AYCJ - Day 13 - Last full day in NYC

photo: sunset on the Hudson River

Sunday, September 19 - Day 13 of my 30-day JetBlue All You Can Jet Adventure

It has been interesting finding time to write this blog as I travel. In a place like New York City, you are on foot and often have to carry around on your back (or in your shoulder bag) everything you need for the day. Some days I elected to leave the laptop at home (my bag was SO much lighter!). And on the days with the laptop, I looked for a Starbucks, or an equivalent "free WiFi" spot, the trick was finding one with space to sit and work. I know this isn't a serious problem in the general scheme of things, but, it's been interesting, searching for WiFi places, something I hadn't spent that much time doing before this.

But it's Sunday now, my last day in New York City before I take off for the rest of my 30-days of travel. At lunch time I walk from Manhattan's west side over to midtown to catch the N Train Subway to Astoria, Queens. There I meet my friend Jeanne and we enjoy a lovely Thai food lunch. We met when we both worked at CBS, and lived a block from each other in Astoria for awhile. It was nice to visit for a little while and catch up.

I lived in Astoria for several years, and always thought it as a good option for those of us who could no longer afford to live in Manhattan. It's a quick subway ride away from midtown Manhattan and is less expensive. Apparently Astoria has gotten more popular in recent years, new buildings have gone up, more people have moved there... and I guess some prices have gone up too, so it may not be as affordable as before, but then what is?

The five boroughs that make up New York City are: Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. When you live in one borough, you often don't get to many, if any of the others. But in my NYC week, I made it to all 5 boroughs. It's true that in Staten Island I only saw the Ferry Terminal, where I exited one ferry and waited for the next outbound ferry. And for Queens, if you land at either JFK or LaGuardia airport, you have been to Queens. But today's lunch in Astoria meant I visited Queens for more than just the airports. (And with a couple connecting flights through JFK yet to come in the next 2 weeks, I'll be in Queens again!)

After lunch I returned to Manhattan, and walked through a great (or not so great, depending on your point of view) NYC tradition.... The Street Fair! Every Saturday and Sunday, for much of the year, various streets and avenues are shut down to traffic so a variety of vendors can sell their wares. If you're looking for something the vendors are offering, it's a good thing. If you're in traffic that is stopped because the blocks have been shut down... it's not such a good thing. This one was on 8th Avenue, from about 47th to 57th Streets. My favorite cheap fast snack at Street Fairs used to be a skewer of chicken sate at the Thai food stands, for $1. It's very possible that price has gone up, but I forgot to check, so don't quote me on it ... I may be very out of date.

Returning to Richard and Arnold's, we took a nice walk over to the Hudson River. They've done a great job of fixing up the waterfront all along the Hudson. We walked around an area around West 46th Street, that has nice play areas, walking and biking areas, benches, a dog playground that was fun to watch, a restaurant, it was great. I was a bit anxious to get back, so I could repack everything and get ready for tomorrow's travel day.

New York can be crowded, aggravating, annoying, frustrating. But it is like no other place. And to finish the song I started in the headlines a few days back... New York, New York, it's a wonderful town!