This past weekend I took a trip to New York City to do a little sight seeing and participate in the Stephen Sillers Tunnel to Towers Run. I had participated in this run in 2008 and 2009. I registered for the run again in 2010 and 2011, but did not make it to New York those years. So I was happy to get back to New York for the event this year.
In 2008 I flew in to New York and stayed at a hotel in Manhattan. While convenient, it was a tad bit more expensive to pay for a plane ticket, plus pay for the cost of a hotel room in Manhattan. The following year I drove with some friends and stayed in Seacaucus, NJ. A much less expensive alternative. We were able to stay at a hotel that was just as nice, but not as expensive, and the NJ Transit system has a bus that picks up right across the street from the hotel and will take you in to the city for less than $4.00 each way.
I drove out early Friday morning, taking I-70 most of the way. It seemed like most of I-70 in the state of Pennsylvania was under construction, but the drive wasn't too bad and the construction didn't slow traffic down too badly. The scenery was much better on I-80 coming back though, with a lot more trees and driving through some "mountains" at this time of year was much more colorful.
I got to the hotel, grabbed some lunch down the street at Chili's, then took a nap.
On Saturday I took my trip in to the City to pick up my stuff for the race and take in a little sight seeing. After getting off the bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan, I walked in to Times Square and took in some of the sights there.
After picking up my race packet I walked through Battery Park and made my way back to the South Ferry area, where I caught the subway back to midtown. I took in the sights around Times Square. All of 6th Ave. was closed down for a street fair, so I walked that area, checking out all the vendors. Most of the vendors were selling the same thing on every block, but occasionally I'd find something a little different.
I also went to the "Top of the Rock", the upper levels of Rockefeller Center. This time I actually found that there are three observation levels at the top...I had only taken advantage of two levels last time I was there. I was able to get some good pictures of New York from the Top of the Rock.
In 2008 I flew in to New York and stayed at a hotel in Manhattan. While convenient, it was a tad bit more expensive to pay for a plane ticket, plus pay for the cost of a hotel room in Manhattan. The following year I drove with some friends and stayed in Seacaucus, NJ. A much less expensive alternative. We were able to stay at a hotel that was just as nice, but not as expensive, and the NJ Transit system has a bus that picks up right across the street from the hotel and will take you in to the city for less than $4.00 each way.
I drove out early Friday morning, taking I-70 most of the way. It seemed like most of I-70 in the state of Pennsylvania was under construction, but the drive wasn't too bad and the construction didn't slow traffic down too badly. The scenery was much better on I-80 coming back though, with a lot more trees and driving through some "mountains" at this time of year was much more colorful.
I got to the hotel, grabbed some lunch down the street at Chili's, then took a nap.
On Saturday I took my trip in to the City to pick up my stuff for the race and take in a little sight seeing. After getting off the bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan, I walked in to Times Square and took in some of the sights there.
Then I jumped on the subway and headed south to the lower end in order to pick up my race stuff. While I was there I was able to get a good view of the Freedom Towers, the towers being built to replace the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Last time I was in New York the scaffolding at just cleared ground level; now they are nearly finished.
After picking up my race packet I walked through Battery Park and made my way back to the South Ferry area, where I caught the subway back to midtown. I took in the sights around Times Square. All of 6th Ave. was closed down for a street fair, so I walked that area, checking out all the vendors. Most of the vendors were selling the same thing on every block, but occasionally I'd find something a little different.
I also went to the "Top of the Rock", the upper levels of Rockefeller Center. This time I actually found that there are three observation levels at the top...I had only taken advantage of two levels last time I was there. I was able to get some good pictures of New York from the Top of the Rock.
After checking out the street fair and going to the Top of the Rock, I took the studio tour of NBC Studios. Since NBC studios are copyrighted, they do not allow any photos on the tour. So this was the best I could do there.
It was a neat tour though. I was able to see the studio where Brian Williams broadcasts the news, as well as the studios for Rock Center and Saturday Night Live. I knew getting in to see Saturday Night Live was difficult, but found out just how difficult. They hold a ticket lottery once a year in August for tickets to the show...that's it. If you don't get them then, which is extremely unlikely, then the chance of getting in to see the show live is even more remote. You can get in line to get standby tickets. The week prior to my trip people started camping outside the studio on Tuesday evening hoping to get tickets to the show Saturday. After finding out just how small the studio is and how little you can actually see if you're in the studio, I'll watch the show from home.
On Sunday I headed in to the run. For those of you who have not heard the story...here's a brief history of the Tunnel to Towers Run. On Sept. 11, 2001, FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller was off duty, on his way to meet his brothers for a round of golf, when he heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center. Siller went to his firehouse, grabbed his gear and headed towards Manhattan.
He was unable to enter the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, so he parked his truck on the roadway, grabbed his 75 pounds of fire gear and ran through the tunnel. He was last seen alive in the area of Liberty and West streets. Siller died in the collapse of the towers, leaving behind a wife and five children. The Siller family started the Tunnel to Towers run the following year and have teamed up with several different charities to raise funds for children who lose parents in tragedies such as 9/11, injured and fallen soldiers and more. The run re-traces the footsteps of firefighter Siller, starting in Brooklyn and running through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel. As you come out of the tunnel on the Manhattan side the streets are lines with West Point Cadets holding American Flags as well as FDNY firefighters holding banners for each of the 343 firemen killed that day.
This year there were over 30,000 runners participating in the run.
After running through the tunnel the runners and walkers head run through the Battery Park Esplanade along the Hudson River. A boat from the FDNY sits in the Hudson with its water cannons going as the runners go through the area.
The past two times I've participated in the run it has been cloudy and rainy. As you can see from the pictures, it was a beautiful day for the run this year. Because the tunnel is very humid, it felt great coming out the Manhattan side in to the nice cool autumn air on such a beautiful, sunny day.
I made my way home on Monday and am back to work on Tuesday. I was thinking about trying to take a comp day today, but after looking at the schedule, I didn't want to take a comp day and cause one of my co-workers to miss out on time he has said he so dearly needs in order to work on some issues he has to deal with. He was given time on Tuesday to work on those issues, but would have had to cover radio instead if I took the day off. So I came in to work....and HE comp'ed off.
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