NEW YORK CITY

NEW YORK CITY today!

My big day started out at 7am (three of us went - Margaret, Deb and I) with a train ride from New Haven Central Station into Grand Central Station.  The ride took about 1 1/2 hours. The train was great; it was clean and comfortable.  There were about 14 cars on the train, with 2 being designated as "quite" cars and no cell phone use was permitted.  The restrooms at the station were very clean and well cared for, as were the restrooms at Grand Central, and were pleasant to use.

I did not get a chance to take any pictures or to look around Grand Central Station, but it looked like a fabulous building.  I was sorry to miss that opportunity. The ceiling was done to look like the evening sky, complete with constellations.

Here is a snap of my first Metro card for the subway!

The subways, however, were not as clean.  From Grand Central Station we took a subway to the 9/11 Memorial.  It was standing room only on the subway, but the people were very friendly and helpful.  I did not encounter one rude person on my entire NY adventure.

When we got off the subway I was able to take a picture of the new World Trade Center building before we went into the museum.

The museum itself was very well done.  The people at the memorial were very subdued, including the children; there was a kind of hush over the entire experience.  I couldn't help thinking about all the destruction, death, and terror Europe and other parts of the world have endured over the centuries ... this was basically the first "war" attack we have had on our own soil. The entire time in the memorial was very emotional, and I was brought to tears several times.  There are several places in the museum where the names of the victims, both written and spoken, are given.  Recordings of calls and recollections are played as your tour the wreckage as well.

Infinity pool outside the museum with the names of the victims

Mystic Aquarium

After lunch took us to the Mystic Aquarium.

The largest outdoor beluga whale exhibit in the United States!

Sting Ray pool

Mystic Seaport

We started off this very hot, humid day with a trip to Mystic Seaport.  This is actually a 19th Century village that you can walk around and learn about the times and shipbuilding.  Because of the heat, we only stayed a couple of hours, but you could easily spend the entire day walking from exhibit to exhibit and talking to the docents.  They are actually doing the "work" as you watch, from printing flyers, to carving masts, to making barrels or candles.

CHARLES W. MORGAN: Whaleship

The “crown jewel” of the Mystic Seaport collection, the CHARLES W. MORGAN, has outlived all others of her kind. Built in 1841 in New Bedford, MA, the Morgan is America’s last surviving wooden whaleship and a precious piece of maritime history.

After learning all about how the ship was originally built and then restored, we took a tour of the actual vessel.  We even got to go below and see the Captain, First Mate and crew quarters.  It was VERY tight.

The Captain built a small room on deck for his wife to use so she didn't have to be below with the "smelly" men.  He later retired to farming because she hated the sea.

Block Island, NJ

Today we were "scheduled" to go to NYC (yeah!) but it is in the 90's and very humid .... with all the cement in the city it would be just too hot to enjoy the day so we went to Block Island, NJ instead.  It reminded me of Catalina ....  It was a pleasant day.  We took the ferry across, had lunch, walked around ... checking out the beach .... and took the ferry back.

At lunch our server was Oliver ... a resident of the island his entire life.  They have one school ... a teacher for each grade.  His graduating class had 7 students.  I asked if they were the same 7 from kindergarten; he said yes.  Margaret asked if there was "conflict" and he replied that you had to learn to get alone with everyone as it was such a tight arrangement.  The island shuts down completely during the winter except for the grocery store.  That would be an interesting, yet confining, experience I think.

There have been at least five major shipwrecks off the waters of Block Island.  The Lightburne is a favorite spot for ocean divers to this day.

Did you know.....Captain Kidd was known to frequent Block Island and many speculate that he hid at least some of his buried treasure on our shores!!

Gillette's Castle

 

It cost another $16 to get out of New York and across Massachusetts, but I made it to Connecticut for my week at Nelson's Campground for the SOLOs pre-rally rally.   Margaret Webster, our host, had trips planned from the time of arrival!

I belong to a group of solo RV travelers called the SOLOs (which is who I am currently camping with).  It is part of the Escapees RV group.  I actually belong to several single/solo groups, but this is the one I am with this week.



 We went to Gillette's Castle in the afternoon.  We arrived somewhat late, so didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked, but it was very interesting.  William Gillette was a very talented man ..... he took the Sherlock Holmes books and made them into plays, and was the first person to portray the famous detective, while also directing the plays.  He became a very wealthy person from his acting career and built this castle.  Unfortunately, his wife died when they were in their late 20's and he promised her to never remarry, so he lived there for 49 years with his 15 cats.

View of castle

Staircase to second floor

Schenectady, NY

I drove around Schenectady for hours - twice - running errands and getting lost on purpose as a way to see the city, but all I saw was old, rundown, and un-maintained .... from the empty store fronts to the houses to the roads.  Even the houses in the Historic District, although better, were still in need of upkeep.  I just didn't find the "nicer" neighborhood you expect every city and town to have.

Typical intersection in Schenectady:

I drove to Little Italy in search of a "slice" but it was so rundown I didn't feel safe and didn't stay.  I have to make one more trip into Schenectady today .... maybe I'll find the pizza I imagined.  There is a two block "downtown" area for pedestrians that looked like a nice place to eat and people-watch, but parking was a horror story and expensive.

What I did find, however, everywhere I went was very nice people.  The rumor is that people from New York can be rude, pushy, abrupt .... that must be in "another" New York, because these new yorkers are not any of those things.  They have been friendly, kind, funny ..... and polite.

When I mentioned the lack of accent to the pharmacist as I was getting my prescription refilled, she laughed.  She said that was just a false rumor that people on the east coast "talked funny."

Tomorrow I leave New York for now and head to Vermont for 2 weeks. I will be spending one week with one of my "singles" RV groups and the second week at a rally and boot camp, and then onto Canada.

I am looking forward to the boot camp, but am nervous.  It is 3 days of everything I should know about living, driving, and maintaining my RV and don't.  Wish me luck!

Made my reservations for Canada

Today I made my reservations for Canada.  As I will not have any internet, phone or TV for about 5 weeks, I need to plan ahead as much as possible.  The trip should be very interesting (and I'll admit to being somewhat nervous as I've totally forgotten ALL the French I learned in high school!).

My reservations are in the National Parks of Canada and are without hookups most of the time.  I do have a place to dump my tanks about half way through, just in case I need to, and water most of the time, but power is only 15/30amps, when I have it, which isn't enough to run much .... light to read, and that's all I need.

I purchased a Parks Canadian pass, as there is a use fee for each day you are there, in addition to the camping fee (which wasn't cheap ... I am hoping the price was in Canadian dollars and I can benefit from the exchange rate - 75cents to the dollar).  As 2017 is their parks' anniversary, the pass will be free, but it didn't work into my schedule to go then.  The pass I purchased is good for 2 years (because of the free year), so I can go up into Canada on the "other" coast next year when I'm staying in the Northwest US. Win win.

The first week I will be in Granby, Quebec, then onto Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia (each for a week) and then 10 days in New Brunswick.  I debated on the order of the last two .... maybe I should have saved NS for last and just drove down into Maine, but .... we will see.

Unfortunately, I did not leave enough time!  My next reservation in the States is Chestnut Lake, New Jersey on September 7th, so the time I had hoped to spend in Maine will happen at another time. I can always come back, right?!  After I finish my "initial" tour of the states, I will definitely make some return visits.

I will be in New Jersey for 3 weeks, so we will see how far I get back north and east.