Monday 4th April 2011
Woke at 5am and couldn’t get back to sleep so took a shower and decided to rearrange my baggage which now looks like twice as much as I actually need – will have to work out some kind of plan to box up some kit and FedEx it back home.
At around 7.30am we went out into the wonderfully wacky wild world that calls itself New York and decided that, in fact, it is a wonderfully tacky world inhabited by people who hardly ever smile and seem to take life far too seriously. Being, as we are so close to a major train station (Penn Station is opposite our hotel) we also get to glimpse more than our fair share of folk who are down on their luck and are most definitely not living the American Dream,
Anyway, we brave these negatives and find fun out there too although it is entirely of our own making and not shared by the natives, We made our way up Broadway from Macy’s to Times Square where we spent a little time people watching and then made our way past the Good Morning America cameras to be confronted by stage door johnnies waiting for a glimpse of Lady Gaga who was appearing that morning. A large limo pulled up just as we walked past and we watched as not Lady Gaga but some old guy called Ventura got out of the car and was obviously looking jaded from some substance or another. We backtracked south down Fifth Avenue until we ngot to Macy’s at 34th St. and then we headed east to the foot of the magnificent Empire State Building which, when I was born, was the World’s tallest man made structure. Built in 1931 it is the epitome of art deco and the inside was just as magnificent as the outside. The ride to the observatory on the 86th floor was superfast and the views spectacular if not a little on the windy side.
We found a Starbucks, legendary not for its coffee but its free wi-fi, on the ground floor of the Empire State and set about looking up a few things for onward travel. We also found the location of West Marine who were the only dealers in New York who had one of the new Spot Messenger Connect devices which I was desperate to get my hands upon. We got to the shop on East 37th Street just after it had opened and I managed to bag the only one in stock – a wonderful device that sends a GPS location to friends and family and tracks your journey but also allows you to summon help in an emergency. What’s so special about this new generation of Spot Messenger is the fact that it will also allow me, in conjunction with my i-pod touch, to turn the device into a satellite phone - how cool is that !
We made a few enquiries both in person and on the internet about our journey south to Baltimore and the winner by about $160 was the Boltbus which at $31 beat Amtrak’s $196 hands down especially as the journey time isn’t significantly different so tomorrow’s job will be making the booking. The plan is to make our way to Baltimore, stay for a day or so, leave the major part of our luggage with the hotel and then hire a car and do some exploring before returning back to the same hotel at bike pick up time in about 9 days time.
The last few hectic days have finally caught up with me and I hit the sack at around 7pm.
At the top of the Empire State Building
Times Square
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