I’m back home <sigh>. As most good things do, the vacation went by too fast. I had a great time. It was a lot better than I thought it would be (and I had pretty high expectations going in). I was browsing through some of the pictures I took and I already miss it. As I said in my last post New York was great. It took me a day or two to get used to all the noise and the hurried atmosphere. It’s hard to put into words how impressed I was. We were there about two and a half days and tried to fit in all we could. (WARNING, if you dislike travel logs, you may as well stop reading now.) The first night we arrived around 10:00 pm and stayed with a friend in Brooklyn. We really didn’t sleep much that night, spent most of the time walking around Greenwich Village and a few hours trying to make it back to Brooklyn on the subway (long story, but I will say I think we traveled ALL over Brooklyn trying to get back to Bedford St.).
The next day we hit the NYSE, Ground Zero, Central Park, The MET and basically just walked all over Manhattan. We stopped an ate lunch at a little coffee shop/diner (I wish I could remember the name or at least what street it was on). It was a tight, cramped little place but they had excellent food. We spent the next two nights in the Secaucus New Jersey Marriott, just across the river. It worked out really well. The Hotel was much cheaper than New York and there was a bus stop right at the hotel. The fare into the Manhattan bus terminal was around $2.50. Considering it the toll to get through the lincoln tunnel and the price of parking riding the bus was defintely the way to go. The bus ride was only about a half hour and with our MTA 7 day metro passes (cost $20) we could go anywhere in the city.
We spent the last day in the city going on a tour of the United Nations and we also saw “Mama Mia!” on Broadway. It was an excellent performance and a great cast. If you’re in New York and want to see a play I recommend it. We stopped and relaxed at Union Sq. park for a while and then walked through Battery Park and took the Statten Island ferry out into the harbor. It’s about a 30 minute ferry ride (each way) and it’s free. If you want a cheap way to see the Statue of Liberty and the harbor you really can’t beat it. When we got back we rode up to little Italy. The streets were blocked off and all the restaurants and cafes had tables out on the sidewalks and merchants had stands setup in the street. The atmosphere alone was amazing. It was about midnight in the city and the street was about as lively as it could be. We stopped at a place called “Cafe Romma” which specializes in desert and I had the best cheese cake of my life. I dunno if I’ll ever be able to enjoy non New York cheese cake again. On our way back to the bus terminal we walked through Times Square at night, an amazing site. I really would’ve liked one or two more days in New York. There’s so much we wanted to see but couldn’t. Like the Empire State Building, The Guggenheim (particularly George’s addition, those who watch Seinfeld know what I’m talking about. Apparently it didn’t even take him very long) and so much more. Maybe I’ll just have to make a yearly visit.
With the exception of the two days we spent in Ocean City, Maryland we spent the rest of the time in the DC area. Ocean City was great. The first day was cloudy and overcast but that didn’t stop me from getting a nice sunburn on my knees and legs. Fortunately my arms and face tanned (it’s a farmers tan, but I’ll take what I can get). The next day was great, sun was shining, ocean was nice, couldn’t ask for a better day. I did a little boogey boarding in the ocean. I got caught in a rip tide at one point which was a little distressing to say the least (can’t swim very well). I knew beforehand you’re supposed to turn sideways to get out of the current but it’s hard to do when all you want to do is get back to shore. Eventually I got out of it and the current carried me back into shore. I didn’t realize it at the time but I had such a violent death grip on the boogey board that my hands actually ached when I finally released it.
We stopped at a nice crab shack that night and had some great all you can eat crab, shrimp and chicken. Nothing like having a big piece of butcher paper set down on your table and being handed a mallet to smash your food with.
DC was great also. New York was really exciting, but if I had to choose a place to live I’d choose the DC area. Not only is there a ton of stuff to do and see, it’s a lot cleaner and prettier than New York. Not to mention you can actually find some peace and quiet.
As I said in my last post the Holocaust Museum was amazing. Out of all the museums we went to (which were many) it was easily my favorite. It’s just very well done. I also enjoyed the Smithsonian Museums (American History, Natural History and Air and Space). Arlington Cemetary was also good, very somber place to visit. A vacation wouldn’t be a vacation without going to a baseball game. We saw the Oriole’s smoke the Red Sox last Saturday night. Sitting in a ball park on a nice Saturday night is a much better way to spend your time than sitting behind a desk in a pharmacy (you know who you are). It’s also a lot better than taking a 3 hour trip through Duchesne county in Utah.
If I haven’t said it enough, it was a just a great trip. Flying home was a little nerve racking. Esspecially when you turn on the news and they’re talking about terrorists blowing up planes with cell phones. The night before I flew home I kinda felt like Tweak from South Park. Security in Salt Lake was very thorough and efficient, very impressive. Baltimore…mmm…not so much. On the way home I spent 3 hours in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. My layover was 2 hours then the flight got delayed for another hour. It was a long day of sitting in airports, that’s for sure. Getting off the plane in Salt Lake (finally) was a welcome relief.
As you can see I’ve posted a couple pictures. When/if I ever get off my butt and get my photo gallery going I’ll put up the rest. The top picture is me at Arlington Cemetary with DC in the background. The next is me (on the left) and my roommate Nate at our friends apartment in Brooklyn. The last is me in front of the fence at the back of The White House. Well that was about it, wish it didn’t have to end.