NYC-Our legs are going to be so pretty About This Page:

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by B.M.

Sounds like a great day; but that parking fee sounds astronomical!!

It is. On Sunday we found one for $28 all day. One time we stayed at, I think it was the Palace, and DH asked, "do you validate parking" and they said yes, but it was still outrageous parking fee. I guess 'validate parking' was one of those things 'I do not think that means what you think it means.'

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by Tconst

Thanks for posting this trip report! I'm planning a trip to NYC w/my family over Columbus Day weekend. It will be a 1st visit for 4 of us. My daughter was able to spend a few hours there last year touring with friends. So at 18, she'll be our experienced tour guide! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for saying so. It is always nice to know someone is interested. I think the Columbus Day Weekend will be nice weather wise for you! I am so excited for you!
Are you driving into town? Parking a car in town?

[Kelly66]

Saturday, July 26th Day Two- Coney Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Greenwich Village, Central Park, Trump Tower, Grand Central.....and a commercial type rant about maps.
We drove from NJ to Coney Island. We took I-278 to Staten Island. This takes us way south of Manhattan and gives a whole different perspective of the city. We took the Verazano Bridge to Coney Island and this made navigating not too bad-of course I wasn’t driving. Coney Island had come into the touring plan because Linda had asked about beaches. Originally we were going to take a day and go to the Jersey Shore, but then decided Coney Island would be fun, and of course we must eat at Nathan’s Hot Dogs. I found that things didn’t really open until noon-the aquarium opened at 10 AM, we left NJ about 10:45 AM. We had the hot dogs and they were great. We walked to the beach and put our feet in the water. It’s really kind of amazing to think of a beach in New York City. It was also amazing how incredibly crowded the beach was for so early in the morning. We washed off our feet with a hose that was there and walked up and down the boardwalk watching the cute kids and saw a couple little dogs. We looked at the rides which weren’t operating yet and said to each other-wow that is high-I am glad you don’t care if we don’t go on rides. DH was on a mission to buy a replacement for a baseball cap he had that said Brooklyn. We decided that since we had such a great driver, and he was willing to do it again, we should go ahead and head into Manhattan. We had bought -one-ONE ‘large‘ soda. All three of us drank as much as we could of it and threw about half of it away. It was HUGE!!!!!!!!! We met DH who had been unable to find the ball cap.
We could see the Statue of Liberty on this approach to the city as we drove across the Brooklyn Bridge. We parked in Lower Manhattan this time expecting to get a little better parking rate (still $42 but at least this was for the whole day). We decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. This part of Manhattan is not as easy to navigate as midtown, but not too bad for a couple of reasons. 1) It really is pretty much a ‘square grid’ in that the streets mostly stay at right angles to one another, but it is kind of ‘tilted’ because lower Manhattan turns a little. 2) There are very noticeable landmarks you can see from the ground. The Court House (has a golden top)-is closer to the East River, The Woolworth Building -is in the middlish off of Broadway and and of course the Freedom Tower-is toward the Hudson. If I were to mention another landmark, it would be a personal one. When I was searching for a temporary apartment for DH in 2004-2005, 9-11 was very fresh in my mind. His job was in Brooklyn. I found this apartment on Park Row and was looking for information about the area. St. Paul’s Chapel would be the other ‘landmark‘ I would mention. I remember reading that despite debris and damage everywhere not only was St. Paul’s Chapel not destroyed, but none of the graves in the graveyard were damaged by flying debris. This is remarkable considering the proximity. So I chose DH’s apartment right across the street from St. Paul’s chapel. Having ‘lived‘ down there-he pretty much lived there while my daughter finished school and we looked for a house and we visited him every weekend, makes it not to hard for even me to navigate, but I do find myself looking up for landmarks more often than analyzing the streets.
One word-ok many words-one rant about maps. To skip my rant about maps go to the next star. I use AAA series New York City, New York. It is very detailed, but also very cumbersome. The print is small and, I just started wearing reading glasses, but even with my reading glasses I had trouble reading it. Although Brittany could see it just fine. I would point-we should be here-does this say blah blah street? Anyway, if you have this just keep turning it over and over there is an inset that has from the Battery (Which is down -town-don’t forget) to the transverse road through Central Park which is about 65th street. Some of the other maps that you can pick up (for free) either at the information booth at Grand Central, at the Visitor’s information center at Times Square or various other places in the city are definitely worth taking, but I still like to have my back up map. For example, the map I have which says subway/theater map is great to say-ok I want to take the 4,5 or 6 uptown from where I am, but I can’t read any of the streets in this part of Lower Manhattan. My ‘Grand Central Neighborhood Map & Guide‘ on paper was my main go to for getting out of Grand Central. it even has buildings marked in 3-D style graphics and has a little guide that tells you what shops are where like the map of your local mall would have. I THINK you can even get to this in an interactive way on the web now. Actually this map that says ‘Official NYC map (mine says fall/winter 2004-2005) DOES have Vanderbilt Avenue written there, but I think the words are actually longer than the street. If you already have tickets for a play, go ahead and pick up a free brochure in any hotel about the play-there is an inset map showing the location of the theater. Do not hesitate to pick up a City Guide or NYC Official Visitor Guide especially if you are going to Macy’s. Take the ad to the visitors center INSIDE Macy’s to pick up your discount coupon. There are some things you can get mailed to you ahead of time by visiting ILoveNY.com
If you want to purchase a map, My Rand McNally (1997) map has an inset of this part of Lower Manhattan (from Tribeca to Financial District and over to the South Street Seaport-it even shows St. Paul’s Chapel as a Landmark too.) that is very easy to read with or without my glasses. It has an inset of Midtown listing banks and parking. A highway map of the boroughs-not incl Staten Island, a full page of Manhattan with the cute little 3-d style graphics and if I look really closely I can read the streets. A subway map and guides with telephone numbers, grid locations and address for Nightlife, Restaurants, & Hotels. Mine has one small tear in it but appears to be on ‘normal’ paper. Not too bad for something from 1997!!!! I carry all these in my backpack and use each of them.
Thank you for listening to our very important message about maps. You will soon be returned to the regularly scheduled trip report.

[Colexis Mom]

What a great time you guys are having!

[Kelly66]

My DH didn’t have to consult a map to get us to the Brooklyn Bridge, but walking over there was painfully slow to me. I usually fuss at DH for walking too fast through the city, zig-zagging past little old ladies and young mothers. However if you get into a groove going up an Avenue in Midtown, walking fast enough, you can just keep going and never have to stop at a crosswalk. We hike at about 3.5 mph, and I would say a true New Yorker’s pace in the city is 4.0 mph. DH pegs it at about 3.7, and he is usually right. Anyway, on the way to the bridge I couldn’t believe how slowly DH was going in the lead. I suppose he was just trying not to loose them and give them a chance to ogle at buildings. But when we got to the bridge and I took the lead, I was going about 3.8 mph when I could up the hill. My guests kept up fine and didn’t complain, but our legs are going to look so pretty. At first I couldn’t figure out why people coming toward us wouldn’t move over. Then I realized it is a bike lane, and the pedestrian walkway is very narrow-idealized for one pedestrian to pass another, not for three people. Regular New York Bicyclists were assertively saying, ‘Coming through the Bike Lane. Stay in the pedestrian lane’ Some were ringing a bell and not saying anything, all of which I had seen before. What I hadn’t seen before were the new Citi Bikes. Citi Bike | Your bike sharing system in New York City
Now I had heard a few weeks before that they are really cracking down in the city on bike laws. My morning news program from the city was saying something like it was bad enough that bicyclists weren’t following the rules but now with so many more and some people not understanding the rules it has become a huge problem. I didn’t really see any problems except I must say that I appreciated the assertiveness of the ‘regular’ New Yorkers on their own bikes ‘hollering’ at us to keep us safely out of the bike lane. There was one portion of the bridge that was being sandblasted and the view was blocked off, but there were plenty of other places that the view was awesome. I do remember saying when I walked through the other section on the way back that was being painted, that if I were riding a bike I would hold my breath the whole time! We picked a fabulous time to go. We walked at a good clip. DH bought me some water from vendors on the bridge. The temperature was cool enough. I have tried this when the winter wind was wicked and it was cold and painful and I got wind burn. I have tried this in the middle of July before when it was so hot that I had to stop because I was so red. I had encouraged my guests to bring refillable water bottles and everybody drank at least a bottle on the way. Walking over at a good clip is fun, and then we can ooh and aaah on the way back. Of course DH knew which building was which.
We got on the Subway down Chambers Street because I wanted to take them to the 81st Street station by the American Museum of Natural History because that has such intricate tile work. We bought One MetroCard for $40 and swiped it for everyone. (over the course of a trip I bought another one and refilled one at $40 each, but we have much left on the last one). We did this because we can always use them up. I think they also offer unlimited ride day or week cards, but I don’t know how that works, you probably can’t swipe those back to back for more than one person? Used to be you would see old (empty) cards all over the floor in the Subway, but now the card itself costs a $1.00 so people are refilling them. Once we got on the Platform for the A train, I checked the schedule on my App. I bought the one called CityTransit. You may choose your line and scroll down to see ‘when‘ it stops certain places. By 'when'- it will be a full dot for full-time (always stops) an empty dot for........so on and so forth, but I found out that the one we wanted didn’t stop where we wanted to go from where we were on weekends. So DH made another plan. We got off the A,C, or E which are blue on the map a few blocks from Columbus Circle. Now, I am told that ‘real‘ New Yorkers don’t really call them the blue line or the orange line when they speak to each other, but I have heard them say it when they are giving directions to me or other tourists.
Anyway-we started walking and DH and I started bickering. I wanted to go to the bathroom -’at Columbus Circle’. DH told me there isn’t a bathroom in the middle of Columbus Circle. Then he started talking about the Time Warner Building, which I didn’t know was the place where I wanted to go to the bathroom. He asked me if it was an emergency and I said no, so we walked on into Central Park. I wanted to go ahead and do Central Park because it was supposed to rain later in the week. We talked about how Central Park was designed by the same guy who designed the park in Louisville, KY. We discussed how the previous day when we drove ‘through‘ the park, we really didn’t see it, we kind of went ‘under’ it. We noted how the bridges looked the same, the paths meandered instead of being linear and the big rocks were placed purposefully to the rest of the park, just as it is in the Park in KY. On the way there, I had mentioned that Brittany enjoyed the Artists in the parks in Europe. We were planning to go to Strawberry Fields, but we saw a restroom, but there was a very long line. DH suggested that I stand in line and he take them to Strawberry fields. Linda looked surprised and said, “Is she serious?” I thought it was a great idea.
As they went to Strawberry fields, I listened to a couple (of men) sitting on a bench next to the line, “if she is in a city where she doesn’t know what the rules are then she should just try to keep up instead of sitting down and sucking her thumb.” I really hoped they were talking about an adult! They were very angry. The line did take a long time, but the restroom was adequate. Afterward I sat down and pulled a map out of my backpack. I had printed a map of central park from the computer. I realized that the place where the artists are they could get to from where they were, but by the time they came back to get me and we all went there, the artists would be packed up and gone. As if he could read my mind, DH called and said he would meet me at Trump Tower. I thought, I can be there in 8 minutes, then I thought oh maybe 15 minutes. It took me 13 minutes, but I was walking like a New Yorker, not a tourist, so I didn’t really expect them to be there before I was. I also thought, how can my DH possibly get there and know that without a map. Apparently he was using Siri, which Linda called his, ‘lady friend‘ Apparently they were making fun of him for having to use it. I have been lost for hours in Central Park not even being able to tell which is East Side or West Side or Uptown or Downtown. Central Park is not linear! Even with a map we were a little pressed to find the Statue of Balto on a previous trip, but we made it!
Anyway, DH got them to Strawberry Fields and they got a little teary. Then DH managed to get them to the artists before all of them packed up. DH already knew where the artists would be, not Siri. As I passed The Plaza I thought, we should go to FAO Schwartz after our ice cream at TrumpTowers. But when I got to Trump Towers the ice cream shop and the little eating/deli place were both closed. I asked the guy and he said the seating area was open until ten, but I texted DH just so they would know. He let me know they wanted to stop at the Apple Store, had left there and were on the way. I watched the clock, although sitting at the bottom of the giant waterfall at Trump Towers is a FINE place to do that.
Walk right into Trump towers, someone may check your bag and there is a sign that says you need a badge or ID or something to go up the elevators, but keep going straight and take the escalator down to the seating area at the bottom of the waterfall. As you step off the escalator turn left, then right then the restrooms are right down the hall. I think this was the first place I ever saw automatic water on the sinks. The coral colored marble may seem dated, but is still spectacular!!! Ok so by now people watching is getting old with the ice cream shop being closed, and I realized that it has taken them longer to get here from the Apple Store than it took me to get there from Central Park (13 minutes). YOU’RE FIRED.
I am leaving Trump Towers when I get a text saying they went to FAO Schwartz, ok so, it’s only a block I will go down there. I see them on the way back and just start walking with them. DH mentions that Linda is limping. At Trump Towers she asks if Chris told me about her blister. We discussed going home/and or taking a taxi, but Linda says she is good to walk. Brittany suggests she walk on the back of her shoe. We decide to walk to Grand Central, but DH insisted on a Taxi. I mentioned we should cross the street- silly me -it’s a one way street. My guests enjoyed the flair of my husband hailing a Taxi. Linda had bought her other daughter (who was at the Ohio State Fair with her father) a birthday present which was small, but all the bags they had were big. Linda sat in the middle in the back of the taxi and said she had no anxiety because she couldn’t see over her big red bag. Brittany and I appreciated how calmly my DH had driven and DH hung on for his life in the front. It was a $6.00 fare & DH gave him a ten-I don’t always expect change.
GRAND CENTRAL STATION- We told our guests the story about how we had been telling our daughter a story about how it looked in 1989. There was only one set of steps on the side, the windows were boarded over with faded billboards, there was one bum...roaming around, it smelled like the inside of a dirty restroom, and the whole ceiling was black. As we said this, a guy came up behind us and said, 'Yes, when we cleaned it, we left a black spot there so we would always remember.' DH remembered exactly where the spot was and pointed it out to our guests. The cool part of the story is that a couple months later, we saw a program on PBS about the revitalization of Grand Central Station with a man talking about the restoration of the ceiling and how they left the black spot there. It was the same guy who had spoken to us!!!!!
More to come about Grand Central Station. ‘Tomorrow’ Day three, Sunday, Kel Drives, Yankee Stadium, Empire State Building, Times Square Visitors Information.

[Cam22]

You all are covering quite a bit of ground, but it all sounds fun. Your taxi ride reminded me of one we took Chicago a decade ago.

[chezp]

Wow, you certainly have covered a heck of a lot of ground already so far in this day! Do you have any idea how far you walked in total?

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow, you certainly have covered a heck of a lot of ground already so far in this day! Do you have any idea how far you walked in total?

Actually I MAY. I was wearing my Nike Fuel Band, but I think I took it off and put it in my purse in the morning at Coney Island, and didn't put it back on my wrist, so this may be and Underestimate. It says I walked 9.0 miles, 22,036 steps, burned 1,006 calories and had 8 hours and 49 minutes of active time. However, it gave me 3,646 of Fuel points and most other days I was pushing 5,000, so I do think it didn't register a bunch because it was on my purse instead of my wrist. (For example the day before was 5.1 miles and 5,761 fuel points, and the following day was 6.1 miles and 4,539 points, so I am thinking it may have the miles right-even not being on my wrist-how great is that?)

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by Cam22

You all are covering quite a bit of ground, but it all sounds fun. Your taxi ride reminded me of one we took Chicago a decade ago.

Yes Chicago is quite a city too. Actually -speaking of pretty legs, when I was in Chicago we were on business and I actually wore heels while I walked through the city. I was so skinny back then that by the end of the week you really could see a difference in my calves. I don't consider walking in heels in NYC, I guess that's the difference between the EL and the Subway. I have ruined heels before getting them caught in those grates in NYC. The pic we took at Wicked I have on heels, but before we left the hotel in my sneakers Linda said, "you look so pretty......from the knees up."

[Kelly66]

ADDENDUM-well I forgot a whole section in day two there-After we walked the Brooklyn bridge, but before we went to Central Park, since we had my DH as tour guide, he led us through Greenwich Village. Apparently Anderson Cooper has a refurbished farm house in Greenwich Village. Now, you need to understand that Linda like celebrities and keeps up with the current goings on in the world. While I would rarely recognize anyone famous and usually when someone says the name of a celebrity an ordinary person would know, I just say, who is that? One time Linda was talking to me on the phone and said, ‘Do you know who Angelina Jolie is?” and I said ‘yes‘ she said, “Kelly you aren’t even listening to me, you don’t know who Angelina Jolie is,” I said, yeah the other day we were in ‘the city‘ (New York City) and everyone was saying Angelina Jolie is walking down the street, and I was saying, who is Angelina Jolie, and they answered me and so now I know.
When we got off the subway, DH consulted a map and then googled Anderson Cooper’s firehouse, and he led us there quite easily. Now when I say he consulted a map, he just wanted to get his bearings, he had the rest of the map in his head. Which I CAN do in other parts of the city, where it is a grid, but here the streets aren’t all perpendicular to each other so it was amazing he could navigate as well as he did. We got many pictures in front of the firehouse. There was a sign that said, ‘do not block-active driveway.’ DH decided that was brilliant because you have a driveway and indoor parking. DH said it was on the market $23,500 to rent. Linda was under the impression that was the rich part of town.
We then decided that NY pizza was in order. We asked Siri and there were 15 pizza places within a couple blocks. The first one we entered looked like it didn’t have a public restroom so we passed. I don’t remember if this one where we went was on Siri, but we saw it and went inside. DH asked somebody something and he said, ‘wait to my server talk to you in English.’ DH works in Italy often and probably could have spoken to him in Italian, but we just waited. The server was excellent. The food was impressive and fabulous, but I must say that the restroom was outstanding!!! I came back and said, oh you just have to go to the restroom. It seemed like the restaurant was a new place.
Our guests were told they just have to have NY Pizza, and DH explained that the water from the Croton Reservoir makes particularly good pizza dough. They drank the water and didn’t think it tasted special, but I must admit, the Pizza we had in Westchester was just to-die-for, and I could never resist it. Now here in Jersey we do have better pizza from the chains, but I do think it is something about the water and the pizza dough in NYC.
We discussed the kind of pizza we would get sausage, but at the last moment, DH saw and ordered a small Arugula and Parmesan pizza as well. Now apparently this pizza cost more than the large pizza and was significantly smaller, but it was so good, I admit, all of that pizza got eaten. This was the first time DH had seen this offered in the states, and the two pizzas for the four of us was way too much food. We got a Caprese salad for an appetizer. It was perfect, there was plenty of basil, the balance of everything was perfect. The only problem was that there were four of us and Linda spent so much time in the restroom washing her hands that there was this one piece of Caprese left that we were trying to save for her. I took half of the fifth one and DH took the other half. We were drooling over the one meant for Linda and didn’t know if she would even want it. The pizza came before she got back but she was still able to eat and enjoy the Caprese salad because they put the pizza up on those elevated trays. We had a large table and the restaurant was red and white and so nicely decorated. I make it sound so fancy, but there was a bar where one could just get a slice. It wasn’t packed when we were there.
The bill was $78 and we paid $90 with tip. Each of us had a soda, well, DH ordered me S. Pellegrino while I was in the restroom. AWESOME!!! Brittany ordered a soda here too, and often only got water other places.
While we were sitting at the table I kept trying to read the window for the name of the place, but all that was prominent was Pizzeria, but they were so smart-I picked up a business card on the way out and now I can tell you it is Susanna Pizzeria w/ locations in Verona, Mantova & New York. It is at 182 Bleecker Street. The phone is 646-678-3466 just in case you are reading this from your NY apartment in Greenwich Village and have a craving for Arugula and Parmesan Pizza, delivery is available after 6 PM. It is open Monday-Sunday 11 AM-12 am, and you can check it out at SUSANNANYC.com I haven’t gone to that link yet myself, but that is what it says on the card.
It was THEN that we took the subway uptown and toured Central Park,......fast forward to Grand Central station after we looked at the part of the ceiling they kept dirty. From the steps where we were standing, it was on our left at the top it looks like a rectangle, part of the white part and part of the decorated ceiling was left dirty. We discussed how it looks like such a tiny spot, but it is really something like 2 X 3 feet.
Linda wanted an icy beverage, so we took them downstairs to where all the food places are. Everyone was pretty much selling bottles, no fountain drinks. So we compromised and got a cup of ice at Juniors and a bottle of Mt. Dew.
{Kel’s Sidebar-one time my daughter and I had just sat down at Juniors in Grand Central there when we heard the fire alarm. No one else reacted at all, but that wasn’t going to stop us-if there is a fire alarm going off we were going to leave. We hadn’t ordered yet and we left. The sunny side of the story (beside we never heard there was any problem) was that we decided to go to the box office for Wicked 30 minutes prior to the show and got a couple great Orchestra row seats. Some of those seats that they call ‘partial view’ are less expensive on the end of the row. I think that show there was a pole in front of us, but the tickets were only $125 or something a piece. There are some less than $$ that even-as we shall see later in this trip report-we now return you to the current TR}
So we passed a few stores and discussed shopping, but decided it would be expensive. We took the four train to Fulton Street and walked a couple blocks to the car. We made it home but took it slowly and carefully after we got off the highway-driving Waterloo Road with the bright lights on to beware of any deer or bear or whatever other creatures may be lurking in our neighborhood. Did I say parking was $42 again, but at least this was several hours longer. Sunday when I drive and I say I only paid $28 for the WHOLE day, it’s not because I am smarter than my DH, it is just where he told me to park and where he usually parks.

[chezp]

Wow, that was a lot of walking!

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates!

[mfirst]

Wow that was a lot of walking! My brother has lived in Brooklyn for 15 years now and STILL gets lost - even with Siri and Google maps so it was quite an adventure touring with him. I have to agree that the drivers there are very aggressive - I was more than happy to be a passenger any time we needed to be in the car!

I'm glad you took such great notes! I didn't, though I recognize many of the streets/areas you've toured. We also got very, very lucky and were able to find a parking spot on the street in Brooklyn - never had to pay to park the entire time we were there.

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by mfirst

Wow that was a lot of walking! My brother has lived in Brooklyn for 15 years now and STILL gets lost - even with Siri and Google maps so it was quite an adventure touring with him. I have to agree that the drivers there are very aggressive - I was more than happy to be a passenger any time we needed to be in the car!

I'm glad you took such great notes! I didn't, though I recognize many of the streets/areas you've toured. We also got very, very lucky and were able to find a parking spot on the street in Brooklyn - never had to pay to park the entire time we were there.

It is nice to be with someone who directs you and you can kind of not think too much about it. Apparently even if it means you walk a couple blocks out of your way-in which case your legs will be so pretty. And it is and adventure as you said. It is always good to have a positive outlook.
If you are planning a trip over a month in advance there is a service called Big Apple Greeter where you can tour this way even if you don't know a New Yorker. http://iloveny.com/what-to-do/see-an...e-greeter/4764

I have never done this. The one time we were planning in advance we couldn't get the schedules to coincide (because I had to do house hunting in Westchester). I trust them because I found it in I Love NY.
That is so awesome that you found a place to park. I hear on my morning news all the time 'alternate side of the street parking is still in effect' Does that mean you needed to move the car daily?

[Kelly66]

This morning since the news is talking about threats, I do want to mention that I did designate a place in Westchester (since I was familiar with it) on the Hudson or the Harlem lines to meet in case, for some reason, the city had to be evacuated and the Metro North transit system was working. I once had someone once tell me there was concern with a city that you have to go through a tunnel or across a bridge to leave.
But New York City seems so safe to me. Linda has been my best friend for 30 years, and in the city I see things through her eyes. I notice the police presence and all of the equipment they have at their disposal. There are mounted police on horses. There are police on bicycles. There are two police officers in each car. There were many pairs of walking police officers in Times Square. I remember once at the Macy’s day parade seeing a police officer with a huge backpack full of gear that we guessed weight about 40% of his bodyweight. There were police vehicles that even Linda couldn’t name. I did mention that she had studied criminal justice, but did I mention that she had also been a police officer for the city of Louisville (KY) and finished very high on the confidence course at the Police Academy? But she has been ‘just a mom’ for several years. There are signs everywhere that say-i’f you see something say something.‘ New Yorkers do and attempts have been thwarted this way.
Linda and her keen powers of observation used to take me to department stores and point out to me the undercover security. One time in NY on the subway, we got on in Lower Manhattan at Chambers Street and a guy was lying under a newspaper. At 14th Street he sat up and put his newspaper in his back pocket. At 34th Street he pulled up his pants and turned around his baseball cap. By 42nd street he tucked in his shirt and was sitting up straight and reading his newspaper. We wanted to get off at the Museum of Natural History (this was over a decade ago) and this nice young man told us which stop it was. My daughter (AFTER we got off the train) said, ‘why did you talk to that guy he was creepy?’ I said, he hasn’t been creepy since we hit midtown. I suspect he was an undercover police officer.' But it just goes to show, that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
I also had a plan to meet somewhere in each part of town, Lower Manhattan, lower part of Midtown West side, upper part of Midtown East Side, in case we got separated and cell phones weren’t working. The nearest five star hotel.
I have been with my husband and my daughter when they were able to get on the subway and the doors closed before I could get on the train. We just met where we were going. They were on the platform waiting for me. But honestly sometimes I wasn’t quite sure where we were getting off a train when I got on it with my guests.
The yellow lines R, N & Q (and possibly orange B,D,F,M) don’t have something that the other lines do. On the other lines there are indicators on the train that light up when you have passed a stop. It shows which direction the train is going (relative to the map-which is really more like a line/list of stops) uptown or downtown. It was brought to my attention by my guest that the arrow wasn’t pointing the direction the train was traveling. Now there are subway maps on those yellow line trains so you can see which is the next stop, but on this trip one time I just missed getting off because I didn’t see where we were until it was too late.
We were on the subway at five o’clock and I kind of expected it to be inundated with people at that time, but DH says that is more the lines that stop at Wall Street.
I do think it is a good idea to have a designated place to meet in case you get separated, but Linda just thought she should go to the NYPD. Linda is a very trusting optimistic person and is the perfect kind of friend for someone like me to have. She made it a point, before we left, to stop a pair of police officers just to say 'thank you for your service and all that you do to keep us safe.'