The warm weather of the Caribbean is gone. NYC greeted us with a torrential downpour. Everyone who crawled out of bed early to enjoy the full experience of arriving here by ship discovered, they got up too early as weather and traffic delayed our arrival by over an hour, wind and rain kept all but the most hardy inside, and low hanging clouds prevented a clear view of landmarks.
Now that we are here, instead of wishing for another pair of flip flops, we wish there was pair of Wellingtons in our suitcase. The forecast for the next several days and ports is for cool and rainy.
The rain did let up long enough for us to wander for awhile. The cruise terminal is close to Times Square and the Intrepid, so there was no shortage of things to do.
Getting from the ship to the street was a bit of an ordeal. The Queen Mary II, with 2500 passengers arrived just ahead of us. The terminal was packed with folks anxious to be on their way. Fortunately for us, our little band of travelers was given their own line for customs and immigration so getting out to see the sights was much easier for us. The line for the Queen’s passengers made lines at Disney during spring break look like a breeze. We suspect the passengers at the end of the line took well over an hour to emerge from the terminal.
We took off on foot headed up 42nd street to 7th Avenue – our sources suggested we would be well entertained if we started there. After a stop at an ATM to reload our wallets (dollars spend well in the Caribbean) we were on our way. A beer at the Hard Rock, a few photos of Times Square, a bit of a pout as we passed the theaters on Broadway, chinese at Ruby Foos, more wandering, then back to the ship to get out of the rain. BTW, an order of rice and kung pao chicken and tea set us back $43. Clearly we aren’t in Oregon.
As soon as the Queen is on her way (with a new compliment of passengers) the 25 or so in transit folks and our 250 new arrivals will pull in the lines and be on our way. Hopefully we will see the things we missed this morning.
Next stop, Newport, Rhode Island.
