Springfield armory, first 2 days in New York City.

Again I ask for people to follow my blog, I like to see all the travelers out there.

I was at the armory first thing in the morning. I really had no expectations for this, I looked up where I would be driving and this was the only point of interest. Turns out it was worth going to. Everything part of gun making was done here; from design and engineering to manufacturing and production. The facility is huge with many buildings, today the buildings are used for a community college. Here they do a great job of showing the evolution of gun making. There are hundreds of different models on display, all with slight differences. It was cool to see they original machinery that was used too. When I was finished there, it was about 60 degrees outside. I was shocked, and I couldn’t waist it. I let a lot of things slide due to cold, cleaning my car, putting things away in the right spot, things like that. So the car was really a disaster and had a serious man smell. I got that all taken care of and I needed an oil change. I thought I was going to have it done whenever I need it. But with weather like this I was glad to do it myself. I picked up what I needed and found a dry spot in the movie theater parking lot. It wasn’t the smoothest oil change ever but I got the job done. I was able to find a car dealer that would take my old oil, better then throwing it away. There isn’t anywhere around to go hiking or anything, so I figured I would just see a movie. I’ve never gone to a movie by myself and I thought it was going to be weird. Considering it was like 1:00 on a Tuesday, no one was there. I saw the new underworld movie, one of the most bad ass things I have ever seen. When I got out of there it was only like 3:00, still really nothing to do. I considered just staying in the theater and hoping to another movie. But I haven’t done laundry sense I left and it was really time. I didn’t have a lot just the same cloths I wore every day. So I took my things to a place that just dose it for you. It was like $6 for it. I would have wasted more than that just by messing up at a coin laundry place. While I was waiting I ate the rest of my lobster and crab, this is a challenge in a car not to make a total mess everywhere. I stopped at a small dive bar for a beer until my laundry was ready. After that was taken care of I drove to Heartford, CT. I considered going to Rhode Island just to hit every state but there’s really nothing there. I asked a few people about if there was anything to see there. All they told me was the beaches, beaches are great, when its 80 degrees and sunny. I didn’t have any real reason to go to Heartford but I ended up sneaking into a hot tub for a while and then calling it a night.

                I really wanted to get some hiking in, I felt like a log. I knew I was going to be in cities for the next week, or more. So I drove out of the way a bit to an area that seemed like it would have some good trails. When I got there it was more of a resort and the people at the front clearly never hiked the trails before. they gave me a piece of paper and I could tell it wasn’t what I was looking for. They told me of another visitor center down the road. In attempting to get there one I got all mixed up and took the correct way thinking it was the wrong way, so I turned around and when went the wrong way thinking it was right. After driving for about 30 I decided to check my phone. I was nowhere close to where I should be. There was no easy way to get to where I wanted. I would have had to turn around and drive an hour to get there. I said fuck and just kept going to New York City. The way I took, took me through New Jersey, along the river over looking Manhattan. Surprisingly it was a pain in the ass to get to the New York side. You couldn’t use cash on the Washington Bridge and the signs took me on some crazy detour that took me right back to the same spot. After driving to a tunnel, and a $12 toll, I made it. Not surprising, driving is crazy, I just wanted to find a place to park; I knew it was going to hard. I drove down the main strip and saw a lot of things I wanted to look at but I had to watch the road. My friend mike called so I just pulled off and talked to him for a bit. He has a friend in the area that I’m going to try to get in contact with. I started driving back to the New Jersey side, my plan was to just go to a park and ride each day and take a bus into the city. But I found parking that was $30 for 24 hours, it was open 24 hours a day with someone working. They also let me park in an open end shed. Perfect for me. $30 isn’t bad when going back through the damn tunnel would have been $12. So I parked and just walked around for several hours. I walked around time square, it crazy to see all the screens, they just cover the buildings. I went up to the empire state building. You are so high up above everything but it’s hard to realize, everything around you is huge too. Next I walked to Madison square garden. I didn’t really do anything here but it was cool to see. I went to a bar for a beer, when it was $7 I only had one. I walked back to the car and planed out the next day.

                This was a really busy day and I really wanted to get it all in. I bought a train pass and went up to central park. It was nice but really sad that this is where some people go for nature. I walked through it in a little over an hour. After that I took the train down to the world trade center. They are doing a ton of construction here and workers are everywhere. A lot of the area was blocked off so it was hard to get to the memorial, but I should have just asked the little help desk to begin with. First you have to go to a building about 5 blocks away, they give you a pass to go in to the memorial. It’s free so I’m not really sure why you need a pass. The memorial is a very peaceful place. It must be amazing in summer. There are lots of small trees and grass. With lots of walking areas of black stone. The main focus is 2 huge square flowing water falls. They really did a great job with how everything is laid out in memory of the people who died that day. They have all their names carved into the black stone surrounding the water falls. I asked a cop about all the construction going on. I was surprised they were all new building, I thought they were just damaged in collapse but there were like 5 other building completely taken out. Next I walked to Battery Park; from here I took a ferry to the statue of liberty. The weather was pretty crappy, cold, windy, rain. You couldn’t go into the statue at all; they were putting in a new stair case. I got to talk to the tour guide by myself for awhile. I always seem to get way better info when I’m by myself. He explained everything very well and told me a lot I had no idea about. Next was Ellis Island. I only had about an hour fifteen before the last ferry back. This is a place you could spend a whole day at. It’s too much to take it all in, in that short of time. Everything these people went through is incredible. Just to get here from where ever they were from shows character that just isn’t around today. From the minute they decided to go to America they knew the rest of their life was going to be a struggle. And they did it anyway because they believed it was going to be a good place and their families would continue to build off of what they started. When I took the ferry back, I quick walked down Wall st. I saw the stock exchange and trump tower. The last thing I wanted to see today was South st. sea port. I made it here right when it was getting dark. They had two cool ships in the harbor but other than that it was just a shopping mall. Then back to the car. I looked at it and I pretty much did saw everything I wanted to see in the city. When I left for this trip I had several people I was going to try to meet up with. Beth from San Diego was the person I was really looking forward to seeing; she was a very interesting person to meet. I should have kept in contact; she got a new number and I can’t get a hold of her. Then I thought I was going to be here earlier, my friend Ceaser was in town the weekend before. And my old roommate’s band was touring the east coast from Florida up and they were passing through also. There’s a girl from high school that lives out here, Kate, I got in touch with her but school started back up for her so I might see her on the weekend. Then there’s Adams old friend Matt. He lived in Milwaukee for most of his life and I hung out with him around there a few times. He was at the Sundance movie festival and just so happened to be getting back in town tonight. I offered to pick him up from the air port and we went back to his apt. Matt, his roommate Joe, and I went to a bar down the street for the night. With every beer you buy you get a free small pizza. And they had a deal $5 you get a beer, a shot, and a pizza. That’s a little more like it. We joked around for a few hours and turned in for the night. They have a great pull out couch with my name on it. 

the museum is the larger building on the far left side

 different ways for making parts

 oops!! the top one was struck my lightening

 different trench weapons

 time square

 the screens cover the building and make it look like brick i thought that was strange

 empire state building

 view from up top

 waterfall in central park

 belvedere castle central park

 911 memorial

 all the names wrap around the waterfalls

 Korean war memorial

 skyline

 guess what that is

 ellis island

 this hall would be full, with up to 5000 people coming to America

 brochures for each state, so you could pick where you wanted to live

 things left here

 dosen't that look like fun sleeping

 how it all works

 stock exchange