Today was the only full day I had to explore New York City, and I was determined to make the most of it. First stop, after the hotel's breakfast, was the Newark PATH station so I wouldn't have to bring my rental into the city. I made a wrong turn or two — I don't have a GPS or smartphone with a map ap — but I found it okay eventually, and was soon in Manhattan.
First plan was to visit the 9/11 Memorial. Which sucked. Not the memorial, but the visit. The entrance is 90 degrees away around a large construction site from the PATH station. But the short route, I quickly found, was blocked by roadblocks and closed sidewalks and the like. So I turn around and backtrack the block or so I'd just walked and go the other way. Going around 3 sides of the Freedom Plaza construction site takes something like 6 blocks worth of walking, which I did. Only to find that you can't get into the memorial without a ticket, which is given out at the 9/11 Preview Museum — 5 blocks back the way I came. I might add that there is NOTHING ANYWHERE that says, "Get your ticket here before you visit the memorial!"
I went back, got my ticket, bought a small lunch (the tickets are timed, to ease crowding inside the memorial, and mine wouldn't let me in until noon, 45 minutes later) and return the the memorial... to the sound of sirens. Lots and LOTS of sirens. It seems there was an accident at the construction part of the site that cracked some panes of glass on the 46th floor. So they shut down everything for several blocks around, including the memorial.
Rather than wait around for it to reopen, I walked south to Battery Park and bought tickets to see the Statue of Liberty. It also included Ellis Island, but I didn't care much about that part. And it turns out that the statue itself was closed for refurbishment. Got some good pics (it was a great day, by the way, very nice weather) but didn't get inside.
Those boat rides took up a lot of the afternoon, and I didn't get back to New York until after 3. I took the subway to the Natural History Museum, but between walking to the subway station (most of the way back to the 9/11 Memorial, which was still closed, by the way; good thing I didn't wait around!) and getting on the express instead of the local, I didn't get off at the right station until 4:15. That left me 90 minutes to tour a 5-story museum, one of the greatest collections in the world. I got a lot of great pictures, but I didn't really get to appreciate it like I'd wanted. If I'd had twice as much time it might have been CLOSE to enough. So take it from me: if you're going to the NYC Museum of Natural History, allot yourself a minimum of 3 hours, and preferably more.
After the museum, I wanted to go through Central Park. But my feet were starting to hurt, so I only got maybe 300 yards in before I turned around and went back downtown. But I wasn't through with the city yet!
I walked from the downtown station to the waterfront, where I took some pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then I got dinner — an honest-to-god 1.5 lb. lobster for $14.95! Suh-weet!
At that point, it was getting late, and my feet were really hurting, so I walked back to the PATH station and headed back to Newark. And so here I am.
My feet have blisters all over, but it was fun. I just wish I'd had more time in town, so I wouldn't have had to cram it all in. Over two days, what I did would have probably been much more pleasant. But it was still a great day.
First plan was to visit the 9/11 Memorial. Which sucked. Not the memorial, but the visit. The entrance is 90 degrees away around a large construction site from the PATH station. But the short route, I quickly found, was blocked by roadblocks and closed sidewalks and the like. So I turn around and backtrack the block or so I'd just walked and go the other way. Going around 3 sides of the Freedom Plaza construction site takes something like 6 blocks worth of walking, which I did. Only to find that you can't get into the memorial without a ticket, which is given out at the 9/11 Preview Museum — 5 blocks back the way I came. I might add that there is NOTHING ANYWHERE that says, "Get your ticket here before you visit the memorial!"
I went back, got my ticket, bought a small lunch (the tickets are timed, to ease crowding inside the memorial, and mine wouldn't let me in until noon, 45 minutes later) and return the the memorial... to the sound of sirens. Lots and LOTS of sirens. It seems there was an accident at the construction part of the site that cracked some panes of glass on the 46th floor. So they shut down everything for several blocks around, including the memorial.
Rather than wait around for it to reopen, I walked south to Battery Park and bought tickets to see the Statue of Liberty. It also included Ellis Island, but I didn't care much about that part. And it turns out that the statue itself was closed for refurbishment. Got some good pics (it was a great day, by the way, very nice weather) but didn't get inside.
Those boat rides took up a lot of the afternoon, and I didn't get back to New York until after 3. I took the subway to the Natural History Museum, but between walking to the subway station (most of the way back to the 9/11 Memorial, which was still closed, by the way; good thing I didn't wait around!) and getting on the express instead of the local, I didn't get off at the right station until 4:15. That left me 90 minutes to tour a 5-story museum, one of the greatest collections in the world. I got a lot of great pictures, but I didn't really get to appreciate it like I'd wanted. If I'd had twice as much time it might have been CLOSE to enough. So take it from me: if you're going to the NYC Museum of Natural History, allot yourself a minimum of 3 hours, and preferably more.
After the museum, I wanted to go through Central Park. But my feet were starting to hurt, so I only got maybe 300 yards in before I turned around and went back downtown. But I wasn't through with the city yet!
I walked from the downtown station to the waterfront, where I took some pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then I got dinner — an honest-to-god 1.5 lb. lobster for $14.95! Suh-weet!
At that point, it was getting late, and my feet were really hurting, so I walked back to the PATH station and headed back to Newark. And so here I am.
My feet have blisters all over, but it was fun. I just wish I'd had more time in town, so I wouldn't have had to cram it all in. Over two days, what I did would have probably been much more pleasant. But it was still a great day.