Day 15 - Shelter Island, New York

On Day 14, Tita Chit took us to do some shopping at Walmart and drove us back to my sister at Avenel. I get to watch TV and watch Man vs. Food (I so love this show).

On Thursday, the 30th of June, we were on our way to my mom's place at Shelter Island. A lot of people don't know where it is as you have to take the ferry to get there. It's somewhere in Long Island and the scenery going there is quite charming. Think white houses with porches. I saw my dream house near Greenport too.

As no one would be able to take us there, my mom previously gave us tickets for the Hampton Jitney which dropped us off at port. The trip took us 2 hours and a half. I called my mom when we were near the Southold and she met us at the bus stop at Greenport.

As it was past noon, we had lunch at one of the places near the dock. I finally had the lobster that I have been craving for since I arrived in the US.



Here I am with the meal. And yes, I finished all of it by myself. :)



After showing us a bit of the town, we then boarded the ferry (which takes 7-8 minutes) to Shelter Island.

Shelter Island is definitely a summer place. During the summer, the population swells to almost 10,000 but during the rest of the year, it's only down to 2,000. It's a place where people spend their long vacations and holidays and definitely a hang-out of the elite, not surprising as it's near the Hamptons.

My mom owns a business there which provides home health care and other personal services to those who needs it in the island (most of the people who live there are retirees).

Here's a sample of the scenery in the island. There are a lot of beaches there although of course, they are nothing like the beaches in the Philippines.





My mom and Rusell took us to dinner at a restaurant in Sunset Beach. The name of the place escapes me now but they swore they won't be going back for the lousy service that we got.

Day 8 - New York City!

After a good night's sleep at our home base in Avenel, we were up and about early the next day, Thursday. The night before, I listed down the places that I wanted to visit in NYC and gave them to my sister. Since her husband works in NYC, he planned the route for us.

First things first, we had to catch the 116 bus from Woodbridge that would take us to Port Authority in NYC. Unlike Manila, buses have schedules and they are usually on time. We were running late as my sister had to feed her daughter and take her to day care. After that, my sister wanted to do some errands at the bank but the bank took their time.

When we finally got to the station, the bus was already there and ready to leave. We had Leo jump from the car and run after the bus. If we missed this bus, we had to wait for another hour for the next one! It was not rush hour so buses were far in between.

When we made it to Port Authority, we took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. The subway was not as pretty as that in DC. Nevertheless, it did not stop us from posing among its dingy walls.



I wanted to see this museum after seeing it in Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum. It somehow looked different than what was on the film. We entered the museum through the basement entrance from the subway. Entrance fee is a suggested $16. Being a suggestion, you have the option to pay less than that. Of course, giving just a $1 would give you raised eyebrows.

I was already ravenous so we stopped by the museum canteen to get some grub. My sister, Claudine and Leo got some healthy food while I chowed down on mac and cheese and fried mozarella. Unlike the food at the Smithsonian Museum, the food here was just so-so and nothing to rave about.

After fueling up, we tried to find our way to the main lobby and get a map. There were so many stuff to see. I just announced that I wanted to see dinosaur fossils, especially the T-Rex and I'm good to go. So after grabbing a map, we made our way across the building. As school is out for most of the kids in the US, we had to jostle our way through tourists with families to find our way around.

We got some nice shots but I'm glad that we finally saw the T-Rex/.




And these are fossils of a brontosaurus.



Got a nice picture of me and my sister, Claudine too.



After checking out other exhibits, my friend, MJ, who's based in NYC, called me and we agreed to meet up somewhere outside the museum. So we walked around and I got another picture outside the building.





We met up with MJ at Shake Shack where he treated us to some shakes and fries. Each shake was 1200 calories and you could feel it add to your weight as it goes down your gullet. Here's me with MJ.



From the American of Natural History, we took the subway to Rockefeller Center. MJ joined us and took over the guide reins from my sister who's not as familiar with NYC.

We got off the station nearest Rockefeller and while walking, I saw the offices of Simon and Schuster. Much to my companions' amusement, I just had to take a picture.



We finally reached the Rockefeller Plaza:



We saw the studio where some NBC shows are shot. Too bad there was no show ongoing at that time else we'll be extras outside the studio.



Here's a nice shot of me with all the buildings at the Plaza.



The area behind Leo and me (as shown in the second picture) is some sort of cafe. I think that's where they have the skating rink during winter.




From the Rockefeller Center, we walked to Fifth Avenue where the nice stores are located.

Saw Saks and Company,



and a few meters down is St. Patrick's Cathedral.



There were other famous brand names down the road such as Versace, Ferragamo, Hollister (with two half-naked men wearing trunks or shorts in front of the store), Fendi, Forever 21, Prada, Louis Vuitton and amidst that is the Trump Tower.

We finally reached the Apple Store where I got a picture below:



As we needed to catch the bus at Port Authority to meet with my brother-in-law, we rushed to the subway to catch the train going back to Carteret.

This was just our first day in NYC. Another post on our next visit.