The Man Who Never Returned

With the entire world closed, it looks like it may be awhile before I can do any traveling. With that in mind, I’m re-posting from my original blog. I created the blog to keep family informed while I took my mom on a cruise to Greece.

Day 3:

"Did he ever return, No he never returned And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Bos, er, ah, New York City
He's the man who never returned."

Ah yes, it seemed so simple a task, take a shuttle, get on the subway and head into the city to find B and H photo on the corner of 9th and 34th. I mean how hard could it be for a seasoned traveler of NYC to get from one place and back. The streets are a simple grid. The subway is everywhere. Easy. Think again ol faithful reader, think again.

Mom was up before me today at about 6:30 a.m. We had a light breakfast, and after some thought, she stayed behind and I went to find B&H to pick up a charger for the camera. Little did I know, but as a direct result of the Dodgers failing to stay in the playoffs, today was the “ticker tape” parade for the hated NY Yankeese. Every Deter lover for a hundred miles was headed to lower Manhattan this morning. Actually, since they had won, they were in a quite jovial mood, many almost seemed pleasant.

Before we could get to my mid-town stop, the train ended up stuck for awhile, about four stops prior to my departure point. I decided to jump off and walk the rest of the way. Now, mid-town is really not too bad, but today seemed to have a disproportionate number of homeless wandering around looking for handouts. And the crowds were not as friendly as the subways goers, even so, I found my way to B&H.

If you have any interest in photography or videography, B&H is Mecca. The store is huge, you don’t carry your purchases, they put them in carriers and send them whizzing through the store on overhead conveyor belts. So as you walk around there is a constant whirling noise as products head to the cashier stations. When your done shopping you go to a counter with your purchase receipts, and while your paying, a clerk gathers everything up. Got what I needed and started to head back.

This is where it got a little weird. I decided to just walk up-town and catch the subway back to Jamaica NY at about 50th street. When I got to 50th, I could not find an entrance. Finally I found a red line entrance near Radio City and just figured I would ride to the connection point and transfer to the Blue E line. When I looked at the map, it showed the connection point just three streets up, so I walked. Took me twice around the block before I found the entrance. I got a little confused but finally got to the end of the subway ride. Still several miles from my hotel, I hailed a cab. Most of the time, NY cabbies are attempting to set a land speed record for the 1/8 mile. This guy had no idea where he was going and came to a complete stop at several points on the highway asking me if he should veer right or left. Like I would know. He kept hitting the breaks and almost stopping in the middle of the street. I finally managed to guide him to the hotel, which is where I now find myself.

We plan on checking out at about 3 p.m. and heading over to the airport to catch the over-night flight to Venice. Hopefully I can sleep on the plane.