Thanks for the account of your trip.
Posted on 09/19/2002 4:36:28 PM PDT by knighthawk
I always wanted to visit the US, and I thought it was about time to do it. So I decided to go in the second week of September, so I could be in the US on Patriots Day.
At Schiphol there were special security measures. There was a second metal-detector before we could board the plane. The Jumbo-jet was not filled to capacity. After a 6-7 hour flight we landed at Newarkin the morning (about 10.30), from where I took the bus to NYC, Penn Station. It was a nice summer day. After a subway ride I first went to the WTC-site and St. Pauls Chapel. It was busy, and a lot of reporters and camera teams were filming the site and the Chapel. There were a lot of workers at the site, and one could come quite close to it.
St. Pauls was also very emotional, with all the messages at the gate. After a while I left for Battery Park, to see the Statue of Liberty. There were also some of the remains of the Dutch legacy onf NYC, but what most impressed me were the Statue and the big statue of the eagle at the memorial for military personel located near the ferry to the island. I was really impressend, what a beautiful statue. Since I was close to the Indian museum, I decided to go there. I first had to go through a metal detector, and there were more guards than people attending the museum!
After the tour I went to sit in the Bowling Green park, and visited Trinity Church. It was time to go to the hotel, which was located near Time Square. There was a large police precence too, like in the rest of the city. We don't have that in the Netherlands, cops rather stay at the bureau.
Tuesday I had two things planned: visit the Natural Museum and meet up with Freeper Yehuda. Again it was a beautiful summer day, and I must say, like Monday, it was not too busy on the streets. It also wasn't too busy at the Natural museum. That place is huge! I could spend a week there I guess. I toured the place and met up there with Yehuda. We first went to Central Park, which was very nice. So clean there. Yehuda told me it was renovated, it didn't look this good about a decade ago. He took me to see the university part of NYC, and we walked around for a while. Yehuda told me he thought that some people left NY for a few days. After our meeting I decided to walk down the 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas). Had a great time that day.
Wednesday morning I went to the WTC site to see the memorial. There was wind blowing, which was nice on that day. There was a big turnout, but you could not reach the site. The roads leading to it were closed, you could only reach the front of the Chapel. At the end of the ceremony one of the barricades opened, and I could reach the road in front of the site. But the wind prevented that I could hear most of what was said. After a while they played the anthem and the memorial was over. I then went to the road in front of the Chapel again. There a lot of people drove their cars with flags on them. And there was a pick-up truck with a cardboard missile on it and a lot of text with messages for both Osama and Saddam! Then suddenly a guy appeared, dressed in a American flag outfit and waving a flag. Directly photographers strated to make pictures of him. The guy began to shout he came from Russia (I believe, it wasn't all to clear) and he went to live in the US and loved the country. He told about his life in the US and urged people wo didn't love the US to leave!
There were police-officers everywhere, and also a lot from other countries, mostly Britian (they stand out with their helmets and white/black blokked caps). The mood was good. Very emotional, and yet relieving.
I placed myself further down the road to make photos of the front of the Chapel while some fire-trucks were passing by on their way to an emergency. I was standing in the middle of a side road and a fireman in a passing truck saluted me, which I found really great! Later on I went to Grand Central for my trip to New Haven, where I was invited for some shooting by Freeper Harpseal. But first I went to look at the Brooklyn Brigde and City Hall and the Courthouse and so on.
When I arrived at the station police were starting to close the road in front of the station, and a lot of police vehicles passed with high speed. There were a lot of people looking what happened. Went to New Haven by train and met up with Harpseal at the station. He invited me to do some shooting if I ever visited the US, and since New Haven is not to far away, I took the invitation. He first drove me around town to see some of New Haven.
We arrived at the range later on. Since I was an absolute beginner (I know gun-specs, but no practial experience, it's the Netherlands I live in: gun laws are strickt here) I started out with a .22 pistol. It had a very mild recoil and I could fire in quick succession. Then the .45. It was much more difficult, had some groups, but most were low at the target. I had some problems with anticipating the recoil, but it was still great to do some shooting. Then it was time for the artillery: the .44 Magnun! I was somewhat afraid of this caliber. People tell you 'it kicks like a mule' and so on. Harpseal told me it was not so bad, somewhat more than the .45. It was a single action revolver with a long barrel and it was a blast! It was really great! It aimed better than the .45 and I was hitting the target very well. What a power! And the flame when you shoot, it is so impressing! I was really pshyched up. I will buy one straight away when I come over to live in the US, together with a heap of sand to do some shooting at! Just firing it is great enough, what a kick.
The wife of the owner of the range had a pink .45 by the way! Harpseal retuned me to the station, and I thanked him for the great evening.
Thursday morning I went to see the Interpid museum. It was not busy and I had a private tour at the Edson and had a great conversation with the guide. The Prowler was also nice, but of course very small. The Interpid was great. I never saw a carrier (not much of those things around in Europe), and even when it's a small one, it's still a big ship. So much too see inside. The flightdeck was even more impressive. The F-14 was so impressive, but the A-12 stole the show. What a plane!
After a few hours I went to Battery park again. I had an appointment with Freeper Pharmboy, who wanted to show me around the Dutch parts of NYC. But since we were meeting at 7, I had some time again to look around. It was much more crowded than it was earlier that week. I went to Frauncis Tavern to meet up with Pharmboy. He first introduced me to his son (also a Freeper, but not very active lately he told me) who lived a few houses away from the Tavern. Yehuda told me he tried to come to the Tavern too, but he was more than a half hour late and missed us by two minutes. These things happen, but I am sure we will meet up again in the future.
Pharmboy took me around the Dutch parts and told about the history. Streets like Beaver street, Wall Street and so on. The Stock Exchange and some other buildings had concrete blocks and security guards in front of them. There is still a lot of reference to the Dutch people who founded New Amsterdam. After a large and interesting tour we drove through the city, traffic was hell. It turned out some mob-guy had his annual celebration and a lot of streets were closed. I would go crazy in this kind of traffic!
Friday I spent most day just wandering about and do a little shopping. I also went to Central Park again to relax some. It was another beautiful day. My plane left that evening, so I went to Newark again. The security was much more relaxed, only a new regulation was effective: you had to remain in your seat the first half hour after take-off. NYC looks so nice in the distance at night. All those lights, and the Empire State building and bridges really look great then.
I returned safely, although very tired of all the walking around. NYC is so big. I really had a great time. People were friendly and there was so much to see. And so big! But it's overwhelming when you live in a small town. NYC is noisy, all through the night., The thing I thought when I went to sleep at home was "man, it's quite here". Even Amsterdam is quite at night. What a city, it really is a great place. Now to see the rest of the US!
I would like to thank Yehuda, Harpseal and Pharmboy again for the great time!
Thanks for the account of your trip.
Outstanding post!
Thanks for remembering to ping me. Sounds like you were extremely busy! Hope you enjoyed your trip and NYC was all that you expected. It's an amazing sight, isn't it? It's wonderful your FReeper friends took the time to show you around and get to know you.
When you are ready to visit Texas let me know and I'll take you to Crawford. We'll eat lunch at The Coffee Station where W eats hamburgers, for dinner we'll do TexMex or barbecue. We like to eat in Texas, lol. We'll find some longhorn steers for you to take pictures of too. You can rent a car and drive for days and take in the sights. You could start in Dallas and take Interstate 35 to the south and pass through Austin and San Antonio on your way to the Mexican border, or head east and see Houston and the Gulf Coast. Lots to see. Texas won't be anything like NYC, but it will be an amazing experience for you.
I'll get my chance hopefully to go to the Netherlands next year, time & money permitting.
Two Dutch companies with a strong presence here in Atlanta are Philips and Noro. FWIW.
Again, dinner offer still stands, and range time as well, if you want some more. Sounds like you and Harpseal did the indoor pistol range trip. We'll have to do the outdoor range with numerous evil black sport utility rifles.
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