new york – the trip home

Posted on | July 22, 2010 | No Comments

my trip home was not what i had planned.  something you need to know about me is that i like to wind down from travel.  when i plan my flights, i factor in a good chunk of time before i have to jump back into my routine.  this allows for a time of rest (from the travel, usually), but also gives me time to get some things out of the way, post-travel chores, such as unpacking and laundry, getting items ready for the next day (especially if i’m coming back to a work day), and even groceries.  i might even have some mental strength to put together my blog posts.

but things did not go as i had planned.  my flight from jfk to cincinnati was on schedule.  but my flight from cincinnati to knoxtropolis was not.  when we touched down in cinci, i turned my phone on to find email from delta waiting for me to let know my thirty minute layover was now about two.  when i got off the plane and found a monitor and found my gate, it had been bumped to three hours.  when i check my email again, the flight had been cancelled.  in fact, delta’s computers had automatically booked me on a later flight, the 7:00p flight out of cinci.  7:00p?!

i talked to ticket agent.  first lady, not so customer service-y.  having some time, i grabbed lunch.  upon returning to the gate, i asked again about matters.  i asked dude, who was more customer service-y, if i could get my bags if i could get a rental car.  he said sure.  i stepped aside and checked for cars.  none at hertz and avis.  i called AAA and asked for their magic powers to be invoked.  no cars available despite AAA magic.  i was really stuck there.

i told delta dude i would be staying.  he told me he would be working the gate from where my 7:00p flight was to leave and would work out my exact seating when i got there.  hours to kill now.

i put together the first few blog posts during the time.  i felt like i could have used a nap.  i really wanted a nap…and to have my laundry started and to even have my grocery shopping done.  time passed more quickly while putting together my blog posts.  time to find my gate.

hey, look, my gate.  hey, there’s delta dude.  he gave me seat one-charlie.  right up front!  it’s almost like riding shotgun except you can’t see out the front window, and the airlines don’t like that term used no matter where you sit.  flight was short.  i got home actually twenty minutes earlier than schedule.  points to our pilots.  and i was the first one off the plane.  never had that happen before.  i got to be first in line at the baggage area!

i ended up waiting for all the bags to make it off the plane.  mine was not among them.  great.  talked to delta lost baggage lady.  she informs me my bag never got put on at jfk and as we were talking was either en route to or already in hotlanta.  (she didn’t call it hotlanta.  that’s my term.)  great.

my bag didn’t actually come for another twenty-four hours after i had gotten home.  about 10:30p on tuesday night after i had gone to bed.  i am at least glad delta didn’t lose my bags going to new york.  that would have really set me off, i believe.  i’m also glad i didn’t burn extra pto because of bumped fights.  and despite this end to the whole vacation, i did have an extremely good time.

i’ll be back, new york.  i’ll be back.

Category: travel
Tags: > > > >

new york city – final evening

Posted on | July 21, 2010 | No Comments

after i left my family to drive back upstate, i headed back to my hotel.  i needed to get my gear ready for my flight back the next morning.  i had calculated the time i needed to get up, the duration of the train ride to jfk, the time to check in and get through security, time for a quick food stop, and the wind resistance.  this being done, i could enjoy one last thing before i left nyc.  dinner out.

i did a quick search for a decent place and found aged steakhouse just around the corner from my lodging.  (they actually have two places, this was the most recent addition.)  from the time i walked in the door, i was treated very well.  the atmosphere was relaxed.  the food was good.  i had a green gazpacho made of green peppers, green apples, and green grapes.  (wasn’t familiar with gazpacho before this trip.)  then i had their hanger steak which was the special that evening with garlic, steak fries, and steamed asparagus (if i recall correctly).  for dessert, i had new york cheesecake.  you gotta have new york cheesecake in new york, right?

when i was finished, i walked back to my room on a very less humid evening in new york city.  ahhh.  it was a good ending.

Category: travel
Tags: > > > > > >

new york city – day 5

Posted on | July 20, 2010 | No Comments

this was the day my sis and her girls were coming down to visit the big apple.  i had gone to bed rather tired and woke up still a bit tired.  but i knew a visit to some starbucks would be my power up.

she wanted to see the “today” show first thing, so i hopped on the train and headed for 50th street.  after a bit of sms-tag, i found my fam.  while the girls stood in line for the show, dan and i found a starbucks.

once her cameo was done, wen listed the things she wanted to do/see; and i now having a good grasp of the subway system, we plotted our course.  our journey started at the top at belvedere castle in central park.  i hadn’t seen central park so this was something i got to add to my list of sights.  walking through the park takes you momentarily out of the city life.  we walked to the top of the castle, took some pics with the buildings peeking over the trees, and saw turtles.  i like turtles.

from the top to the bottom, we headed to lower manhattan to ride the ferry to staten island so we could see statue libby.  this was my second visit to see her.  it was less overcast letting more sun light her up.  we pulled a round tripper and rode back to manhattan to find some pizza.  (it was good pizza, but ray’s was fresher.)

the statue of liberty is in the background between the girls, just next to k2's head.

next, we walked over to wall street and ran with the bulls.  ok, no bulls, but we walked wall street to brooklyn bridge.  it was still there, right where i left it a few days before.  some clouds had started to cover up the sky and before we got to the bridge, drops of water spinkled us as we started our crossing.  about midway, it cleared up for a while.  more views of libby and empire state building.  on the other side, we caught the train at high street.

next destination was ground zero.  it had been raining some more.  the humidity wasn’t going to give us a break.  yet we started our walk toward the world trade center…going in the wrong direction.  i might have figure out the trains, but i never did figure out which way to walk when the street names weren’t numbers.  (unless i knew the streets well enough, which i didn’t after just four days.)  after we doubled back to our train station it was just a few blocks to get to the site.  since it was a weekend, however, some of the side streets were blocked off and our visibility of the area wasn’t as good as i had found it on friday.  you could still see a couple of the building rising out from behind the fence.

the sun had started to come out now, but all of us were tired.  the k’s felt it worse and wanted to head back.  it was starting to get later in the afternoon so the decision made to go back to dan’s car.  while looking at the map, we decided to make one more stop at grand central.  we walked (underground) to the station.  it’s just like you see on the televisions.  and after a brief stay, we headed back out at street level to the garage.

whew!  it was quite the day walking around.  i did get to see the first and last stops as something new.  seeing all the other stuff for a second time was actually rather fun.  i enjoyed hanging out with my fam.

Category: travel
Tags: > > > > > > > > > > > > >
keep looking »

  • Search

  • recent posts

  • admin