Bite The Big Apple

Some friends of ours decided to take a trip to the Big Apple, and asked us if we would like to coordinate a trip to meet up. We spent weeks going back and forth and eventually settled on a date around the April/May timeframe. Flights, hotels, vacation days, etc were booked. I have to say that I didn't remember NYC being so expensive, but then I always was coming from the UK. I was surprised though, that in this tough economy, hotels in Manhattan were still charging a minimum of $200 per night, plus $50 per day parking, and would not budge on the prices. So we started to look around and found a Super 8 just over the river in NJ, through the Lincoln tunnel. We got three nights for the price of one in Manhattan, and whilst not as convenient, or upscale, when you are only sleeping there, who cares?? But I am getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning.

We decided, mostly because flights are inconvenient with a baby, and certainly you still have to have cabs, rent cars, take baby seats, etc, that we would drive. This also afforded us the opportunity to take a bit of a road trip and see some of the country, although seeing it at 70mph doesn't really count! We decided to go via Niagara on the way there and take the direct shot via Cleveland on the way back. Lorraine had never been to Niagara before and I had only been once before, so we were excited.

Looking at the weather in advance, it didn't look good, with rain promised, pretty much for the entire week, and sure enough....We left at 6:15am on Thursday and drove to Niagara, arriving sometime around 6pm with several stops along the way. It LITERALLY and PHYSICALLY did not stop raining the ENTIRE journey. We didn't see much countryside along the way, but the journey generally went well. We had a quick dinner, wander along the riverside in the rain, and then went to bed.

Next day the rain actually had stopped and we spent the day doing the usual tourist stuff you do at Niagara Falls, GETTING WET from the spray. It is a fascinating place to visit, although the towns on either side of the border are very run down and generally not very nice. We started out by going into the Journey Behind The Falls. Tunnels which started in the early 1800s, have been expanded upon over the years, take you to two points, actually behind the horseshoe falls. You can see and feel the rush of the water as it pounds relentlessly over the precipice. The picture here does not really do it justice, but it was very cool.

Next we took a trip on the Maid Of The Mist, which sails you right into the horseshoe falls, getting completely soaked in the process. AJ hated it of course, with her new found loathing of showers, so I shielded her from the worst of it whilst Lorraine enjoyed the full magnificent force.


For the rest of the day we generally hung out in the area, went over to the US side and checked out the park there. Both sides are definitely worth the trip. You absolutely get the best views of both the American/Bridal Falls and the Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side, but the you can get closest to the river and the actual falls on the American side.

Niagara Facts & Figures

• The flow rate over the Horshoe Falls is 600,000 US gallons per second, in the off season it is half that amount
• At night as in the off season, they half the flow rate by pumping water to the various power stations
• Until 1905, the erosion rate was almost 4ft per year, since then it has been reduced to approx 1ft in 10 years.
• It did actually pretty much completely stop running once in 1848, due to an upriver ice dam
• The park has been self funded since the 1800s, requiring no government money despite being a state park

Next day (Saturday) we set off for the city, and it RAINED, sporadically throughout the day, approximately 12 hour trip with stops. The journey was uneventful, but the scenery in upstate New York was beautiful when it wasn't raining. We arrived pretty late to NYC that night and retired early ready for a busy few days.

The next day (Sunday) we met our friends in the city, at their hotel, with a planned tour around some of the sights, being once again marred by the weather, but we went anyway!! We started by taking the Staten Island Ferry over to the island and back. For those who don't know, it's free, and a great way to see the skyline on Manhattan Island and the Statue Of Liberty. It was amazing to see that skyline without the Twin Towers, as I had not been back since before 9/11.

We went to South Street Sea Port, Empire State Building, and the Memorial for 9/11 set up right by the site. I have to admit that I was surprised by the "lack" of progress on the new building. Please understand that I don't mean this disrespectfully, understanding that it took several years to even clear the site, I guess I just had thought, some 8+ years later that we would have had some level of building showing above the fences by now, naive I suppose. We checked out the memorial right by the site, a very sombre experience. All sorts of pieces from the "wreckage" of the buildings, including personal effects, and a bunch of pictures of folks who were missing. It really was quite heart wrenching.

On Monday we had planned to go to Yankee stadium in the evening to take in a ball game, against the local rival Boston Red Sox. Our seats were up in the gods, which ended up being a good thing as it was once again, you guessed it, RAINING! We ended up being delayed for over two hours, and only being able to see the first two innings as we had to get back for our train. However it is a beautiful stadium with all mods cons, including a huge price tag for most refreshments. Hot Dogs $8, 12oz beer $9, compared to Wrigley at $4.50 and $6.50 (for a 16oz beer), scurrilous; but I guess they have to pay for the stadium, oh wait, NYC did that!!!!

We left home the next day and headed back to Illinois, tired, wet, bedraggled, but having had a good time. Click on any of the pictures above, or this link this link to see the rest of the album.