Thankfully, we are home safely from our trip to New York City for the Christmas holiday. We had a great time, and did everything we set out to do despite the blizzard. We are from a cold-weather locale so it wasn’t too much fuss getting to our destinations as we trudged through the snow.
I’m sure you’ve been watching the news about the blizzard that crippled the transit system and completely overwhelmed emergency responders. The roadways were unpassable. We were very fortunate to be staying at our family’s Manhattan apartment where there was plenty of food and warmth. When we woke up Monday morning and looked outside, we knew our quickest mode of travel was walking.
From the New York Daily News, 12/28/10.
"Now, Melt! "
"Mother Nature flakes out"
"Snow time means fun time"
"Blizzard stops city cold"
From the New York Post – “Keeping Count”:
Holiday Blizzard December 26-27, 2010 19.8 inches of snow
(tied for #6 with a snowstorm that struck on Feb 16-17, 2003
• $20M: Cost of snow removal at $1 million an inch
• 1,400: 911 calls that had not been responded to at one point
• 1,700: city plows on the street
• 365: salt spreaders on the job
• 1,029: City buses stuck around the five boroughs (out of a fleet of 4,500)
• 5: City parks offering free sledding and hot chocolate
More from the New York Daily News:
"It wasn’t all doom and gloom: New Yorkers awoke to sparkling white drifts blotting out the usual grime, and a rare soothing silence with no cars honking – and not even planes roaring overhead."
On the streets, a small-town atmosphere took hold as strangers struggling through waist high drifts greeted one another with “Good luck!” and “Crazy, huh?”
Cars were entirely encased in snow. It looked like the city of drifts.
Our family from California was due to fly out yesterday but their flight was cancelled. They have been on the phone with the airline for over 5 hours, and the earliest flight they can get might be December 30. What a way to end the year!
Taxi cabs were a myth. We were trying to hail a cab at 5:00 a.m. today to get to Penn Station, and they wouldn't even stop. We had a lot of luggage, and had no choice but to take the subway. It certainly was a challenge to deal with all the stairs in the subway, but we are healthy and are now safely at home.
Our family from California was due to fly out yesterday but their flight was cancelled. They have been on the phone with the airline for over 5 hours, and the earliest flight they can get might be December 30. What a way to end the year!
One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to Saint Patrick's Cathedral which is located on 5th Ave. The near-life size nativity scene is amazing, carved in solid wood in Italy and weighing, collectively, many hundreds of pounds.
Another highlight is always the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, located at Rockefeller Plaza, between West 48th and West 51st Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues.
Thank you for stopping by!
Debbie
You had some adventure! I can't imagine schlepping those suitcases in the snow and subway! Glad you got to Penn safely! Larry has been trying for two days :)
ReplyDeleteSo did you get any new dishes?
Thanks for sharing the adventure of our stay in the blizzard. Since we are in the snow removal business, J was amazed at the cost of snow removal you quoted - Wow! I am glad you had a warm family home to stay in and the hiking endurance to go out and walk in the drifts.
ReplyDeleteYou said you had to haul suitcases down to the subway - what about shopping packages? :)
Thats a lot of snow! So glad you made it home. Lugging bags through the subway is not fun - I've done it in a foreign country and still am traumatized lol.
ReplyDeleteCarol, the bowls at Anthropologie were cute so I picked up a couple. I checked out the owl cookie jar, and it is adorable but I did NOT want to carry it home :-)
ReplyDeleteMarsha, those suitcases we were hauling were full of shopping packages! And Joe stocked up at Trader Joe's so that took up at least 1/3 of one suitcase. I'm thankful that I had strong men with me!
Suzy, you are right. Not fun at all, and I hope to never have to do it again.
Oh my gosh, those are amazing shots, Debbie. I can't believe you did the subway with luggage! To think that the California relatives may not be able to get home until tomorrow, if they're lucky! I'm sure you did feel good to be home!
ReplyDeleteIt was terrible how people died waiting for an ambulance. And the poor people trying to get to dialysis, awful.
ReplyDeleteIt was a treacherous drive home and we only had 90 miles to go.
Glad you arrived in one piece.