A Lockdown Virtual Journey (North America) Day 2
After a fairly restless night in a comfortable bed I felt both annoyed and relieved when the alarm on my phone went off. I decided to call my wife and enjoyed a ten minute catch up. Not very much seems to have happened in Banbury since we had left the previous day. Me promising to call before bedtime UK time we hung up.
I plodded to the bathroom did my morning ablutions, got dressed and was dressed when I heard a knock on the door. Chris had come round to check I was up and ‘was I ready for breakfast?’ we trundled along to Pete’s door. Chris again knocked and soon the three of us were making our way down the stairs to the dining room. Breakfast was buffet style. We wandered past looking to see what was on offer. Chris exclaimed ‘What is that?’ Pete and I explained that ‘it’ was cornbread and grits. ‘It looks like lumpy porridge and an anaemic scone.’ He replied. We settled initially for cereals and milk, coffee for then and orange juice for me. We went back and helped ourselves to sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs. The sausages were thin and short but tasty, the bacon was thin and like a very small rasher of streaky. The scrambled eggs came as a solid mass but were quite tasty. They had more coffee and I had more orange juice. We agreed an itinerary for the day.
We had compiled a list of sights we would like to see during our one day stop in NY NY. The Empire State Building, The KGB espionage museum, USS Intrepid, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim, Central Park and the American Air Power Museum. We knew that we couldn’t see all of them in the time we had. So we decided to forgo the Air Power Museum as we would see aircraft a plenty at the USS Intrepid Museum. After a lot of thought and haggling we decided on USS Intrepid, then to the Empire State Building, then lunch. After lunch we would walk up to the Guggenheim get Pete a ‘T’ shirt, stroll across to and then through Central Park. Get a Taxi from near the ‘Trump Tower’ down to the ‘Twin Towers’ memorial. Hopefully get to go inside St. Paul’s church. From there to catch a boat for an evening cruise to see the ‘Statue of Liberty’.
We went back to our rooms to load our knapsacks agreeing to meet ten minutes later in Pete’s room. Our faith in God because of what Jesus has and is doing underpins our friendship. I came out of my room, loaded for the day. I knocked on Chris’s door and moved along to Pete’s and knocked. Pete opened his door and beckoned me in, Chris followed a few seconds later. We stood in a circle, more of a triangle I suppose. Pete read a passage from the bible and launched into prayer. We all three prayed for safety for our families back in the UK and for our sightseeing tour this day. Only a few minutes but to us very important minutes.
From the lobby we caught the shuttle bus to the Federal Circle. We were warned by the driver to be careful apparently we looked like tourists – we were tourists! What were we supposed to look like I wondered?
At the Federal Circle we each bought a day travel ticket to help us get around. We took the JFK Airtrain red on a five minute trip to Jamaica station. A short walk from there to JFK Station on the corner of Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue. Catch the train to 50th Street and 8th Avenue. From there another short walk to West 49th Street and 8th Avenue. Catch another train to 12th Avenue and West 46 Street. It sounds complicated but was really quite straight forward.
We emerged into sunshine. The journey had taken a little over an hour. The trains (subway, metro, and underground – whatever you want to call them) were crowded with folk going about their daily business. People were going to work, students to college and a few, like ourselves, were tourists. There were folk of every shade of colour from black to white. The trains rattled but the atmosphere was good if a little sombre – it was for the majority of travellers the start of the working day.
We walked west a short distance to the entrance of the USS Intrepid Museum. We had to wait at a street crossing place for the lights to change to green. I glanced up and realised I was looking at the bow of the aircraft carrier and the rear ends of a ‘Tomcat’ and an SR71. I knew it was a tomcat because it was written on a tail-fin, the SR71 or blackbird was one of my favourite aircraft. The ship was huge and the ‘Blackbird’ was not small either. I turned to tell Pete and Chris but realised they had both seen them. Chris, being from the Isle of Wight had seen huge ships and even aircraft carriers before but the look on Pete’s face said he hadn’t.
We had asked the receptionist to print our tickets the evening before and she had promised they would be printed . She was true to her word and they were ready for us the following morning. Armed with these tickets we went to the entry gates. At the entrance we were asked if we wanted to visit the Concord exhibit, it would have felt rude not too, it was, apparently, on loan from British Airways. How it or the Shuttle or some of the planes got there I had no idea.
The aircraft carrier was impressive. We wandered around the hanger and squadron ready rooms. Through crew accommodations and the combat information centre. We knew before we went that it had been launched in 1943 and seen action in the 2nd world and Vietnam wars. That more than 50,000 service personnel had spent time aboard of whom over 250 had been killed. On the flight deck we wandered around the displays of aircraft. Pete seemed to enjoy the piston propelled fighters, Chris the Harriers. I remember the first time I saw a ‘Canaletto’ for real, I could have stayed there all day marvelling. I felt just the same with the SR71.
I was dragged from my reverie by my two friends who wanted to see the ‘Shuttle’ exhibit. Off the carrier we trooped. We walked along to the end of the pier. The shuttle was much bigger than I thought it would be. Again really impressive, we walked around it and under it and were even able to ascend to a viewing gallery that allowed us to see into the cockpit. Incredible to think that folk like ourselves had travelled from our home to space and back (in most cases).
We moved on to the Concord. I had seen several ‘Concords’ but had never been on one. It seemed cramped to me. The cockpit didn’t seem unlike any other modern day passenger jets but the view down the nose was WOW!
We moved along to a submarine named ‘Growler’. I enjoy watching Chris negotiate tight confined spaces. Being over six feet I tend to be aware of when to duck my head as does Pete who isn’t as tall as me. Chris just bangs his. The sub itself was interesting. It was a guided missile sub and like all subs had a control room, sleeping and eating areas (some among the torpedoes at the rear) and an attack centre. It could fire torpedoes from the front as well. If I had been nautical I might have written aft and for’ard or stern and bow. But I’m not really sure how they are referred to on a submarine. As a young teenager I had overcome claustrophobia, even so I was pleased to be off the sub and back on the pier. I think it must be something to do with whether I can see ‘out’.
It was after one o’clock when we left the museum so caught a taxi to the Empire State Building. Traffic was busy and the driver seemed to enjoy the sound of his horn. The journey took longer than I thought it would but was much quicker than walking. Chris paid the driver for the fare and gave a nice tip. I think he felt an affinity with a fellow professional driver.
What struck me as I left the cab was the noise. It was loud, very loud. It seemed as if the noise had nowhere to go. It seemed to bounce from one tall building to another and back again. I was pleased to get into the lobby of the building and out of the cacophony of honking cars and sirens. We had a conflab and decided we needed to eat before anything else.
The ‘State Grill and bar’ was in front of us so we entered. It looked busy, spacious and a good place to eat. We were asked if we wanted a table for three, we agreed we did and were soon seated at a table for three that had moments before been a table for four. Menus were brought drinks ordered. ‘Broadway Boogie Amber’ a local beer or so we were assured, tasted great on our thirsty palates. Being where we were, we each ordered a ‘State’ burger and fries. We were asked how we would like our burgers – cooked we replied in unison, but settled on medium to well done. We agreed that the waiter had probably heard that one before.
The fries were skinny but tasty and the burger tasted oh so good. There was a lot of salad to accompany the burger which was a welcome addition. Today was Pete’s day so he paid and tipped the waiter. A brief chat about what we thought we might see and we left the restaurant.
The lobby was quite incredible there are murals on the ceilings, images on the walls and all looking like we had stepped back to the 1930s. We found out later that it had taken only thirteen months to build the building it had taken eighteen months to renovate the lobby. It looked to be time well spent.
We made our way to the visitor’s centre where we got our tickets from one of the dispensing machines. From there we queued to get into a lift. We explained that we were together and rather than split us up we were asked to wait for the next lift. It wasn’t long coming and it wasn’t long till we were disembarking and leaving its plush interior. Apparently in 1945 after a plane crashed into the building severing the lift cable. The lift carriage fell seventy floors. The lone female occupant still holds the record for having survived such a fall. I don’t suppose there is a queue to try and break it!
We walked from the lift across the highly polished floor and up some stairs. We had arrived at the viewing deck. We walked around till we found a door and exited onto the open air viewing platform. The views, as you can imagine, were stunning. I could recognise the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park. Pete and Chris pointed out to me ‘The Statue of Liberty’ and what we assume was ‘Times Square’. I enjoyed the views across the rivers, the business of the ‘ants’ below us at street level. The high number of cars which seemed to be hurtling around. I was amazed at the amount of noise I could hear from down there. It was also quite windy, which created its own noise.
After we had walked around the building a couple of times we headed to the ‘glass elevator’ (lift). It was nothing to do with ‘Charlie and the chocolate factory’, it was our transport up another sixteen floor to level one – o –two. This floor was for viewing through the floor to ceiling windows only. The horizon was further away and it seemed to be looking at more of the same in each and all directions. I had expected the building to sway but was told by an attendant that it hardly move at all. I’m not sure about Chris and Pete but I was looking forward to getting back to ground level.
To get to ground level we had to exit through the souvenir shop. We each got a ‘T’ shirt and Pete and Chris both bought baseball caps. All of us got different designs. I also bought a ‘T’ for my grandson.
Because we were a little tired and time restraints we took a taxi to the Guggenheim Museum. The building looks amazing but none of us wanted to wander around the exhibition. Pete did want to buy another ‘T’ shirt so he went in and managed to purchase one.
We crossed the road at the lights and wandered into Central Park. Watched the turtles sunbathing at the edge of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir. We didn’t stray too far from 5th Avenue as we walked through the park. I think we were all amazed at how big the park is. We saw a lot of ‘stuff’ and a lot of signs directing us to other ‘stuff’. I was impressed by the building that housed ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’. It looked like it would be well worth a visit. However with our limited time we decided against it on this occasion. Maybe in the future.
At the corner of 5th Avenue and west 59th Street. We again hailed and entered a taxi. We went to ‘The Twin Towers’ memorial. It’s a sombre place we walked around the ‘holes in the ground looking at the names on the bronze lip of the monuments. I was feeling ok until I saw a ladies name ‘and her unborn child’! I was reminded how fragile life can be. We also wanted to see and if possible go into the Church of St. Paul and the Trinity. After Chris had gotten directions we made our way there. It has been named ‘the Church that stood.’ It’s where Washington went to worship after his inauguration – it’s been around a long time. During and after 9/11 it was a place of refuge and refreshment for a lot of the folk who were helping after that awful attack. The inside of the church was festooned with police, fire and ambulance service badges from across America and the world. A symbol of coming together. I/we believe that churches are or should be paces of inclusiveness where all lives matter because all are children of one heavenly Father.
Another taxi took us to Pier 16. It was here we had booked onto an early evening cruise to view the ‘Statue of Liberty’. The ‘Circle Line’ cruise took about an hour. The boat was comfortable and the views spectacular. We skirted ‘Governors Island’ and headed past the statue turning and retracing our steps. The statue has stood since 1886 and is a gift from the French to the United States. It’s meant to celebrate both American independence from Britain and the abolition of slavery. It is iconic and is – has been a symbol of hope for generations of immigrants fleeing oppression and or persecution from around the globe.
Disembarking from the boat the consensus was that we needed to eat. We caught the subway at Fulton Street station and forty minutes later we exited at Rockaway Boulevard. A taxi took us to the local IHOP not to be confused with the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. In this case IHOP stands for International House of Pancakes!! None of us had pancakes. They looked great but we each opted for an omelette. Grace was said, again by Pete then we tucked in. I cannot remember what the filling in Chris and Pete’s was, but mine was mushroom and spinach. I had it with baked potato which was topped with a kind of cheddar cheese. Still it hit the spot as did the cool diet coke. After watching Chris demolish his dessert and feeling just a little pleased with myself for having resisted one, we left the restaurant. The guy at front of house had ordered a taxi for us. It arrived and we three weary tourists were soon walking into the lobby of the hotel. In the eating area there was beers and soft drinks and snacks on offer, all free. The beer was cool and the few snacks I had were tasty. Apparently it’s done occasionally to thank the guests. Great idea. We stood around and talked with others and amongst ourselves about our day. We had an earlyish start the following day so made our way to our rooms at about 10:30. I realised a couple of things at this time. One; I was very tired and two I hadn’t rung Chris as I had said I would. We three agreed to meet at my room at 6:45 am. After wishing each other a ‘good night’ I was in bed and asleep within ten minutes.
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large_print_map_2019 (mta.info)
https://www.intrepidmuseum.org
https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm
https://www.911memorial.org