It's 10:30pm, and I'm bushed...
Just finished going through the pictures we took today, and have deleted almost half because they were redundant, or had some flaw... Still ended up with 120 (I think), and that's alot...
Anyway, we started out real early (for us), but, shortly after we paid the toll for the freeway (or whatever they call it), there was a sign saying an accident had happened, and be prepared for slowdowns...
Oh yeah!
The traffic came to a crawl, and lasted for about 12 miles, which we covered in a bit over an hour! Frustrating, to say the least!
To make matters worse, "Jack" didn't recognize Liberty State Park, or anything else, for that matter, in New Jersey, so we were left to follow signs, which turned out OK...
We got there, and found lots of parking at the Central Railroad Terminal, but managed to miss a ferry out to Ellis, and Liberty Islands, so we had to wait 40 minutes for the next one...
Time spent oogling across the Hudson River at Manhatten Island, and the skyline of New York City.
Wow! What a sight... And the weather... Couldn't have asked for better!
We decided not to stop at Ellis Island, since Luanne didn't know where her relatives came from, and I know our family came in on the other coast, so there was no need, but we got some good shots of the buildings, which you can see (along with the rest of them) at this link: http://cid-44d18849bf3983e9.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/STATUE%20OF%20LIBERTY%5EJ%20ELLIS%20ISLAND%5EJ%20and%20NEW%20YORK%20CITY%20%5E5OCT.%206%5EJ%202009%5E6?nl=1&uc=120&isFromRichUpload=1
To step on shore and "touch" Lady Liberty, was an awesome experience for both Luanne and myself... The history attached to this monument, is nothing but mindblowing, but to finally be able to set foot on her shores is beyond anything I'm able to convey verbally... So I'm not even going to try...
We were too late (traffic - remember?) to get tickets to walk up to the crown, but we were able to walk up to the top of the pedestal, which took 154 steps to reach... And only after a thorough search by security staff and machines...
The view was fabulous - all around... And we spent quite some time looking at it from all four levels of the pedestal...
When we had finally satisfied our curiosity, we boarded the ferry back to the New Jersey shores, and speculated on what to do next...
We wanted desperately to set foot in New York City itself, but we couldn't leave the truck at the RR Station - We were told they would tow it... So, we had a choice of taking a ferry over to lower Manhatten, then walk around there for a while, or take a train, which would render us stranded somewhere else, or we could take the Holland Tunnel, and do some exploring in the truck...
Didn't especially look forward to driving in New York traffic (after all, we've heard horror stories), but then again, our friends, Kathy and Brian drove here, so if they could do it, we figured we could too, so we chose the last option...
Actually, we had hopes of being able to park somewhere close to the three places we wanted to see: The Empire State Building, Central Park, and Times Square, but we soon found that that was a dream that wouldn't come true...
We're too cheap to pay $25 for a couple of hours parking in a garage, and we would've had to do that three times, since our "destinations" were too far apart, to park once and walk between them, so we drove...
Boy! Did we ever drive...
Observation: Drivers in New York City are NUTS... Not only that, they're rude...
Especially cab drivers! The honking that goes on scared the living crap out of me on more than one occasion...
Pedestrians, on the other hand, are TOTALLY NUTS! They walk whenever and wherever they want, with no regard to traffic... And let's not even talk about bikers... How anyone can be so careless, and still live to tell about it at the end of the day, is beyond me...
Anyway... Traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, horses, and one-way streets got in our way, and we ended up driving by our "destinations" without stopping...
Got some good pictures, though...
Once we made it through Times Square, we'd had enough, and headed back toward the Holland Tunnel...
Looked like my wish for a "New York" hot dog from a street vendor was not in the books... Luanne and I have talked about having one of those for so long, it was a bummer to admit defeat... But then... At the very last signal before diving into the tunnel there was a hot dog vendor on the corner...
We got a red signal, and Lu rolled down the window...
"How many?" he yelled over the traffic noise...
"Just one," Lu yelled back (she's into the "right" food for herself, you know)...
Within seconds, there was a New York Hot Dog in my hands - with everything on it!
Lu took a bite, and muttered, "Mmmm," before giving it to me...
Oh, yeah! That's what I'm talking about!
My mission to New York City had been saved!
Back on the Turnpike (or whatever they call it), we scooted back to Port Republic (like all the rest of the vehicles on the road with us, at a steady 70 mph - somewhere between 20 and 25 mph over the speed limit)... Got tired around Manahawkin, and stopped at the local Applebee's to loosen up tense muscles, and reminisce about the day's activities...
Took the Parkway (or whatever they call it), and managed to miss our turn-off for Port Republic (thank you, Jack!), and probably drove 10 or 15 miles out of our way to get back to the trailer... Fine ending to a spectacular day, wouldn't you say?
Take care and keep in touch!
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