While I don’t live close to New York City it really isn’t that far away. I also have never really done the touristy thing there. I’ve been up there for that before, I went out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island when I was 12 but I’ve never done my own thing. So now was the time. I’ve been to Citi Field before so that made skipping a game or two there easy and that was made easier since my hometown Revolution were playing the Long Island Ducks at the same time. I was also looking for a shorter trip after the past few trips down south and New York fit the bill.
I thought about just riding Amtrak up but then there were the inevitable questions about where I would stay and could I get to everything I wanted to see easily and I did wind up finding some things to see in New Jersey as well so I drove but left the car at the motel while galavanting around the Big Apple. Found a “reasonably” priced motel near the Mets park and it at least worked well. That’s reasonably priced for New York City and one that I am sure is far more expensive come US Open time. It did save me the $25 to park at Citi Field as it was within walking distance of the stadium.
Morristown
The first stop was at Morristown, which was used as the encampment for the Continental Army twice during the Revolution. I had been there before but it was just to kill an hour before the Somerset Patriots game and I didn’t really see much. This time was different. Pictures are in the battlefield section. In reality there was not much more else here to see, or at least requiring me to get out of the car besides Washington’s HQ, Fort Nonsense and the reconstructed huts. It was good to kill an hour or two though.
Thomas Edison NHS
Next it was over to visit Thomas Edison’s lab. I tried to go to his home but it is in a gated community and you can only visit with a pass. Suffice it to say I did not have a pass, nor was any of this communicated to me at his lab (I didn’t ask either but then when directions are put into the brochure and there is only an ambiguous mention about a pass of any sort you may not notice that). Oh well, got some great pics of the lab and the Park Service has put a lot of time and energy into restoring it to its original look and feel. It also helps that most of the original equipment was kept by Edison’s grandson and donated.
Paterson Falls
It’s easy to avoid Paterson, New Jersey but tucked away in town is this waterfall on the Passaic River. Quite impressive and the whole site is seeing some major construction. The river was used to power several industrial sites along it. As for today, the roads in Paterson could use some work. I then headed down to Little Falls and Montclair State University to take in a New Jersey Jackals game in Yogi Berra Stadium. I was not expecting much but this was a pleasant way to pass a Friday evening though I did get lost on campus trying to get out.
Manhattan and Brooklyn
Headed over the GW Bridge and into Manhattan. The first stop was Grant’s Tomb now known as the General Grant National Memorial (who is buried there again?). I wondered exactly why he was buried there rather than say St. Louis but I learned that he lived in New York City after his presidency.
Then it was over to Alexander Hamilton’s home called the Grange where I took a tour. Two things in Manhattan and both are free! A visit to the Grange was worth it just to watch the video of the house being moved, as it had to be moved about 2 blocks due to construction. As a side note at Grant’s Tomb there is a mural showing the major battles of the Civil War and York is denoted as a battle. That must have been left out of the history books since I know nothing about it. Maybe it was like that made up battle in the Office, what was that? Shrute’s Farm or something like that.
Then it was into Brooklyn. There is a cemetery there that is a who’s who of New York Civil War (and other famous denizens). I knew which section the people I was looking for were buried in but the sections seem to bleed into each other so what appeared on the map as one section could be another. I neglected to include what the graves look like so it was hard going and I only found a handful of the people I was looking for.
Staten Island
Admittedly there is not much to see here but I had oodles of time to kill before the baseball game. Hit a few breweries (Staten Island, Kills Boro and Flagship), visited Fort Wadsworth and just took in the view. Sometimes that is the best thing that you can do. Then took in the Staten Island Yankees, I mean Pizza Rats game. You can see Lower Manhattan from the stadium making for quite a view. I sat right behind the Aberdeen bullpen. Those guys spent all night dealing with kids who wanted balls. The Ironbird pitchers asked if they had any left-handed curve balls and wacky things like that and then when the kids got annoying told them to go ask the Yankee pitchers for balls.
Brooklyn
Good times in Brooklyn today. Started my day in Prospect Park since that was the main site of the Battle of Long Island. Wound up walking around there for about 2 hours since it is a big park and I got turned around at some point. Only realized it when I came upon the same festival again. Then I returned to Green-Wood this time armed with better information and while I did not find everyone I set out to find it was a marked improvement. Only couldn’t find one person, so not too bad. There is a website that lists GPS coordinates and I downloaded pictures of the grave site this time.
After that it was into the heart of Brooklyn. Stopped at Dinosaur BBQ for lunch (best BBQ I have had) and then around the corner to Strong Rope Brewing. Had to park about 5 blocks away, it’s a lot longer of a walk than I thought it would be. I tried to find Brooklyn Brewing but the directions I wrote out were inadequate. In actuality I was only 1 block away from the street I needed to turn on but I neglected to notice in Google Earth that the name of the street changed from Marcy to Division, so opportunity missed. I wound up making a turn onto the BQE and just headed for MCU Park.
Lot of traffic on the way, I don’t know if that is normal or if it was because of the rain squall that headed through. After the Cyclones game I bought some beer at Coney Island Brewing and then sat in traffic for an hour to drive to my motel in Queens. There was a wreck on the Shore Parkway in the other lane which lead to the inevitable rubbernecking and the Van Wyck was also slow-and-go. Good thing I had snacks and drinks in the car.
Lower Manhattan
Up early this morning and rode the 7 train into Manhattan with the early commute. Made my way first to the World Trade Center and went to the top, what was it 102 floors up. Oh what a view and it was an absolutely gorgeous day for it. Almost reminiscent of 9-11. Took in the 9-11 Memorial before heading over to Wall Street where I saw the Stock Exchange, Federal Hall (where George Washington took the Oath of Office to become the first president) and the Trump Building. Then headed down to the Battery and Castle Clinton and headed out to the Statue of Liberty.
I had bought a ticket to go to the Crown and was thinking that was not such a good idea, I’m not exactly the slimmest guy around and I had been on my feet for about 5 hours by that point. No seats on the train in. I wound up going up and the stairs going up wasn’t that hard (it was hot inside there and I was sweating quite a bit) but coming down was, the staircase is narrow so you have to hold onto the railing tight. Afterwards I bought a lemonade, which I never do and I was glad I did. I stood in line for about 45 minutes just to get the boat to Ellis Island, I was out of ice by then and had sucked the lemons dry. Toured there and then headed back to the Battery.
Made a brief stop at the Ghostbusters HQ and then headed over to Katz’s Deli for a very late lunch. Touristy yes and I had the pastrami on rye. I was hoping it wouldn’t be too crowded but it was packed. I got my sandwich to go and walked down the street to the local park and ate it there and watched guys play basketball. Then it was the long journey to Citi Field where I finally saw the Pirates win a game this year. For the sake of posterity the Buccos had been swept in both Philadelphia and DC earlier in the year so I was winless for the year up to this point.
The weather on this day was perfect. Mild temperatures, low humidity and sunny sky.
Midtown Manhattan
Once again I joined the morning commute heading into Manhattan on the 7 Train. The first stop this time was the Empire State Building. Went up to the 86th floor observatory on a beautiful morning. They wanted another $30 to go all the way to the top, I passed on that. Then I headed over to the Intrepid Museum via Times Square. It’s a longer walk than it looks like. Toured the carrier, saw the Space Shuttle Enterprise, toured the ballistic missile submarine Growler (the only ballistic missile sub open to the public) and saw a Concorde jet.
Then I walked around Midtown. Saw 30 Rock, Radio City and St. Patrick’s from the outside before stopping for a slice or two at Ray’s. Nice big slices there. The last stop for the day was at Central Park to see the Dakota where John Lennon was shot as well as Strawberry Fields across the street. I wanted to also visit Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthplace but that was closed since it was a Tuesday. Then I headed back to Citi Field and the Pirates were not as lucky tonight, they took the lead late but the bullpen blew it. Typical Pirates.
Long Island
Since I checked out of the motel I couldn’t keep the car there (technically I could since I had parked on the street but…) so it was easier to head out to Long Island today. Not really a lot to see here that interests me. Visited Sagamore Hill (Theodore Roosevelt’s summer home near Oyster Bay). I walked the grounds since the next tour was not for 2 more hours (stupid tour bus…) and while in retrospect I should have just stayed and taken the tour I moved on. I headed on to take in Fire Island Seashore and I was a bit disappointed with that. I wanted to just sit on the beach for an hour or two but beach access is through several different New York State Parks rather than National Park Service site and parking ranges from $8 to $12 and that was not worth it for the time I wanted to spend there. Plus the weather wasn’t all that good. At Fire Island itself there was only a handful of handicapped parking spaces. Even the nature trail was closed off. I wound up stopping at a Nathan’s hot dog joint and killing some time there before the breweries opened for the day.
So it was off to find some breweries. Hit Blue Point Brewing in Patchogue and St. James and The 1940’s in Central Islip before heading over to watch the Long Island Ducks. There is another just south of the park, Destination Unknown, but traffic was heavy at that point. I had heard that there was a wreck on the highway near the brewery and it was causing some major jams. By the time I was ready to give up I was right by the turn to go back to the stadium so I just cut my losses at that point. Finished up my snacks in the car and drank a beer before the game.
The Revs dug themsevles a large hole early and it made the decision to head out easy. It was a surprisingly easy 4 hour drive home. The game also started at 6:30 which I greatly appreciated as opposed to 7:00. A half hour can make a big difference. While the traffic was heavy it flowed, which was also appreciated. I arrived home a little after midnight finding both of the cats very happy to see me but still alive.
I think I wound up racking up like $80 in tolls just crossing the bridges. They are not cheap.
