DaveCon 2005
Helen's Huge Honkin' Trip Report, Part III
Tuesday May 17
For some reason my hotel did not have the continental breakfast on Tuesday. No idea what was up with that. At any rate, I found a deli nearby and got essentially the same breakfast for the half the price. Around 10:30 a.m., Traci and I met up for our Tuesday Tourist Tour. On past DaveCon trips I have been to museums and things of that nature, but I'd never done the traditional touristy stuff, and it was high time that I did.
We started off with a double-decker bus tour, sitting on the upper deck of course. We took the Downtown Loop. It's a hop-on-hop-off deal. The ticket is good for 48 hours; you can get off at any of the stops, and get back on a different bus whenever you want. We ended up riding one bus from Broadway and 48th all the way down to Battery City Park. Our tour guide, Ronny, was a riot. In addition to pointing out the various sites and giving us historical details and trivia (e.g., the Empire State Building has 1000 toilets), he gave us lots of advice. He instructed us on how to barter with the vendors in Chinatown, told us where to go for entertainment instead of blowing a lot of money on pricey nightclubs, and warned us away from the mid-day lines at the Empire State Building. Ronny is here to help. He wants us to be travellers, not tourists.
At Battery City Park we left Ronny and took the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty. The timed admittance tickets that let you go into the base of the statue were all sold out for the day, but it was nice to see the statue close up. After an obligatory stop at the gift shop, we took the ferry over to Ellis Island. I know this sounds like a cliche, but the place really is steeped in history. It was amazing, and horrifying, to see what people had to go through to get here. After using up all their assets to travel across the ocean in cramped quarters, with insufficient food, etc., they arrived on Ellis Island to be interrogated and examined. They had to go through medical tests, literacy tests, and tests of mental acuity. Doctors sometimes had as little as six seconds to examine a patient and determine if s/he was healthy or to be rejected and sent back on the ship. Immigrants who were hungry, tired, perhaps ill--and who didn't speak any English--were forced to solve timed puzzles to prove they were mentally fit. Fail the test, tough luck, you'll get sent back to where you came from.
After Ellis Island, we returned to Manhattan to find ourselves trapped in the financial district at rush hour, unable to get a cab to save our lives. We walked quite a ways, looking for a subway stop (no luck), and after a good 20 - 30 minutes we finally got a cab to take us to Bubby's, one of Carl and Traci's favorite eateries, where Carl would be joining us for a bite to eat. By then we were running desperately late, but I managed to suck down a plate of what was billed on the menu as New York's Best Macaroni and Cheese in record time. I ate so fast I gave myself the hiccups, but I must say, the mac and cheese was superb.
From there Traci and I cabbed up to a pier at, I think, 42nd St and 12th Ave, to take a two-hour Harbor Lights Cruise with Traci's friend Dan. The cruise goes from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., so you get to see the city at twilight. The boat takes you down the Hudson, around the southern tip of Manhattan, up the East River (which, the guide explained, is technically a strait, not a river) to around 30th or 35th St., then turns around and goes back to the starting point. Lovely!
After the cruise, we took a quick pitstop at Dan's hotel room, then set off (without Dan) for the Empire State Building. Ronny certainly steered us right in avoiding the mid-day crowds. Going up at 10 at night there were no lines, and the nighttime view from 86 floors up was spectacular. My camera isn't great in low light, but I got a couple of OK pictures from the observatory, and Traci got several good ones. After the gift shop (well, we had to), we took the elevator back down. The descent was so rapid that it made our ears pop; we clocked it at one flight per second.
After the Empire State Building, Traci and I met up with Carl and Dan at the Stage Deli for a bite to eat. (I got a fantastic dessert involving brownies, ice cream, whipped cream, and crushed Oreos that was so rich I was not able to finish it.) Not wanting to say good-bye and go our separate ways, we stayed until they were practically ready to throw us out. Finally, though, it was time to go.
I left the next morning, and had an uneventful trip back, marred only by the Obnoxious Cell Phone Woman. In the terminal at Laguardia waiting for the Delta Shuttle to Boston, I had to listen to Cell Phone Woman make call after call, dropping names like Geena Davis, Teri Hatcher, and Felicity Huffman to make sure everyone within earshot knew how important she was. I gathered that Cell Phone Woman had been in New York for the Upfronts, where the networks unveil their fall schedules, and that she had something to do with arranging transportation and so forth for the Famous Celebrities. She talked on the cell phone until the airplane doors closed, and resumed immediately upon landing in Boston, dropping more names. Much to my relief, Obnoxious Cell Phone Woman did not continue on to Burlington. Yeesh.
And so concludes another DaveCon. I had an absolutely fabulous time. I know we say it every year, but I swear this was the Best DaveCon Ever. Thanks so much Traci for all your hard work organizing it, and Renee for once again coming through with the Late Show tickets. Thanks Tony Mendez, Jay Johnson, Walter Kim, Heather the CBS page, David Kay, Rupert, and all the other members of the Late Show family for your kindness and hospitality. And thanks to Mr. David Letterman for putting the Dave in DaveCon. (I know, I know. Dave's not here, man.)
See you next year!
Helen Read