NYC Trip Day 3

Okay, enough procrastinating on my part; I better write up my experience before my memories fail me. :) So here goes nothing . . .

After a jammed packed day, the night's rest could not be any more welcomed. We would get up a little early to make our way down to the Today Show set in hopes of getting the opportunity to say
"Hi Davin!" to the only audience member we cared to surprise. Much like the previous day, the streets of Manhattan are empty in the morning of the hustle and bustle that fills it during the rest of the day. It was nice to walk the streets without the fear of being run over by the cabbies that zoom up and down.

Getting there a little early, I got the opportunity to take a few pictures without the crowds which was a nice change of pace. There is not too many places or times in NYC were you can have free roam of the area. We got in line, just in the nick of time I may add; a group of about 125 teenagers from some ensemble scurried promptly behind us. We got in to position around the set, observing all the prep work the occurs in front of as well as behind the cameras. From the camera men prepping their shots of the crowd(one being so nice as to direct us how lazy they get and showed us where to stand to ensure we get on) and with Jenna Wolfe "adjusting" herself on camera to make sure she is appealing enough to the audience. After a few shots and segments, even with my ugly mug in the mix; we were able to wave and greet my little nephew 3000 miles away in Aurora, CO. I highly recommend getting to the Today Show set early as we were able to stake claim to some prime positions around the outdoor studio. Once the show finished, we hurried back to the hotel room to fill up on some breakfast and to get a quick glimpse of our morning results on the television. The rest of the day would have us heading south towards China Town, Ground Zero and ending our journey at the Statue of Liberty.

We gathered enough courage to actually figure out the mass transit system, and thank god we did. Like everything in life, once you figure out the basics and how it works, it becomes second nature. It all came down to figuring out what direction the different stops served and which trains it serviced. First stop, China Town.

Piss hole, street vendors, and not at all what I had imagined prior to. I might not have explored it enough to give it justice nor was our intent to spend much time there; so we promptly worked our way south downtown by foot through the early afternoon heat and humidity.

We strolled our way down Broadway to Vesey Street, where Saint Paul's Chapel stands. Across the street, the rebuilding around the World Trade Center was in progress. The whole time there, it feels quite surreal; the atmosphere still felt stagnant, with only the sounds of cars driving by and construction vehicles constantly running. Its hard for me to place in words what I felt looking over the site from the mezzanine of WTC 3; but it brought me back to September 11, 2001 on board the USS Carl Vinson, huddled around the TV in the lounge, watching in horror as the second plane is filmed crashing in to the WTC as we steamed through the night to the Straits of Hormuz. Much like the USS Arizona site and Iwo Jima (which we passed by during my 2002 deployment), there is a serene sense of solitude that fell over me. The sheer number of lives lost in a single point of history, the families who would never have the chance to see their loved ones again and the pure senselessness of the act; one can not feel disheartened by the lack of respect for human lives that was displayed that fateful day. Today, I still can remember that day as vividly as it were yesterday. After going through the 9/11 Memorial (which is free for military) and passing by the WTC firehouse and memorial, we made our way down to Battery Park to finish off the last leg of our trip to the Statue of Liberty.

For those who want to go to the Statue of Liberty, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND going to this website and pre-ordering your tickets. It saved us about a hour and a half of waiting in line, not to mention, we were able to actually go insidethe statue. So after the first set of security check points, we all get herded on to the tour barge to make our way to Liberty Island. I have met some colorful sailors during my time, but no more colorful then the staff of the barge that took us to and fro. I was quite surprised by their language and lack of respect for the passengers aboard their vessel; maybe it was to give us the added experience of what it might be like being an immigrant in the 1900s. I personally thought it was quite humorous, made it worth the value of the ticket for the on board entertainment whether it was intended or not. After a short 20 minute ride, we set foot on Liberty Island.

After taking a few pictures of the NYC skyline and Ellis Island, we made our way to the second set of more intrusive security check points to enter the Statue of Liberty. The most fascinating thing I found while inside, was that there was an elevator inside, which was a welcomed surprise as my legs and feet were really wearing down from the long walks of that day as well as the previous. Inside is a very interesting walk through of the history of not only the statue but of the island as well.The view from the Statue of Liberty is quite amazing, with the Manhattan Skyline and Ellis Island on one side, the Atlantic Ocean and sailboats on the other. All this under the shadow of this immortal monument. The masonry and iron works that it took to build the statue is astonishing to say the least. You can't help yourself but to take many pictures of everything around you, which means lots of work when you get home trying to go through all of them. I know its an excuse but there really a lot of pictures, really.

After a quick bite at the island vendors and a few by the massive horseflies that infest the area, we left Liberty Island for Ellis Island. This was one area I had hoped to spend a little more time at. But as the day waned on, so did our legs; and the thoughts of having some Korean BBQ for dinner hastened our walk through of the exhibit at Ellis Island. I took some departing pics of the area and made our way back to the ferry back to the Big Apple. If you have some thoughts of going to this trip, I suggest investing a large amount of time just for the sheer fact that there is quite a bit to look at and ingest. As we departed on the ferry, the sun began hiding behind the clouds, making the departing image of the sky amazing from the aft end of the ship. This is one of my favorite photo from the entire trip.

We took the train back uptown and exited off the Broadway and 32nd Street station, and what did we find? The elusive Korean Town that we had unsuccessfully did not find the day before; we were about 2 blocks from finding it and stumbled upon it by blind luck. Literally there are Korean BBQ's all lined up on either side of the streets. After a delicious dinner and a few shots of Soju to warm the belly, we made our way back to the hotel room to rest our feet and legs and enjoy the welcoming AC that seem to have eluded us most of the day. After a couple of beers and some Korean snacks we bought at some Korean store, I made my way back to Time Square to take some final pictures. The nights rest would bring an early morning departure back home to Saratoga Springs, sans huge delays. Although it was a short trip, it was one of the more gratifying ones since I got to share it with loved ones and it was jammed packed with as much as one can do over a weekend. I will return one day, for as much as I did over two days, there is about a hundred of other things I would love to see and experience. Thank you NYC for a great time. See you soon.

NYC Trip Day 2

After a long night I awoke to the morning light peering through the hotel window, exposing NYC to me for the first time in daylight. Today would be a long day that would take us down south to the Empire States Building, working our way north and to the east at Grand Central Station and the United Nation, then hustle our way further north and to the west as we skirted Central Park and finishing our day trek in the American Museum of Natural History. The night would be capped off with the Broadway show Mamma Mia!

For those who are ever planning on visiting the Big Apple, I would highly recommend planing ahead and buying tickets to the sites you want to see before hand. This single tip saved us at least 3 hours of waiting in line; we were able to avoid long lines at the ESB and the Statue of Liberty. The ESB is quite an amazing building in its own right, marble and granite adorn the entrance way and a style that you would come to expect from early century architecture. We slowly snaked our way through the security, making our way to the first elevator in our journey up to the observation deck (86th floor). This was the first time I ever experienced my ears popping on an elevator ride. I watched the display in the elevator speed through the numbers skipping floors by tens, our journey to the 80th floor took no more than 30 seconds. There we were greeted again with another line, this time for an elevator to the observation deck. This too winds its way around the 80th floor, which was unfinished exposing the skeleton of the building as well as dating itself with the scattering of radiators along the walls of the floor. The second elevator would be substantially slower than the previous one. The observation deck was packed full of people, all in amazement of the view this majestic building had to offer. If not for the midsummer haze that had hampered the weekend, it would have been an extraordinary day to shoot the New York skyline. Needless to say, the view was still breathtaking and well worth the cost of the trip up here.We now made our way to Grand Central Station, there we would try to find the restaurant that we had made reservation to eat for the night, at the Oyster Bar. This was the first time I was a bit disappointed by the size of the place, having seen it in many movies and TV shows. Don't get me wrong, it is big; but I guess being exposed to huge things so far in NYC, it was small in comparison. The outside facade and the interior design were amazing though; everything is carved out in stone, and the ceiling reveals a painting of the night sky. After finding the Oyster Bar in the basement of the building, we decided that it would be better suited for a lunch and not a dinner. We then began walking toward the East River to the United Nation.

After stopping to take a pictures of the Chrysler Building, we made our way to the UN and there we find a common sight, another security check. For those planning on visiting the UN, they only offer tours of the site on the weekdays and therefore we were left to meandering around the common areas of the area. There were some interesting displays and statues on the grounds of the UN, but it was a bit unfulfilling not being able to see the vast interior meeting room. After taking a few photos of the area, we made our way back to GCS for lunch and enjoy a well needed rest for our legs and feet. I wish I had good things to say about our lunch at the Oyster Bar, but the food and service was sub-par at best. At least the cheese cake was delicious. My mother didn't like it one bit, nor did her stomach, so we made our way back to the hotel room for a pit stop and to get a reprieve from the sweltering heat.

After a nice rest, we started toward the American Museum of Natural History. On the way there, we walked around the outskirts of Central Park. The movies do not do Central Park justice for its size; it is HUGE!! The heat did not deter thousands of people enjoying everything the park had to offer, but it did not interest us at that moment. Air conditioning and a shorter walk was on our agenda, at that seem to elude us as we made our way slowly up Central Park West. After a 45 minute hike, we finally made it to the entrance to the museum. I guess thousand of people had the same idea we had in escaping the heat as the foyer was filled to the brim with people. Those in the military will be happy to find out the it is free for us to go inside and enjoy the attractions the museum had to offer. There is no way to see every exhibit and truly enjoy the masterful displays in one day, so we made our way to the space and precious gem areas of the museum. Once we had our fill of the museum, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for the show that night. I decided in my infinite wisdom to make a go at the subway system and significantly shortening our walk. It was a $6 lesson to learn that not all entrances take you to the train you want. Frustrated and defeated, we decide that we might as well suck it up and just huff it back downtown by foot, so we did just that.

After showering and shedding our sweat soaked clothes, we enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel and made our way through the Time Square crowds to the theater to watch Mamma Mia! The show was fantastic and was everything I had hoped a Broadway musical would be. The Abba soundtrack along with the constantly changing set was were seamless. My parents fought off the exhaustion of the day as best they could, though with the lights out and the few scenes with dialogue, they succumbed to the enticing moments to catch a quick nap. Once the music started up again, they were wide awake with my mom singing along to the recognizable chorus. It was a nice ending to a jammed pack day in Manhatten. The nest day would begin early in order to get to the Today Show set in Rockefeller Plaza so we could say "Hi Davin!" on national TV, as well as to visit the Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty.

The trip down to NYC

If my trip was going to be anything like the trip down, this would have been the worst weekend getaways I ever experienced. First off, the Amtrak train was a hour and ten minutes late; this deficit was supposedly going to be made up by the time we reached Penn Station in NYC. Secondly, we were held up on the track just north of Yonkers for over an hour due to a suspicious package on the track that needed to be x-rayed for the local police. The trip was not all that bad, the ride was comfortable and the view down was quite picturesque; I even enjoyed the company of a 81 year old Russian lady who sat next to me, though her thick accent and obtuse subjects added much color to our conversation (she believed that my mother should spank me.) With the combination of delays, we finally pulled into Penn Station around 11:30 PM, almost 3 hours late.

In my travels, I have utilized many of the worlds public transit systems. From Japan and Hong Kong, to London and Singapore; whether it was in English or some other foreign language, I never seemed to find myself lost. That all changed in the sauna of the NYC subway stations. It may well have been the combination of fatigue and the sweltering heat down there, but I was completely disoriented. It would take me a good two days just to get comfortable with utilizing the trains again. I took the uptown N-train to Times Square and was again lost and mesmerized by the sheer amount of people and moving lights.

It was midnight and the streets were filled with the lemmings of tourist gawking at everything Time Square had to offer. The strong stench of garbage and urine did not help the situation nor did the hot and muggy weather that is all to common for New York in July. Walking up 7th Avenue, I did my best to make my way through the walking mass of sightseers and peddlers. It was my mother yelling across the street hanging on a light post like King Kong on the Empire State Building, that caught my attention. It wasn't long until we made our way to the 26th floor of the Double Tree Suites in Times Square, where I was able to finally relax, and hope that the rest of the trip is nothing like my experience down to NYC.

In the search for the Qwan!

Well the job search is in full throttle and a few opportunities have popped up here and there. The most intriguing is the fact that Exelon has extended me the job offer they gave me in November, the catch is that I have to wait until September until the job becomes authorized. So until then, I am fielding offers from around the country, literally. I have interviews lined up from Illinois to Mississippi and even up here in upstate New York.

I finally broke down and bought two new digital cameras this weekend: the Canon DSLR 40D and the Nikon S210. Having my one and only digital camera break down (Sony Cybershot DSC-P10) and my trip to New York City looming next month; I figured that now is a good time as any to get the camera I want. So expect a few new pictures on my Flickr site.

On the job search again.

Well five months until my EAOS, at which point the Navy has no choice but to let me go. It has been a roller coaster the last three years with the Navy being the focal instigator of displeasure. Since September last year, the command has been playing games with my tenure in the Navy telling me that they are letting me go, then turning around and changing their minds. They went so far as to giving me a separation date in December, at which I accepted on offer with Exelon to be a operation supervisor at their Nuclear Generating Station at Quad City for a 6 figure salary. Then two days later, the Navy (the command more specific) changed their mind. In the mean time, I have been working for MARF OCTG teaching officer and enlisted students fresh from Charleston. Its been a nice break from shift work and quite relaxing to be able to actually having weekends again. That leaves me with more time to go golfing, fishing, playing with Miles and Louis and to sit in front of the computer and waste my life away.


Last Saturday was the first time I caught a fish in over 20 years!! True, I have gone fishing many times and have had some epic battles with Salmon in Washington; but this time I would not be shut out. Okay, it is not like I reeled in some beauties; I got a 4 oz Perch and a 8 oz Bass ( and that is being generous on the size) but it is a start.