[Travelandtourism] A friend of mine has allowed me to share there travel experience here.

Wed Sep 14 11:17:23 UTC 2011

Hello there everyone. Ed Meskys of New Hampshire has allowed me to post his 
trip here to NY City, some ideas when you would like to come.

^^NEW YORK

Sandy and I had been considering a trip to NY City for some time when she 
found on Groupon round trip bus tickets Boston to NY for $20 each. There 
were three buses a day from the Alewife Boston subway station with garage 
and bus terminal. Thanks to the Garmin GPS Sandy is a bit more adventurous 
about driving in strange places. When we got there we misunderstood the 
signage and drove past the entrance, but the Garmin helped us get back. The 
bus also stopped at the Riverside subway station/parking lot, and if we do 
this again we will take it from there. Riverside is easier to reach, and 
that takes a half hour off the bus ride.

We had planned to go to an SF reading at the KGB Bar on East 4 St. after 
Sandy went to a Weight Watchers meeting, but we cancelled that when we heard 
that both readers were horror writers. And it is just as well that we did. 
We hauled our luggage 2.5 long blocks to Broadway where we were going to 
take the Broadway bus to Courtland and Broadway, the Weight Watchers 
location. We found out that the bus no longer exists because Broadway was 
made into a pedestrian mall. The nearest bus was 1.5 long blocks away, we 
didn't know where it would leave us, and the day was hot. We went downstairs 
and took the Broadway (R train) subway. The south-bound Courtland St. 
station was still closed after the damage on "9/11," so we had to go to the 
next station and walk back. After Sandy got done with Weight Watchers we 
just found the nearest restaurant, a British pub called something like 
"Pence and Pints," where we had an outstanding meal of steamed spinach with 
goat cheese and toasted multigrain rounds. I also had a pint of British ale, 
name forgotten.

We were late reserving sleeping accommodations and the Hosteling 
International (formerly American Youth Hostels) was booked solid. Best we 
could find was Red Carpet Inn in Jersey City, near Journal Square. I 
remembered we were near the PATH train station (formerly Hudson Tubes), only 
two blocks away, so we took that. The hotel was a good deal and included 
free Why Fie, microwave, and fridge, in the room, and free continental 
breakfast. It had been a long day, so we made ourselves rum and diet colas, 
and collapsed.

Next day we took the Jersey Transit bus into Port Authority, and met Mark 
Blackman for lunch at Keens Chop House at 72 W 36 St. We had wanted to eat 
there ever since we heard that they had real mutton instead of fetal lamb. 
Everything was a-la-carte, and we only got some endive with the chop. The 
"small" chop from the bar menu was $26, and was impressively large. I hate 
to think what their regular chop at around $60 was like. Sandy and I ordered 
their homemade ginger beer, which reminded me of the Goya brand found in 
supermarkets, but better.

We walked up to Recording for the Blind & Dyslectic (now "Learning Ally") on 
45 St. just off 5th Ave. I had hoped to get some help adjusting my Victor 
Stream portable player to take their recordings, but they had no 
technicians. They suggested I get in touch with headquarters in Princeton, 
NJ, or see their booth at the NFB convention. John, the man on duty, 
remembered John Boardman when he had been a volunteer narrator, and was 
sorry to hear of his move to Maryland. On our way to Port Authority we 
stopped at a Starbucks for Chai lattes, and sat at an outdoor table with two 
visitors to NY. They lived in Florida and California, were old friends, and 
came to NY to do some Broadway shows. The day of the show you can get 
leftover or returned tickets at reasonable cost. They had just seen The 
Importance of Being Earnest for $30 instead of over $100. Our trip back to 
NJ was uneventful.

Next day we were supposed to take a Metro-North train from Grand Central 
into Westchester County to tour an outdoor living history museum near Sleepy 
Hollow of "Headless Horseman" fame, but we had a tremendous thunderstorm 
when we got up. We decided to stay in the hotel and read, and do email. 
Outdoor museums are no fun in thunderstorms. Later that day we had two more 
real thunderboomers and downpours. Things were clear at lunchtime, so we 
walked to a Brick Tower hamburger joint. Aside from numerous variations of 
burgers they only had steak, tuna, and grilled cheese sandwiches. We had 
double cheeseburgers with bacon and diet colas, which were good, but a bit 
greasy. The sign said they were the only restaurant to have survived since 
the 1939 World's Fair.

We did read all our email, but were unable to send out. Son Stanley said 
that it is a problem with Roadrunner, and next visit he will change some 
settings which should help. We will be in Orlando beginning of July for the 
blind convention, and Stan will not visit until after we get back.

Saturday we had lunch with Andy Porter and Mark Blackman at Teresa's Polish 
restaurant on Montague St., Brooklyn Heights. I had the real potato pancakes 
I had been faunching for. Unfortunately they were deep-fried and a bit too 
crunchy and greasy, but still good. Sandy had an outstanding Brie and 
mushroom omelet.

Afterwards Andy gave us his architectural tour of the area, showing us the 
magnificent metal doors on the Slovenian Catholic Cathedral. They had been 
the dining room doors on the luxury liner, Normandie. The ship had burned 
and sunk at dock in NY in 1944. He also showed us interesting decorative 
stone carvings and fancy metalwork fences.

We ended up on Atlantic Avenue, for Sahadi's Lebanese grocery and Trader 
Joe's. Andy pointed out that there were excellent food stores and 
restaurants on Montague and on Atlantic, but the former were more expensive. 
The area is more yuppified. Sandy bought excellent rye-spelt bread, and Andy 
bought for us a wonderful multi-grain loaf. Sandy had never been to Trader 
Joe's before, and was impressed by the great quantity of unusual items 
available. She enjoyed both Sahadi's and Joe's.

Afterwards we took the subway to the end of the A train at 207 St., 
Manhattan, for the FIStFA meeting in an apartment shared by Tom Byro, Thom 
Anderson, and a third, a non-fan. Tom Byro makes a point of providing a 
great feast every month. Main dishes were regular and German potato salad, 
very rich and filling, and tapioca pudding with sliced, sugared 
strawberries. There was something else in the tapioca, which gave it a 
slightly smoky taste. Tom also provided some excellent cheeses, including 
one only made in Cornwall, and others banana nectar, and excellent cookies. 
There were about a dozen fen present, including the blind Bob Rodriquez. Bob 
retreated to a room with TV where he watched DVDs of old movie serials. I 
had excellent conversations with the two Toms, and with Lisa Rogers. 
Conversation ranged from Eleanor of Aquitaine to food to TV to fannish 
history. At midnight Tom was going to launch a toy Japanese hot air balloon, 
powered by a candle, but we left around 11. We were very lucky that Lisa's 
husband, Ward, offered us a ride to our hotel, on the way to his home in 
Jersey.

Since our bus home left from 8 Ave. and 31 St., we took the Hudson Tubes 
again, to 33 St., and 6th Ave. We had an hour to spare, so we took a 
leisurely walk to the spot, and noted in passing a Franciscan Church between 
6 and 7 Avenues, where the next mass was to be in the Korean language. The 
bus ride and drive home was uneventful. Sandy slept for most of the bus 
ride, so was ready for the 2.5 hour drive home.

Leading the Way in Independent Travel!

Cheryl Echevarria
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394
reservations at echevarriatravel.com

Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Superior Travel, located in 
Baldwin, NY. www.superiortravel.com

Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise & Travel, Inc. 