Texans in New York

[Wildkat]

For a long time now I've wanted to do the tourist thing in New York... John wasn't really interested in going and with the summer here in Texas being so hot... the kids and I decided to take advantage of certain privileges and make a day trip to New York... not that it was really any cooler...
Our resident New York Guru, Randy, took on the challenge of showing us around and man did he ever do an incredible job!
I was going to post pics, but after I weeded through the pics we took and uploaded everything... I still had 80 pics... so to avoid overloading anybody's computer... I'll just post a link to the slideshow...

How much can you do in a day in New York?

Here's what we did... we arrived in New York at 1020 Eastern... and got back to LGA at 1830 Eastern... so we did all of this in 8 hours...

Texans in New York Slideshow

and for the record... New Yorkers were some of the friendliest people I've met... VERY courteous (unless you were on the sidewalks) and the ones we spoke with had a great sense of humor... This visit completely changed my stereotypical opinion of New York (with the exception of the traffic... it still sucks... lol)

Thank you to Randy for showing us the time of our lives!

[nubee]

Looks like fun!

Good pics Kat,

Does American fly to Australia or New Zealand?

Perhaps England? Bet ya they like TeXSives there too.

Could you get one of those nice American baggage handlers to smuggle your bike aboard? What's an extra 500 lbs.?

[latexeses]

What a day! Looks like you are the persons who were able to get ten pounds of groceries in a five pound sack.

Did it seem like a sensory overload? Great pictures by the way.

Rodger

[randy]

Great pics, Kat. I'll send you and John the ones I took. Y'all come back now, hear?

[HobbyMan]

AHHH! You guys were soo close! I haven't had the comp for a few weeks now or I would have driven out to see you guys. Dang.

[Wildkat]

Thanks all... It's probably a good thing all of the pics didn't turn out very well... y'all would still be looking at them... or asleep...
lol

Does American fly to Australia or New Zealand?

Perhaps England? Bet ya they like TeXSives there too.

We've discussed that... but it sure would be difficult to make a day trip out of any of those... lol

Could you get one of those nice American baggage handlers to smuggle your bike aboard? What's an extra 500 lbs.?

I've seen the way the bagrats handle luggage... and there is no way they're getting near my bike...
lol

Did it seem like a sensory overload?

YES! But ever so worth it! the kids and I felt like we had been gone for days by the time we got into DFW last night because of all we squeezed in yesterday... and there's still SOOOO much more to do there... We are definitely going back... maybe not this year... but definitely going back...

I'll send you and John the ones I took. Y'all come back now, hear?

Thanks Randy!

Wow! you picked up Texan really fast! I'd try to say something in New Yorkese (New Yorkan? New Yorkish? lol) but we heard so many different languages, dialects and accents... I'm not sure which one it is...
What an incredibly diverse place! It's like world travel all wrapped up in one city...
Tres cool

WonderBoy!
We'll give you a call before we head up next time... This was REALLY last minute planning...
John and I want to check out the Intrepid when he comes up... might be a great time for all of us to get together...

[CatatonicBug]

Wow! SWMBO really wants to visit NYC. Personally, I'd rather go to DC, and spend a week at the Smithsonian . If I could get all that stuff taken care of in one day, I wouldn't mind a visit to NYC! Might have to get with Randy myself to arrange a re-run of your trip!

[Wildkat]

DC is on the to-do list... but just like you said... it would take FAR more than a day... so it would have to be broken down into several trips for us if we were to stay on the day trip ideal... I spent a couple of days in DC years ago and only got through 2 parts of the Smithsonian and a few more sights there... didn't even scratch the surface... Same with New York...

and fair warning... New York is EXPENSIVE! We were able to get discount tickets to the Empire State Building through John's work... otherwise it would have cost us $100 for the 5 of us to go up to the 86th floor... It's another $15 each to go to the 102nd... A hot dog, large fry and medium drink for each of 5 people at Nathan's cost us $44... not to mention tolls, fares, parking and misc other expenses...

[mstic2000]

Here's what we did... we arrived in New York at 1020 Eastern... and got back to LGA at 1830 Eastern... so we did all of this in 8 hours...

You give a new meaning to a "New York minute."

[randy]

Hobbyman,

I'm very close to the MMA at Kings Point, I live in Whitestone and I pass you a couple of times a week. Thought you'd be out at sea mostly, and without a ride, well.... Lets see if John can get his butt up here and we'll all go see the Intrepid. They just got her back into port after a re-fitting. Should be a great sight.

[xs11jack]

Risking the anger of our beloved NYers

I tell you to do the Smithsonian in DC first. Was stationed in the military at Aberdeen Proving Grds and used to spend a lot of weekends in dc. For a history nut like myself, it was wonderful. In defense of NY, I've been there too and had a good time, but........
Jack

[madmax-im]

Hey I'm In Joisey

Kat...Glad to see y'all could appreciate a place like NYC And you could not have picked a better person to guide you.Randy knows New Yawk like the back of his hand...Hopefully next time you come for a visit you'll give a heads up and I could also join you guys...New Yawk is incredible...the spirit of New Yawkers...they endure so much everyday...but its just par for the course for them. We may bend at times but we never break...I say we 'cuz I am a native of NY too. NY never sleeps either...if you had a craving for chinese food at 2 a.m. you could find plenty of places open for business. While I'm not one for the crowds and traffic...NY is still alot of fun...
Your pics are great too and Thanks for sharing them...
Y'all come back now..hear? See I know that Texan stuff too..why we have it ALL in NYC...Yee Haw!

[randy]

Ok, history buffs. We have Fraunces Tavern where the 'insurgents' would gather to plan against the crown. It's still operating. We have West Point which, before it was a military academy was the bluff above the Hudson where Washington set up artillery to blast the **** out of the British as they sailed down to NY from Hudson Bay. The cannon are still there. We have as you saw in the pictures, Federal Hall which was the first operating capitol, treasury and congress of the new United States and where Washington took his oath of office.


In Brooklyn, one of the main roads through the borough still carries it's original name 'The Kings Highway' named for guess-who. and the there is the borough of Queens, named for - you guessed it. The Brooklyn Navy Yard built and launched many of the our most famous naval vessels The Monitor, The Maine, The North Carolina, The Iowa and our first angled-deck carrier, the Antietam. Less than a mile form the navy yard is a non-descript building with glass block windows that served as the NY headquarters for the Manhattan Project. Farther out on the south shore of Brooklyn, there still stands replica concrete bunkers and gun emplacements that were built to practice the invasion of Normandy.

Someone stop me.

[madmax-im]

Randy you should open a tour service you got it down BTW did you know that the bulk of the Revolutionary war was fought in NJ? Over 300 battles!

[Special Ed]

I’ll have to take more time to go over every post and see your pics, but as an expatriate Texan I too was surprised by how friendly New Yorkers were when I visited my in laws On Long Island. We did a day in Manhattan. I could have easily spent several days in the Museum of Natural History! The people were brash but wonderful! I’ll spend more time on your post later.
Special Ed