Not Bike Travelling Canada and the USA

[robbieb]

New York, New York.

Bit of a scary yellow taxi ride from the airport to our accommodation on 8th in Hell's Kitchen, the next day we walk the dozen or so blocks up to Central Park for a look. A look in at the visitor's centre reveals there are some ice sculptures up at the Bethesda fountain. Though done a week or so prior, they are still looking ok. The largest is a facsimile of the angel statue atop the fountain. And that group of people to the right, that it a wedding party. The bride and groom must have only just said their "I dos" before we arrived. At least it was sunny!



Perfect time of day for some artistic attempts with the sun



We go for a rather expensive lunch at the Boat House restaurant, one of those tip the washroom attendant affairs... Hmm, need t5o find a public toilet!

Wandering around a bit more we decide to go for a look at the zoo, where we see red pandas, seals, penquins and snow leopards



Sadly the zoo's polar bear had passed away not too long ago, but the last seal feeding of the day was fun to watch.

The next day we go for the short walk to the Hudson River to the USS Intrepid Air and Space Museum. We start with a walk through the Growler, a missile sub from the cold war



After the sub we go up on deck of the Intrepid, through the tower, and over to the space shuttle pavilion at the stern



The Enterprise, the first and only shuttle to have not flown in space. It was flight tested and then spent its days dinking around on the back of a 747 for NASA promotion



Thankfully we'd started up on deck, as the snow closed in and started making things icy up there.

Lining up in the snow for tickets to a Broadway show. I wanted to go see Book of Mormon, the Musical, by the South Park guys, but my sister had insisted we didn't need to pre-book as we could save money getting them from Time Square. Well tickets weren't available for anything reasonable in price, so we went to see Chicago instead



The show was still good to see. The theatre was just around the corner from our apartment.



Time Square is way over the top, bright and flashy

 

[Eagle-lady]

Thanks for sharing, great pics.
My brother got scouted at 16yrs to play ice hockey as a goalie in Vancouver. He travelled from Hobart.
He really loved it over there and is planning a return working visa trip.
His stories have resulted in Vancouver being added to my bucket list.

 

[robbieb]

Vancouver sure is a great place to visit, Annette

Thankfully the following day is much nicer, as we wanted to have a look up the Empire State Building. Arriving and getting sucked through the rotating doors into the lobby, Bianca and I walk up to the bloke directing us up the escalator to the next floor. Welcome to the Empire State Building Ladies and Gentlemen, he says. Maybe he's used to all the hoards and is just unable to adjust it to Sir and Madam. Anyway, joining the line behind maybe a bus load of Asian tourists to go through Security, another busload or two rushes up behind us. Everything you do in the USA requires a security check. It is sad in this post 9/11 age, but the yanks are security crazy, it is like international airport security every building or museum you enter.

The main viewing deck is on the 86th floor. Here is the Crysler building



Camera outside the railing, amazed I didn't get screamed at by a security guard, who seemed very put out by some Asian taking a photo of him and demanded he delete it



We shelled out a few more bucks to go up to the 102nd floor observatory, which pays for itself to get a nice quiet view out over the city away from the throngs of Asian cameras and nutter security blokes. We were only a couple of about half a dozen people up there. Looking South to the financial district, the Twin Towers of the WTC no longer the dominant feature skyline, the Freedom Tower is nearing completion



We get to the front of the queue for the ride down too. Next is Liberty Island cruise. the wind is up and the waves are a bit sickening on the ferry trip out, thankfully it doesn't take too long, and the green copper lady is shining in the sun. The cruise out and back via Ellis Island only costs $13 or so, which is kinda cheap for NYC







After a bite of lunch and a look through the gift shop, the sun has been shielded by a cloud bank, and we head over to Ellis Island, sight of the Immigration Office for the city in the 20s. This was fairly disappointing, and we only stay long enough for the next ferry. Sadly, we missed probably the only interesting bit, the small room full of artefacts jammed up in the top furthest most corner of the building. Oh well. If I ever go back to NYC and do the cruise again, I'll go straight to the top and have a squiz. Quite nice looking buildings, but



Ground Zero, the site of the former twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Everyone knows what happened. The monument is quite a sombre reminder of the thousands of people who lost their lives in the attacks



Time for a closer look at the Brooklyn Bridge before the sun sets



It gets dark whilst we stop in Starbucks for a coffee, then my sister and I walk out to the first tower of the bridge and back. The Empire State



Can't remember all the things we did the last day, but the Lego shop wasn't as awesome as I thought it may have been, but they had a big lego dragon



Ah, the class of the ads on the subway



Had a shit taxi ride out to JFK. Tip for you all, don't get in a cab that doesn't have any service lights on. We think the driver was doing a shifty off the clock cash job for himself, and wouldn't accept credit card. More security, take the boots off, through to the gate, wait for our delayed flight to DC. In hindsight, we should have taken the train like my sister. She beat us to DC, but we got there eventually!

 

[glitch]

Went to a pub for a sample of local breweries dark beers. Some very interesting ones, like maple, which is sickly sweet, and one of the ambers has whiskey, making it around 12%... Yoiks!
!

Not bad for a "sampling tray", whoohoo!
Geez, one of those collections and you'll need a cab home
Certainly beats the Bright Brewery shot glasses (and their brew, most likely)

 

[glitch]

Perfect time of day for some artistic attempts with the sun

NICE!!



Enjoying every pic and word of this...what a trip!

 

[robbieb]

OK, been nearly 18 months and I never fished this one off.

Washington DC, the slave built capital of the USA!

We arrived after our delayed flight, shuttle bus to the train station, then get on the deserted train after just missing the previous one. We were staying in Shaw, a suburb not too far out of the city. a quick stop at a 711 to get some supplies, and I stayed outside with our suitcases and fended off requests of "got some change tonight" from some homeless folk hanging around outside. Then we got lost by going down the wrong street in the dark, and took a bit to find our accommodation. Finally we got there and it was nice and warm inside since my sister had been there with the heaters cranking.

We had pre booked a tour of the Capitol building in the morning, so on the train and down to Central.

It is amazing what can be accomplished with some cheap labour



We were there on the day Barack Obama was to give his State of the Union address that evening, and we went for a look in the House of Representatives, but no photos allowed.
There were a few who were already there to claim a seat, even though the address wasn't to happen until that night.

Thankfully the weather was being kind to us, and the dome of the Capitol building was free of all the scaffolding I've seen in recent images on the tv



Try getting a shot like this in the summer time!



A walk down the National Mall to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I was really looking forward to this one. Could have spent many, many hours here.

Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia



I learnt that Michael Collins was director of the museum for several years after a public service job post retiring from the astronaut corpse.

WWII Gallery

Spitfire



Me 109 and P51



This building is pretty big



Apollo 11 again



Sputnik model and I believe John Glenn's Mercury capsule Friendship 7, first American to orbit the earth, after Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom



Looks a lot like a corrugated iron water tank, amazing that it flew in space




X15, fastest jet plane



Wright Flyer. The canvas is replaced, but everything else is original



I think this was Gene Cernan's pressure suit, the last person to step off the moon



Lunar Module. This is a real one, destined for a flight that never happened





Apollo Soyuz



Moon rock!



If you ever make it to the USA, the Smithsonian Museums are highly recommended. They are free to enter, you just have to put up with some security checks

 

[glitch]

If you ever make it to the USA, the Smithsonian Museums are highly recommended. They are free to enter, you just have to put up with some security checks

Man...what a place !!
I think I could spend weeks in there




Twin brothers ? (duck+run!!)

 

[robbieb]

Man...what a place !!
I think I could spend week in there




Twin brothers ? (duck+run!!)

It was cold, not as cold as Montreal, but still

That gimp suit reminds me of a movie called "Thunderpants"

 

[twowheeler]

Better late than never .

You've confirmed that the Smithsonian belongs high on my to-do list.

 

[robbieb]

More to come!