Places visited: New York
Date: 26/06/2019 to 30/06/2019
Persons: Harshal, Juilee, Radhika.
This trip was a perfect example of how mother nature can fail a perfectly planned trip. You really need some luck as well along with your plan. We planned for the trip one month in advance. We checked the weather at Moline and LaGuardia Airport. We booked statue of liberty cruse ticket as well.
26/06/2019:
I was continuously checked about our connecting flight which was also delayed at Chicago.
We landed at Chicago at around 8:30 and we ran to our gate for the connecting flight only to find out that it just took off 10 minutes ago. We were highly disappointed.
We went to the customer service area of United Airlines where they just gave the boarding pass for the next day flight (27-June 6:00 AM). They handed us a discount card for the hotels, but all of the hotels were full due to this weather disturbance; because all of the flights were delayed.
We then searched in booking.com but the available hotels were like 30 minutes away from airport. So we then walked to the area where cots were placed. We tried to sleep there but could not even close our eyes due to constant changing lights and sounds. So finally we booked a hotel Howard Johnson by Wyndham and took the Uber. A african-american worker at the airport helped us to find the Uber pick up point.He was asking us if we are from India. He mentioned that there are many Indian people working in his company and Indian people are very polite and good. I felt pride when I heard it. We cought the Uber. (I always get Uber drivers who does not understand English very well). It was 11:30 PM at night. We reached the hotel by 12:00 midnight. It was only 1 room left and thankfully we got it as we already booked it. We sat the alarm for 3 AM and slept. Before sleeping, I scheduled an Uber ride for 3:00 AM.
27/06/2019:
We reached to LGA at 9:00 AM. We took our bags from the belt and booked the Uber. There is a lot of construction going on, so they have shifted the Uber pickup point to some nearby parking at 2rd Level. The driver was AmrutPrasad, with whom I tried to speak Hindi and he was happy with that. We found him in the parking in front of the exit gate. He dropped us at the hotel at around 9:30. As Juilee and Radhika were going into the room, I went out quickly and bought water.
We managed to get ready by 10:25 AM. Juilee booked the Uber and we sat in it at 10:30 AM. We were very frustrated with the traffic and the airline delays as well. We thought that we would miss the statue cruise. It was 11:15 when we reached the Statue Cruise location. This is the only official cruise company which is allowed to take people on the Liberty island. All other cruise companies can just circle around the island. The boarding location was at The Battery Park, NY. There were many people with red t-shirts guiding us in the right direction. It was an old building thorough which we went to an open area. There was a huge queue. It took around 30 minutes for us to get inside the another small building where the actual security scanning was happening. It was like airport security scanning where we had to remove all the shoes, belts, metals, jackets. After that we came at the actual boarding station. In the queue a Desi guy saw my John Deere cap and inquired me if I live in Moline. He also was used to be in Moline for John Deere.
We went to the top deck and the ride started at around 11:30 AM. It took only 15 minutes to reach the Liberty Island. You can actually see the statue from the battery park boarding station.
We got down. It was the noon and high temperature. It was gay pride month and there were many gay (LGBT as well) people on the island singing songs and displaying slogans like "No Discrimination". This was something new and we could not understand. We had to do google search to learn about all this.
We first went to the Audio Guide booth to pick up the free audio guide mobile phone. It has the audio commentary which you can listen with your own headphones (or the mobile as small loud speaker as well). We then sat under a tree near to the museum. We were very hungry. There was also a guided tour which is free starting at 1:00 PM so we thought of taking it. So we first ate some of the snacks and then bought some sandwich from the stalls. Its all expensive, so you better pack your own food and water, lemonades, etc. Then we did some photography of the sky line and then went in the museum center where they have kept a replica of the statue face as well as a real older version of the mashal.
At 2:15 PM, we came out and took a walk around the Statue of Liberty and did some photography. We did not buy tickets for the pedestal access or crown access - reasons - 1) those were sold out even 3 weeks in advance. and 2) Its not worth as there are no good photographic views of the statue from the pedestal and there is no fun to see the crown from inside.
We also took some photos using the photographer which we bought latter 3 for $25.
At 3:45 PM we boarded the cruise again for the Ellis Island. We did not got down at Ellis Island. There is an immigration museum there, which was not of much interest to us, and also due to the heat we all were tired.
We came back to Battery Park at around 4:15. We bought some ice cream from a Desi stall there. As we were all tired, we decided to go back to hotel and take rest. We looked for Uber, but it was like $50. So we decided to take the subway. It is really cheap - $2.50 per ride. There are many videos on youtube about how to use subway which were useful for us. We had to walk for 20 minutes as we were not aware about the roads and all (actually it was only 10 minutes of walk). We then found the Whitehall St metro station. We bought one card at the entrance station and loaded it with $17. One card is good for many people you just have to keep swiping it again and again for each person. We took our first metro ride in NY. It was very nice. We got place to seat as it was the starting point of that W train. The train took around 50 minutes to reach to the Astoria-Ditmars Blvd station from there we took Uber to the hotel.
As we reached the hotel we were all exhausted. We ate the Poli and Chole. I used Istri (Iron) to heat and roast the poli (roti). It turned out pretty good.
28/06/2019:
We had to walk carefully as the cycles also pass by very fast and careless. There are few benches on the way. There was less crowd on the bridge. Everyone was taking photos of the view. As we started to walk from Brooklyn side, we got good views of the Manhatten skyline. It took us 1.5 hour to cross the bridge with some halts for photos and water. On the way we also saw some street stalls like food, water and a person which had a pet python.
The temperature over the bridge was like 2 degrees down than the main land I guess because of the wooden flooring and river. As we came to main land we started feeling the heat. We sat for a while and again started walking towards wall street.
We arrived at the famous shinning Bull where we found a queue for the photos. We went into the queue as it was worth doing it.
Then we went inside a cafe for hot water and some fruits. With the hot water we prepared the Girnar tea and Radhika enjoyed the fruits. Then we took the metro and arrived at Serendipity 3 Cafe, it is where the Serendipity movie is filmed. We like this film so we came here. While walking towards the cafe Juilee saw Bloomingdale's shop and decided to come here after eating at the cafe.
The cafe was crowded but the interior is romantic. For lunch and dinner you might need reservations but as it was just 6:00PM, we called them and they said there is no need for it. We took the Strawberry with Cream - which was not much attractive - it was just the pieces of the Strawberries with whipped cream - so we did not like it much. Anyway, it was nice to seat at that cafe. The cafe is little pricey. After that we walked for 3 minutes and went in the Bloomingdale's to see some gift options for our relatives in India. Juilee looked through all the sections while I engaged Radhika in different activities like singing and dancing in another section. The cloths were very expensive but not that worth. Finally we found good perfume. Radhika also demanded one perfume which I bought but later realized that it was an expensive purchase, so we returned it (Radhika got sad as she came to know later about this).
After that we walked back across the Serendipity 3 Cafe to take the ropeway (they call it a tram here in NY) for the Roosevelt Island. The ropeway uses the same subway metro tickets. It was a nice ride above the skyline and river for 4 minutes. The ropeway dropped us at an island - Roosevelt Island.Roosevelt Island is a narrow island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to its west and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to its east. Roosevelt Island is owned by the city but was leased to the New York State Urban Development Corporation for 99 years in 1969. Most of the residential buildings on Roosevelt Island are rental buildings. Automobile traffic has become common even though much of the island remains a car-free area. Visitors can access the island by car over the Roosevelt Island Bridge but must park in the Motorgate Garage, so it is better to take the tramway and walk over the island instead of bringing the car. There is a smallpox hospital which we did not visit. We walked on the river side for some time and then returned back to the tramway station to take the ropeway back to NY. Radhika liked this island and the tram ride. This island is like in the NY but with no traffic and noise. I also liked this place.
29/06/2019:
The Manhattan ferry dropped us at Soissons Landing. The brooklyn ferry drops you at some another place. As we reached there it was 12:30 PM, so we sat near the restroom area (which was actually quite clean) and ate the food. After that we started walking as per the map that Juilee took from the visitor's center.
Governors Island is a 172-acre island in the heart of New York Harbor. Yards away from lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, it's easily accessible by ferry and open to the public from May 1-October 31. Governors Island was originally an island that the Lenape called Paggank ("nut island"). The name was transliterated into the Dutch Noten Eylandt. then Anglicized into Nutten Island, before being renamed Governor's Island by the late 18th century. The island's use as a military installation dates to 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, when Continental Army troops raised defensive works on the island. From 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post, serving mainly as a training ground for troops, though it also served as a strategic defense point during wartime. The island then served as a major United States Coast Guard installation until 1996. Following its decommissioning as a military base, there were several plans for redeveloping Governors Island; it was sold to the public for a nominal sum in 2003, and opened for public use in 2005.
As we started walking, we first visited Castle Williams. It is an old castle like structure. Then we walked to Liggett Terrace. On the road, there were some museums and live shows inside the houses, but we did not go there. It was really very hot and humid, the skin was burning. Radhika was saved due to the stroller. There were small carts which 4 wheels and paddles, but we did not take it due to the heat and humid weather. We preferred walking over paddling. We then ate some ice cream and then went to the hammocks and children play area where Radhika enjoyed. Then we went into an Urban Farming section which was boaring. After than we went to The Hills to see the slide (ghasar-gundi) on the hill, but it was too hot so Radhika did it just once. We met there with a 7 year old smart american girl who asked me "Are you from India", I said "Yes,how do you know?". She Said "Because of your accent." So I asked her back "Are you from America?". She said "Yes,how do you know?", and then I replied "Because of your accent.". We laughed. Her names was Alexis.
We were exhausted till then. We sprinkled water on us to keep it cool. We came back to the ice cream area and drank some lemonade.
It was 4:30 as we came back to the ferry boarding point. We boarded the ferry and suddenly the medical emergency response team brought the african man selling ice cream on stretcher on the boat. He was shaking and shivering. I guess he had a heat stroke. Poor fellow. We felt very sad - the man who sold the ice cream had the heat stroke - strange! We can not forget this person.
As we landed to the Battery Park docking station, we went inside the Staten Island Ferry station. There one of the desi shop gave us free hot water cup to prepare the Girnar Tea. We sat on the first floor and enjoyed tea and khakra. Radhika enjoyed some coke. The rain started a little bit. We went to the subway station in front of this mall and took the subway for Highline Park.
The High Line is more than a park. It’s a public space where you can view art, walk through gardens, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or just connect with friends and neighbors—while enjoying a unique perspective of the city. Built on a historic, elevated freight line, the High Line has become a world-renowned inspiration for how cities can transform industrial infrastructure into beautiful, hybrid public spaces.
We did enjoy the park along with some musicians playing violins, some ice cream and some photography. We again saw a big gang of LGBT people dancing in some bar.
Some entrances to the park are wheelchair accessible and some are stair cases. The park itself is stroller friendly. We walked for about a mile and then got down to do back to the Roosevelt Island as Radhika demanded. We took the rope-way ride again and landed on Roosevelt Island. There we saw amazing fireflies. This was unforgettable experience for me as it was the first time for me. We spent around 20 minutes watching those fireflies.
I wanted to take Juilee again to Times Square as she liked it very much last time. I also wanted to walk with Juilee at Time Square, so then we walked for 5 minutes towards the subway station and went down like 2 floors down the ground level. We got onto the F train to Times Square. We got down at 42 Street/Bryant Park station.
As we were hungry and did not want to wait for dinner till we reach the room, we decided to eat in the Bryant Park. It is a nice green garden with lot of tables and chairs where you can eat food. There are street vans selling fresh (or may be stale) food and you can also bring your own food. Juilee ate the remaining sandwich and laddu. I took Radhika to one of the street shop and we bought Falafal-Rice. He did not have card machine so we promised him to come back with cash and joining Juilee back in the park. We shared the dish. It was not fresh, but still manageable. We saw many desi people in the park. After the dinner, we went back to the stall to give him the cash and then we started walking towards the Times Square. It was 2 blocks away from Bryant Park (5 minutes walk)
As expected, it was full of crowd and lights. Many street artists were entertaining the public. Radhika remembered that I promised her a notebook (in replacement of the perfume that we returned). We took some photos and walked into the m&m shop. On the way Radhika demanded to do a horse carriage ride, but as it was quite expensive ($5 per minute) we did not do it and she got angry. We went to this m&m shop and again she started asking for so many things. I also got angry. Somehow Juilee managed to calm both of us down. We came out from the shop with just one notebook. It was 10 PM we all were exhausted. we walked for a minutes and went inside the subway station near m&m shop. We got on to the train towards Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. The train was full so we had to stand. After the train ride, we got into the uber and then reached to hotel at 11:00 PM. Radhika was already asleep so Juilee had to carry her to the room. I quickly bought some water from the gas station neat the hotel.
30/06/2019:
The started with me getting angry.
We woke up at around 7:30 AM and went down for breakfast. Due to Sunday the breakfast area was crowded and so I got frustrated and went back to the room to have the ready-to-eat Pohe. Juilee and Radhika took the breakfast in the hotel itself.
We packed some leftover croissant+cheese sandwich and some khakra and bakarwadi as well in the cabin bag.
Then we checked out of the room at 9:55 and reached the hotel lobby at 10:01 AM. But till then the (free) airport shuttle had already left the hotel at sharp 10:00 AM. (I always get surprised by seeing how the Americans can manage the time so well. I can never do this). So I again got irritated.
We waited for the 10:30 shuttle, which came on time and dropped us at the LGA airport. The airport was very busy. We did the security check-in through lot of crowd. The plane took off. As we reached close to the Chicago airport, our plane passed through thick clouds and we could see lot of thunders from the window. As the plane started to prepare of the landing at the airport, it started vibrating and moving up and down with sudden jerks. We all got frightened. I was laughing just to pretend to Radhika that nothing to worry about (but in the mind I was scared, too). The teenage girl behind us started crying. It was a major thunderstorm and the chicago airport was closed due to it. So after flying around chicago for 15 minutes our plane was diverted to Indianapolis.
We landed to Indianapolis and the plane halted there for an hour. We all were in the plane itself. Many planes directed towards Chicago were diverted to other airports. I would never forget this frightening experience.
As the thunderstorm was over, the Chicago airport got opened and after 30 minutes our flight took off from Indianapolis and landed in Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Moline was also delayed, so that was a big relief (otherwise, that was the last and only flight from Chicago to Moline).
But the worst was not over then. As the boarding for the Moline flight started, we gave our boarding passes to the agent and she said "you are not checked in!". We were shocked to hear that. That was the American Airline flight. We had our boarding passes along with seat numbers. We checked in our bags destined to Moline and still got to hear this news? Juilee got real frustrated and cranky. The agent made us sat there until all the passengers boarded the flight and then as there were fortunately 3 seats left, so she called us for boarding and gave us new boarding passes which had 3 different seat numbers away from each other. As we went into the plane, we requested few passengers to shift so that Juilee and Radhika can be seated together.
But again, the worst was still there. The plane that we were seating into had some extra quantity of fuel which would have caused problem while landing at the smaller runway of Moline. So they were extracting the fuel from the plane. This took 30 minutes more and the flight again got delayed. Finally the plane took off and we landed safely in Moline at around 10:00 PM.
We did not get Uber, so we called Max's Cab. They have just one taxi serving the airport and they combined us with one another lady. The cab dropped us at home at around 10:30 PM. Radhika was awake then. We came at home and then slept like hell.
Details:
Chicago Hotel: Howard Johnson by Wyndham Addison O'Hare Airport
New York Hotel: FairfieldInn by Marriott New York LaGuardia Airport/Astoria
45-20 Astoria Blvd S, Astoria, NY 11103
Statue Cruises: https://www.statuecruises.com/#/
Brooklyn Bride: https://freetoursbyfoot.com/walking-the-brooklyn-bridge/
Roosevelt Island: https://rioc.ny.gov/
Governer's Island: https://govisland.com/
serendipity 3 cafe: https://serendipity3.com/
Expenses:
Air Tickets = $1156
Chicago Hotel = $80
New York Hotel = $802
Statue Cruises = $46 (for 3 people)
Governor's Island Ferry = $6 ($3 x 2 adults. child below 12 is free)
Metro = $60
Uber = $200
Food and Drinks = $50
Date: 26/06/2019 to 30/06/2019
Persons: Harshal, Juilee, Radhika.
This trip was a perfect example of how mother nature can fail a perfectly planned trip. You really need some luck as well along with your plan. We planned for the trip one month in advance. We checked the weather at Moline and LaGuardia Airport. We booked statue of liberty cruse ticket as well.26/06/2019:
Departure from Moline
We started from home at 3:30 PM by Uber. The check in at Moline flight was smooth. We have packed parathe as well in the cabin bag. As we sat in the flight at Moline airport, our captain announced a delay due to weather conditions. We thought it was not much. But as the time passed by, the stress increased, as we had just 1 hour for our connecting flight at Chicago. After 30 minutes we received an update that the Chicago airport is closed due to local thunderstorm. (We had checked weather at Moline and New York but did not check the weather at Chicago while doing these bookings, and anyway Chicago is famous for its unstable weather). We all ultimately came out of the plane and waited at the airport lobby. We were brain storming on different options as we did not want to waste the payment of one night at New York hotel and also did not want to wast the Statue Cruses ticket. At like 7:30 PM, the pilot announced that we can take off and so we ran again to the gate and boarded the plane again. Thankfully we had parathe packed, so we ate those as our dinner in the plane. The flight air-hostess also served some more pretzels and water.I was continuously checked about our connecting flight which was also delayed at Chicago.
We landed at Chicago at around 8:30 and we ran to our gate for the connecting flight only to find out that it just took off 10 minutes ago. We were highly disappointed.
We went to the customer service area of United Airlines where they just gave the boarding pass for the next day flight (27-June 6:00 AM). They handed us a discount card for the hotels, but all of the hotels were full due to this weather disturbance; because all of the flights were delayed.
We then searched in booking.com but the available hotels were like 30 minutes away from airport. So we then walked to the area where cots were placed. We tried to sleep there but could not even close our eyes due to constant changing lights and sounds. So finally we booked a hotel Howard Johnson by Wyndham and took the Uber. A african-american worker at the airport helped us to find the Uber pick up point.He was asking us if we are from India. He mentioned that there are many Indian people working in his company and Indian people are very polite and good. I felt pride when I heard it. We cought the Uber. (I always get Uber drivers who does not understand English very well). It was 11:30 PM at night. We reached the hotel by 12:00 midnight. It was only 1 room left and thankfully we got it as we already booked it. We sat the alarm for 3 AM and slept. Before sleeping, I scheduled an Uber ride for 3:00 AM.
27/06/2019:
Statue of Liberty
As the alarm rang at 3:00 AM in the morning, we woke up and carried Radhika in arms. The Uber was already waiting for us. We went to the Chicago airport (ORD) and then boarded the flight to New York (LGA). This flight was smooth.We reached to LGA at 9:00 AM. We took our bags from the belt and booked the Uber. There is a lot of construction going on, so they have shifted the Uber pickup point to some nearby parking at 2rd Level. The driver was AmrutPrasad, with whom I tried to speak Hindi and he was happy with that. We found him in the parking in front of the exit gate. He dropped us at the hotel at around 9:30. As Juilee and Radhika were going into the room, I went out quickly and bought water.
We managed to get ready by 10:25 AM. Juilee booked the Uber and we sat in it at 10:30 AM. We were very frustrated with the traffic and the airline delays as well. We thought that we would miss the statue cruise. It was 11:15 when we reached the Statue Cruise location. This is the only official cruise company which is allowed to take people on the Liberty island. All other cruise companies can just circle around the island. The boarding location was at The Battery Park, NY. There were many people with red t-shirts guiding us in the right direction. It was an old building thorough which we went to an open area. There was a huge queue. It took around 30 minutes for us to get inside the another small building where the actual security scanning was happening. It was like airport security scanning where we had to remove all the shoes, belts, metals, jackets. After that we came at the actual boarding station. In the queue a Desi guy saw my John Deere cap and inquired me if I live in Moline. He also was used to be in Moline for John Deere.
We went to the top deck and the ride started at around 11:30 AM. It took only 15 minutes to reach the Liberty Island. You can actually see the statue from the battery park boarding station.
We got down. It was the noon and high temperature. It was gay pride month and there were many gay (LGBT as well) people on the island singing songs and displaying slogans like "No Discrimination". This was something new and we could not understand. We had to do google search to learn about all this.
We first went to the Audio Guide booth to pick up the free audio guide mobile phone. It has the audio commentary which you can listen with your own headphones (or the mobile as small loud speaker as well). We then sat under a tree near to the museum. We were very hungry. There was also a guided tour which is free starting at 1:00 PM so we thought of taking it. So we first ate some of the snacks and then bought some sandwich from the stalls. Its all expensive, so you better pack your own food and water, lemonades, etc. Then we did some photography of the sky line and then went in the museum center where they have kept a replica of the statue face as well as a real older version of the mashal.
At 2:15 PM, we came out and took a walk around the Statue of Liberty and did some photography. We did not buy tickets for the pedestal access or crown access - reasons - 1) those were sold out even 3 weeks in advance. and 2) Its not worth as there are no good photographic views of the statue from the pedestal and there is no fun to see the crown from inside.
We also took some photos using the photographer which we bought latter 3 for $25.
At 3:45 PM we boarded the cruise again for the Ellis Island. We did not got down at Ellis Island. There is an immigration museum there, which was not of much interest to us, and also due to the heat we all were tired.
We came back to Battery Park at around 4:15. We bought some ice cream from a Desi stall there. As we were all tired, we decided to go back to hotel and take rest. We looked for Uber, but it was like $50. So we decided to take the subway. It is really cheap - $2.50 per ride. There are many videos on youtube about how to use subway which were useful for us. We had to walk for 20 minutes as we were not aware about the roads and all (actually it was only 10 minutes of walk). We then found the Whitehall St metro station. We bought one card at the entrance station and loaded it with $17. One card is good for many people you just have to keep swiping it again and again for each person. We took our first metro ride in NY. It was very nice. We got place to seat as it was the starting point of that W train. The train took around 50 minutes to reach to the Astoria-Ditmars Blvd station from there we took Uber to the hotel.
As we reached the hotel we were all exhausted. We ate the Poli and Chole. I used Istri (Iron) to heat and roast the poli (roti). It turned out pretty good.
28/06/2019:
Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, Serendipity 3 Cafe, Bloomingdale's, Roosevelt Island
As decided, we woke up late. Did the breakfast at hotel and then used Uber to go to the metro station. took the metro train. The metro ride was about 40 minutes so we ate the sandwiches that we packed for lunch. We packed cheese sandwich with chaat masala and pavbhaji masala. It was a good decision. As we came out from the metro station, we walked for about 10 minutes until we arrived at the bridge. Then we had to cross the road halfway to take the pedestrian walkway for the bridge (it is in the middle of the road). The sun was shining but not as bright as the day before. We packed lemonades and water to keep us hydrated. The stroller helped Radhika to enjoy the views without walking in the sun. The bridge is amazing. The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City. It connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, spanning the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge has a main span of 1595 feet. It is one of the oldest roadway bridges in the United States and was the world's first steel-wire suspension bridge, as well as the first fixed crossing across the East River. It has two levels - one for the vehicle and the top is for pedestrians and cycles.We had to walk carefully as the cycles also pass by very fast and careless. There are few benches on the way. There was less crowd on the bridge. Everyone was taking photos of the view. As we started to walk from Brooklyn side, we got good views of the Manhatten skyline. It took us 1.5 hour to cross the bridge with some halts for photos and water. On the way we also saw some street stalls like food, water and a person which had a pet python.
The temperature over the bridge was like 2 degrees down than the main land I guess because of the wooden flooring and river. As we came to main land we started feeling the heat. We sat for a while and again started walking towards wall street.
We arrived at the famous shinning Bull where we found a queue for the photos. We went into the queue as it was worth doing it.
Then we went inside a cafe for hot water and some fruits. With the hot water we prepared the Girnar tea and Radhika enjoyed the fruits. Then we took the metro and arrived at Serendipity 3 Cafe, it is where the Serendipity movie is filmed. We like this film so we came here. While walking towards the cafe Juilee saw Bloomingdale's shop and decided to come here after eating at the cafe.
The cafe was crowded but the interior is romantic. For lunch and dinner you might need reservations but as it was just 6:00PM, we called them and they said there is no need for it. We took the Strawberry with Cream - which was not much attractive - it was just the pieces of the Strawberries with whipped cream - so we did not like it much. Anyway, it was nice to seat at that cafe. The cafe is little pricey. After that we walked for 3 minutes and went in the Bloomingdale's to see some gift options for our relatives in India. Juilee looked through all the sections while I engaged Radhika in different activities like singing and dancing in another section. The cloths were very expensive but not that worth. Finally we found good perfume. Radhika also demanded one perfume which I bought but later realized that it was an expensive purchase, so we returned it (Radhika got sad as she came to know later about this).
After that we walked back across the Serendipity 3 Cafe to take the ropeway (they call it a tram here in NY) for the Roosevelt Island. The ropeway uses the same subway metro tickets. It was a nice ride above the skyline and river for 4 minutes. The ropeway dropped us at an island - Roosevelt Island.Roosevelt Island is a narrow island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to its west and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to its east. Roosevelt Island is owned by the city but was leased to the New York State Urban Development Corporation for 99 years in 1969. Most of the residential buildings on Roosevelt Island are rental buildings. Automobile traffic has become common even though much of the island remains a car-free area. Visitors can access the island by car over the Roosevelt Island Bridge but must park in the Motorgate Garage, so it is better to take the tramway and walk over the island instead of bringing the car. There is a smallpox hospital which we did not visit. We walked on the river side for some time and then returned back to the tramway station to take the ropeway back to NY. Radhika liked this island and the tram ride. This island is like in the NY but with no traffic and noise. I also liked this place.
29/06/2019:
Governor's Island, Highline Park, Roosevelt Island, Times Square
We again woke up little late and got ready by 10:30. We packed sandwiches for lunch. Then we took the hotel's free shuttle towards the subway station. At the station we climbed on the train going in the opposite direction. But at the next stop we got down and climbed on the right train. We got down at Battery Park. There were many people directing the tourists to correct buildings. The ferry starts from Battery Maritime Park. The build has a big board on it with the name "Governer's Island Ferry". It is behind the Staten Island Ferry station. The sun was high and bright, and as usual we have packed enough lemonades and water bottles. There was some light security check and we got on to the ferry boat. We sat on the lower deck to avoid the sun light. Still it was very hot and humid. It took around 10 minutes to reach to the island. The ferry is free on weekends before noon, but we missed that one. There was a separate queue for strollers so no need to wait in the general queue.The Manhattan ferry dropped us at Soissons Landing. The brooklyn ferry drops you at some another place. As we reached there it was 12:30 PM, so we sat near the restroom area (which was actually quite clean) and ate the food. After that we started walking as per the map that Juilee took from the visitor's center.
Governors Island is a 172-acre island in the heart of New York Harbor. Yards away from lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, it's easily accessible by ferry and open to the public from May 1-October 31. Governors Island was originally an island that the Lenape called Paggank ("nut island"). The name was transliterated into the Dutch Noten Eylandt. then Anglicized into Nutten Island, before being renamed Governor's Island by the late 18th century. The island's use as a military installation dates to 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, when Continental Army troops raised defensive works on the island. From 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post, serving mainly as a training ground for troops, though it also served as a strategic defense point during wartime. The island then served as a major United States Coast Guard installation until 1996. Following its decommissioning as a military base, there were several plans for redeveloping Governors Island; it was sold to the public for a nominal sum in 2003, and opened for public use in 2005.
As we started walking, we first visited Castle Williams. It is an old castle like structure. Then we walked to Liggett Terrace. On the road, there were some museums and live shows inside the houses, but we did not go there. It was really very hot and humid, the skin was burning. Radhika was saved due to the stroller. There were small carts which 4 wheels and paddles, but we did not take it due to the heat and humid weather. We preferred walking over paddling. We then ate some ice cream and then went to the hammocks and children play area where Radhika enjoyed. Then we went into an Urban Farming section which was boaring. After than we went to The Hills to see the slide (ghasar-gundi) on the hill, but it was too hot so Radhika did it just once. We met there with a 7 year old smart american girl who asked me "Are you from India", I said "Yes,how do you know?". She Said "Because of your accent." So I asked her back "Are you from America?". She said "Yes,how do you know?", and then I replied "Because of your accent.". We laughed. Her names was Alexis.
We were exhausted till then. We sprinkled water on us to keep it cool. We came back to the ice cream area and drank some lemonade.
It was 4:30 as we came back to the ferry boarding point. We boarded the ferry and suddenly the medical emergency response team brought the african man selling ice cream on stretcher on the boat. He was shaking and shivering. I guess he had a heat stroke. Poor fellow. We felt very sad - the man who sold the ice cream had the heat stroke - strange! We can not forget this person.
As we landed to the Battery Park docking station, we went inside the Staten Island Ferry station. There one of the desi shop gave us free hot water cup to prepare the Girnar Tea. We sat on the first floor and enjoyed tea and khakra. Radhika enjoyed some coke. The rain started a little bit. We went to the subway station in front of this mall and took the subway for Highline Park.
The High Line is more than a park. It’s a public space where you can view art, walk through gardens, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or just connect with friends and neighbors—while enjoying a unique perspective of the city. Built on a historic, elevated freight line, the High Line has become a world-renowned inspiration for how cities can transform industrial infrastructure into beautiful, hybrid public spaces.
We did enjoy the park along with some musicians playing violins, some ice cream and some photography. We again saw a big gang of LGBT people dancing in some bar.
Some entrances to the park are wheelchair accessible and some are stair cases. The park itself is stroller friendly. We walked for about a mile and then got down to do back to the Roosevelt Island as Radhika demanded. We took the rope-way ride again and landed on Roosevelt Island. There we saw amazing fireflies. This was unforgettable experience for me as it was the first time for me. We spent around 20 minutes watching those fireflies.
I wanted to take Juilee again to Times Square as she liked it very much last time. I also wanted to walk with Juilee at Time Square, so then we walked for 5 minutes towards the subway station and went down like 2 floors down the ground level. We got onto the F train to Times Square. We got down at 42 Street/Bryant Park station.
As we were hungry and did not want to wait for dinner till we reach the room, we decided to eat in the Bryant Park. It is a nice green garden with lot of tables and chairs where you can eat food. There are street vans selling fresh (or may be stale) food and you can also bring your own food. Juilee ate the remaining sandwich and laddu. I took Radhika to one of the street shop and we bought Falafal-Rice. He did not have card machine so we promised him to come back with cash and joining Juilee back in the park. We shared the dish. It was not fresh, but still manageable. We saw many desi people in the park. After the dinner, we went back to the stall to give him the cash and then we started walking towards the Times Square. It was 2 blocks away from Bryant Park (5 minutes walk)
As expected, it was full of crowd and lights. Many street artists were entertaining the public. Radhika remembered that I promised her a notebook (in replacement of the perfume that we returned). We took some photos and walked into the m&m shop. On the way Radhika demanded to do a horse carriage ride, but as it was quite expensive ($5 per minute) we did not do it and she got angry. We went to this m&m shop and again she started asking for so many things. I also got angry. Somehow Juilee managed to calm both of us down. We came out from the shop with just one notebook. It was 10 PM we all were exhausted. we walked for a minutes and went inside the subway station near m&m shop. We got on to the train towards Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. The train was full so we had to stand. After the train ride, we got into the uber and then reached to hotel at 11:00 PM. Radhika was already asleep so Juilee had to carry her to the room. I quickly bought some water from the gas station neat the hotel.
30/06/2019:
Arrival at Moline
We did not know what mother nature had planned for us.The started with me getting angry.
We woke up at around 7:30 AM and went down for breakfast. Due to Sunday the breakfast area was crowded and so I got frustrated and went back to the room to have the ready-to-eat Pohe. Juilee and Radhika took the breakfast in the hotel itself.
We packed some leftover croissant+cheese sandwich and some khakra and bakarwadi as well in the cabin bag.
Then we checked out of the room at 9:55 and reached the hotel lobby at 10:01 AM. But till then the (free) airport shuttle had already left the hotel at sharp 10:00 AM. (I always get surprised by seeing how the Americans can manage the time so well. I can never do this). So I again got irritated.
We waited for the 10:30 shuttle, which came on time and dropped us at the LGA airport. The airport was very busy. We did the security check-in through lot of crowd. The plane took off. As we reached close to the Chicago airport, our plane passed through thick clouds and we could see lot of thunders from the window. As the plane started to prepare of the landing at the airport, it started vibrating and moving up and down with sudden jerks. We all got frightened. I was laughing just to pretend to Radhika that nothing to worry about (but in the mind I was scared, too). The teenage girl behind us started crying. It was a major thunderstorm and the chicago airport was closed due to it. So after flying around chicago for 15 minutes our plane was diverted to Indianapolis.
We landed to Indianapolis and the plane halted there for an hour. We all were in the plane itself. Many planes directed towards Chicago were diverted to other airports. I would never forget this frightening experience.
As the thunderstorm was over, the Chicago airport got opened and after 30 minutes our flight took off from Indianapolis and landed in Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Moline was also delayed, so that was a big relief (otherwise, that was the last and only flight from Chicago to Moline).
But the worst was not over then. As the boarding for the Moline flight started, we gave our boarding passes to the agent and she said "you are not checked in!". We were shocked to hear that. That was the American Airline flight. We had our boarding passes along with seat numbers. We checked in our bags destined to Moline and still got to hear this news? Juilee got real frustrated and cranky. The agent made us sat there until all the passengers boarded the flight and then as there were fortunately 3 seats left, so she called us for boarding and gave us new boarding passes which had 3 different seat numbers away from each other. As we went into the plane, we requested few passengers to shift so that Juilee and Radhika can be seated together.
But again, the worst was still there. The plane that we were seating into had some extra quantity of fuel which would have caused problem while landing at the smaller runway of Moline. So they were extracting the fuel from the plane. This took 30 minutes more and the flight again got delayed. Finally the plane took off and we landed safely in Moline at around 10:00 PM.
We did not get Uber, so we called Max's Cab. They have just one taxi serving the airport and they combined us with one another lady. The cab dropped us at home at around 10:30 PM. Radhika was awake then. We came at home and then slept like hell.
Details:
Chicago Hotel: Howard Johnson by Wyndham Addison O'Hare Airport
New York Hotel: FairfieldInn by Marriott New York LaGuardia Airport/Astoria
45-20 Astoria Blvd S, Astoria, NY 11103
Statue Cruises: https://www.statuecruises.com/#/
Brooklyn Bride: https://freetoursbyfoot.com/walking-the-brooklyn-bridge/
Roosevelt Island: https://rioc.ny.gov/
Governer's Island: https://govisland.com/
serendipity 3 cafe: https://serendipity3.com/
Expenses:
Air Tickets = $1156
Chicago Hotel = $80
New York Hotel = $802
Statue Cruises = $46 (for 3 people)
Governor's Island Ferry = $6 ($3 x 2 adults. child below 12 is free)
Metro = $60
Uber = $200
Food and Drinks = $50
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