Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Photo Slideshow (Click link and use arrows on keyboard or on screen to page through)
We got an early start this morning. Clay had ordered a Green Taxi for 7:15am to take us to the Amtrak station. We needed to be there by 8am to check our luggage for the 8:45am No. 92 train. We had 2 reserved coach class tickets for $170.20. That allowed us 2 checked bags at no extra charge. The bags did not exceed our carryon allowance, but we thought it would be easier to check them. First snafu of the day was the Green Taxi never showed up. Clay flagged down a yellow taxi in front of the house and he said he’d come back by after dropping his passenger. He did and Clay called Green Taxi for the 3rd time to just cancel. We still made it to the station in plenty of time.
The seats were large and comfortable with power outlets,
recline and leg supports and foot rests to make them like recliners. The ride
was rough and long though. We made lunch reservations for the dining car at
noon and each had a $10 Angus steakburger with chips. There were only 3
choices; ours, vegi-burger or Caesar salad. The burgers were good and it was a
change of scenery for an hour or so. It is a toss-up whether it is better than
flying. Maybe slightly less unpleasant because no TSA screening and a more
generous luggage and personal space allowance. Anyway, the next snafu was
picking up checked bags at Penn Station in NYC. Somehow they put the luggage
out for pickup of a train that arrived after we were all lined up outside
Baggage Claim. So, we got to wait for the small group from a train from Ohio
who were all just showing up behind us to push through and get their bags
before they closed it all off again. Then we got to wait another 30 minutes for
them to bring up a whole lot more luggage for our larger and now angrier group.
Since we had to wait over an hour to get our bags, it might have been a better
idea to just carry it all on and off ourselves. But you never know. The train
arrived right on time, but our luggage was late. Good news was all our luggage
arrived intact!
We are at the Holiday Inn Express Midtown West at 538 West
48th Street. We paid $288.08 for a room on the 8th floor.
It is about 10 blocks from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal 90 Berth 4 at 55th
and 12th Ave. Too far to walk with luggage in my opinion. We got
checked in and then walked to Daisy May’s for BBQ. Clay wanted a giant beef
rib. Daisy May’s is a counter service dining establishment at 623 11th
Ave at 46th. It was a convenient walk and I think we were both
disappointed and I was even a little grossed out by the food. Cold baked beans, Clay said the collards were
hot. The Carolina pulled pork is mustard sauce, so while I have found that in
the Carolinas, I have only seen it in a small area of the eastern part of the
state of SC. It cost $50 for one giant rib at $30 and a pulled pork sandwich at
$11.50. No tap water. A bottle for $1.50 and all beers all day at $3.50 each.
We were tired but still walked to reconnoiter the pier for
tomorrow, when I decided it was too far without finding it. We looked in the
other direction for Clay an ice cream and for a place to buy wine and/or beer for
the ship. We never found anything either of us was willing to buy. Clay was
sure he knew where a close Duane Reade was from the cab ride, but after 3
blocks without finding it, I felt a blister popping and told Clay I was done
and we walked back. We got in after our usual 9pm bedtime!
The room at the Holiday Inn Express is nice enough though
the Salvation Army is directly across the street for those who are bothered by
large homeless congregations. I actually did not notice it until seeing the
line up the next morning. The room is larger than the last one we had in NYC.
The bed and pillows were wonderful and we slept well. Clay only pulled the
scrim and we had a lot of light in the room, but there was another shade. He
was using it to hang his handwashed shirt over the AC unit. The AC unit fan ran
constantly and it was rather loud. The good news was that it acted as white
news and I didn’t notice any street noise at all. The HI Express includes a
buffet breakfast from 6:30am to 9:30am. It was good and well attended. It had a
pancake dispensing machine that I love. But, it had either a waiting line or
was out of batter the whole time so we didn’t get one. We both had already
decided to have bagels in honor of being in NYC anyway. I also had a yogurt and
coffee and Clay had a turkey sausage biscuit and juice. No ice water again. I
had to come back to the room to make my own to take my pills.
We are off to tour Central Park and will post about the rest
of the day and boarding Marina in a new post.
(We won't take time on this trip to paste them into the text individually! Sorry!)
