Dad and Mom got me up and we got in the car. I can't say that I'm
very pleased with this getting up early thing. They would wake me up
at 8:00 and we would be out the door by 8:30. I prefer a 10:15 wake
up call thank you very much. We left the hotel, and I fell asleep in
the back of the car. A sharp turn and a bump to the head woke me up.
Out the window, a saw a few abandoned, old buildings. Come to find
out, we were at the old 1939 world's fair. There were some buildings
scattered around, most tried, and failed to look futuristic. Dad was
pointing out things and saying "the one from Men in Black"
because, apparently, I can only understand things when they have a
reference to popular culture from 2 years ago. They had a giant
golden globe, a few statues and fountains, and the towers from Men in
Black. Where did I put those Raybans? One of the large fountains with
a statue that was probably named "reach for the stars" had
been drained and now rather looked where people would go so that
their drug deal wouldn't be seen. The world's fair had introduced the
idea of freeway's, and now, a freeway ran straight through the area
where it had been. Kind of funny if you think about it for awhile.
Although there were some people jogging, the place still had an
abandoned feel to it. We left, I for one gloomier than when I had
first got there. I fell asleep again and was nudged when we reached
Brighton Beach.
We
drove around a cute Russian neighborhood with a train running right
above it. We found it to be rather cute because most of the signs
were in Russian along with English. My favorites were the neon signs
that said stuff like "pizza" or "coffee".
Unfortunately, we couldn't find any graffiti that was in Russian,
which is our most favourite hobby. Drat. We took some pictures, but
this roll would be destroyed by the film people at our local Target.
Our next stop was Coney Island. Since it was out of season, the
amusement park was closed, and there weren't very many people around.
There was still some joggers running along the boardwalk and also a
few elderly folks sitting on benches. Since it was out of season, Mom
couldn't find any bathrooms, and the only place that was open was a
"hotdog and cold beer" grill. The only things that I could
see by way of rides were those that would suit a 4-year old like over
100 variations of "plane" , the ride were 4 people sit in
planes and go around and around very slowly. To the right of the
amusement park an old, rickety, decaying rollercoaster stood, next to
a tall "Parachute ride" which was a precursor to bungie
cording. It's red paint was falling off, and it started to look more
orange because of rust. We walked on the boardwalk and ate at the
Nathan's that was pictured in every other Nathan's in the world. Mom
and Dad had chicken and two dogs while I had a chili-cheese dog. It
was pretty good. We changed the roll of film, took a few pictures,
and left. Our next stop was Greenwood Cemetery (We visit a lot of
those) where we basically drove around and took some pictures, mainly
of the most extravagant graves. The more spectacular ones had things
like more than life size statues and life-size (I think anyways)
angels mourning whoever's death. Now that I think about it, what we
do sounds kind of goulish.
Our
next target was our hotel, a few blocks off Times Square. On our
way, we passed by Washington's Arch, and Chinatown. Chinatown was
crowded, with people covering the sidewalks and filling the shops.
The traffic was one big jam all day long. After our rest at the
Courtyard, our hotel, our plan would be for Dad to drop me and Mom
off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art while he took the car back to
the rental agency. After a short nap, we all got back in the car, and
drove to the Met. Mom and I bought our new button-things and checked
our coats while Dad took off for the airport. Two and somewhat or
another hours, 482 paintings, two blisters and 136 whines later, Dad
showed up back at the museum. We had already seen almost all the
paintings we wanted to, including Washington Crossing, the painting
of the crossing of the Delaware. I had expected it to be normal size,
but it actually covered an entire wall! The one on our desktop seems
so meaningless now. Mom really liked the painting across from
Washington Crossing. It had Washington and Lafayette, leaning on a
table and talking while women and children played in the background.
Dad was actually somewhat early, because the taxi driver had known a
shortcut and it actually cut out some time in the trip. We made
another quick round of paintings for Dad as he marveled at them much
more than Mom or I. Although, I was excited to show him some of my
favorite Renoirs, like the two different styles of the same arch.
Whenever we come to museums like these, dad always is saddened
because most of the exhibits were plundered from their rightful places.
I agree with him. Dad wasn't finished when the museum people started
rounding us up in the main lobby saying things like "the museum
is now closing, so get your asses out of here so we can leave"
while shooting their guns in the air. Dad slowly proceeded, with a
trio of museum personnel with glowing eyes and foaming mouths shooing
us out all the way. When dad tried to sit down on a round seating
area while Mom got our coats, a museum person stopped him and said
that they had cleaned the couch and he couldn't sit there. An older
lady sat down on the seat and was also confronted by the person. The
older woman countered that she just had to restrap her shoes, and the
museum person slowly gave in. As the old lady sat down, 7 more people
came with her and the person gave up. When mom came back and sat
down, the person barley managed to bite her tongue. We took a few
more pictures, and exited the building.
We walked a few blocks looking for food, for we were all
hungry. Once we did see a restaurant, Mom would scurry over (heh) and
would then tell us that it was to expensive. After a while, we
finally came upon a place that was open and didn't charge $4.50 for a
non-refillable coke. We had some mediocre sandwiches and soup (and a
refillable coke) and walked away satisfied enough. We caught a cab
easily enough, and got a one-way ride back to the hotel. We all
shuffled to bed and went to sleep easily enough. In a couch bed. At
least I was in a couch bed. Couch bed.
Copyright, 2000, All rights reserved
Written entirely by: Jesse
Original Web Upload April 2000
Last Update: July 12, 2001
Dad and Mom got me up and we got in the car. I can't say that I'm
very pleased with this getting up early thing. They would wake me up
at 8:00 and we would be out the door by 8:30. I prefer a 10:15 wake
up call thank you very much. We left the hotel, and I fell asleep in
the back of the car. A sharp turn and a bump to the head woke me up.
Out the window, a saw a few abandoned, old buildings. Come to find
out, we were at the old 1939 world's fair. There were some buildings
scattered around, most tried, and failed to look futuristic. Dad was
pointing out things and saying "the one from Men in Black"
because, apparently, I can only understand things when they have a
reference to popular culture from 2 years ago. They had a giant
golden globe, a few statues and fountains, and the towers from Men in
Black. Where did I put those Raybans? One of the large fountains with
a statue that was probably named "reach for the stars" had
been drained and now rather looked where people would go so that
their drug deal wouldn't be seen. The world's fair had introduced the
idea of freeway's, and now, a freeway ran straight through the area
where it had been. Kind of funny if you think about it for awhile.
Although there were some people jogging, the place still had an
abandoned feel to it. We left, I for one gloomier than when I had
first got there. I fell asleep again and was nudged when we reached
Brighton Beach.
We
drove around a cute Russian neighborhood with a train running right
above it. We found it to be rather cute because most of the signs
were in Russian along with English. My favorites were the neon signs
that said stuff like "pizza" or "coffee".
Unfortunately, we couldn't find any graffiti that was in Russian,
which is our most favourite hobby. Drat. We took some pictures, but
this roll would be destroyed by the film people at our local Target.
Our next stop was Coney Island. Since it was out of season, the
amusement park was closed, and there weren't very many people around.
There was still some joggers running along the boardwalk and also a
few elderly folks sitting on benches. Since it was out of season, Mom
couldn't find any bathrooms, and the only place that was open was a
"hotdog and cold beer" grill. The only things that I could
see by way of rides were those that would suit a 4-year old like over
100 variations of "plane" , the ride were 4 people sit in
planes and go around and around very slowly. To the right of the
amusement park an old, rickety, decaying rollercoaster stood, next to
a tall "Parachute ride" which was a precursor to bungie
cording. It's red paint was falling off, and it started to look more
orange because of rust. We walked on the boardwalk and ate at the
Nathan's that was pictured in every other Nathan's in the world. Mom
and Dad had chicken and two dogs while I had a chili-cheese dog. It
was pretty good. We changed the roll of film, took a few pictures,
and left. Our next stop was Greenwood Cemetery (We visit a lot of
those) where we basically drove around and took some pictures, mainly
of the most extravagant graves. The more spectacular ones had things
like more than life size statues and life-size (I think anyways)
angels mourning whoever's death. Now that I think about it, what we
do sounds kind of goulish.
Our
next target was our hotel, a few blocks off Times Square. On our
way, we passed by Washington's Arch, and Chinatown. Chinatown was
crowded, with people covering the sidewalks and filling the shops.
The traffic was one big jam all day long. After our rest at the
Courtyard, our hotel, our plan would be for Dad to drop me and Mom
off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art while he took the car back to
the rental agency. After a short nap, we all got back in the car, and
drove to the Met. Mom and I bought our new button-things and checked
our coats while Dad took off for the airport. Two and somewhat or
another hours, 482 paintings, two blisters and 136 whines later, Dad
showed up back at the museum. We had already seen almost all the
paintings we wanted to, including Washington Crossing, the painting
of the crossing of the Delaware. I had expected it to be normal size,
but it actually covered an entire wall! The one on our desktop seems
so meaningless now. Mom really liked the painting across from
Washington Crossing. It had Washington and Lafayette, leaning on a
table and talking while women and children played in the background.
Dad was actually somewhat early, because the taxi driver had known a
shortcut and it actually cut out some time in the trip. We made
another quick round of paintings for Dad as he marveled at them much
more than Mom or I. Although, I was excited to show him some of my
favorite Renoirs, like the two different styles of the same arch.
Whenever we come to museums like these, dad always is saddened
because most of the exhibits were plundered from their rightful places.
I agree with him. Dad wasn't finished when the museum people started
rounding us up in the main lobby saying things like "the museum
is now closing, so get your asses out of here so we can leave"
while shooting their guns in the air. Dad slowly proceeded, with a
trio of museum personnel with glowing eyes and foaming mouths shooing
us out all the way. When dad tried to sit down on a round seating
area while Mom got our coats, a museum person stopped him and said
that they had cleaned the couch and he couldn't sit there. An older
lady sat down on the seat and was also confronted by the person. The
older woman countered that she just had to restrap her shoes, and the
museum person slowly gave in. As the old lady sat down, 7 more people
came with her and the person gave up. When mom came back and sat
down, the person barley managed to bite her tongue. We took a few
more pictures, and exited the building.