Call it a whim type decision or call it nuts but Autumn really wanted to see Green Day's "American Idiot" and when she found out that Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's lead singer, was going to be performing, she immediately booked tickets for us both. So at the end of February, we began our adventure.
Surprised? Oh yeah! Excited? That would be the understatement. I had never been to New York before and the idea was very tempting so I went along. So at the end February we set off on our adventure.
We left Sacramento at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning and had a two- hour layover in Chicago. We landed there and of course found our connection gate. Then we ate Chicago style pizza-great stuff. Finally we boarded and ended up leaving Chicago nearly two hours late. We landed in New Jersey at 6 p.m. EST and rushed to find a cab. what we didn't know was that a cab to our hotel in New York city would cost $85 one way.
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| The cab ride from hell |
After a few heart stopping moments and near misses, we arrived at our overnight residence, a hostel.Once we checked in, we made our way to the third floor and into our sparse room that consisted of a bed with a night table and a sink. In one corner there was a mirror and a small shelf and a radiator by the window. Nice area of town, stone buildings lining the street in both directions. We shared a bathroom with others on our floor as well. Anyhow, we only had a few minutes to take it all in and then rushed downstairs to hail another cab for our ride to Broadway.
This cabby was nice and spoke excellent English. He told us how Derek Jeter had sat where I was sitting just hurs before. He teased us about being from California and drove normally. What a relief. As we drew closer to Broadway, the signs and the marquees flashed advertising the shows like "The Phantom of the Opera,""Mary Poppins," and of course "An American Idiot."
We were dropped off on the corner near the theater and headed to McDonalds but it was too full so we headed to the theater and watched the show.Good show and the theater was packed. we got out about two hours later at around 10 p.m.. we were hungry. So as we are leaving the theater, we notice a huge crowd out front. Immmediately we are hit with the cold. Hand and ear numbing cold. We made our way through the crowd and as it turned out, they were waiting for Billie Joe. As tempting as that is, we decided to escape to the warmth of a restaurant next door for a late night breakfast. Then the fun started.
The wind was blowing, it was darn right cold and we couldn't hail a cab. After about 35 minutes of standing in the bitter cold, I was finally able to hail a yellow cab and we headed back to our hotel only after giving the driver exact directions. What? They don't have GPS in New York?
Note to self: Radiators put out heat.
So maybe I am spoiled by the heating system at home or the fact that I have my own AC unit in my home office but...wow. The radiator in our hotel room was incredible to the point that I had to open the window. Yup. That's me. I have allergies and heat makes them worse so there I was..20 degrees outside and sleeping with the window open to counter act the heat coming off of the radiator.
When the morning finally arrived, we were once again hailing a cab and headed for a tour place downtown to book our spots on a harbor tour. That entailed hailing yet a second cab for our ride to the boat that would take us out onto the harbor.
Again it was bitterly cold. Autumn chose to stay inside the boat while, I, the intrepid photographer decided I wanted to be out on deck to get the best pictures possible. and so it went. For two hours the boat made its way under the Brooklyn Bridge, around the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and other well known sites. I, for my own part, wasn't prepared for the cold weather so I was layered with sweatpants, a pair of pants underneath, two shirts, a jacket, gloves and the most comical effect...another shirt wrapped around my head to protect my ears. It was quite the site. especially considering that I was wearing sunglasses.
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| Me freezing |
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| Statue of Liberty |
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| Ellis Island |
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| New York Skyline |
Anyhow,we finish the tour and Autumn decides she would like to go Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum on 42nd Street. LOL-according to the boat tour guide, the museum was only a block or two away so we considered walking..good thing we asked...it was six city blocks away...Not! So it was cab time again.
It must be remembered that because we were scheduled to fly home that afternoon, we had our luggage and for me, that consisted of a bag for my mini HP computer and purse and my carry on clothes bag that also had my camera bag inside. So now, here I am layered in clothes and running around through a wax museum carrying the weight of the bags and all the while taking pictures. Whew. I can still feel the heat and after about an hour, we finally reached a bathroom where I was able to take off some layers.
It was great. We got to hobnob with Elvis, Denzel Washington, Madonna, Morgan Freeman, President Obama, the pope and most importantly, the Osbournes. How can you beat that?
Oh. and my back held up nicely through it all. Yeah, there was pain but my stenosis was behaving so it made for a decent day. The museum was cool. Instead of the wax figures being behind glass, they are free standing and arranged in a way that they are standing like anyone else would when at a museum. Very clever. it's fun. at the end of the tour there is a spot where the museum people have created a height chart so you can compare your height with your favorite celebrity.
As our time at the museum came to a close, we headed next door to a two-story McDonald's and had our last food in New York. then it was time to hail another cab and we were off to New Jersey to catch our plane.
As things turned out, we left New York three hours late because of weather and missed our connector flight in Chicago. I have spent eyars watching news reports of stranded passengers but never thought it would happen to me. In my lifetime, I have flown to Europe twice and cross country several times and never had a problem. So here we found ourselves stranded at Chicago O'Hare and it was already 11 p.m. EST. Our next flight would be at 6:30 a.m. to San Francisco sow e decided to tough it out at the airport. Our logic was that if we booked a room, by the time we got settled, it would be after 1 a.m. and we would have to be back at the airport at 4 a.m. to check in and go through security so it really wasn't worth going to a hotel.
Now, what does one do when stuck at an airport all night? Sleeping is an option but my adrenaline was flowing so that was out of the question. I called home, called some friends and found a computer area and started working of work stuff and hanging out on the Internet. Autumn spent her time listening to my Ipod and reading. At about 3 a.m. we tried to get some sleep on the airport chairs...Not bad, if you have a way to pad your head. we got up at at 5 a.m. and found an open eatery, had breakfast before beginning the nightmare of being on standby.
Things change and so does technology. The last time I had flown on an airplane was about 7 years ago. the security I was used to but to see how the standby status was handled was fascinating.
At O'Hare, television monitors display flight status and who is on the standby and where they rank. we were very lucky in that we ranked 3 and 4 but that still didn't mean we would get on the flight. So we sat for over an hour watching the check-in tallies for the flight as they slowly increased. Finally only four seats remained and we were called. We both slept all the way to San Francisco. Then it was round two of staby for a flight to Sacramento. This one went faster and we were on our way in no time.
Upon arriving home, we went to our respective houses and slept for hours.
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