First stop - MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art. Started at the fifth floor - few paintings were recognisable. Man, there certainly was some crap in there but there were a couple of decent pieces. Wasn't a bad experience. Had to check our bags and then provide my drivers licence to borrow an audio set. Pretty good incentive to return it, I'd say. Finished at 1:30pm so that The Boy and I could catch a bus to NJ to meet Phil and his family. Discovered that I had run out of credit for my mobile.
Ended up walking all the way to 42nd Street, 8th Ave bus station. Grabbed the tickets, plus returns, then a sandwich for lunch. Didn't have time to finish the sandwich before catching the bus as it turned out.
Wasn't too sure where to get off the bus. Asked the driver and he just pointed forward. Then he said it was the next stop. At the next stop he said it was the next stop. Confusing!
Was looking for a tall, white guy. Made a lot of sense to utilise that description as there were only Negroes and Hispanics about. Somehow accessed the Facebook message with Phil's mobile number and had just enough coins to call him on a payphone. He had been waiting down at the train station which was about two blocks away. Phil located us pretty quickly - he just looked for a confused-looking white guy and a confused-looking white guy's kid - yep, that'd be us. Quick intro to the family and we handed out some Australian stuffed toys that we'd brought over especially. Rather than staying locally they planned to take us to Jenkinson's Boardwalk at Pleasant Point Beach - the Jersey Shore.
Quite a trek down there. Was rather glad to hear Phil say that he was having no difficulties understanding me face-to-face as he couldn't over the phone - that's exactly how I felt! No trouble keeping the conversation going for the next hour. Rather than talking with the kids The Boy was more interested in the conversation being had by the adults.
At Jenkinson's there was an amusement park that they've been to many times. We had a great time and won enough tickets to claim a half decent prize. One of Phil's boys won an Annoying Orange prize. Little bit of a walk around, spotted a wedding party about to have photos taken, then decided it was time to eat. Went to Tiki Bar - slow service but wonderful food with great portions. The younger boys had personal pizzas but they were very large. The Boy had chicken parmigiana and it was massive. Twenty bucks only. I ordered a $19 lobster ravioli which was delicious. Had to help The Boy eat his but he nearly got through the whole thing which was amazing.
Before the meal we were talking about poor service. Phil hates to complain and just after telling me how difficult it was to be a waiter with the memory required, our waiter came over and apologised, without making eye contact, that he had forgotten that no sushi, which Phil had placed an order for, was available. Perfect timing and a real crack-up.
After dinner a game of mini golf was suggested but they were just closing up. Had just under an hour to get back for the bus we had planned to catch. On the way we were so busy yakking that we missed the turnoff. Ended up being a few minutes later than we'd hoped. And there was no way that they were leaving us in that area at night by ourselves so we all waited for the next bus which was due in just under an hour. I couldn't see our bus number on the bus route marker but the driver had stopped opposite on the way there. Left us with more time for stories, and photos of our pets along with phrases from the Annoying Orange. Four cop cars charge away from the police department while we were waiting so there was some action elsewhere.
Time for the bus to arrive. Phil, The Boy and myself waved to the bus driver. He just kept going. Phil's wife spotted our bus stop two blocks away and picked us up. I'd showed her the bus route so she decided to drop us off at the next stop. We raced the bus, we three jumped out at the next stop and again waved to the driver. He stopped and we boarded.
After an uneventful ride I mentioned to the driver the reason behind us being at the stop before and he said, "That was you guys?" Hadn't even clicked that he'd seen us at the previous stop. I would've thought that that would have stood out as being out of the ordinary.
Photo Album Vol I
Photo Album Vol II
Photo Album Vol III
Photo Album Vol IV (Final)
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Sunday, December 30, 2012
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Friday, December 28, 2012
2012 Holiday To London-NYC-Niagara - Day Fifteen
Earlier start this morning as the last bus from New Jersey Transit (Port Authority next door) building on 9th Ave for Six Flags left at 9:30am. We purchased our package tickets, bus far and theme park entrance, for a total of US$108 and caught the 9am bus. It was close to full.
The bus went through the Lincoln Tunnel and passed Newark Airport and Elizabeth. Took 1hr 13mins to arrive at Six Flags. We stowed our gear in a locker for US$12 for the day and entered the park. Massive parking lot there and I asked the guy on the gate how many people he was expecting today - forty thousand! The park opened just as we got there, at 10:30, when it was supposed to open at 10am.
First ride was Superman Ultimate Flight - not bad but hurt the neck and back a bit. Second ride was Green Lantern, twice, which was really good. Next - Kingda Ka - the tallest coaster in the world and the fastest in North America. What a blast - literally and metaphorically. Did that twice. Wasn't as scary as we'd anticipated - The Boy wanted to build up to it and wasn't ready so early in the visit to the park for it. Gee, the queue can reach 120 mins for this ride.
The guy at the front of the park told us that El Toro was the best coaster in the park. It was a wooden coaster, very fast (fastest wooden coaster in the world) and quite a long ride. I'd have to agree with him regarding how good it was. Felt a bit sick afterwards, it was quite bumpy, and so we only rode it once. Must do though.
Went on a kiddie ride, Runaway Mine Train, which wasn't bad. We had two turns on that also. Took a Skyride cable car there and back before riding Bizarro. This was one of the best rides and we had a couple of goes on it.
Across the other side of the park was Batman The Ride. Indication was for a 30 mins wait but 20 mins later we had ridden it - short but very sweet ride. Nearby was Nitro - 230ft high, 215ft drop, 80mph - and almost nothing to hold you into your seat! This was the scariest ride in the park.
Sky Screamer, a new attraction that rises 248ft and revolves at up to 45mph, was a 30 minute wait and hardly worth the effort. Great view though. Couple of rides on the kiddie ride, Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train, which was good, one on Swashbuckler, The Boy rode the Buccaneer (swinging boat) and then we did a few parachute jumps at the Parachute Training Center - Edwards AFB.
Dinner consisted of chicken strips and cheese and bacon covered fries which have to be my favourite heart attack-inducing, artery-clogging food.
The Boy wanted more rides. As it was becoming dark we took the cable car again to view the park from above before he took two turns on Twister and another 2-3 goes on Green Lantern. Back to the parachute ride and a little boy joined us as he was too short to go alone and his parents were on the Superman ride. Only too happy to oblige - he was too small to go on the ride by himself. Apparently he comes to the park every Sunday when his dad is on leave or every Thursday otherwise. Interesting to meet a local.
Left just after 8pm to catch the bus - not really knowing what time it would be there. When we arrived we were told that buses would be available from 6~9:30. In actual fact NJ Transit realised that only 157 passengers that day went to the park and they would fit into 3 buses. First bus came at 6 and once filled it returned to Manhattan. We reached the bus around 8:30 and waited another 15 mins before it was full and we could leave. Some of the passengers weren't happy as they had waited for nearly an hour an a half before the bus departed. The lady driver caned it home and, even though we stopped at Newark Penn Station, something we didn't do on the way to the park, she took 1hr 12mins to get back - in the dark.
Fantastic day. Was one of the "must do" items on our itinerary.
Photo Album Vol I
Photo Album Vol II
Photo Album Vol III
Photo Album Vol IV (Final)
The bus went through the Lincoln Tunnel and passed Newark Airport and Elizabeth. Took 1hr 13mins to arrive at Six Flags. We stowed our gear in a locker for US$12 for the day and entered the park. Massive parking lot there and I asked the guy on the gate how many people he was expecting today - forty thousand! The park opened just as we got there, at 10:30, when it was supposed to open at 10am.
First ride was Superman Ultimate Flight - not bad but hurt the neck and back a bit. Second ride was Green Lantern, twice, which was really good. Next - Kingda Ka - the tallest coaster in the world and the fastest in North America. What a blast - literally and metaphorically. Did that twice. Wasn't as scary as we'd anticipated - The Boy wanted to build up to it and wasn't ready so early in the visit to the park for it. Gee, the queue can reach 120 mins for this ride.
The guy at the front of the park told us that El Toro was the best coaster in the park. It was a wooden coaster, very fast (fastest wooden coaster in the world) and quite a long ride. I'd have to agree with him regarding how good it was. Felt a bit sick afterwards, it was quite bumpy, and so we only rode it once. Must do though.
Went on a kiddie ride, Runaway Mine Train, which wasn't bad. We had two turns on that also. Took a Skyride cable car there and back before riding Bizarro. This was one of the best rides and we had a couple of goes on it.
Across the other side of the park was Batman The Ride. Indication was for a 30 mins wait but 20 mins later we had ridden it - short but very sweet ride. Nearby was Nitro - 230ft high, 215ft drop, 80mph - and almost nothing to hold you into your seat! This was the scariest ride in the park.
Sky Screamer, a new attraction that rises 248ft and revolves at up to 45mph, was a 30 minute wait and hardly worth the effort. Great view though. Couple of rides on the kiddie ride, Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train, which was good, one on Swashbuckler, The Boy rode the Buccaneer (swinging boat) and then we did a few parachute jumps at the Parachute Training Center - Edwards AFB.
Dinner consisted of chicken strips and cheese and bacon covered fries which have to be my favourite heart attack-inducing, artery-clogging food.
The Boy wanted more rides. As it was becoming dark we took the cable car again to view the park from above before he took two turns on Twister and another 2-3 goes on Green Lantern. Back to the parachute ride and a little boy joined us as he was too short to go alone and his parents were on the Superman ride. Only too happy to oblige - he was too small to go on the ride by himself. Apparently he comes to the park every Sunday when his dad is on leave or every Thursday otherwise. Interesting to meet a local.
Left just after 8pm to catch the bus - not really knowing what time it would be there. When we arrived we were told that buses would be available from 6~9:30. In actual fact NJ Transit realised that only 157 passengers that day went to the park and they would fit into 3 buses. First bus came at 6 and once filled it returned to Manhattan. We reached the bus around 8:30 and waited another 15 mins before it was full and we could leave. Some of the passengers weren't happy as they had waited for nearly an hour an a half before the bus departed. The lady driver caned it home and, even though we stopped at Newark Penn Station, something we didn't do on the way to the park, she took 1hr 12mins to get back - in the dark.
Fantastic day. Was one of the "must do" items on our itinerary.
Photo Album Vol I
Photo Album Vol II
Photo Album Vol III
Photo Album Vol IV (Final)
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