New York, Thanks For the Memories!

Day 55 – Thursday June 14, 2007 – New York, New York

The only items on the itinerary for Thursday were the two remaining places on our City Passes. We decided to visit the American Natural History Museum first thing in the morning, followed by the New York Museum of Modern Art. I didn’t start the day with much energy or enthusiasm, since the past few days, coupled with two straight weeks of going really hard, have taken their toll on me. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel though. By the end of the day we would be out of New York and Friday was to be a day with lots of rest and not much else.

The Natural History Museum is large and very well done. Our ticket included a show in the planetarium, so we decided to start there. After the space show (which was the same one we saw in Washington DC), we opted for a guided tour, which we figured would allow us to see the museum’s highlights. The Natural History Museum is simply so big, that given the limited amount of time and energy we had, Jasmine and I didn’t think we could see everything. The tour was 1 ½ hours and provided us with a good overview of many of the museum’s main attractions. Personally, I think they have many great exhibits, but it all boils down to a similar experience to what we found in Washington DC at the Smithsonian. The guide did a good job of sticking with some of the more unique exhibits like the many animal dioramas. After the tour was over, we took a peak at a couple of their smaller exhibits, before heading across town to the New York Museum of Modern Art.

The New York Museum of Modern Art is perhaps the premier museum of it’s kind in the United States. It has many priceless pieces of art, along with some that are way out there. Maybe we just aren’t “cultured” enough. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy some of the weird pieces of art. I just question how they end up in a museum with spectacular paintings from Pablo Picasso and others. Speaking of Picasso, they must have at least thirty pieces of his art on display. Not only did they have his paintings, but a few of his drawings and even one of his sculptures. I love Picasso and most of his work. I don’t pretend to understand all of it, but I still love it none the less. Overall, I think the Museum of Modern Art was my favorite one in New York. I am a big fan of this kind of art, so this isn’t very surprising to me.

We completed our day in New York at 4pm and headed back to Newark to get our car. On our way north, at the Lincoln Tunnel, we encountered the meanest toll booth attendant in the whole wide world! Yes, I said the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. You see, we knew the Lincoln Tunnel was a toll road, but didn’t know how much the toll was. We only had about $3 in cash, but the toll was $6. Unfortunately, they don’t post the toll amount until after the last exit, so we didn’t have any way to get off the road for more money. When we pulled up to the booth, Jasmine explained the situation and the attendant very loudly said, “You will be billed. Now GO!” I said, “Can you explain what that means? How do they bill us?” At that moment, her horns swiftly appeared and she screamed as loud as she could, “DID YOU NOT HERE WHAT I SAID? YOU WILL BE BILLED!” Immediately, I felt like a three year old and didn’t know what to say or do, so I didn’t say anything and we drove off. Believe me, in the next few minutes I thought of more than a few things to say to her! To this day I still don’t know if we are going to get a fine or just a bill for the toll. After I took a while to calm down and think about the situation, I felt sorry for her more than anything else. Something must not be right in her life, if she had to react with so much anger towards me. It once again reminded me of how grateful I am, that today I don’t have to carry around so much anger inside. Thank god for that!

Eventually, we made it to Hartford, Connecticut which was our stop for the night. Friday will be a day off for us, since rest is well needed at this point. All three of us are exhausted, but it was definitely worth it. We fit a lot of New York City into four long days and nights. New York has so much to do and see and we saw and did as much as possible! After taking tomorrow off, we plan to spend half of the day on Saturday at Six Flags New England before heading to Boston.

We want to thank everyone for the comments and emails. Your support is truly appreciated and keeps us going.

The Coomer Family