So here we have it, folks, the second installment in the promised story of my
dream vacation? Where did I leave off? We were in NY, lost, got to our hotel ... oh, yes. The room ...
We opened the door to find something at this moment utterly unbelievable - the room was disgusting! First, it was tiny, two small double beds, sporting fresh stains all over the sheets and comforter, a clunky old TV, a marked bedside table and a little wood writing desk. The walls were also faded and splotched in a few spots with mysterious stains. The carpet was thin and worn through - you didn't feel comfortable in bare feet. The bathroom was worse - old, cracked tiling, sink that wouldn't drain, flickering light, rusty tub and chunks of black mold crawling up the wall. Oh yes, just paradise. Or not. Though for what we were paying for it, you'd think it should be! We soon found out that with its location (across the street from Madison Square Garden and six blocks from Times Square) and the rising hurricane, this hotel could charge whatever they wanted for rooms.
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| The mold in our bathroom that came at no additional cost! |
But on a brighter note, Dad got up at seven that morning, just four hours after we had all gone to bed and found our rental car still parked on the street! The way this vacation was going we were pretty happy with that! Then, he was able to fill the car with gas, find the rental car place, and return the car back safe and sound. Dad said that was probably his highlight of New York!
As far as our safety in the actual storm, we were practically as safe as if we were back at home! Basically, where we were in Manhattan, we got nothing storm wise, maybe a bit of wind and rain, but that was it. We were walking in Times Square when the worst of Hurricane Sandy was hitting! Our hotel never lost power, and even though no stores opened until Wednesday night or Thursday, we experienced none of Sandy's wrath.
But with many people stranded and the subway and Manhattan Pier closed, many of our plans did get rearranged. Our Broadway show (Wicked - a play based on the Wizard of Oz, not a show of evil or wickedness!), booked for Tuesday night, was cancelled, and on the same night we found out our cruise, scheduled to leave Wednesday afternoon was delayed, at this point, until probably the weekend. There we were stuck in our gross room, with all the stores closed and not knowing when we were going to get out of New York. And worse, we didn't know if we'd even get to stay in our room! Sure the room wasn't exactly a Hilton suite, but it was a place to sleep, a warm, private place that it was possible we
could get kicked out of since we needed extra nights and, the Pennsylvania was turning away room requests right, left and centre. Crowds of people camped in the lobby since they couldn't get a room. This dingy room that seemed a curse suddenly turned out to be an incredible blessing when we found out that we were able to keep the room the extra nights. Of course it took my wonderful dad getting up at five in the morning to fanangle with the desk clerk, but he did it! Or should I say the Lord did it!
Anyway, we were able to re-book Wicked for Wednesday night (thank you, Dad, and Hotel Penn's - albeit sketchy - internet!) and even saved a bit of money! And even though tons of other Broadway shows were cancelled for that night, we were able to get to Wicked, and it was fabulous! I was blown away, and it was definitely a highlight of this entire dream vacation!
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| The Broadway poster for "Wicked" in Times Square |
On Thursday, the sun came out, the stores re-opened, and we got a confirmation email that our cruise was leaving on Friday! That was definitely a good day! We walked to Times Square and went to the big Toys-R-Us and the M&M Store and the Hershey Store. Then we walked to Rockefeller Center and saw the ice rink and walked to Fifth Avenue and saw Saks and Tiffany's. We even got hot dogs and pretzels from a street vendor!
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| Me with a very large, very salty pretzel from a real New York City street vendor |
Finally, after a good night's sleep, we woke on Friday morning, loaded our luggage into a taxi and headed for the Pier. As much fun (and adventure!) as New York City had been, we were ready to leave it, board our cruise, and head for the Caribbean. Yet so many more adventures and so much more fun was in store, if we only knew it ...
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6
