Lady Liberty on the Fourth of July

New York: part 1


We had a red eye to New York which left at 12:01 a.m. on the 4th of July, with a 7 1/2 hour layover at JFK.

So, what more practical thing to do than zip out to see the Statue of Liberty?


I calculated travel time and feared we wouldn't make it back in time to catch our connecting flight, and every time I expressed such doubtful comments Matt sang, "My Country Tis of Thee!" Followed by, "Kathryn, be patriotic!"



Conveniently, JFK has a new Air Train that connects the airport to the subway system.

So, we got off our flight, hopped a train, got on the subway, navigated the underground and voila! There we were. I should mention that it was early in the morning and Matt had to carry both of the kid's heavy car seats all through the city. Classic. I wish I would have gotten a picture. (You can see the heavy car seats in the above picture on the bin seat thingy.

We also got to see Ellis Island, but only from the boat. We figured we didn't have enough time to go onto the islands. Matt's great (gr. gr.?) grandfather went through Ellis Island and even has a name plaque on the wall there.

After our cruise to Lady Liberty, we went to find a letterbox hidden in Battery Park. There was one problem, though. The park was completely gated off for an Independence Day concert. I had to talk my way past some security guards into a gated area. The first conversation was funny. Here's the gest of our conversation after I explained why I needed to get over to some trees:

Guard: "Ah ya gonna dig up da trees?"

Me explaining things: "Blah, Blah"

Guard: "Hey Maury! Dis lady's wit' an intanationawl owganahzayshon a lettaboxas an needs ta get ova ta dos trees."

Big burly guard escorts me so I can poke around in some trees. The box wasn't there. Then I realized it was probably in another part of the park, and after talking my way past some other guards, I found it!

I love New York. Especially the accents around Long Island and Manhatten.

After that we were back on the subway.

The subways are a bit dirty:

Then, after another bumpy flight, we made it to upstate New York and were reunited with Matt's brother and Mom.

So good to see them!

Next installment:

Area Attractions.

A return from hiatus

Time to break our long blog silence.

We've been in New York the last month, which I didn't mention because I didn't want to tip off any unsolicited and potentially ill intentioned inquirers. ;-)

We were supposed to be back last Thursday. Here's a quick run of why we weren't:

Us: Get in van and drive for over an hour an a half to an airport in Syracuse.

Airline lady: "Oh, it's too late, too late."

Me in my head: "NO!"

(We were a hour early, but maybe that wasn't enough?)

Airline lady: "You'll never make your connecting flight!"

Me: "Um, so are you saying that we didn't get here in time to catch our flight?"

Airline lady: "Your flight is still at JFK and its passengers haven't even loaded yet. It will never get here in time to pick you up for your connecting flight. Sorry. I have a 6:00 am tomorrow."

Me: :-(


We were told that the conflict arose from weather related delays, so the airline wouldn't compensate or pay for hotels. I asked nicely if she could fly us out Sunday instead of Friday (Matt had to be back to work on Friday because he was out of vacation days. When you're stuck in New York anyway and have to miss that one day of work, why not enjoy the weekend, too?) She said yes, and very compassionately re-routed us through Cincinnati instead of JFK for our return flight Sunday. So, we got an extra 3 days out in beautiful, green, WET New York.

FYI: Some lady the next airline worker down was going beserk over having to pay for a checked bag. She was screaming up and down as far as her angry octaves would carry her. She eventually got what she wanted, I guess.

It's not airline employee's fault when there are departmental or company-wide rules and regulations. I guess the squeeky wheel gets the grease.

However, after being told the airline doesn't compensate for weather related cancelations and delays, the nice woman behind the desk gave me a $100 flight voucher. It wasn't her fault our plane was late.

So, the moral of the story is:

When life gives you lemons, it doesn't hurt to be nice.




I'll tell you about some of our adventures when I find the camera and download our pictures.