New York City
"The Big Apple"
New York, NY
August 19, 2005
The past two years we've had some medical
setbacks (hip replacement for me) and we 
haven't kept current with our stories.
However, we are trying to catch them up.
In 2005 as we entered into New York State we happened to be in a path with a
place called Florida, NY. We found a campground called Black Bear Campground so we stopped in for a week. We saw a sign advertising tours
to New York City (less than 50 miles away). As we get older Bob and I find
ourselves avoiding large cities whenever possible, so any time I mentioned New
York City he found a plausible excuse to head in the opposite direction. Well
this tour sounded ideal for us. It would allow us to see "the Big
Apple" without having to fight the traffic. I went down to the office to
make reservations for our trip. I found out that the price was $74 per adult, it
left at 8AM and returned to the park at 6PM. Although $74 may seem a little
high, it was well worth it to us, to avoid all the hassles of NYC. Came the
morning of the tour we met our tour guide "Al". Turned out he and his
wife were native New Yorkers. It was great having someone with us that
really knew the area. We were given a brochure that indicated we would be
seeing: Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Ground
Zero, Wall Street, Empire State Building, Times Square, Fifth Ave, Rockefeller
Center. (While I usually try to cover everything in one story, it's only fair to
make Ellis Island its own story) The
trip to NYC was made in a very comfortable van and the time getting there seemed
very short.
Our first look at the NYC skyline, although it was overcast, was impressive. Al
first took us to the ferry to go to Ellis Island (fare was included in the tour
price). Just getting into NYC was an experience. Al explained to us that NYC had
put in a "no horn blowing" ordinance. I can understand why they would
need it. Just as New Yorkers are a unique breed of people, their driving is as
well. While they have traffic laws just like everywhere else, there are the
"understood laws" as well. I probably should have Bob explain this as
it seemed a little confusing to me, but here I go. When you come to a traffic
light you pull as far into the intersection as possible (don't worry about
blocking the other traffic, yet) then, as the light turns yellow, the traffic in
front of you moves forward enough so you can squeeze into the space left by
them, and (just
barely) open up the traffic flow for the cross traffic. Whew!
Glad I wasn't driving. Plus, I think the taxi drivers (of which there were many)
seem to have their own rules. Not only was the traffic crazy but trying to
figure out the parking signs was very complex. Some of their traffic signs went
halfway down the pole.
Anyway, we took the ferry to Ellis Island and did the tour. As I said I'm going
to cover this separately. We then went from there to
the Statue of Liberty. I have seen this lady in more pictures and videos than I
can count, but it doesn't compare with being up close. WOW! Due to 9/11 they no
longer allowed people to go up into the upper part of the statue. But just
walking around the bas
e and seeing the information about the Statue was
awesome.
Next, we went back to the van and off we were to Ground Zero. When we visited in
2005 they let you get a lot closer than you can today (2007). Al let us out
with instructions where to meet and at what time. We were able to visit St.
Paul's Chapel at Broadway and Fulton Street. It was here that a number of people
were ministered to the day of the attack and it also served as a soup kitchen
for the people working on the rescue mission in the days that followed. There
was an altar inside the church that had memorabilia from the victims' families. We found
out from Al that one of his sons
was actually in one of the World Trade Center
Buildings and was able to get out safely. Another son ran a ferry that took
people away from the smoke and ash and into New Jersey. For all the
"brashness and bravado" that New Yorkers like to put on, this man
really shared his feelings about his sons and "His City". We then went
down to where we could view Ground Zero and the surrounding area. Although we
had been at the Oklahoma Bombing site this was almost overwhelming. The notes from
people affected by the bombing and just the pride that New Yorkers showed and
the "firm resolve" that they would rise from this disaster better and
stronger. As I said later, the traffic could really become gridlocked. Well, as
Bob and I were walking back to meet everyone at the van I saw something I could
hardly believe: two police cars were running Code 3 (red lights and siren) and
they needed to get somewhere at the other side of a one way street. Well, they
just turned onto the one way street (going the wrong direction) got up onto the
sidewalks (one on either side) and drove. People on the sidewalks just stepped
aside until they passed. Whew! that was exciting. Back on the van I told Al
about the police cars, he just chuckled and said "they do what they have to
do".
After years of watching Dick Clark doing the New Year's Celebrations on Times
Square, being there definitely was a high point on our tour. Again, Al 
dropped us off so
we would be able to wander on our own. Wow! we were really there. Just to see all the lights and signs was dazzling not
to mention all the people. They had kiosks that sold tickets to the Broadway
Shows. We found out that to get a ticket to most any show on Broadway would cost
you, at least, $100. Ouch! Guess if you lived there you would get used to it. As
people rushed by, you could hear any number of foreign accents as well as various
New York accents. Some of the New York accents could be almost as confusing as the foreign
accents. It seemed as if everybody was in a hurry to
get somewhere. I found
myself walking faster and then thought "where am I going in a hurry?"
Guess it was just catching. We stopped for a bite to eat (restaurants were
everywhere). When we had finally gotten our fill of the "bright lights of
Broadway" we headed back to our
van.
Click here to play Times Square Video.
We didn't get a chance to see Central Park but Al gave us instructions on how to
get back by subway and bus if we wanted to. The day we were there was slightly
overcast and we didn't get a chance to go up in the Empire State Building. We
were able to see it from a distance. Al said it was best seen at night when it
was all lit up. Then we passed Rockefeller Center and watched people ice skating
on the plaza. After this we headed back for the RV park. All in all we had a
really great day and got to see things we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise.
If you are like us and try to avoid large cities but still want to see NYC, I
would highly recommend this park and tour. In addition to going to NYC the
campground is within driving distance of West Point. We did that tour on our own
and it was really great.
Good Luck! Have Fun! and Stay Safe!
Laura