jollystomper
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2012
- Messages
- 6,184
This past weekend we drove into Manhattan on Sunday. One DS was attending a graduate school conference there for the week, and had ordered a bunch of things that had been shipped to us for him to bring back overseas. ¡Ay, caramba!
The last time I drove in Manhattan was 2010, and I was again reminded why. An hour to drive the last 3 miles to the parking garage (at least we stayed in a hotel in New Jersey the night before). Almost all garages in Manhattan are valet parking, so shell out $40 to park 6 hours (at least the attendant was very nice and pleasant, we were sure to tip him). Then DS notified us as we were a couple of blocks from parking garage that his room for the conference had changed, so after parking instead of walking less than a block we now had to walk about 15 minutes through huge crowds - Even youngest DS (who came with us) felt we should wear masks. Then $180 for lunch for 4,, which was essentially 4 large hamburgers (it could have been worse, DS picked a restaurant that, when we saw the cheapest entree was $60, we quickly but graciously walked out). Leaving was another hour to go less than a mile back to the Holland Tunnel and made it a long 5+ hour drive home.
But - we got to see this DS, and we brought youngest DS who had not physically seen his brother for over 2 years, so the family time was worth it. When I mentioned my Dad had worked in Manhattan before he retired, they insisted on seeing the building (visiting DS was 7 and youngest DS just six days old when my Dad died). The building was still there, and they were happy to see that. of course both DS's and DW could not resist doing some shopping, but hey, their money, not mine .
Related followup - yesterday a friend invited me to go with a group to today's Yankees game. The catch was they wanted me to drive to the stadium. Normally I can handle it (especially when they are Legends Suite tickets, but not this time), but after the joy of Saturday and Sunday, no way did I have the energy to deal with NYC traffic again. The rest of the group are more "country" folks who cannot deal with city traffic. So no none us went, instead we sent the tickets to one of my older brothers who went with SIL and a couple of their friends in our place.
The last time I drove in Manhattan was 2010, and I was again reminded why. An hour to drive the last 3 miles to the parking garage (at least we stayed in a hotel in New Jersey the night before). Almost all garages in Manhattan are valet parking, so shell out $40 to park 6 hours (at least the attendant was very nice and pleasant, we were sure to tip him). Then DS notified us as we were a couple of blocks from parking garage that his room for the conference had changed, so after parking instead of walking less than a block we now had to walk about 15 minutes through huge crowds - Even youngest DS (who came with us) felt we should wear masks. Then $180 for lunch for 4,, which was essentially 4 large hamburgers (it could have been worse, DS picked a restaurant that, when we saw the cheapest entree was $60, we quickly but graciously walked out). Leaving was another hour to go less than a mile back to the Holland Tunnel and made it a long 5+ hour drive home.
But - we got to see this DS, and we brought youngest DS who had not physically seen his brother for over 2 years, so the family time was worth it. When I mentioned my Dad had worked in Manhattan before he retired, they insisted on seeing the building (visiting DS was 7 and youngest DS just six days old when my Dad died). The building was still there, and they were happy to see that. of course both DS's and DW could not resist doing some shopping, but hey, their money, not mine .
Related followup - yesterday a friend invited me to go with a group to today's Yankees game. The catch was they wanted me to drive to the stadium. Normally I can handle it (especially when they are Legends Suite tickets, but not this time), but after the joy of Saturday and Sunday, no way did I have the energy to deal with NYC traffic again. The rest of the group are more "country" folks who cannot deal with city traffic. So no none us went, instead we sent the tickets to one of my older brothers who went with SIL and a couple of their friends in our place.