Middletown, NY to Delaware

Arrived back in Middletown, NY. Had a relaxing few days in Middletown, NY. Went to the only Blockbuster in town and rented a couple movies to watch. While in Middletown, NY I also drove to Poughkeepsie, NY to watch Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a great movie to watch on the big screen. Left Middletown, NY on Saturday morning and arrived in Bear, DE on Saturday afternoon. Decided to take quick tour of Philly in the evening with my cousin Tony. Tried to find the famous Gino's Philly cheesesteak place by asking people. Did a few circles around Center City before we found the place. The people selling those cheesesteaks were very rude. They had signs up that said "No English" "No Service". The question I want to ask is how much English do you need to order a Philly cheesesteak. The lady at the counter was annoyed I asked questions about the options on the cheesesteak. Well, you know this traveler is not going to give any more business to such an awful place. Came back Saturday night and enjoyed a good nights sleep. Sunday went to church with my cousin Tony and his wife Rachel. We had a church service at Rehobeth Beach which is an 1.5 hour drive from Bear, DE. The beach was nice. The water was little cold even in the summer but it was good exercise swimming at the beach. Did some window shopping at the nearby outlet malls before heading back to Bear, DE (Delaware). Sunday night was spent at Tony's place and Monday morning it was time to head to South Jersey. It was only a 30 minute drive to Mickey uncle's place. Visited with Mickey uncle and his youngest son for a day before it was time to drive 8 hours back to Buffalo, NY. Spent a night in Buffalo, NY before arriving in Denver, CO Wednesday evening. It was a very productive trip and I am glad I got to see so many people.

What else in New York?

Vacation: Aug 2nd - Aug 16th: Part 2

Well, I arrived in Middletown, New York which is a 2 hour train ride away from New York City. I arrived on Tuesday evening around 7:30 pm. I was beat but it was a great chance to chat with my second cousin Naveena, and her friends from school. We had some spicy Indian food and went to bed around 1 am. Wednesday, was the day to drive in my rented Ford Focus 2006 to Staten Island in NYC. It was not too bad driving in as it was not rush hour. It took around an hour and 1/2 to get to Staten Island. Checked out Wagner College where Naveena goes to school. It was off to paid parking at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and the 1000 meter dash to make the ferry with 10 seconds to spare. The Manhattan subway system greated us baking us with internal tempertures greater than 100 degrees. The train to Brooklyn did not take too long forunately. Got out of the subway station and we were greeted by a pedestrain crossing light that had the middle finger up to us. Someone had put black tape on the other fingers of the hand. Welcome to Brooklyn, I guess. Met up with Naveena friends again and took a short bus ride to Coney Island. The rides were wonderful made extra scary cause they are so old. We went on this ride that looks like a octopus. The DJ was playing some great hip-hop and was basically spinning the ride to move it in all sorts of directions. It was a blast. The funnel cake in Coney Island was as hard as a rock and the powdered sugar was blowing in the wind over us made us look like snowpeople. We avoided the Ferris Wheel cars with swinging cars that drop down a level while going round. Took the stationary cars and the view was magnificent of the beach and of this corner of Brooklyn.

It was time to leave (around 5 pm now) Brooklyn and head back to Manhattan. Bid goodbye to Naveena's friends who live in Brooklyn and rode the subway back to "the city" (Manhattan) as the locals call it. Grabbed a Naan bread sandwich by asking the Indians selling stuff in Manhattan where you get one of these awesome spicy chicken/spinach sandwiches. Had dinner in a neat little Indian cafe and then my cousin had a tickets to a comedy show at a nice lounge somewhere. The comedy was great and I did not mind the two drink minimum as the show was free. Sat in the back of the lounge cause I did not want them to make fun of me. They made a lot of great jokes about racial stereotypes. You had to be there. After enjoying comedy for 2 hours took the train to mid-town Manhattan to find the famous chicken and rice with its secret white sauce. This falvored rice was the bomb! Brought four boxes back to Middletown, NY. Waiting in the line for 45 minutes to get the chicken and rice at 11:30 pm. This chicken and rice stand had 2 vans bringing refills of chicken and rice. At $5 a box it was a steal in NYC. The next mission impossible was to find a $3 T-shirt that said "I Love NY" for my friend Joe so it was on the subway again to Times Square. Got the Tee just before the street vendor closed at 12:30 am. Took the subway back to the Staten Island Ferry terminal in lower Manhattan. The subway driver kept stopping for no reason and so we missed the Ferry by a minute. Boy, were the passengers mad. It would be another 1/2 hour wait before the next free ferry arrived. Arrived in Staten Island again at 2 am. It took me 2 hours to drive back to Middletown, NY cause I really don't like night driving on unfamilar roads. Had to dodge a few deer near Middletown but made it back safely.

Vacation calling

Vacation: August 2nd - August 16th, 06

I had a great trip to the East Coast. I arrived in Buffalo, NY on a Wednesday night ready to enjoy my 2 week annual leave. I stayed with my friend Joe whose family is from Buffalo for 5 days. On Thursday we went to downtown Buffalo which a buzz with people and a midday concert which we just missed. Walked along the waterfront to the Nigara River and saw the North end of Lake Erie. Checked out the HSBC Arena where the Sabres play hockey. On Friday, I went to the American side of Niagara Falls. I had never been to the American side but checked out the Canadian side when I lived in Canada. I got to go on the Maid of the Mist twice this time and it was a really fun ride. It was awesome to be that close to the Horseshoe Falls. On Saturday, I went to the Corn Festival in Eden, NY. I thought it was all about celebrating corn, but instead it had baseball games, classic rock music, and recreations of civil war battles and life. Of course, they did have a corn eating contest which was fun to watch. I always seen movies about these contests but seeing one in real life was fun. Sunday, I went to a large evangelical church and then played stickball and a game like horseshoes with my friend Joe's family. Monday, I did Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario (near Buffalo) which was cool. It was a cloudy day so I could not see Toronto across the lake. The fort was built by the French but taken over by the British before it became part of the US. On Monday evening, I went to a Christian music festival called Kingdom Bound. I saw Casting Crowns, Audio Adrenline, and Hawk Nelson play. The music was great. I never realized Casting Crowns wrote so many famous worship songs. Tuesday, I drove 6.5 hours to Middletown, NY where my mom's cousin lives. Part 2 to follow.