2006-08-11

Boston Vacation, Day Five: New York, New York

Sitting here in my glamorous 5-star hotel room (yes, I do highly recommend the New York Palace for those potentially traveling to this city), and listening to the drone of jackhammers at 10pm, I am reminded why there exists the nickname "The City That Never Sleeps". I'd sure like to at some point. It's been a very long day for having accomplished so little. But as internet access costs $15 a day, for only one computer at a time, I'm pirating an unsecured wireless network right now while I wait for Donna to finish loading her pics. And this is a dirt-slow connection too, but hey what do you expect for free in this city? Not much, let me tell ya...

First, driving in New York. You should have already read much of my rants on Bostonian roadways. (Side note: Why the heck do they call a roundabout a "rotary" anyways?) I have now endured the streets of New York. Am I prepared to alter my opinions of Boston? Not at all. In fact, I can readily state that I would prefer driving in New York rather than Boston. Surprised? See, in NY people drive like DC rush hour, all the time. They're pushy and ignore most traffic laws. (Except the one about no car horns - did you know there's a fine of $350 for blowing your horn in NY? :et me tell ya, it's an awfully hard law to adhere to hereabouts...)

But I can deal with that. I'm pretty good at adapting to most traffic situations and I can drive like the drivers wherever I'm at. (I got some pretty startled looks from people when they noticed my out-of-state plates... or it could have been just "What the heck is that dang redneck doing driving here?") So congestion and offensive driving I can handle. So long as I can tell where to go. Un-navigatable roads like Boston just heighten my stress level and make it unbearable. I guess I'm just more uncomfortable with not knowing where I'm going than with obnoxious drivers...

So we left the hotel in Plymouth plenty early this morning. Had to make a 1:30pm ferry to Ellis Island from the New Jersey side. Mapquest (Full Disclosure: AOL owns Mapquest. That said, I neither endorse nor vilify Mapquest in any fashion. No matter how I may desire to do the latter at times.) stated it would take 3.5 hours. But as it was routing us through downtown via 95, we gave ourselves an extra hour. And did it take the full 4.5 hours we allotted? Oh no, dear readers, it took SEVEN AND A FREAKING HALF HOURS to get there. With one badly needed bathroom break at a McDonalds in the Bronx. And not a particularly friendly part of the Bronx. I can now say I've been there, and that's all that needs said on the subject.

So, by the time we manage to get ourselves to Jersey across the Holland Tunnel (I think we spent about 45 mins alone in the Tunnel) we only had time to see the Statue and not Ellis. Donna was pretty bummed about it, but we did get some quality pics and memories from the Statue of Liberty, and it was very cool looking up inside her skirts through the glass ceiling inside.





By the way, Donna took a very nasty fall getting to the ferry ticket area, tripped over a low concrete step and landed hard, face down on the camera. She has wicked bruises right on her sternum area and a banged up knee. Fortunately though she was holding Carrie's hand, they let go of each other first. The camera was pretty scratched up but still works.

To be continued...

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