Since we'd parked at a pullout overnight, as soon as we lifted the curtain inside we were immediately greeted by...peak hour traffic! Cars, vans, and trucks were in a long procession, with some folks occasionally driving along the shoulder to attempt to cut through (which we felt before we saw in the morning).
But...we were close enough now to visit The Hamptons, the famous string of seaside communities for the rich and famous along on eastern Long Island's South Fork. For the ultra wealthy, we probably wouldn't get anywhere near their front doors (let alone getting even as much as a peek), but we figured we'd try to get as much of a glimpse as we could from the road.
We drove towards Cooper's Beach in Southampton, which is apparently consistently named as one of America’s Top Ten Beaches, with its white sandy shores with the backdrop of nature and historic mansions. Along the way, we definitely saw a lot of swanky-looking estates on huge acreage. Some had hedges so thick at the front that it was impossible to see the homes behind them, or had thick and tall iron gates that only showed the long, winding driveway leading up to the mansion. Many of the homes that we could actually spy had classical architectural styles such as Greek Revival, with a triangular pediment and prominent columns, but there were a few homes that were more modern in design. Interestingly, some of the homes looked completely empty, devoid of any furniture of furnishings inside. While we know that a lot of uber-affluent folks have multiple homes and the mansion in The Hamptons is just one of many...could it be that there's a lot of vacancies at the moment, and these places are for sale?
We had a brief stop at Cooper's Beach, which was indeed lovely, and had a spigot for us to fill up on Sheila's drinking water tub. Fortunately, it's the shoulder season, so the beach was pretty empty and didn't require us to pay to park in the lot, and there were only a sprinkling of folks including one man who looked like he was off to go fishing.
Since we had a long drive back towards Manhattan, we started heading back, only stopping briefly at Yaphank Garage, a restored Shell gas station from 1937 that features vintage signage, original gas pumps, and a tow truck—a nostalgic piece of 1930s Americana. While the petrol station is no longer functional, we could peek through the windows and see classic police cars inside.
The Home of the US Open
And now back to seeing how we'd go getting into the hubbub of New York City! Before Manhattan, we checked out Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, known for hosting the annual US Open tennis tournament. Situated in the borough of Queens, it was already going to be a challenge for our RV to get to Flushing Meadows, avoiding parkways, zigzagging through bustling streets and highways, and navigating to where we could possibly park our monster of a vehicle in the city. We used the truck driver's GPS app again to get here, but while it does a good job of avoiding parkways (providing different route instructions to Google Maps, which we also had running to compare), it wasn't as accurate when it came to the actual location of a place--instead of arriving smack in the middle of Flushing Meadows, we ended up being directed to the Asian shopping area, filled with restaurants and grocery stores!
We ended up anxiously trying to reroute in real-time, figuring we could park at the Home Depot nearby and make our way to Flushing Meadows on foot. Usually driving to a big box store like Home Depot would be a piece of cake, as the parking lots are wide and generously sized. Not the one in Queens! It was teeming with people, and while we did find a spot, we worried that we'd end up being sandwiched and would struggle to get out, especially if someone moved the stray wheelbarrow trolley in the spot next to us, or get a ticket for not actually being customers (so we went into the store for a bit to pretend that we were browsing, since there were cameras everywhere).
Afterwards we raced to Flushing Meadows, seeing the courts where tennis stars would warm up before their games during the US Open, as well as the stadiums and ticketing area. Lisette doesn't watch much (any?) sport (unless you include some of the summer Olympic games, does every 4 years count?), but it would be cool to see a tennis match at the US Open!
As we headed back to the Home Depot, we noticed a bunch of cars and at least one RV and food truck parked under a bridge near the store--sure, they were packed in like sardines, but it seemed like parking here was free (we couldn't see any signs to the contrary). Lisette wondered if we should just hang around and wait to see if spots become available, and commute into Manhattan? But Michael noted that it was still a far trek by subway to the city, and it'd be worth the stressful drive to Manhattan to check out the one potentially free spot we could park, near Grant's Tomb (the General Grant National Memorial) in the Upper West Side. Lisette was anxious because parking in Manhattan isn't easy under normal circumstances, but in an RV?!
Man, We're Driving to Manhattan?!
But we got back in the RV, and headed towards the Upper West Side. At one point as we drove along, the road opened up ahead of us, and we saw the skyscrapers of Manhattan in the distance. It was a definite "WOW" moment--this is the concrete jungle we're heading towards! Then the reality of driving in one of the most densely packed cities in the world kicked in, as we zigzagged through traffic on the Queensboro Bridge that connects the borough of Queens with the East Midtown and Upper East Side neighborhoods in Manhattan.
Then we got to midtown. In the afternoon. Oh my goodness. There were people EVERYWHERE. Sitting in their cars. Riding bicycles. Walking or crossing the roads. Even driving buses and trucks (we have such a huge amount of respect now for big vehicle drivers in cities). Michael mentioned that Sheila was completely oblivious to what was happening as she lay between us, so Lisette picked her up so she could peer out the window. She was a reluctant participant at first since she had to share the seat with Lisette and took a while to get comfortable, but she eventually found a good position and curiously gazed out the window, sniffing occasionally at the myriad of scents from outside, while people outside also occasionally noticed her and just as curiously gaped at us. We must have looked quite the sight, the only RV we could see in Manhattan, navigating the packed midtown streets!
We passed Columbia University, right near General Grant's Tomb...and perhaps unsurprisingly, there were no spots available for our massive RV at this time. There were campers and buses parked in the area though, so it wasn't impossible... but what should we do in the meantime? We circled around the block a few times, hoping for a spot to open up big enough for us, but we started stressing that we'd need to move to our backup plan, which was to check in to a very expensive RV park. There aren't any in Manhattan, so we'd either have to drive back east to Brooklyn (and then take the subway in), or west towards New Jersey, (then catch the ferry into the city).
But then...Michael's eagle eyes found a spot ahead of us that was suddenly vacant--and we fit into! The parking gods were clearly smiling down on us today. And we forgot to mention up until this point, that today was also Lisette's birthday! This parking spot was definitely a present worth a celebration--and it was free!! From Monday to Thursday inclusive vehicles on the side we parked needed to clear out between 11-12.30pm for street cleaning, but otherwise that's all we needed to be mindful of. How incredible is that??! While we were over the moon, as Lisette was guiding Michael into the spot we did notice that our black water tank leaked a bit, and yes, some pee went onto the road. Uh-oh, are our pipes okay? Or is our tank just full? We decided to use the toilet as little as possible while we were in Manhattan, as we won't be able to look at it in detail until after we leave (spoiler: everything turned out to be ok when we next emptied our tank, no issues spoted).
An Evening in Manhattan
After taking some time in the RV to destress (the drive and parking in Manhattan was the most epic of drives, and Michael should now be an honorary truck driver), we decided to hop on one e-bike and head back midtown. Lisette had been wanting to do a dance class in either Brooklyn or Manhattan (so many more options in NYC for studios) for her birthday, so we headed to Ailey American Dance Theater so that Lisette could take an Afro'Dance class that evening.
We cycled down part of Central Park, which was beautiful during dusk, with lots of people jogging or cycling, and tourists on the horse carriage rides that have been operating in the park for decades. It was so cool to be on our e-bike and see the towering skyscrapers through the trees around us, and even stop briefly at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir to see the buildings reflected in the water across from where we stood in the park.
Lisette arrived to her class ahead of time, and had an awesome time focusing on various Afrobeats moves with her teacher, Judith. Even though the class was only an hour, there were some moves that exercised muscles that Lisette hasn't activated for a while, so she'll be sore in parts of her legs tomorrow! Lisette always seems to say this after each dance lesson she's taken while on the road, but if she lived in NYC she'd apparently be a regular for this class!
While Lisette was at class, Michael explored more of midtown, heading to the Theater District, and seeing famous spots including Radio City, and of course, Times Square. While Lisette has been to NYC countless times over the years (particularly for work), Michael hasn't been since December 2011, so it was good to revisit some of these very well-trodden spots! It seemed that Times Square was illuminated even more brightly since his last visit, perhaps as technology advancements have meant the lights can shine even more vividly now than ever before.
Fortunately Ailey Studios had showers (which it seems like hardly anyone uses!), so Lisette got to freshen up and save our water tank, and after a bit of indecisiveness of what kind of Asian cuisine to have for dinner, we ended up at Thonglor, a Thai restaurant in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, which was buzzing with folks eating at the many eateries in the area (note: Hell's Kitchen seems like it is a great spot if you're craving Thai food, there were several Thai restaurants we saw within a mere 1-2 block span). We've not had Thai food for a while, and NYC wasn't going to disappoint! Michael had his usual pad kra pao (basil chicken stir-fry), and Lisette had her standard pad ma kuer (stir-fried eggplant with basil and tofu). Both authentic and delicious!
With full bellies, we cycled back to Grant's Tomb, riding mostly along the Hudson River Greenway, which was quiet but very dark, with not many bright lights (no cars, but some cyclists and joggers still at this time of night). We were close to the RV, when suddenly Michael hit a bump on the road, and Lisette, not expecting this sudden jolt, wobbled with the e-bike and lost her balance, coming crashing down onto the road! She fell sideways, with her shoulder, hand, and wrist making impact on the road, while her helmet, also scraped the ground. Michael immediately jumped off the e-bike, asking in a panicky voice if Lisette (he almost called her Sheila--"She" came out), was okay. Now, Lisette always wears her helmet and had just had a go at Michael for never wearing one, and had just mentioned that she thought he was crazy for not putting it on in NYC, out of all places! So after the initial silence and shock wore off, the first thing Lisette said was, "At least I'm wearing my helmet!" We both started laughing. Lisette had grazes on her hand and her wrist was a bit sore from the jolt, but it was nothing serious (spoiler alert: thanks to the chillier temperatures, Lisette's hand was pretty much back to 100% a couple of days later, and the scrape scabs all came off a few days after that).
We got back to the RV which looked the same as we'd left it, and we'd noticed that a few more RVs and campers had joined us along the road to park overnight. Since we were parked on the side of the road, we can't say it was the best sleep (actually, it was pretty disruptive, with the occasional siren, vehicles driving past including big ones that would reverberate our RV, people walking and talking past us, and even a train horn?! Where is the train?!). But--we have a free parking spot in Manhattan! Certainly a memorable feat.