This post is going to be totally different, I’m going to write about my recent trip to New York. A trip like this one is one of those that will stay with me and it changed me a little bit, not to sound cliche. I don’t travel enough to be a travel blogger (nor do I want to), so here is my one travel blog post.
Let me start by expressing that I’m thankful to the good Lord above for giving me the chance to go on this trip. Many able bodied people don’t get around to going to New York City in their lifetime and the number of disabled people that don’t get to experience NYC is probably even greater. I’m not bragging, rather, I’m truly grateful.
Niagara Falls and Canada
The first two days of the trip were travel days from North Carolina to Pittsburgh, PA, then from Pittsburgh to Niagara Falls, Ontario. We (my parents and I) did see one sight on the first day: the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. This bridge is the longest steel span in the western hemisphere and the third highest in the United States. It was a pretty cool sight to see.
Fast forward to arriving in Niagara Falls: when we were within about a mile of the falls I saw what looked like smoke, but it was actually mist from the falls. According to the locals, the mist freezes in the winter and covers the roads.
Our hotel in Niagara Falls had a view of the falls, which was awesome to see from the fourteenth floor. There were two gift shops, a TGI Friday’s, and a steakhouse. That's a whole other level of hotel right there. The hotel staff were really nice people also, very friendly and very helpful.
We ate at Friday’s for supper and they were showing the Bristol race, so I was happy. I didn’t know Canadians watched NASCAR.
Day 3 involved going down to the falls. There was a tourist-y building with gift shops, a couple restaurants, a theater, and the Behind the Falls tour. We went on the Behind the Falls tour, which is where you go down into tunnels that are carved into the rock behind the falls. The tunnels, as you can imagine, were crowded and dark. The views were worth it completely, but I didn’t like being in the tunnels. I’m glad I did it, I don’t want to do it again. After the tour we went back topside to saw the falls again from a different angle.
Canada was a fascinating place to visit. Everything was metric; I bought a bottle of Sprite that was 500 ml, the speed limit on Queen Elizabeth Way (a highway) is 100 km/h, and the temperatures were in the 20’s Celsius. (Metric actually makes more sense than imperial.) And the currency is the Canadian Dollar; the smallest paper bill for them is the five dollar bill and the coins go as high as the two dollar coin.
They do, however, drive on the right side of the road. Canadians drive pretty much the same cars as we Americans do: Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, etc. The people in Canada are nice, but they’re not much different than people in America. To me, and this could be incorrect, Canada is similar in some ways to Europe and similar in some ways to the U.S.: they use the metric system like Europe and their football is similar to American football.
More Travel
The fourth day was another day of travel, this time from Niagara Falls to New York City. We had to cross back over the border and go through Buffalo before we really got going. The majority of the parts of New York state we saw were farmland, mountains, or small towns and it was beautiful. I knew there was more to New York than NYC, but I didn’t realize it was that rural. The Empire State was so rural that it reminded me of North Carolina.
There weren’t many signs of city until we made it to New Jersey. Once we arrived in Newark it was all city all over. When I saw New York City across the river all lit up in the evening it was almost overwhelming. I found the Freedom Tower easily and it was awesome to see. I wasn’t done being overwhelmed until we emerged from the Lincoln Tunnel right in the heart of the city. I felt like an ant surrounded by all those skyscrapers. It’s difficult for me to express that feeling of wonderment into words.
We eventually got settled in our hotel sometime after ten probably, I had to get used to sleeping with the city noises in the background. I slept enough that night though.
NYC sights
On the first day in NYC we went to the Freedom Tower and the rest of the World Trade Center. The Freedom Tower is officially named One World Trade Center and it was completed in 2015 as part of rebuilding the WTC. One World Trade Center has an observation deck on the 102nd floor, which allows you to see the entire city and even Jersey City. Fortunately, the skies were clear and it was easy to see.
After the Freedom Tower we went to find food. There’s an area beneath the WTC that connects the subway station, the Freedom Tower, and Brookfield Place. The latter is a mall on like the bottom two floors of a building across the street from the WTC. For a country boy like myself that was an impressive mall. It had a food court with pretty much any kind of food you could want. And there was a complete Rite-Aid in this mall. I don’t know why that amazes me, but it does. We ain’t got pharmacies in malls in China Grove.
We went back over the WTC to see the reflecting pools in the footprint of the Twin Towers. It was humbling to see the names of all those who perished in the 9/11 attacks. That’s about all that words can describe.
We then went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, it’s beside the reflecting pools. In the museum there’s items from the original towers and 9/11, such as beams sheared from one of the buildings by the impact, a fire truck that was crushed by the collapse of one of the towers, and retaining walls from under the Twin Towers. Apparently, in order to construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build a "bathtub" with a slurry wall around the West Street side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out. This slurry wall is the one on display.
The fire truck was the item I remember the most, it was from Ladder Company 3. From the museum website, “Ladder 3 was parked on West Street near Vesey Street on September 11, 2001. The damage the truck sustained, as a result of the collapse of the Twin Towers destroyed the vehicle. The front cab was shorn off and the aerial ladder was partially crushed.”
The next day we went to Times Square and then we went to the concert that was the main purpose of the trip. First I’ll talk about Times Square. The first thing we did was go to one of those ‘I love NYC’ stores. That store was the biggest one I had seen by that point, so that’s the one I wanted to go in. That store had so many souvenirs; if they didn’t have it, then you didn’t need it. I bought a Yankees hat and a NYPD shirt.
After that we went to the M&M’s store, which was three floors high and full of candy and more souvenirs. The rest of the time we spent in Times Square, aside from eating lunch, was walking around looking. There were people everywhere and stores everywhere. It was neat to see, but I understand why locals steer clear of it: it’s full of tourists.
I’m going to move on to 8:00 that night for the concert. The concert was Jeff Lynne’s ELO, formerly the Electric Light Orchestra, in Madison Square Garden. I’m going to start by saying that everyone working the concert were very nice people. I’m a classic rock guy and so is my dad, so I’ve heard ELO songs many times in my young life and I like their music. Jeff Lynne is British and he’s 70, so this was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. He sounded just like he does in the recordings from the 1970s and -80s. It was a great concert. I could keep going for a few paragraphs, but I’ll spare you that.
The next day we went to Battery Park and took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and then Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was really interesting to see in person. I mean, that’s pretty much all there is to do on that island, aside from eating and looking at the gift shop, nonetheless, it was awesome to see. Ellis Island was the next stop.
Ellis Island is where immigrants to the US would enter the country and go through various examinations to determine whether they were fit to further enter the country or not. The main building used then is now the museum. There’s exhibits on different aspects of immigration, agriculture, the history of industry in America, etc. The exhibits, however, almost had too much information to fully take in. And I’ve seen multiple documentaries on immigration in the twentieth century. I don’t mean that I know everything about immigration, but I didn’t learn anything earth shattering. Ellis Island still was neat to see.
All I’ll go into about the ferry ride is: when we landed back at Battery Park that ferry was rocking and the ramp was bucking back and forth. I was not a fan of the thought of going down the ramp, but the crewmen got me off safely and I appreciate that tremendously. Those guys must be hard workers to work on those ferries.
On the final day in the Big Apple we went to the Empire State Building, Macy’s, and Central Park. The Empire State Building is, obviously, an iconic American sight, so I’m glad we went to its observation deck too. The inside of the building is nice, it’s definitely Art Deco. I’m a fan of practically anything historical, therefore, I thought it was amazing.
We went to Macy’s after that, not just any Macy’s, the Macy’s at Herald Square. Let’s be honest, I didn’t want to go in the store, seeing the exterior would have been enough for me, but we went in and it was not terrible. That store is nine stories high and the size of a block. Macy’s sells a lot of stuff at that location, from clothes to furniture.
After we left Macy’s, the next stop was Central Park. We had the taxi drop us at the Met, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. I would’ve wanted to go in the Met if we had more time, but the park was more important. I knew Central Park was big, but dang, it’s big. We walked to the reservoir and Cleopatra’s Needle, which took over an hour all together. I enjoyed seeing the park.
Cleopatra’s Needle is an obelisk that was originally built in Egypt in 1475 BC. The Romans moved the obelisks in 12 BC to Alexandria to a temple built by Cleopatra, then toppled around the same time. It was rediscovered the 1870s and the Egyptian government sent it to our government as a gift. William Vanderbilt largely funded the transportation of the obelisk across land to New York.
The next and final day of a trip was the drive from NYC back home. I knew we were back in Dixie when we rode on the Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia. I didn’t want to leave New York, however, I was glad to be home.
The NYC atmosphere
I, admittedly, was skeptical that I would enjoy New York at all. I knew I would enjoy the concert and sightseeing, but I thought the city itself would be difficult for me to get around. I don’t like crowds at all because many people walk all over me, so I assumed that would be the case in New York City.
Another reason for my skepticism is that I’m too much of a country boy to like cities. I am happy living out in the country away from heavy traffic and city noises. I could spend a while explaining why I’m not a city person, but you get the idea. My only problem with living where I do is that restaurants don’t deliver food that far.
The first night in NYC didn’t change my opinion, however, we had about an eight hour drive to get there, so I was tired. The next day changed my negative opinion into a positive one. It started with the taxi ride. Some explanation is needed for those of you that don’t know me well or that don’t know much about handicap accessible vehicles.
We have a minivan with a ramp conversion, or a ramp van. Converting a minivan into a ramp van involves, basically, lowering the floor installing a ramp, and removing seats. A ramp van is the alternative to a van with a lift, I don’t like vehicles with lifts (that’s a story for another time). Another thing about me riding in a handicap accessible vehicle is that I feel almost everything (bumps, turns, acceleration, braking) more than you’d think. Since we have a side entry van I sit in the middle, in front of the ‘third row’.
The handicap taxis in NYC are all ramp vans, which is great, and most of our drivers were good. The taxis were rear entry vans, therefore I sat in the back behind the middle row of seats. In our van the entire floor was lowered, but in a rear entry van the section where the person in the wheelchair sits is the only lowered part. I couldn't half see out the windows much because of the lowered floor. That is probably a good thing considering the way people have to drive up there.
Most of the drivers were pretty good, but we had one guy that was like the Dale Earnhardt of taxi drivers: he knew how to handle a car. I mean this guy was navigating traffic like it was the Daytona 500, and he wasn’t dangerous about it, he was smooth.
Sidewalk traffic, on the other hand, wasn’t so bad. Most people walk at a brisk pace and they don’t walk all over everyone else. The people are a lot nicer than I thought they would be. Most people also gave me some room once they saw I was in a wheelchair. Some folks walk quickly and get around others however they can, but it’s not the majority of people. You learn to just go where you want and people move without being too rude. The sidewalks turned out to be easier to get around than I anticipated. I actually enjoyed ‘walking’ around once I got used to it.
Now the food, oh the food in NYC is great everywhere. There are restaurants of all kinds all over the place: italian, southern barbecue, chinese, thai, korean, burgers, pizza, greek, irish, mexican, etc. There’s a pizza place in Macy’s that even has good pizza. We ate at an irish pub one night and their fish and chips was so good it’d make you slap somebody. If I lived in NYC I’d be the size of a planet with all that great food. And I’m only halfway joking about that.
The Yankees
I just have one final story. I mentioned buying a Yankees hat, but what I didn’t mention is that I became a Yankees. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with baseball because I didn’t get it. I know it sounds weird, but being in NYC made me a Yankees fan. I think it’s that I enjoyed New York so much that I wanted to “be a part of it”, even at home. I can’t explain it any better than that.
My observation is that New Yorkers need something to do that’s a little slower than the regular hustle and bustle of the city, so baseball was just that. Plus, as with most sports franchises, it gives people something to unite behind. The Yanks fans are a tight group, they stick together. What’s more, the Yankees won the World Series after New York City survived the horrific 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Wrap up
My conclusion is that everyone should experience New York City at least once in their life. I do not want to live there, but it’s a magnificent place to visit. Even for a country boy like me it was fun. There are so many things to see and do up there that I want to go back. How’s that for a review of a city?
