New York City, Philadelphia, Delaware

From Jose

On our last night in Rhode Island I got a tick bite. It was a little tick but the bite looked nasty. Michelle and Amy said there is a lot of Lyme disease, so I went to a walk-in clinic and they agreed that it could be Lyme disease and prescribed some antibiotics as a precaution.

Our next stop was Guilford, Connecticut to catch up with my cousin Ed and his wife Carmen. I had not seen Ed in about 38 years. Ed is an engineer and Carmen had a catering business and is now semi-retired. They live in a cool forested area, near to town but with big lots and many trees.  Feels like you're miles from civilization. The next day was Ed's birthday and we got to celebrate with him with a scrumptious dinner prepared by Carmen. We talked into the night and the next  day got up early to enjoy breakfast together and talk and laugh some more.

Our next stop was going to be New York City, but I had mixed feelings about seeing New York City. I wanted to see some of it but I did not want to deal with the traffic, crowds, etc. So I asked Carmen if there is a way to see New York City without being there, like a guided bus tour. She said there are a few places along I95 where we could park the RV and take a train to the city. I liked that idea a lot.

We actually only spent a few hours with Ed and Carmen but we enjoyed every minute of it. It was nice to talk and laugh with such nice people.

As we left Guilford we saw a few of the places Carmen mentioned where we could catch a train to New York City. We spent the night in a little town named Norwalk, about halfway between Guilford and New York City to catch our breath and figure out what to do next. Next morning I realized we had not dumped the holding tanks in a long time so I decided to take care of that before any further touristing. The closest dump station I could find was in Croton Point RV Park, about 40 miles NE, along the Hudson River, so we headed that way. As we approached the park, around noon, we noticed a huge train station right next to the park.  When we went in the park office to pay the dumping fee we asked the attendant if we could catch a train to New York City at the train station next door. He said Croton Point is a major hub and that during peak hours trains depart for New York City about every 15 minutes. He also said it is about a 40 minute train ride to Grand Central Station. So we made an impromptu change of plans and decided to stay at the Croton Point RV Park and catch a train to New York City. We debated whether to catch a train that afternoon or wait till the next day, catch a morning train and stay longer. We decided to go just for the afternoon mainly because we didn't want to leave the dogs alone very long. And I did not want to explore New York City thoroughly, I just wanted a taste. After hooking up the RV and making sure the dogs had enough water in their bowl we rode the bikes to the train station and were on the train in a few minutes.

We got off in Grand Central Station and just went outside and walked. In our walk we saw the Empire State Building, old Chrysler Building, United Nations. We did go into the Rockefeller Center and saw the ice skating, NBC studios ("Hello, Al Roker") and the place where the Christmas tree would be (we missed it by a few days). We also saw the jewelry shop district. Just out of curiosity I walked in one of the stores and asked the price of a "Rolex" gold watch. It was $15,000. I am pretty certain it was not a genuine Rolex, it was in a little plastic holder with many others, and had a little plastic thingie protecting the glass. I know the true price of that model is about $22,000. Maybe he had to quote the high price in case I was a cop, and if I had talked to him some more he would have told me the true price but I did not have that much time and I did not intend to buy anyway.

We took the train back to Croton Point and arrived at the RV just in time to feed the dogs their dinner. We slept well that night after a very busy day.

The next day we headed towards Delaware to visit my cousin Meri but before we got there I wanted to swing by the Statue of Liberty. It was well worth the stop. We also took some very good pictures of the New York City skyline.

On the way to my cousin's we drove through Philadelphia and of course had to stop. We found a parking garage that could accommodate the RV and just walked, like we did in New York. During the walk we came upon some parked double-decker tour buses and found out that this was the starting point for a 90-minute guided bus tour and the next tour departed in a few minutes, so we got on. Our tour guide was excellent, knew a lot about the history of Philadelphia. She talked nonstop for 90 minutes and it was all interesting. The biggest thing I got from the tour is that Philadelphia has a lot of personality and it would take a long time to really get to know it. But we did the three main things to do in Philadelphia : 1  See the Liberty Bell, 2 see the Rocky Statue, 3 have a Philly steak sandwich. That's what the tour guide said. In reality they is plenty more to do in Philadelphia. We only spent a few hours there but I  would welcome the chance to come back and stay longer.

As we continued towards Newark, Delaware I saw an old ship moored very near I95. The name of the ship was "United States". I remembered when I was young my brother Cris had a plastic model of a ship named United States and I wondered if this was the same ship. So I googled it and found out that the United States was a famous ship in the 50s. It is the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction. Several organizations have proposed making it into a floating hotel or museum but nothing has worked out. And for now it sits rusting near Philadelphia. If you are interested read the rest of the story here or follow this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States

We finally arrived at my cousin's in Newark, DE. But I have rambled enough for today. That will be next update.

Stay tuned.