N Y C

NYC trip-July 14, 2016

I obviously didn't sleep too well. The prior days activities, coupled with anxiety of visiting the big apple for the first time with kids, gave me a little nausea and some stomach upset. The constant laughing at 03:00 and what seemed to be continual minivan door slamming from other sites added to this effect.  It was also warm at 72 degrees, with no breeze, and humid.  I know how NY can be in the summer time.  Forgotten were just 5 days earlier, temps in the low 60s. 

I was up from about 2:30 to 4AM, waking up with the sun at 5:30. Avery was already dressing for her trip. Everyone up bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to go.  We were at the terminal getting on the Metro by 6:50 AM.  As we got on the train, I suddenly realized that there were not too many seats.  Rows of two on one side, an aisle, then three on the other made me realize that we as a family were not going to be sitting together. I also realized this after I sat next to a large man, who took up 1.5 seats of the two seat row.  It was only a 30 minute trip, right?  GT, Jen and Avery also sat with different people at the other end of the car.  Not long into the trip, i noticed we were on the 'quiet cars'. Everyone was either sleeping or trying to. Headphones, shut eyes, and open mouths were the norm here. Chalk this down as lesson learned. 

A single stop in Harlem before we got to Grand Central station. Basically a painless ride.  LUckily I was able to send Avery a text telling her and Jen not to get off at the first stop! After a few texts with her I turned off my phone and we all got off once we got to Grand Central. 

GT was NOT amused when he first got to NYC.  "Dad i am having trouble breathing, there are way too many people, and I haven't seen a single cool car yet".  Well son, we've been in NYC for about 20 minutes. Please be patient. 

Once again unprepared, we arrived in NYC with no maps. Not a single map. As we exited the station huddled together, a lady outside was offering free hand held fans as a promotion.  I was the only one that took a fan. Glad I did because i went to her and asked how to get to Times Square knowing it was close.  She pointed me in the right direction and we got there in no time after a quick stop at Starbucks. Lots of people. Lots. As we got closer GT noticed the GMA set, with Ginger Zee showing the weather and interviewing a kid.  We got there too late to participate, but watched from behind those who were there on time. It was pretty cool watching that.  Here are a couple of pics I was able to take in Times Square. 

behind the scenes GMA

Ginger Zee

I then realized that we were close to Central Park, so we walked there.  Gt started to calm down a little, only stating he hated NYC about 45 more time in the next fifteen minutes.  Not long after I saw the trees. We made Central Park and sat down on one of the benches to make a plan, and allow GT to calm down a little bit.  

We then decided we were going to try and visit some art and museum galleries on 59th st area.  Navigating NYC was somewhat easy, but there were a lot of stoplights, so a 3.1 mile walk thru the city took an estimated 3 hours due to streetlights--thanks google bitty for that tidbit. 

We never found the art galleries.  So we continued on.  It was still pretty early and a lot of shops weren't open.  Avery tried to get into a coach store, but for some reason no shops in NYC open til 10AM. Luckily it was only 9:30 when she tried to go. Bummer. I'm so sad she couldn't shop. No i wasn't. Since GT was still preaching how he hated NY, we stopped in the microsoft store to cool down and so he could check out the newest, latest and greatest video games.  When we left there, he started to become his old self again, but still let me know he didn't see a cool car yet and it'd been about two hours. I told him that, like shopping, most NYC'ers arent out with their fancy cars yet.  NOt two minutes later, and two blocks away, not one but TWO Lamborghini CABS sprinted by.  He was ecstatic. He lets out groans of orgasmic delight that would make Ron Jeremy proud. The kid loves his cars. NYC instantly got better and he was on the hunt to find more. The days finds consisted of an Audi R8, multiple ones, a Ferrari 308GTB (I knew that one) a million dollar Maybach 62 (that GT didn't know about, but I did) and a couple of others.  By the end of the day, GT LOVED NYC.  I'm not gonna say I told ya so, kid, but I damn TOLD YOU SO! :)

On our walk to South Manhattan (from Central park, ugh) we noticed the St patricks Cathedral. IT was open. I had to have my backpack checked, but a rejuvinated GT asked to take a couple of pics. I probably should have turned off Manual mode when he took them but they turned out OK. It's a massive older church, but not IMHO as nice as the Cathedral at Notre Dame in South Bend. We all said prayers, like we non-practicing (of late) Catholics do, and moved on, stopping at shops along the way. 

It was getting HOT in the city so we let Avery hit some stores-I wanted AC, and to notice Avery as she explored these high-end stores just to see her 'sticker-shock' expressions. $500 for a jacket mom? Really? Ha! Enjoy what you already have kid. If you want to work for these things later, you can damn sure go for that. Sky's the limit. Git some!

We were sight seeing, and after knocking out two of the five things planned we were off to check out the (exterior) of the Empire state Building. We did not hit the observatory, and I'm glad we didn't because I hadn't heard good things. What is it about everyone on every street corner trying to get you on a tour bus?  I was politely declining someone about every 45 seconds it seemed. A few quick pics of the building and the Trump tower and we worked our way toward Katz Deli b/c i was told it was good from a friend who used to live in NYC. Only 45 more minutes of walking kiddos, we'll get there and it'll tast amazing. "Look honey, there's big ben" 

I gotta say though, the mass of the buildings, and the architecture of the older buildings were nothing short of incredible. There were wonderful sights to behold on the way to Houston St. 

We finally arrived at destination three for some much needed food.  Peanut butter crackers and granola bars just weren't cutting it.  Time for the real deal--Katz's Pastrami Reuben, with Philly Cheese steaks for Jen and GT, and a pile of steak fries and a grilled cheese for Avery.  I can't state how good this sandwich was in the blog, you'll just have to take my word for it. Multiple layers of Pastrami aged in a 200 year old cellar mixed with roast beef and sauerkraut. Perfection.  Usually I'd be bloated as all getout after eating that, but after another 12 mile day in the loafers, it went down easy and gave all of us energy for the conclusion of our NYC trip.  

We still had a couple of places to visit-the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and the WTC memorial.  We viewed the Brooklyn Bridge from a far as it was close to 95 degrees and we were all bone tired from walking that day.  I snapped a pic to say I saw it, and did the same with the statue of Liberty.

GT, whom I thought would be bummed that we didn't get to see it or the inside, walked out onto the battery park deck, saw it from the distance, stated "saw it, I'm good" then sat back down.  It HAD been an exhausting week of go, go, go.  I wasn't complaining.  

Finally we hit what I wanted to see. The WTC and Memorial. What an absolutely beautiful reflecting pool, and memory of what once was. There were no smiles for me here--only reflection of that day's events. This is something that we lived through, the lives of thousands lost, the first responders lost. Something terrible that happened to people of MY generation. It was hard to grasp, especially since I've worked directly with first responders for the past 15 years, including when the planes hit.  A horrible, senseless attack, changing the world forever.  NYC did this memorial right.  I took pics and choked back tears, remembering that fateful day.

A somber end to another adventurous journey. 

NYC, we'll be back, and will come prepared next time to do some of the things we missed this trip.  You're a powerful, beautiful city.  Stay strong.  

We grabbed a cab, and quickly left grand central station, heading back to Croton.  We were all a little amped, and then realized it was pouring rain at our campsite and humid on top of that.  Florida humid. A decision was made to just load up and leave that night. We thought we'd find a spot south of NYC in a hotel for the night.  Twenty hours later we pulled in the driveway after an all night and half day drive. Was it worth it?  Yeah, I believe so after 15 VERY busy days. 

Was glad to have 3 days of recovery time after this trip.  

4400+ miles, 8 states, and a lifetime of memories. Was it worth it? It's ALWAYS worth it!

Thanks for following along. 

Goodbye Massachusetts-Team Itchyfoot LOVES you!

Cape Cod to Croton (on Hudson) Point state park--(sniff) Wed July 13, 2016

We awoke excited and ready for our finale trip--our final two days--in New York.  A 250 mile trip to Croton Point with a couple of important stops in between.  The night before, when we returned from P-town, Jen and I loaded up on groceries for the final three days of our trip to include stuff for the long journey home. We planned on eating at the Croton campground tonight and again for breakfast before heading to NYC. 

The heat returned, unfortunately--booooo. When we left, we were on a mission. Luckily, the night before I checked my FB post (once we were able to find a decent tower) and my friend reminded me of the cliff walk in Newport, RI.  It worked out perfectly as it reminded me it was on our itinerary, and a good stopping point toward our destination. I liked to call this the 'tiny-house' walk. On the contrary, the mansions were amazingly huge. Made millionaire's row in Williamsport seem like actual tiny houses.  This place was just whoa--I have no other way to describe it.  HUGE mansions--I don't think there were any under 10,000 square feet.  What was funny was the cliff walk--a national historic register public walkway for 2.4 miles in front of said mansions was supposed to be amazing, as the cliffs gave way to the rocky Atlantic Ocean below.  

It was amazing in every sense. Some paved places as in bike path type, giving way to huge flat broken boulders to the north.  I think we walked about half of it, as we entered right near the middle. I forgot my hat, and the sun was out. It was hot on the rocks. I got my scalp burnt somewhat but it didn't matter though, as I got plenty of pics of the Lutz kid-climbers, who (scarily to me and Jen) climbed out on them once again--memories of New Hampshire, this time with full battery power.

Tunnels under houses and lawns--must be a city ordinance

kid-climbers (again)

Made our destination

us part two (will explain the shirts later)

We left Newport after spending about an hour there.  Great place. Once in the city, we noticed the shore front shops.  As much as we wanted to go, we decided we were hungry and headed for our next destination and lunch spot-a lobster roll at Lobster Landing in Mystic Ct. 

Have I said yet that I love instagram?  I really do, you meet some great people on that Social Network. also thru IG, I followed Ultraromance, a fully bearded, tatted up non helmet wearing biker who utilized 4000+ dollar Rivendell bikes as his only means of transport.  No cars, no kids, means he can live his life his way, working 4-6 months out of the year, spending the rest travelling by bike. His pics are great too. 

Obligitory, way to expensive lobster landing lobster roll pic

us (with freighters on the Hudson)

A few months ago he had a sale of the shirts we were wearing in the pic above.  Luckily Jen and I were able to get them, hoping we'd get to meet him (not this time) while in the area.  Lobster landing is where he works part-time (I think) as a fisherman, so multiple pics of he and his crew are taken there.  Needless to say, I wanted to make this a stop on our trip to 1. rub it in to my friends that follow him, and 2. See what the $17.50 Lobster roll tastes like. 

What i learned was I don't need to be that cool. $17.50 is WAY too much for a lobster roll in CT, right on the coast--I thought this was ridiculously expensive.  I could probably justify that price in a place like, oh, Nebraska with shipping, but this was on the coast for chrissakes. At least we can say we went.  It was good, but I like my South Williamsport hoagies and cosmos TONS better! I'll still follow this dude, but no longer will I need a lobster roll to prove it:)


We made Croton right after check in--around 3:30.  Good we stopped at these places b/c check in was at 3PM.  
Croton was warm, but WAY too expensive--guess that was the theme of the day--letdowns other than the cliffwalk. I couldnt' believe we booked two nights here. Especially after finding out we did not have a powered site (at $50 bux a night)-nor did we have any working water toilets or showers--we had to hike up steps to the 'upper echelon' rv sites--that's NOT camping, people. 

It was a beautiful park, on the Hudson River, but it was also full of trash (at least on our campsite). I got wet with GT in the 'swim area' of the Hudson, complete with lifeguards, but No son, i'm not going under water--not here. I swore I saw a small turd float past me-sweartagawd. As I went to take pics, an absurdly friendly gentleman came to us and told us a LOT of history about the park--the brick factories, the ships that docked there, what happens when the river is low (as I'm locking at the collection of glass shards on the beams lining the river) I guess I need to check out the site brickcollectors.com as he told us the history of the IXL brick Avery found--I means nothing but "I excel" from the brick manufacturing plant owner--he reminded me of a friends late husband whom was also from the CT area. 

I don't care what they say, the majority of people in NY, MA and CT are extremely friendly.  Maybe that's what the world needs in times like these.

We only stayed at Croton Point because of it's proximity to the metro north-the rail line to Grand Central Station in NYC, which was our trip for the next day.  I was confused about tickets and parking at the terminal. Since New Yorkers were very friendly, instead of consulting google, I just walked up and asked people my questions that needed answered. 

I was able to get our tickets from the terminal for a round trip ticket to NY thru a vending machine.  I put these tix in my wallet. 88.75 for 3 adults and my 12 errrr 11 year old son. 

While we were away for a few minutes, Jen and I decided to grab a craft beer six pack from a local store about a mile away.  As we looked at the six pack cooler, we noticed mix and match, but most of the beers we liked were warm ones. AFter picking two six packs, we asked the bartender if we could exchange them.  She said we could, just exchange the warm for cold beers. I had my wallet out ready to pay as we did the exchange. 

As we arrived at the campsite, I was excited to show Avery our tickets while singing Taylor Swifts "welcome to New York". This, after all was Avery's highlight to the trip, as she's always wanted to visit the Big Apple.  

I reached in when we got out of the van.  No wallet. Went back to the van, checked floors, dash, console. No wallet. Asked Jen if she picked it up after we got in the van.  No wallet. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. I didn't know what to think, other than I left it at the Green Growler. 

I sped out of there in a flash, my heart in my throat, remembering that I laid my wallet down on the bar as I exchanged my beer. My wallet with our train tickets, my credit cards, our spending money for NYC tomorrow. SHIT! I think I was developing an ulcer as I thought I completely ruined our trip over warm v. cold beers. Damn! NO. No. NO. Please don't let this be the conclusion to our trip!  

I got to the Green Growler post-haste, and, the minute I walked in (after checking local grasses, curbs and the sewer we previously parked in front of) the bartender gave me the 'aw yeah, I knew you'd come back' look, and grabbed my wallet.  Talk about emotional.  I think I told her I loved her. Ha.  Head in my hands I also told her that this was what was left of our trip.  MULTIPLE thanks later, with a tear or two welling up in my eye from the stress of the moment, or over the past two weeks, I asked her to change my hundred, and left her a $20 for her trouble (which I still feel wasn't enough).  There are good people in New York. If you are in Croton, please spend a LOT of money on beer at the Green Growler.  Class act in there.  Thank you thank you thank you. 


A triumphant return to the campground, after a quick text message, brought blank, yet angry what-if looks from everyone. We ate some groceries from the cape, then showered, stole some power to charge batteries for the next day, and shuttled off to bed in one humid tent.

This park can be very pretty

Avery found an IXL brick

astounding willow trees on the coast

My "still stunned" look from the day's stressors

Cape Cod Day 2

The beaches of Cape Cod and P-Town: Tuesday July 12, 2016
After a sexy evening of bright stars, shimmering pond water and a bright half moon, we awoke early, ready to start our explorations.  

By 9AM after a family breakfast of oatmeal and pop-tarts, I loaded the bikes up on Ivanka and we headed to the beaches.  

We arrived at Nauset Beach around 9:30. As we arrived, i noticed a Park Ranger tower at the parking lot.  Upon reviewing the prices we noticed that it was TWENTY dollars for a SINGLE DAY, allowing access to ALL the NPS beaches on the cape.  There are six beaches on the cape, all the way to Provincetown approx 40 miles north, which was our destination. 

Jen didn't want to spend the money, but this time I made a command decision and bought a pass. We didn't come on vacation to be misers of money and not go to beaches on Cape Cod. This decision proved to be useful once we tried to find parking in P-town. 

Nauset beach was strange (to us, who are spoiled with glistening white sandy beaches). As we worked our way down the cliff bluff steps we made it to the bottom; brown grainy sand filled with STONES of multiple colors, some flat, some round, quartz, and other river type rock.  We were weirded out by that as we're used to fine grain and seashells. I guess people collect rocks here. 

Macro of Sand on Nauset Beach-colorful

Stone Mix

Avery liked this one--came home with us

Nauset Beach lighthouse as we left

GT wearing his shoes on this 'sand'

not pictured-purple flag warning of Great White sharks!

Of all the beaches we visited, Nauset was our favorite beach area.  As expected, they were all pretty much the same as far as texture, hiking, great white shark warnings, don't hang out with Seal warnings, and cold ass Atlantic Ocean water. One thing I remembered was the smell of Nauset beach. I think that the Atlantic Ocean has a differing smell to it, a salty oceanic smell, that is not exactly similar to our local Gulf of Mexico.  This smell brought back olfactory memories, ones of being a child and going to the 'shore'--places like Atlantic City, Shipbottom, and Ocean City when, as a youth I lived in Pennsylvania. Those smells were wonderful to me as it reminded me of a much simpler time. 

We spent about 20-30 minutes on similar beaches on the way as we were eager to get to Provincetown (P-town). One of the beaches near p-town was behind a state park? campground? type place with the coolest looking cedar? trees I've seen. I regret not taking a pic of these.  

We stopped at the NPS visitor center in Ptown. We learned a lot about maritime history of the island, and of course, where the pilgrims landed before Plymouth. As we climbed the staircase we got to the observation deck. Jen brought the binoculars once again in search of Whales, who seem to love the cape above P-town. None were seen today unfortunately. 

We gathered our info we needed and headed to the town. Provincetown is very hilly. Provincetown also has multiple men. Holding hands. Dressed in thong undies and tank tops. Yes, Provincetown is a gay community. We noticed this as we searched everywhere for a place to park. As we got closer to city center parking was $15! No thanks.  This is the reason we bought a park pass and bicycles. We parked about three miles away at the Herring cove parking lot and rode to town. Win, on the pass purchase! The streets were narrow, with multiple parallel parked cars, however, I wasn't overly worried about riding these streets because not everyone was in a rush, and all the guys were so nice :)

Famished after stopping at all the beaches, we stopped at P-town house of Pizza before going to the Pilgrim Tower. Very good pizza. We shared a supreme taco pizza and Avery (big gurl) ate all her toppings without taking anything off. 

We loaded up our water bottles with very cold water from the soda fountain and headed out. It was a little hard to navigate, other than the 253 ft tower sticking up in the middle of town. "there's big ben, kids". 

After a week of 50-65 degree temps, the mercury finally rose in P-town. A beautiful 83 degree day as we ascended on the tower grounds. We purchased museum tickets which came free with climb the tower tickets. 

The Provincetown pilgrim early history museum was very informative. We all learned about the whaling industry, the pilgrims, and, interesting to me, a british warship from 1748 the HMS Somerset that sunk off the coast in 1778 during the revolution only to be unearthed by differing currents in the 1970's and again, most recently in 2011. I found this to be most intriguing. Can't help but think I'm walking down a beach and whoa--check that out-wonder what that is--oh it's just a 1750's British Warship--go about your business as usual.  I also like to think this kind of thing could happen to our Gulf coast with its rich histories and walk up on a 1500's spanish galleon or something.  Really makes your mind wander. A little wiki info here: HMS Somerset resurfaces

Not long after it was picture time and time to climb another set of stairs. YAY. I'm glad that we previously walked about 50 miles up and down hills and in metro cities before taking this one, i really am. 

This monument, unlike Plymouth Rock did NOT disappoint.  I took pics out of all the windows I could find, for differing views of the harbor, the end of the cape, and the beauty of P-town.  Once again there were huge cemeteries dotting the landscape.  Afterward, we all had power drinks and coffee drinks. I even managed a catnap, where Jen left me alone for a few minutes to take my pic. 

Iced coffee didn't work

Avery looking out

The view from the top of P-town

Jen Posing

Us

Stairs and ramps

harbor from Pilgrim Tower

Avery with Pilgrim Tower

Whale Search from NPS observatory deck

framed pic

fruitless whale search today

From the tower, I noticed the commerce Main street, which we attended after leaving the monument.  After grabbing a Cape Cod shirt for Grammy, and Avery grabbing some jewelry and checking out some photo galleries, we rode 'toward' the car--or so I thought, only to go about a mile off course.  Eventually we found our way using actual street signs (not google bitty--out batteries were low) and we fought the wind, changed lanes improperly and made it back for the long but beautiful ride to the campground where we retired early, excited for the finale trip to NYC and Croton Point tomorrow.