I love it when I wake up late after sleeping cozily in the tent instead of waking up early to an aching body crunched up all night in the back of the car. It's worst when I wake up and there's no restrooms or any running water, but that's the life on the road in a car sometimes. I packed up, and made a stop at the headquarters to pay the camping fee for Hilford State Park. The attendants drive an electric Chevy Blazer, which was a really nice touch to a clean park. They said it was donated, and one charge lasted all day.
Two weeks now on the road, and I really did not want to go home. I just wished I could just drive anywhere and get lost and not worry about finding my way back. Today's destination was New York City, a city I've long wanted to visit, a city I thought I would live in one day, but now I'm not so sure. Most of this road trip would be spent staying away from large cities except for Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and New York City.
Foxwood casino, the largest casino resort in the world, was about 20 miles away from Hilford State Park, but I forgot to look it up. Foxwood grosses 2 million per day on slots, and they have a gross profit of 1 billion dollars from slots and table games. One day, I will be back to relieve them of some of that profit, it's the least I could do.
The backcountries of Conneticut are beautiful, like they are in many other states because they are not as developed and there are no big buildings and factories to ruin the scenery. People don't walk around in suits, and women stroll their babies down the streets. An innocent beauty like newborn baby puppies.
New York City, here I come! It was exactly what I had expected, congested, dirty, and tons of tourists. I stopped along Broadway Street in the Bronx and took a 20 minute walk down the street and back. I was a little worried the Cresseida would be gone from the metered parking along Broadway when I got back. There was nothing for me to buy in the shops, but I like it that the streets were littered with small shops instead of a big corporate superstore. There isn't any space for a large store where I stopped. New York City is truly a melting pot of many people and cultures- that's what makes this city beautiful as well as dangerous. New York City is made up of 5 areas: Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. All the areas are connected via toll bridges and tunnels, with a few (3?) free bridges.
New York City traffic is definitely the worst in the United States. The streets are a sea of taxis, and the drivers will let you know when you block traffic- especially in the middle of the intersection. A lady speaking on a cell phone honked at me when I was waiting patiently for another car- she just drove between the 2 lanes and she and her passenger looked at me. I think I have seen her before- yes, I have- when I examined the dictionary looking for the definition of buffoon. Her picture was there. And her passenger, well, he was under clueless. If I had to write a setence on buffoon and clueless, this is how it would go that day: "The clueless man did not know his life was in the hands of a buffoon." New York City traffic is bad enough, but when you don't have enough common sense to drive as alertly as possible, you shouldn't blame anyone if you get into an accident.
After that incident, I decided I can play this game of driving intelligently wreckless- it didn't take long to get into the grove of switching lanes quickly to dodge cars. Luckily I have navigated with worser drivers than New York City, and that was Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. I assume, for one reason, they drive the way they do in New York City is to keep the traffic from backing up, and plus many taxis are rushing to get their customers to their destinations. It just becomes normal and other drivers know you will cut in front of them. It's the driving ettiquette here; anywhere else, you may got the bird or shot at, but here it's acceptable. It's no wonder New York City always top the list on those polls showing which cities are the worst
I headed down Broadway somehow knowing I would get to Time Square- after all, wasn't Broadway Street in this city one of the most well known street in the world? The streets were filled with people as I headed south to Manhanttan. Time Square is a traffic nightmare. The whole area was filled with locals, business people, and tourists. Unusally, there weren't many homeless people in sight.
There are at least 2 types of vacationers. One likes quiet freedom, away from the hussle of the busy city as well as many tourist cities. The other likes to go where all the other tourists are going- and this was New York City. Most of the time, I am definitely the former. I just drove through some beautiful country backroads earlier today, and that afternoon, I was stuck in traffic watching a busy city turn.
I've always wanted to be here in the city, but now it was hot and tons of people were around, and I just wanted to get out. It took a long while to get of the Bronx and Manhattan. The city is not very navigational friendly. After paying $3.50 to get into Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Battery tunnel, I was headed south to Staten Island, and then over to New Jersey. Unfortunately, the only connection between Brooklyn and Staten Island was the Verrazano Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the US, but they should have called it the most expensive toll bridge in the US costing $7 to use. Luckily, I had enough money.
On Staten Island, I got lost figuring out which way to get off the island. They have 2 toll bridges, Goethals and Outterbridge, but Outherbridge was out. So I decided to stop at McDonad's and get a big mac combo. It turns out this was the most expensive McDonald's I have ever eaten at- the prices were about a buck more for the combo meal than at any other McDonald's. They weren't kidding when they said New York City is an expensive place to live. If not for public transportation, I don't see how the poor folks can afford to pay the tolls and the food, much less the rent.
After 2 tolls and a big mac combo later, and out roughly $15, I was in New Jersey. I somehow crossed the Goethals Toll bridge without seeing the toll booth, so I crossed free, but it was suppose to be $5 or $6. I'd love to drive back to New York, but I would have to think about it. It's such a congested area that there isn't much room to breathe. New York City is known as the city which never sleeps- so watch your wallets and purses. I really don't see what drives tourists to come here, but they do; even seeing the Statue of Liberty is not a good enough reason for me to come here. But I suppose what interests me are the people and mystique of the city.
Atlantic City was next on the agenda, but I wasn't sure I wanted go anymore. I had made a promise not to gamble, but how could I come so close and not go there. Instead of taking the toll interstate, I got on Highway 9 south. All along the route, I wondered if I should just head west and not go.
Gasoline in southern New Jersey is much cheaper than Connecticutt or New York, even though it's full service throughout the state, it was cheaper. At a Gulf, a red-headed kid approached me. I said I could pump the gas myself, and that's when he told me it was full service everywhere. I went ahead and did it myself. He was just 17 and had plans be a journalist, possibly attending New York State University but wasn't sure if he was going at all. At first he paused when I asked what college he was going to, but then I insisted he had to go to college, and then he mentioned New York State.
Atlantic City is a dump as far as I am concerned. It looks nothing like Las Vegas strip or downtown with the glittering lights and busy streets. I ended driving into Trump Marina, and they charged $2 parking, which all the casinos charge because of state law. The casino was pretty dead when I arrived very late at night. I didn't want play blackjack, but then a game called double exposure blackjack piqued my interest- both the dealers cards are exposed, but other rules limit the player's advantage, such as only being able to double down on 9,10, and 11, and splitting pairs up to 3 hands. I played all night, going back and forth, and ended up leaving down only $18 after tipping the dealer $3. It was fun, but I really didn't know the optimum strategy to use. The 3 or so hours I was there, only 1 person left the table a winner.
Dale sat next to me for an hour or so. He explained how people are buying million dollar yachts, but they couldn't make them fast enough. A man and his wife played most of the night with me- the wife was a terrible player, while the husband played okay; however, they lost at least $500, but got a free room. One gentleman doubled down on all his soft 20's against any dealer breaking hand- he didn't do too well. The only winner was a man who couldn't speak, he won about $200 playing 2 hands at 3rd base. It was an experience, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it more that I walked away with most of my money.
I thought about sleeping in the car in the casino parking lot, but didn't. On the way in, there was a motel advertising $14 rooms on a neon sign. Dale told me it might be $14 but I would have to share it with another person, so I passed up on that dumpy little motel.
If you had a choice of visiting either city, go to Las Vegas for vacation and small-time gambling (Las Vegas is the most visited city in the world I believe), but if you want to gamble, visit Atlantic City. The 2 difference between the 2 cities is the roulette tables have single 0's and card counting is legal in Atlantic City.
I drove and drove and reached the toll bridge crossing into Delaware. Even though I was extremely tired, I kept driving until the sun rose. At Lums Pond State Park, they wanted too much to camp, so I pulled out along a hiking trailhead on Highway 71 and went to sleep under a shade. This had been an incredible long day, driving through Connecticutt, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, with stops in New York City and Atlantic City. It's amazing this all occured in one day.