THE BIG APPLE - NEW YORK CITY - 2013-10-02

Barb did a great job of picking this place to stay.
When you think of what a hotel room would cost us and where/how to leave the motor home and car this worked out perfect!

Easy access to the ferries and transportation. As with many larges cities a car isn't required here. In fact in some ways it reminded us of the big European cities we have visited.

As soon as we were set up we headed for Manhattan across the Hudson River. We took one of the Commuter Ferries that you often see on TV or in movies. What a view!

The weather was fantastic, in the high 80's and it only dropped a few degrees at night so jackets were not required, even a night!

Due to the Federal Government being shut down for its financial issues and Congress not getting along we wont be able to tour the Statue of Liberty. She's a fine site to see though, even from a bit of a distance. It makes one wonder how many immigrants she welcomed to North America and were any of them from our families?

We got over to Manhattan and wow, you should see how big these buildings are when you stand street side below them!
We made our way in and what a site. I have never seen so many people in one place!

Here's some statistics:
Metropolitan New York: Over 19 million people and it spans parts of 3 States (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut).

The city of NYC alone: Over 8 million people.
The most populous city in the USA.

Brooklyn: would be the 4th largest city in the USA however it became a Boro - just another community of NYC.

The rest you will have to search for on Google because it is staggering and I can't recall it all. Suffice it to say that this city almost has the population of 2/3rds of all of Canada!
All in one place! It is amazing.

I can not imagine what it takes to run a city or department in a city of this size.

Amenities
So many restaurants, So many parks, playgrounds right in the middle of a busy area, many of them surrounded by fences. Add in basketball courts and sports parks where the neighbours play at night.

The parks are really nice and to be honest it is a fairly clean city when one considers how many people are here.

As with most big cities there are no back alleys. So at night the garbage gets piled up out on the sidewalks. Some more than others especially at busy restaurants or stores. The garbage trucks come by at night and pick it all up when there is less traffic.

One thing I noticed early on is that there are Police Officers and Police Cars on almost every bock. Sometimes they are just standing there, sitting there in their cars or visiting with other police or the public.
I have never seen so many.

The traffic while heavy and plugged isn't as bad as I had imagined and I would drive here in a car any day. GPS is a must though!

We walked around and saw lots of sites including walking by the 9-11 Site. They are almost finished with the first NEW tower which is 104 stories tall. It will open in January 2014.

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, there is just too much and I need to get back out there. If you want to know more about our tour here buy me a coffee when I get back home. I could likely talk for hours!

TOUR BUSES
We took the Hop On Hop Off - Grey Line Tour Bus.
I recommend Grey Line as they are a reputable business.
(The best way to visit most large cities anywhere).
You must sit up top. Best seats are at the back or the front.

We have been warned to take properly marked Taxi's as I guess there are some illegal private ones here that may rip you off.

Speaking of which, its a good idea to ask for the price of anything you buy or hire here. Example: We bought a Hot Dog for lunch and they were $2.00. ($5.00 for 2 Hot Dogs and a Coke).

Later on for dinner I bought another one and the price was much higher. Perhaps the price hike was due to the latest Hot Dog being in Times Square? The other reason was that he saw my $10.00 bill before I had asked the price. ($10.00 for 2 Hot dogs and a Coke).

The Tour Bus will drive you by everything you likely want to see and more. We covered a ton of ground and then did the night tour as well.

We also have passes for today where we will get off in some of the Boro's to perhaps eat or just walk around.

I have added some photo's here. We have hundreds more!

On the Ferry from Jersey over to Manhattan.
That's Manhattan in the background and the tall building in the centre is the new WTC Tower One.

Manhattan here we come!

She is still welcoming visitors!

The new WTC Building in the centre at 104 stories tall.

WTC

WTC

NYPD everywhere!

NYPD Command Post - Not sure what was going on though?
This area was swarming with Police!

WTC One is almost finished - Opens January 2014 

People, People everywhere! All with Apple Cell Phones :)

Thousands of restaurants of every type of food you can imagine.

The United Nations Building

United Nations

United Nations Security Gate

Radio City Music Hall

More NYPD! 

"Sir could you help me find my way home?" 

Times Square - Best Seen at Night!

Never Forget...

Getting on the Subway to go home

Barb buying Subway Tickets

Hot, Humid and Dark down here waiting for the train.

Hey! Wait for me!

Not at all like the movies. It's late a night and most are normal
business people or locals going home.

We finally got home.
After asking for directions and realizing we were going to miss the last Ferry over to Jersey, we walked and walked. Then we realized we walked in the wrong direction!

Finally we got to the PATH Train Station over to Jersey.
The PATH train runs underneath the Hudson River. Sort of a weird feeling and it quickly reminded me of FAITH.

Once in Jersey we walked some more and realized again we were lost. After getting directions from a nice man out walking his dog we felt a little better. Finally we saw a nice little Pub and eatery and knowing I wouldn't make it home without a nature call we decided to go in.

The Pub was full of locals. Many working in Manhattan live across the river in Jersey (not cheap here next to the river I am sure) in their Brownstone condos and town-homes.

The waitress was really nice. Barb asked where some good spots to go were and she said are you from Jersey? "No" was the reply and she smiled and became that much more friendly when she learned where we were from. She gave us some good tips and we returned the tip at the end with our bill - haha.

Back out onto the dark streets but never a feeling of being un-safe we wandered home to the RV park.

Once home one more thing to cross off my Bucket List.
Watch the NYC News and then to bed. Man did we sleep!

Do yourself a favour!
Don't bother with an RV unless you are like us.
Jump on a plane and book at least 4 days here. Try to stay somewhere around Manhattan or Jersey City so that you can do the Tour Bus and see Times Square. It is well worth it.

This really is a item for your Bucket List whether you know it now or not! :)

Stay tuned and make it a great day!