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Published: October 16th 2010
O.K so this blog is a whole blog about our visit to New York City. Enjoy!!! (as we did)
Not such a long one this time!!!!
Thurs- Oct 07
Oh sun glorious sun. It's back and our travelling spirits are lifted again. We
Left Littleton Mass. at 10:00am. Drove towards NYC. Stopped at Montgomery N. Y. at OCC. (Orange County Choppers) They have some great motorcycles there. Spent an hour there browsing the store and checking things out. The film crew was there filming more episodes of the show, so we could look through a glass partition and watch the boys do their work. Kinda cool. The weather was so beautiful we wanted to find a campground. Finding one close to NewYork City was certainly a challenge. We finally found Korn's campground in Middletown, which was about 65 miles from the city. We were pretty sure we could find another commutor train from Middletown to the Big Apple. We arrived at Korn's at about 5:30, found some groceries, had some dinner, chatted with the campground owners for a bit, found the commutor train station and the schedule for the train into the city on the internet and then called it
O.C.C
Some of the choppers they have built over the yearsa night. We rode mostly big highways all day. It seems we are more tired driving the big fast highways than when we take the back roads and relax a bit.
Fri - Oct 08
Had a horrible sleep. Lots of commotion in the night. We found our that our camping neighours hit a deer on their way to the campground, so they had to call a tow truck to tow them . Of course the tow truck with all the noise and business of unloading etc. kept us both awake for a least a couple of hours. We were pumped though because we are spending the next few days checking out NYC.
Rode the bike 15 minutes into Middletown and caught the train at 9:49am. The train dropped us off in Hoboken, New Jersey at 11:30. We then jumped on the subway that took us 2 blocks from the Empire State Building. As soon as we walked out of the subway station we were face to face with the vastness and busyness of NYC. People everywhere; talking, walking and going fast. Because we had such a great experience with the trolley tour in Boston , when the salesman
approached us with a NYC tour deal, we hesitated only momentarily before we handed over the Visa and got our tickets. Fall, it appears is the time to go on these tours as the prices are less expensive. Lucky for us. Part of the ticket was a trip up the Empire State Building, and since we were a block away, up the 100+ story structure we went. Then up 6 more floors to the observation deck to get a bird's eye view of this massive city. And massive it is. City buildings as far as the eye can see, with of course the Hudson River flowing through parts of it. From that view you can see it all. The Statue of Liberty and Staten Island, Ellis Island, and the Trump Towers, the United Nations building, the Lincoln Centre, Madison Square Gardens, Wall Street and of course Ground Zero. It was interesting to see them all from way high up, and then to see them later at ground level.
After the Empire State Building we jumped on the double decker bus and toured the city at ground level. Besides all the sights I just mentioned we toured Greenwich Village, SOHO,
Chinatown, Little Italy, Washington Square Park, 5th Ave, the Eastside, the West side, Harlem and of course Broadway. We rode and we walked and were gob-smacked by how massive the City is. We now understand how someone could just simply "get lost" in New York City. It being Friday and all, we wanted to find a place to have our beer and wings , so to Times Square we went. Massive billboards, flashing lights and a mass of humanity. That is Times Square. We found a quiet little pub and enjoyed. After our dinner we hopped back on the double decker bus for the night time tour. This tour took us to Brooklyn across the Manhattan Bridge. We toured Brooklyn and "ohhed and awwed" at the New York City lights. What a truly amazing city. Our tour ended at about 9:30 pm. Then we jumped back on the subway to take us back to New Jersey, to catch the train back to Middletown. So all day we thought that we were so organized and we really were, but we forgot one thing. we forgot to check the train schedule back to Middletown. When we got to Jersey we found
out our train was not leaving until 12:40 am. We had over an hour and a half to kill, so we found a coffee and walked along the Jersey side of the Hudson, looking again at the night lights of NYC. Finally boarded the train and settled in for the almost 2 hour commute to Middletown. We were exhausted, so both of us kinda dozed off and on the whole trip back. Arrived at the Middletown train station at 2:45 am. Put on our leathers and helmets and drove back to the campground. We drove carefully because we didn't want to hit any deer. Finally crawled into the tent at 3:00 am, totally spent.
What an amazing day and more to come.
Sat- Oct 09
We slept in of course. Woke up about 9:00. Got ready and back on the 11:18 train for another day in NYC. Leaving Middletown that late meant a much shorter day in the City, but we needed the sleep. Got into New York City about 2:00 pm and headed straight for Ground Zero. Spent some time there just looking at the great big space that was where the Trade Towers used to be.
So hard for us to imagine what 9/11 was like for the city, for the people in the tower, for the rescue workers and all the others involved. So much grief and loss in the days, months and I'm sure, years to follow. After Ground Zero we walked all along the pier. Had a good look at Ellis Island, Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island is the island that opened it doors to let about 17 Million immigrants in to the United States in the late 1800's to about 1943. They has to pass through the island where they were inspected for health reasons etc and if they were deemed healthy they were allowed to enter pier A into Manhattan and their new lives of hope and freedom. Staten Island is just a regular ole residential Island. And of course the Statue of Liberty is the emblem of that hope and freedom. After our walk, we wanted to go to a couple of museums, but by the time we got there they were closed. We sat and had this great dinner of New York street food and proceeded back to Times Square to sit and watch the
people. Even more people than the night before. The streets were packed. Quite fascinating. We sipped our coffees ( Rene is now addicted to Dunkin' Donuts coffee). Not quite Timmy's but pretty close. We knew the train schedule now and decided we were not staying out quite as late, so caught the train back to Middletown at 9:30. Home in our cozy tent by midnight. Another great day in the Big Apple.
Sun- Oct 10
We struggled with whether we should spend another day in NYC or whether we should carry on the journey, but finally decided that since we were so close we better make the most of it and go one more day. therfore we woke up early because we wanted to catch the 7:58am train. We woke up to FROST!!!!! Seriously!!!!! We quickly dressed and jumped on the bike to Middletown. Seriously the coldest ride we have had yet. Another great day in New York City. We checked out the lobby's of the Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museums. We would have liked to go in, but they were both $20 per person and we decided the museums would have to wait for another visit. We walked
through some of Central Park. Such a beautiful and quiet place in all the busyness of this loud and bustling city. Had lunch in Greenwich Village. Many New Yorkers say that the "Village" is the most sought after area to reside in New York. It is very yuppie and chic. Kinda fun for a couple of country folk like us. After our late lunch we walked around more of the city checking out more of the different people and cultures. So fascinating to just sit, sip on a strong coffee and watch people. Caught the commutor train back to Middletown at 9:30 pm again and arrived in Middletown, pleasantly pleased that the weather was toasty warm. Crawled into bed, tired from another day in the Big Apple. Content to have seen New York, but ready to say good-bye to the big city lights and find us some country side.
And so we remain--------
In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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Cyndi
non-member comment
country folk?!?!
Does that mean that you are just a bunch of hicks love you guys :)