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I got back from New York yesterday, had left on Wednesday. I walked around 30 miles, my feet still hurt. My throat hurts today, even though I wore a mask on the plane. And I lost one of my camera cards, so no pics from the first day. :,-(
Wednesday, I flew in to JFK and took the train into Manhattan. The trains cost me about $15. Arrived at Penn Station, a few minutes walk to my hotel. Hotel cost about $310 a night, in total, which is pretty cheap for Manhattan. The room was around 9x11 feet, plus an reasonable bathroom. Just a bed, a small nightstand, and a stand for a suitcase. So that was fine. It was noisy, though. Midtown is noisy, I was only on the third floor, and the window doesn't insulate from the sound at all. The first night I was awakened by what sounded like someone dumping scrap metal in the street.
My room had a view of the Empire State Building, which I enjoyed. That building impresses me every time I see it! I must have over a dozen photos of it.
I flew JetBlue, for the cheapest tickets. I paid extra to be allowed a carry-on, even though I didn't need to, because that plan also allowed changes or cancellations. Everything went fine with the airline, except on takeoff out of Milwaukee, they had to get maintenance to jump start the plane. After both flights, we had to wait while they got somebody to move or fix the jetway so we could deplane.
Thursday I had more time than I expected, so I walked six miles, through Flatiron district (The Flatiron building was covered with scaffolding), down past Union Square, to St. Mark's Place. Then east and back up. It was warmer than I expected, and I didn't have enough water. Stopped for a cocktail and downed a glass of water first. It happened to pour down rain while I was sitting in there. Got some (now lost) photos of people going by the door. Later got some shots of the Chrysler Building (also lost).
After resting at the hotel, I went back out, to see Times Square. It's more crowded than ever. That was a two-mile trip, and my hips were hurting by the time I got back.
So I was hurting the next day, but I went out anyway, because that's why I was there. I went west and saw The Vessel. I found out the reason it has been closed is because people jump from it. There have been four suicides since it opened in 2019. The deaths are troubling, of course, but especially so because this is supposed to be a fun tourist attraction.
Then I went up The Edge, a very tall building with a glass floor on the observation deck. From there I went to the USS Intrepid museum. An aircraft carrier, decommissioned in 1974 and made into a museum in 1982. It has many airplanes and helicopters, plus a space shuttle.
From there I went south. I stopped at a deli for a bite to eat, went into B&H Camera Superstore, walked the High Line, went over to Little Island park and then stopped for an early dinner at Joseph Leonard. After dinner and a drink, I went on and just walked for a while, going through some parks. I stopped in at Fotografiska, a gallery with some nice exhibitions, then went on home. Went back to Times Square.
Friday morning I walked up to The Met, with a side trip through Central Park, just to get off the street. The Met wasn't too exciting. I thought I'd take a quick look at their photo collection, and there were exhibitions of Richard Avedon and Van Gogh. It took me forever just to find things. The Avedon thing wasn't too exciting, because it was basically two large mural projects, and their photo gallery was closed, presumably for a changeover. The Van Gogh exhibition was focused on his work with cypresses. It was nice, but not worth the $30 admission. So I went up to the Guggenheim. There were exhibits from Gego and Sarah Sze. Both were OK. Needless to say I enjoyed the building more than the art. I took the subway back down, and that was still a 4.25 mile walk.
Midafternoon, I walked up to Grand Central (half mile). I was there a bit early, so I spent a while looking around the terminal, and then sat on the train for a while. It was an hour and a half up to Beacon, where Mike picked me up and took me to Jill's shop. Jill's niece Morgan, and her husband (Kevin) Dale were visiting, and we all went out for tapas. Afterward, we went down by the Hudson for a bit, and then I caught my train back to the city.
Saturday morning I went to a diner for breakfast. Everyone there was either a construction worker or a tourist. Buildings everywhere are having their facades renovated. There is scaffolding up everywhere. The masons are doing great business. After breakfast I walked around the library, inside and out. I wanted to see the famous reading room, but it's only accessible if you're actually a reader, or you take (free) a tour, and I didn't think I had the time for a tour.
And then I packed up and went to Penn Station for my train. Had trouble finding the kiosks to buy tickets, got to my train with five minutes to spare. Took half an hour to get through security, and still got to my gate a good hour and a half ahead of time. Flight was fine, except for the delay getting off the plane. Cindy pulled up to pick me up about a minute after I walked outside.
Wednesday, I flew in to JFK and took the train into Manhattan. The trains cost me about $15. Arrived at Penn Station, a few minutes walk to my hotel. Hotel cost about $310 a night, in total, which is pretty cheap for Manhattan. The room was around 9x11 feet, plus an reasonable bathroom. Just a bed, a small nightstand, and a stand for a suitcase. So that was fine. It was noisy, though. Midtown is noisy, I was only on the third floor, and the window doesn't insulate from the sound at all. The first night I was awakened by what sounded like someone dumping scrap metal in the street.
My room had a view of the Empire State Building, which I enjoyed. That building impresses me every time I see it! I must have over a dozen photos of it.
I flew JetBlue, for the cheapest tickets. I paid extra to be allowed a carry-on, even though I didn't need to, because that plan also allowed changes or cancellations. Everything went fine with the airline, except on takeoff out of Milwaukee, they had to get maintenance to jump start the plane. After both flights, we had to wait while they got somebody to move or fix the jetway so we could deplane.
Thursday I had more time than I expected, so I walked six miles, through Flatiron district (The Flatiron building was covered with scaffolding), down past Union Square, to St. Mark's Place. Then east and back up. It was warmer than I expected, and I didn't have enough water. Stopped for a cocktail and downed a glass of water first. It happened to pour down rain while I was sitting in there. Got some (now lost) photos of people going by the door. Later got some shots of the Chrysler Building (also lost).
After resting at the hotel, I went back out, to see Times Square. It's more crowded than ever. That was a two-mile trip, and my hips were hurting by the time I got back.
So I was hurting the next day, but I went out anyway, because that's why I was there. I went west and saw The Vessel. I found out the reason it has been closed is because people jump from it. There have been four suicides since it opened in 2019. The deaths are troubling, of course, but especially so because this is supposed to be a fun tourist attraction.
Then I went up The Edge, a very tall building with a glass floor on the observation deck. From there I went to the USS Intrepid museum. An aircraft carrier, decommissioned in 1974 and made into a museum in 1982. It has many airplanes and helicopters, plus a space shuttle.
From there I went south. I stopped at a deli for a bite to eat, went into B&H Camera Superstore, walked the High Line, went over to Little Island park and then stopped for an early dinner at Joseph Leonard. After dinner and a drink, I went on and just walked for a while, going through some parks. I stopped in at Fotografiska, a gallery with some nice exhibitions, then went on home. Went back to Times Square.
Friday morning I walked up to The Met, with a side trip through Central Park, just to get off the street. The Met wasn't too exciting. I thought I'd take a quick look at their photo collection, and there were exhibitions of Richard Avedon and Van Gogh. It took me forever just to find things. The Avedon thing wasn't too exciting, because it was basically two large mural projects, and their photo gallery was closed, presumably for a changeover. The Van Gogh exhibition was focused on his work with cypresses. It was nice, but not worth the $30 admission. So I went up to the Guggenheim. There were exhibits from Gego and Sarah Sze. Both were OK. Needless to say I enjoyed the building more than the art. I took the subway back down, and that was still a 4.25 mile walk.
Midafternoon, I walked up to Grand Central (half mile). I was there a bit early, so I spent a while looking around the terminal, and then sat on the train for a while. It was an hour and a half up to Beacon, where Mike picked me up and took me to Jill's shop. Jill's niece Morgan, and her husband (Kevin) Dale were visiting, and we all went out for tapas. Afterward, we went down by the Hudson for a bit, and then I caught my train back to the city.
Saturday morning I went to a diner for breakfast. Everyone there was either a construction worker or a tourist. Buildings everywhere are having their facades renovated. There is scaffolding up everywhere. The masons are doing great business. After breakfast I walked around the library, inside and out. I wanted to see the famous reading room, but it's only accessible if you're actually a reader, or you take (free) a tour, and I didn't think I had the time for a tour.
And then I packed up and went to Penn Station for my train. Had trouble finding the kiosks to buy tickets, got to my train with five minutes to spare. Took half an hour to get through security, and still got to my gate a good hour and a half ahead of time. Flight was fine, except for the delay getting off the plane. Cindy pulled up to pick me up about a minute after I walked outside.
