Just back from NYC and ready to start a new round of book signings-check out the schedule on this website.
Welcome back. For the past ten days I have been on location in Manhattan and I can now tell you from experience that my favorite time of day there is the early morning when car traffic is practically zero. At 6 a.m. there are lots of trash trucks, delivery vans and even some semis but few tourists roam the streets at this hour. At Rockefeller Center the staff of NBC’s Today Show is already hanging out and even Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie have been known to mingle with the early crowd outside before the show begins. The scene is the same on the set of Good Morning America which is on Times Square. Things change by 8 a.m. when millions of people sem to come out of nowhere and are on the streets. At the same time, downtown traffic quickly came to crawl around Rockefeller Center and 6th Avenue where there was a three hour parade on November 11th celebrating Veteran’s Day which was unbeatable
Travel by taxi is handy and there are plenty of them available but during this trip I am driving my 21 foot long Rialta Winnebago Motorhome. As hotels are so expensive in the city, I am also sleeping in the motorhome parked in places I have found to be fairly safe at night. It is often said that Manhattan is the city that never sleeps and folks I have learned that it is true.
A couple of nights spent in Harlem was first on this visit. During the day my location at the far end of Central Park where Harlem begins offered endless opportunities for people watching and seeing landmarks such as the famous Apollo Theater. Parking is free at night on many blocks although some areas can be scary after dark so you have to choose your spot carefully. I also found several city parks in Manhattan where it is possible to park for free after7 p.m. if you are lucky enough to find a space. I found another great spot in Central Park just half a block from Trump Tower, the home of Presidential candidate Donald Trump. While I was in this area I learned several interesting facts. Did you know that Central Park was the first public park built in the United States? The park has fifty fountains as well as numerous sculptures and monuments. There are also 36 bridges in Central Park and I believe I drove over many of them mostly while lost. The park was established 150 years ago and officials say that 25 million people visit this fantastic place every year all right in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world.
I also laid up at Bryant Park for a day which is situated between 5th and 6th Avenues just two blocks from Times Square. An ice skating rink was setup for the winter season but when I was here last summer they were showing free movies on a huge outdoor screen in the same part of the park. This is an oasis for New Yorkers with hundreds of tables spread across the tree filled park for hanging out. The city library is here as well as playgrounds and sports fields. With thirty-one public parks in Manhattan I didn’t have time to visit them all but the ones I did see where all well-kept and I felt safe in them.
After several nights in free parking checking this area out I think I found what has to be my scoop of the week if you are ever visiting New York by motorhome or even with a small camper.
The road is called the West Side Highway and it runs along the Hudson River down to the tip of Manhattan where Battery Park is located. This is also the part of the city where you will find the financial district, Chinatown, Little Italy, SOHO and Tribeca which is where I stayed. Looking out across the water I could see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with Brooklyn right across the harbor. During the day this is quite the sight to see but at night with all the lights it is just spectacular! It seems unbelievable that you can park here for free after 7 p.m. just a mile from the Navy aircraft carrier Intrepid which is another must visit attraction. The only thing is you have to be gone by 7:30 when the street sweepers arrive but that was no problem for me. All in all quite a trip.
Till next time I’ll see ya down the road………………………
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