1997 East Coast Trip (part 6)

I started wanting to record this trip because I realized that I had a picture of NY that included the Twin Towers.  Back in 1997 we referred to it as the World Trade Center, I remember we drove along that street as saw them along with the Wall Street building.  How fun would it have been to take a tour of that building???  The World Trade Center had been damaged by a truck which exploded in the parking garage on Feb 26, 1993, 4 years prior to our visit.  We never entertained thoughts that it would happen again.  (Sept 11 2001)

New York is a fascinating city, much different from California!
While it was fun to visit, it was too much to handle for me -
all the noise, the smells (I called it odors on my postcard!)
Everything seemed frantic to me, like they were all trying to
shove 30 hours of daytime into the 24 allotment!!

1997 East Coast Trip (part 5)

One of the things I wanted in New York was an infamous crazy taxi driver ride.   We hopped in a cab after Liberty Island to get to the Empire State Building and told our driver what we wanted, and he was happy to oblige!  We went careening and zooming through lights, horn honking a few times, swerving in and around traffic.  It was a whole lot of fun!  We wandered through the streets of New York because buying our ESB tickets there was a wait time.  We watched as peddlers sold watches and assorted items along the street; lots of little vendors selling food items such as "hot dogs with the worx".













Another silly little thing that people don't know about me ... I definitely wanted to go into some place "adult", just so I could say that I did!  And down the side street I noticed a purple sign.  I walked on down to the door, nervous as all get out, and opened it, never knowing what to expect!  There was a front desk, and I grabbed one of these purple advertisements.  Glancing around, I notice scantily clothed women dancing on tables.

Needless to say, I didn't hang around long - just long enough to say I'd "been there, done that!!!"

















When it was time, we got in line to take the elevator
up to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.
It was a high speed elevator and took no time at all!
Whoosh and we're there, the doors open and you can
walk all around, looking out over the city.  It's a long
way up -- too high for my liking!  Looking to the
south, you can see Wall Street, the World Trade Center
Buildings (The Twin Towers) the Verrazano Bridge
and the Statue of Liberty!   There was also a snack
bar and souvenir counters.  This building has been
called "the cathedral of the skies" soaring more than
a quarter mile into the atmosphere above Manhattan.
From the ground, looking up, you can't see that much :P

1997 East Coast Trip (part 4)

Assuming the lines for the Statue of Liberty would be the longest, we headed there first, taking a boat out to Liberty Island.  From a distance, Lady Liberty is very very impressive and beautiful, appearing larger than life.  Being a West Coast-er and only seeing it on TV, I assumed she was bigger than she really is... but that doesn't change the significance of this statue.



















It was 355 steps up into the statue: 162 regular, the rest circular.  It took hours to take a few steps then stand and wait with the lines.  All the way up and able to look out the crown.  Amazing to see the City of New York from this view!  After coming back down the 355 steps on the other side of the statue, my legs felt like rubber!


The Statue of Liberty stands
151 feet (46 metres) in height,
and 305 feet (93 metres) from the ground to the torch.
It was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

1997 East Coast Trip (part 3)

July 6th:  lots of driving, passing through Connecticut, we stopped in a quite a few antique shops - If we bought anything, it had to be small, we were traveling light!











Somewhere in a town a McDonald's building is painted with a jungle theme.  I made no notes as to where this was, and couldn't find anything on line.  Of course, back in 1997, the internet wasn't the fount of information is is today!

The next day was our
New York City day -
and promised to be exciting!

After stopping for the night,
we headed into the city in
the early morning hours.

Driving in the city was
horrendous, I recall circling
the same blocks several times
searching for parking.





Conclusion?
Just park in a lot,
and do the rest walking!