Day 46, May 31, New York, New York -- Crazy New York

This was an auspicious day, as we awoke in Niantic, CT to eventually make our way to New York City. It began beautifully and serenely, which was a Godsend given the way it ended. This was by far and away our longest, most grueling day. let me share some of it with you.

Niantic, CT is a small and quaint town on Connecticut, located on Niantic Bay, a portion of the Block Island Sound. I know that says it all for you, but just take my word that this is a small part of the North Atlantic. (Now go look at a map!) We left the Niantic KOA campground and headed the short distance away into the historic downtown, to eat breakfast at a local restaurant. Doug choose the Cafe Sol, and what a wonderful choice that proved to be, not to mention the fantastic morning weather of low-70's temps and clear, sunny skies. (By the way, Niantic derived its name from the Niantic or Nehantic First Nations people whose hunting territory ranged from Rhode Island to the Connecticut River, including this area.)

(Outside view of Cafe Sol)

(Cafe Sol's outdoor patio)

(Our RV parked on the street in Niantic, outside of Cafe Sol. It really is possible!)

(Patrise enjoying the morning view and weather.)

(An interior view of Cafe Sol)

After a wonderfully delicious and light breakfast, we rambled through downtown Niantic and then made our way to the nearest Target. We needed to pick some items for the New York journey, including another small piece of luggage. Here are some views of Niantic.

(ProTek Auto, a "women friendly facility")

(The Niantic theater, the building with the mural)

(Returning to the RV)

(A view of Niantic Bay)

(Historic Morton Hotel in Niantic)

(Self explanatory. Sign seen in a small park on Main Street in Niantic.)

After leaving the Target in Niantic, we hopped on I-95S headed to New York, for what we were told (by the GPS) would be a 2-hr, 40-min drive. Now we were not naive; we've known through prior experience that the actual time is always a bit longer than the advertised time. And given that this was the day after the Memorial Day weekend and a return to work day, we expected that the trip would take longer -- just not as long as it eventually became. However, let me not get ahead of the story. Here are some pics of scenes along the way to and through NYC.

(Crossing a bridge over the Crossing Cob Pond)

(Waterford, CT)

(Waterford, CT)

(First view of NYC skyline, as seen from I-78 before transitioning back to I-95)

(Kearney, NJ)

(View of some dome, as seen from I-78 in the Bronx)

At this point, the wacky really began. While on I-95 south, we received advisories of several traffic slowdowns. Most of them were just minutes long, 3 minutes here, 7 minutes there, 4 minutes further along. However, we got one notice that said our additional delay would be over an hour, staying on this interstate. So we looked for optional routes. We got of I-95, to explore the first of these options, along the Merritt Parkway. We proceeded two miles along the route before running into warning signs that vehicles over 8 feet high were not allowed to travel on Merritt Parkway, due to low bridge heights.

At this time, Doug's frustration was boiling over, so at Patrise's suggestion, we pulled off the highways in Westchester to find somewhere to sit, eat, and carefully review our options. Well, like our previous efforts, this one was thwarted. There was absolutely nowhere to park, either on a surface parking lot or on a local street. Doug pulled over into a bus loading zone, while Patrise ran into a mall to grab us some sandwiches to eat. As she was doing this, Doug went into the App Store and downloaded an RV trip planning app. So when Patrise returned with the grub, we took off again, this time with GPS instructions that accounted for the height and length of our vehicle. The instructions routed us back to an interstate, I-87, then to I-78, and then to I-95. We were back to where we had started: well not the exact physical location, but the same interstate with all of its traffic snarls and messes.

Oh boy, was it messy. The transition from I-78 to I-95, to cross the George Washington Bridge and get south of New York: that transition of less than three or four miles, took over an hour. From there, we proceeded to eventually make our way to Jersey City, New Jersey. The reason is that we had decided in advance, to park at an RV park close to NYC, then take a cab or a ride share in to the City and our hotel. The closest RV park is the Liberty Harbor Marina and RV Park. Once we got to the park, we were able to get a Lyft within 15 minutes to head into New York, and then another 35-40 minutes to make it to the Park Central Hotel. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we estimated that the 2 hr-40min trip took us almost six -- 1,2,3,4,5,6 -- hours!!!! And it was not leisurely driving for the last four hours of the journey.

Photos:

After arriving at the hotel, we unloaded our luggage then headed for dinner at a nearby restaurant, the Redeye Grill. The Redeye was a good dining experience. Then we headed the one-half block back to the hotel, got to our room and then prepared for the night.

It was a long day and Doug would have to leave the hotel by 8am in the morning, to go to the chorus' first practice.

Here we are New York, New York.