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Published: July 17th 2009
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Marilyn
Here waiting to go see Letterman. Here we are in New York City. It so happens that we had two of the nicest weather days possible. Even though it is mid July, the temperatures were in the low 80's with almost no humidity at all. We are parked up in Newburgh, NY and so we took the train into the city each day. Near here is the West Point Military School. It is one of those cities where public transportation is the way to go because it is so good and traffic is so bad, not to mention parking is a real "bend over special". Now, I had numerous layovers here in my flying days but there were a few things I never got to do. One of those was to get out to the Statue of Liberty. I flew over it many times on approach to Laguardia airport or what we as crews called the USS Laguardia due to it being more the size of an aircraft carrier than a a real airport for the big guys. There was a fairly standardized approach and arrival if the weather was good. Air traffic control would tell you to fly direct to "the Lady" then proceed up
Me
In the standby line. This is of course the old Ed Sullivan theater so there is a lot of history here. the Hudson River which put you on a right downwind for a landing on runway 22 at LGA. We just called it fly "direct the bitch and then up the ditch". Anyway, we tried on the first day to go out there but the lines were too long so I came back the next day while Marilyn went shopping instead. Is that a woman for you or what? The crown is open again but it requires a reservation and those are booked until November. The torch has been closed since 1916. The reason for that is interesting. There used to be an armory or munitions depot out there and in 1916 some Germans blew it up. Sons a bitches. The explosion was so big it was felt and heard in Philadelphia. Well the blast compromised the Statue's structure to the point that going up into the arm and torch was no longer feasable. She is made of copper and so consequently is light and a bit flimsy. They considered filling it with sand to beef it up but instead contracted Mr. Eiffel to fix the problem. He did so by building an Eiffel Tower inside of her. By the way,
Me
This is out on the viewing platform for crewmembers. this was a gift from France back in 1886. Let's see now, we then decided it would be fun to go get on the Letterman show. We got in the standby line and got in no problem. That is interesting too because you see all the behind the scenes stuff. You'd never know just watching it on TV how many people are standing around in the wings or running all over setting stuff up. I guess they are gaffers and grips and key grips and best boys and stuff like that. Letterman gets up and takes off his coat and paces around at every commercial break. Since there are no commercials if you are in the audience, you just listen ot the band play. Then he puts his coat back on before he sits back at his desk. The guests weren't that great but that's okay. That show tapes at 4:30 in the afternoon so you are out of there before 6pm. That left an hour to go down to Times Square and buy discounted tickets to a play. Marilyn just had to go to a play so I agreed eventhough I am not a woman or gay. It was
Me
This is at Central Park on the southwest corner and not too far from John Lennons' place where he was shot. an old classic by Rogers and Hammerstein called "South Pacific". I didn't think it was so great but if you are in New York, you have to go see a play and this one was a the Lincoln Center. The other thing I needed to do as a retired crewmember was get to "Ground Zero" This is of course where the World Trade Center once stood. It is still very much under construction and will be for many years ot come. It will be primarily a memorial and I showed the guard my ID as an AA crewmember and we got to go out on a special viewing platform. It definitely left one big hole in that beautiful city. We also wondered around Central Park for a little bit and like Washington DC, it is always busy with people roller skating and playing chess or reading or flashing or whatever. Okay, I was the only flasher that day but at least I didn't get arrested again. Grand Cental Station is basically the hub and it is a historical treasure as well as one hell of a busy place. We are now on the Connecticut/ Massachussetts border at an rv park.
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Judie Pratt
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Mystic, CT!!
Loved the informative article about NYC , "Chiefy". While you're in Connecticut I hope you take time for to explore the little harbor town of Mystic. I'd recommend going in with the Beluga whales at the aquarium there and visiting Mystic Seaport. Marilyn would love the walk along the river to see all the homes of the ship captains, some of them dating from the 1700's. It's a shame you missed Provincetown... It's a great place (even if you aren't gay)!! ;) It's the best place for whale watching. Have a wonderful time and keep the blogs coming. We're enjoying your trip!! Larry and Judie