I’ve just returned after spending 10 days in New York which has been truly amazing. I went with Karis and spent the first half in the Hamptons with her sister Tabitha, her husband Craig and their two boys, Dylan and Elliott.
We arrive at the airport and a driver is waiting for us to take us to the house. We get going and I’m taking everything in, all the tiny houses in the suburbs covered with satellite dishes. The crazy driving going on etc. Karis realises we are heading towards the city and reminds the driver that we are staying in the country first, he thought we were staying in the city so he turned round. We eventually arrive at the house after dark, the first thing I notice is the piercing sound of cicadas, the house is surrounded by woodland—really nice spot.
We spent most of the days in the country relaxing, swimming in the pool, playing tennis. Just what the doctor ordered, we’ve not been away since March and that was a snowboarding holiday so it wasn’t exactly relaxing. We set out on the bikes one day to go to the beach but the bike Karis was on broke so that plan was foiled. Craig let us borrow the Toyota Tundra so we went down to the beach in that. I’ve never driven anything that big. I don’t know what size engine it is but it was pretty clear it was a huge V8. Pretty much any vehicle that goes by seems to be a V8, music to my ears. I suppose that’s not very green though, they advertise cars on TV that achieve 35MPG like it’s a good thing. I’m not usually a fan of 4x4s but I have to admit, driving such a massive brute did feel pretty cool! The smallest engine they do is a 4.0L but I suspect this was probably the larger one, the 5.7L. We also took it to the most eastern point of Long Island, Montauk. There’s a lighthouse there which was cool, we went up that.
Craig’s got a few cars, a Chevrolet Camaro, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Maserati Ghibli as well as a Jeep style 4×4 (a Toyota I think) and the Toyota Tundra. Tabitha has a Porsche 911 Carrera 4s. My favourite though by a mile is the Chevrolet Camaro SS which was built somewhere around 1969 (I think) in black with white stripes, black interior. Craig took me out to East Hampton in it one day. It’s fitted with a mind blowing 427 big-block V8 (7.0L!) mated to a 6 speed manual gearbox and the sound is incredible especially with its straight through exhaust. Everybody turns their head when they hear it, they can’t help themselves. You don’t hear something like that very often. I can not describe the sheer joy that the sound of that car gives me, let alone the shape of it. I was grinning from ear to ear the moment Craig turned the key. Better still, he let me drive it! It’s got a slight issue at the moment which means that at low revs the power steering pump isn’t running quick enough and the steering is a bit heavy (needs a bigger pulley fitting). It’s a little difficult to select the right gear as they are so close together. Aside from that though it was awesome! It’s lowered too so it doesn’t have the boat like handling that I suspect it had when it left the factory. It had spent some of its days as a racer and had a 540 V8 and roll cage fitted for a while. Craig had the 540 swapped for the 427 due to the limited view through the windscreen and the craziness on the road! Having about 425 horses (and about 460 lb/ft of torque!) at the will of your right foot is quite exciting though to say the least. What a car. He took us out for lunch in the Aston one day too—much more refined smooth engine note (OK so it was “only” the 5.3L!) and a much softer, comfortable ride. Still a brute compared to anything I’ve been in! Really nice shape too. He’s got a few bikes too, a classic looking Ducati, KTM, Husqvarna. He wanted to go out on them but I didn’t fancy it without my leathers. Next time I’ll take some with me!
Says “454” on the front wing but it is actually fitted with the 427.
I went for a run while I was in the country. Just a 7 miler to try and keep my fitness up while I was there (remembering that I have a marathon to run at the end of October!). It’s a nice place to run through all the woodland. It was really hot and humid though. I didn’t think I’d ever sweat so much in my life until Tabitha took us to “Soul Cycle” which is kind of like a spinning class but there are light weights and bodyweight exercises on the bike to. That was hardcore, 45 minutes and I was soaked to the bone, my legs were reduced to jelly. It was good to exert myself for a couple of days though, I knew that I’d be going to the city soon and that mean indulging. We’d already found ourselves in Scoop du Jour once (not complaining!).
I think I’ve gained some fondness from the boys while I was there. Launching them into the pool from the diving board over and over again probably had something to do with it. We looked after them one night while Tabitha and Craig were out. Swinging them around by their ankles and dropping Dylan from about 4 feet onto his bed seemed to help too. They both have a slight (OK, maybe heavy) Minecraft addiction so configuring a server for Elliott on his laptop so his friends at school can play on it with him went down quite well too.
After 5 days in the country, Tabitha took us into the city. First point of call was the 9/11 memorial site along with One World Trade Center. The security is air port level, X-raying bags, metal detectors etc. There’s still a lot of work being done around the site but it’s really impressive. There are two huge waterfall features where the original twin towers once stood with all the names of everyone who lost their lives round the edge. One World Trade Center is truly massive and looks awesome with the sun and blue sky reflecting from it. I’m hoping that next time I visit the tower will be open and we can go up the 4th tallest building in the world.
We ate out every night in the city. What amazed me was that everywhere seems to have a good selection of beer. I think I had a different beer in every place I went to. Not like the UK where you just get Carling, Fosters, John Smiths and Guinness! We have a pretty good range of food while we were there too and the best Japanese food I’ve ever tasted from a place called Natsumi. You can stumble into a bar and they might have 10 or 20 different craft ales! That definitely caught me by surprise, I was expecting Coors Light and Budweiser to be everywhere with nothing else.
We went up the Empire State Building during the day and the Rockefeller Center at night which both have an interesting history aside from anything else with the likes TV and radio broadcasting. The Rockefeller is the building that construction workers famously sat out on a steel beam to eat their lunch. I’ve never seen something so amazing before, the view of New York City from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. Manhattan is completely covered with skyscrapers and tall buildings. I took a lot of photos up there and some video with the GoPro which I’m really glad I took with me. The view from the Rockefeller at night is amazing too, you can see the Empire State Building from there and it was lit up red, white and blue the night we went up. You can just about see people and cars moving on the ground. The scale of things is enormous. We went to Grand Central Station too which is huge. Times Square is ridiculously bright, everywhere is illuminated with advertising and it fills the streets with colour. They like doing things on a grand scale in New York!
We first started getting around via taxi at the start of our stay in the city but we soon discovered that the subway is the best way to get around. It’s quick, air conditioned and cheap and the taxi drivers don’t seem to know where they’re going unless you give them a street name. We even saw a dude playing saxophone at one of the stations. You top up a metro card to get around. You don’t swipe the card when you exit so each journey costs just $2.50 regardless of where you go. So you can pretty much get from one side of the city to the other on $2.50. Just watch out for which train you are getting, “Express” or “Local”, each will take you to different stops. It’s especially good during weekdays when people are at work. The trains are really long and spacious inside so you don’t have any problems finding a seat. Even though we used taxis and the subway I feel like I’ve walked forever, there’s a lot of walking to be done in NYC! My feet have been aching quite a bit but it’s probably done them some good in the long run.
We walked over Brooklyn Bridge one day which gives you yet another perspective of the city. We were really lucky with the weather too. We only had one day when we couldn’t really do what we wanted to so we ended up bowling (they even had a good selection of ale at the bowling alley!). We went to Brooklyn Brewery while we were over that side of the city. I had a couple of ales that I’ve not had before and they actually have more beers than I realised. We only seem to get the lager here in the UK but there are probably 10 or 15 that they brew. They are opening a brewery in Sweden so maybe we’ll get more of a selection. We had a tour of the brewery while we were there and I bought a t-shirt. Actually that t-shirt is the only thing I got for myself while I was in New York, the rest of my money was spent on going up tall buildings, food and beer! I got some respect from a guy working in the Rockefeller building from wearing it. He claimed they had a “Coors Light guy” up there the other day and he was telling him all about Brooklyn Brewery.
The New York Yankees were playing and we went to a game while we were there. The size of the stadium was the most impressive aspect of that, the game of baseball itself isn’t that thrilling except when someone hits a homerun and the crowd go crazy. There’s the stereotypical blokes walking around shouting “hot dogs, get your hot dogs here” and dudes with beer too. We decided to leave a few innings before the end to miss the rush of people exiting.
While we were in Central Park we went to the Zoo which was cool. They had a polar bear at one stage but it had to be put down unfortunately just a few days before we got to New York. They have a good selection of animals anyway though. Red pandas are really cool!
Tabitha is friends with Orlando Bloom. He’s playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway which officially opens on September 19th at the Richard Rodgers theatre. We went to see him in the preview show which was excellent. It had a modern twist to it, the music and everything was brilliant. It was funny too in places, well worth watching. Christian Camargo who plays Mercutio is particularly good, very funny. It’s a classic theatre inside, a cool experience. We went up to Orlando’s room backstage after the play to meet him. He’s a genuinely nice chap, he asked us what we thought of the show and he started to ask Karis and I what we did for a living but he needed to see the fans waiting outside so we left him to it. We would see him later on so we exited through the backstage door only to be greeted by all the fans waiting for autographs and photos. They looked a bit disappointed when we stepped out the door! We went up the road to an unnamed bar to wait for him and get some food, it just looks like someones house from the outside. I get the feeling you don’t just walk into this bar, you’re either invited or you know the owner or something. Tabitha didn’t seem to have a problem getting us a seat though. We ordered some food and drinks and Orlando joined us shortly afterwards. He was really keen on their curried deviled eggs and was pretty insistent that we tried one so I did! We all chatted about general things, what Karis and I do for a living, where we live etc. It was really surreal and very cool to meet him.
On the last day we went to see the museum aboard the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier which has been decommissioned since the 70s but served during WWII and Vietnam. They’ve got various jets, planes and helicopters aboard but the best by far was one of the NASA Shuttles, it’s massive! They have it under cover on one end of the ship. It was the last thing we did but just as impressive as the rest. Karis had a plan from day one of what we would be doing and I think the only thing we couldn’t do was go up The Statue of Liberty so we’ll have to save that one for next time.
Well, I’ve tried to keep it fairly brief here but I’ve clearly failed! I’ve done and seen so much for my first trip to the USA and it’s been incredible. I wasn’t really sure what to expect before I left but I’ve been completely blown away by everything. Random people we came by were kind and chatted to us, in fact everyone we met was friendly and helpful. Tabitha and Craig have been especially kind and generous. I’m looking forward to next time, there’s so much more to see and do! Until then, I need to catch up on some sleep and I have a feeling a black Camaro will be in my dreams.