Well, after getting back into work, and having to catch up with everything that?s been going on, I finally have a few moments to sit down and do a real posting of how the trip went. No pictures in this post but trust me, I?ll have more up here if I can ever get my typing and coordination right. Man my typing is bad this morning. Wow. Anyways, here?s the story of NYC 2K4.
So we left Friday right after work and headed out on the road. I gotta say, it was relatively painless since I have done that trip a hundred times. There was very little excitement on the way there but we finally made it to Bangor a little earlier than expected. Tamara thought she was going crazy as she started to see colored lights in the sky. Turns out it was fireworks for a festival going on in Bangor. We had a bit of a difficult time finding the hotel there but after some directions, and driving around, we finally got our asses into the hotel. It was nice to sleep and just relax before taking on the rest of the trip.
We left early the following morning and headed out. It was hot but not too bad and thank God for air-conditioning. The trip was good but we hit a few road delays that added a lot of unnecessary time to our trip. I got a little bit worried when we first started hitting areas that I had not been to but that soon passed. We got as far as The Bronx before the city traffic really hit. I had wanted to be at the hotel by 6 but traffic wasn?t going to let that happen. We took a few wrong turns and eventually made it to Queens blvd but were on the wrong side. We could see the hotel but couldn?t turn around to get to the other side. Trust me, it?s not as simple as it sounds. We did however go for a little off drive which resulted in us getting directions from a nice driver at a gas station. We headed back and made it to the hotel.
We unpacked and relaxed for quite awhile and then headed out. We walked up Queens Blvc and found a bunch of little shops all over the place. We stopped into this one magic store which was going to have a show at 9pm. We figured we?d head out and come back to see the show. By the time 9pm rolled along, we were back at the magic shop and people were cramming to get inside. The show was very small but very cool. Some local magicians showcasing their talent. One guy spit and swallowed fire and another guy did these neat ball tricks. Both me & Tamara ended up on stage at one point and I had what was supposed to be my underwear appear between two hanker chiefs. I also participated in this weird trick where me and 3 other guys sat on chairs then laid back and eventually they removed all 4 chairs and we were still sitting there. Pretty neat but that trick did a number on my back. I was hurting bad when I left. We got back to the hotel, watched a bit of tube, then crashed for the night. Sunday would bring new adventures.
We got up Sunday morning to find it raining out which was a bummer but we decided to head out anyway. Sunday we were aiming to go to the NYC Aquarium which is located beside Coney Island in Brooklyn. Tamara experienced her first subway ride and we got there in about 45 minutes. I didn?t realize we?d be spending so much time on the subway but it was ok because the cars were air-conditioned and it made for a great break between visits to different places.
We got to the aquarium and bought a membership which gave us free access to the zoo which we were planning to go to anyway. We went inside the aquarium, paid our dues, and man, it was all worth it. What an amazing place. You first enter and you see this giant tank with fish and sting rays swimming around. A few small sharks are added in for good taste. VERY nice. We wandered around that area looking at fish and a lot of neat stuff.
We got some food then checked out the sea lions, seals, penguins, and headed downstairs to check out a bunch of corals and other underwater stuff. This is where Tamara totally went nuts. They had an entire area filled with sea horses. I had never seen one up close and Tamara had thought they were imaginary, like a unicorn. They were very surreal to look at but very cool. We also saw an underwater view of the sea lions, seals, and penguins. That was awesome. By the time we were checking all of this out, the rain had stopped and it was starting to get very warm.
We found our way to a huge shark tank which had some massive sharks and tortoises in. Man, they were huge. I took a nice picture of Tamara with a huge tortoise behind her and she got a nice one of me with the sharks. It was way cool.
We also managed to see a lot of odd types of fish, blind fish, colored fish, lionfish, and plenty of other stuff but when we finally made it to the ?stinger? attraction, we were surprised by how wicked the jelly fish looked. Jelly fish, which have all seen and most of us been stung by were a major attraction in this part of the aquarium. A lot of different kinds and man, they all looked way cool. It was absolutely amazing. Tamara took a load of pictures of those and it was way neat to see some of them. It?s neat how they look usually I just run as I am scared of getting stung but it was way cool to see them up close.
There were a lot of different aquatic plants, and various fish, a few weird looking eels but not much else that I can think of right now. The aquarium was a great way to start the day off and so since it was right beside the Coney Island amusement park Astroland, we figured since we were in the area, we?d go check it out.
Basically, it?s the same kind of thing you?d expect. A bunch of rides, games, and food. At first, we weren?t going to stay. Just check out some things and then maybe come back but we decided we wanted to try the roller coaster. Tamara was ready. I was ready. We bought our tickets, checked our bags, and got on. We were not expecting what we got but man was it awesome. The ride starts with a long and slow climb upwards and then when it hits the peak, it goes straight down and you think the whole thing is going to fall forwards but it doesn?t and it just goes insanely fast. It then goes up and down a few times and then the ride is over. It only lasts about 2 minutes but what a few minutes those were. Tamara screamed and screamed and I yelled a bit but laughed more than anything.
We got off the ride and got offered a ride again for $5 but Tamara wanted to wait a round. We stood and watched the ride go around once and then Tamara was ready for round 2. This time she wasn?t as scared but still freaked a bit and I continued to laugh. Man, it was insane. A few times I felt my body lift up off the chair and then slam down when we headed back down. Frig it was wicked.
By the time it was over, we sat down across the street and Tamara was just shaking. We sat and relaxed and tried to figure out what we were going to do to finish out the day. We talked a bit and I decided I wanted to stay in the area and check things out since we were already there and I didn?t want to have to come back again. We did the bumper cars which was a lot of fun. Tamara nailed me a few good times. We also went on their Ferris wheel which was kind of lame but gave a nice view of the area from the air. We also gambled a bunch of quarters away in the arcade and had some food.
We sort of pondered what we would do after Coney Island and we figured we might as well go into the city and try and see the Empire State Building. Although we got to see the city at night, we had to wait about 2 hours in line to get up top. Between the lines to get on the 2 sets of elevators, and getting tickets, and all of it, we did a lot of waiting just to go up top. It was a nice view but unfortunately digital cameras do not do very well in excessive dark so the pictures did not come out as well. We?ll have to see how Tamara?s film camera did.
We headed back to the hotel and made a stop at the Pop Diner which was just blocks from the hotel. We were greeted by what I am sure was a ?made man?. I?m sure this restaurant was run by the mafia judging by the people at the bar and how the feel and look of the place was. We got good service and good food then retired to the hotel room where we died, until the next morning.
Monday morning met us with good weather and a desire to check out the zoo. Hopped on the subway and made it there only to take a minor detour getting there. Once there, we took the tram tour of Asia and saw some tigers and other cool animals. A lot of unique species of deer. Nothing great but still cool. We then visited a bunch of other parts of the park including the dark area where they kept a lot of bats and night creatures, another area where there were aquatic birds, we saw some bears and a bunch of other animals. Tamara wanted to go to the butterfly exhibit which I wasn?t keen on but am glad I went. It was WAY awesome. All these butterflies around and they were very pretty. Lots of flowers and stuff. I was glad to see it. We took another tram across the zoo which gave us an aerial view which was cool but we were pretty tired so we headed back into the city.
We decided we were going to try and get tickets to see Blue Man Group that night but it was not meant to be. There were only 2 seats available and they were not together so we bought tickets for the following night, and headed back to the hotel where we had supper in the restaurant and got to bed early.
The next day started with us heading down towards NBC studios to take the tour. It was very cool for me. I had wanted to take that tour for a long time and I was pretty happy with the results. We saw the sets of Dateline, NBC Nightly News, and Saturday Night Live. We learned a bunch of things about behind the scenes and even got this cheesy video of us being interviewed by Jay Leno. That was a lot of fun. We had some lunch and went exploring. We took the tram over to Roosevelt Island which gave us a cool view of the city both from the island and from the tram. Very nice hidden spot in NYC. We went for a horse & buggy ride through Central Park and then headed up to Times Square to do some souvenir shopping. We bought a pile of t-shirts and other keepsakes and then hopped on the subway for the Blue Man Group.
We got to the Astor Place Theatre and let me tell you. The place was small. Small seats and a lot smaller than other shows I have gone. We were asked to tie streamers to our head and one guy was asked to hang onto a box of chocolates until part way through the show.
The show started with a bunch of lines on a pixel-board which told us about people in the audience and got us to wish someone a happy birthday and a bunch of other things. The show then went to 3 screens showing the shadows of what was the blue men playing drums. The show was wicked. A lot of color, a lot of wicked music with a cool band, and the blue men made us laugh a lot with their unique, and truly indescribable performance. With the men climbing on top of the audience, hanging people upside down to paint with them (not paint them but paint WITH them, as in use their body to paint), and filling the room with toilet paper. The show ended and we got our photos taken with one of the blue men and man, it was an amazing show. We headed back to the hotel to pack.
The following day, we got up early (5:30am) and headed out. We were on the road by 6am and had relatively no hold ups the whole way back. It was a good solid drive home but we were totally exhausted. I came home and went to bed. It was insane.
I gotta say that this was a wicked trip for me even though I?ve been to that city a dozen times. Saw a lot of stuff I never saw before and got to see things differently this time with having Tamara with me. I must say though, my body took a beating as it was hard doing all that walking and standing and I think if I go back again, I won?t be driving there and I?ll be making sure to pace myself a little better. I?m paying for it today.
Regardless folks, it was an awesome trip and I hope to have pictures up here within the next few days. Stay tuned!
