New York 2

We left for America after the World Cup game between Germany and Spain. It was a really tight game. Not many chances. We left around 4:50 PM and I drove. Encountered a major rain storm around Hamilton area. We got to the Duty Free shop around 6:30 PM. Picked up some munchies, beer and drinks and we crossed the border.

I get nervous at the border. You have to try and relax. Americo was driving at this point and he was nervous at the border. It was kind of funny. Where you going? Long Island. Where in Long Island? Umm. What was it called? Rockville. Why are you going there? To play hockey. Blah blah blah.

We entered America around 7 PM crossing the Lewiston Bridge. We took the New York route on the I-90 to Syracuse and then took the I-81 south. We stopped at Homer, NY to get some gas and food. But Homer was such a small town. The sign off the highway said there was a food stop and gas stop but Homer had nothing (practically). We filled up on gas ($2.59 per gallan, $25) and kept going. We learned that we made the wrong stop and that where we should have stopped at was Cortland. It was funny because Cortland had all the amenities that you would expect from a rest/gas/food stop. Homer and Cortland couldn't be more than 2 miles apart. But Cortland had the new facilities and Homer had the old mom and pop gas station (and that was it!).

We stopped at Tim Horton's and had dinner. It was 10:10 PM. We finally hit the road around 10:35 PM and we didn't stop until we got to New Jersey. Americo drove the whole way. I fell asleep around 11:30 PM and was in and out of sleep until 12:30 PM. We arrived at the Ramada Inn in Rochelle Park, NJ around 1:50 AM. We checked in and expected to receive the cheap walk-in special that we saw advertised through roomsaver.com. They wanted to charge us $85 for the night. Lucky Americo brought it up and we paid the $59 that we expected. It was late. It was a good idea to fight the fee. But after a long drive I can see how easy it would be to just pay it.

We were in our hotel room around 2 AM. I went to bed around 3 AM. Taking some time to get a feel for the room and watching some TV until I fell asleep. I woke around 8:30 AM and got us some breakfast (before the food was gone). We then talked to the desk to see if we could get another night at the hotel. They wouldn't give it to us at the rate that we wanted. So we decided to leave. We figure we could find another hotel at the cheaper rate in Jersey. We looked around on roomsaver.com and decided on the Hampton Inn in Elizabeth (my initial destination choice). I drove to Elizabeth and when we entered we were pleasantly surprised. The Hampton Inn was quite comfortable. Much better than the Ramada. Little things make a big difference in the look & feel of a place. The Ramada had dark carpets but the hallway wasn't cooled by an A/C. The Hampton in the front foyer had dark wood floors. The walls were a cool cream striped satin looking wall paper. The seats in the dining area (small but cozy) were comfortable, inviting modern styled chairs. Whereas the Ramada was red and dark when we walked in that late night. In the morning it was brighter but because of the layout of the hotel there wasn't as much natural light. So it felt cramped and dark.
The rooms felt different as well. The Hampton had light coloured blankets while the Ramada had pastel, dark coloured blankets. The Hampton just felt fresher. The Ramada's blankets was just rougher on the skin. I just think it's interesting the differences a few select features makes on the complexion of a place. Both hotels had a dark wood finish. But because of the light in the Hampton you could see the finish. It felt more luxurious, more refined, cleaner and tidier. Just a better hotel. It did cost $20 more but it was worth it.

We signed in around 11:30 AM. We hoped to be out of there by 12 PM but that was just a hope. We left around 12:30 PM looking for the Elizabeth train station. We asked the guy at the desk but he directed us to the shuttle bus that goes to the Newark Airport where we could take the NJ train to NY Penn Station. We later learned that the Elizabeth train station is not out of commission. The hotel shuttle hotel guests to and from the airport. The NJ train was far more expensive because the transport is used to pay for the airport. Therefore, we paid $15 (Americo paid $11.50) to take 3 stops to NY Penn station. The $15 was much different than the rate that was quoted from the NJ transit website. I got a quote of $6.50 from Elizabeth (which is one stop further than the Newark Airport) compared to $15. I was pissed off about this.

We got to NY Penn station around 2 PM. Picked up a day-pass for the NY subway system and our first stop was the WTC site. We took the E line to the WTC. Took some pictures. I was amazed that they could fit 2 buildings in the space that I saw. Amazing! And with the congestion of the location it's surprising and scary that 2 large buildings would fall in such a dense urban area.

We started to walk to Battery Park (where the statue ferries disembark) but the direction that an officer provided us appeared to be different than what I expected. I checked out the map and realized that there is a Battery Park City (West of WTC) and a Battery Park? I'm doing a search again now and I guess I was wrong (again!). Anyway, we took the subway back to Penn station (we missed our exit at Chambers) had lunch (at Moe's Burrito Grill) and then we headed south again (along the 1 line) towards the South ferry stop. We exited and found the Staten Island ferries (not the statue ferries) and decided to take the trip. We played it loose in the city and it was great. 20 minute ride to Staten island and back again we had a good time. Americo got a chance to relax. I had the chance to take pictures of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

It was around 5 PM at this point. We then took the R train to Wall street and we walked around a little. Took pictures and then started up (7 line) towards the Empire state building. We decided to wait till later for the Empire state building so we took 7 line again to Times square. Americo stopped at an electronic camera shop and 10 minutes later Americo had bought a 70-300 mm zoom lens for his Nikon D3000 digital SLR. It was maybe 7:30 PM at this point. Our last stop was the Empire state building. Fantastic monument to go visit. Beautiful, regal and iconic. It's incredible that the building should now symbolize the city of New York. I fell in love with the building. It's funny because my first impression of the building was one of surprise. The building has held up pretty well over the years. I was surprised that it didn't look older. The facade was very much clean and crisp (almost fake looking). Did they have renovation done to clean it up? It looked too clean to me. The front entranceway has got the signature 350 on it. There is a doorman and the entranceway. A rotating entranceway into the building. A long corridor leading to a desk. A beautiful mural behind the desk and dressed in gold. The image is of the building surrounded by golden beams of light. The imagery is fantastic. I really enjoyed the feeling of the place. It just brings back the images of big money New York. I can imagine Clark Gable singing 'Puttin' on the Ritz'.