of New York City was the greatest! I can only hope that I get to do it again some time.
- Times Square at night, can't beat the sights and sounds.
As tired as I already was, I told Melody and Kathy that I would go to Times Square with them so they could shop being as they had been nice enough to do as I wished earlier in the day. Once again the subway was called on to get us there, it was nice that everyone was so helpful in telling us which trains to take and where to transfer, etc. After a couple more short train rides we found ourselves in the middle of Times Square which was simply amazing during the evening hours with all the people, sights and sounds. Billy and I stood out on the sidewalk to take in all the events happening around us while Melody, Kathy and Amy did their shopping.
As it got late quick, we found we were too late once back at the Greystone train station to make use of the shuttle, so the hotel called a taxi for us. I can only imagine this must of been what is known as a gypsy cab as there were no markings at all, just a plain looking, rather small Nissan. Five minutes and $15 later, the five of us found ourselves back at the hotel.
After a good night's rest, we said our good-bye's as they planned another route home and Billy and I departed the hotel after checking out. This time I made sure that Mandy understood my intentions by purposely programming a stop which would guarantee going the way I originally planned to go. This worked perfectly as once we were well into PA, I just told her to find a route home, which was the way I wanted to go all along.
The trip back home took roughly 12 hours after several stops for gas and food, as well as construction delays and such. There was however, quite a difference with tolls on this route. We paid exactly 75 cents to go across New Jersey, and that was it!
If I ever go back, I will definitely do it different. Here is a list of the way I would do it next time:
- Fly instead of drive
- Stay at a hotel in the city to avoid the costly train rides in and out of town
- Buy a 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
- Better planning for sightseeing times to see more sights in a day
- Bring more warm clothes!
The first one is obvious, 12-13 hours driving is just crazy. You are far too tired to do anything once you get there so that day is completely wasted. A lot of hotels in town provide free shuttles to and from the airport, this is the way to do it. The initial cost might be more, but it's worth it in the long run.
Hotels in the city are more expensive, but when you figure in the cost of the daily train rides and travel time wasted, I think this is a much better option. It might take a bit of research to find one which would be suitable, but again, well worth it.
After riding the subway during this trip, this is the way to get around. They go most everywhere you want to go and if not a city bus does and the card is good for both. When in New York, do as the New Yorkers do!
Poor planning resulted in a lot of wasted sightseeing time with this trip. For example, seeing the Empire State building before going out the the Statue of Liberty. Both could have easily been done on the same day, but the ferry to the statue doesn't run after 3 PM, so we should have done that first. The observatory of the Empire State building is open until 2 AM, so you do the math.
The last one is more for me personally, but I got cold a lot of the time we were there. I was more comfortable the first day as I wore long pants and took a jacket, but the rest of the days I wore shorts, but at least I took my jacket with me every day. The wind in NYC does blow a bit among the buildings and early part of June can be a bit on the cool side.
Besides that, we got rained on several times while on top of the double-decker buses and it can get mighty chilly when you are wet and sitting in the wind! The tours all provide plastic ponchos, but the don't generally pass them out until it starts to rain. By then it's too late.
All in all I had a great time in NYC, but will definitely do things differently the next time around. Will there be a next trip, most definitely, I really enjoyed it!
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