Travel Diary

I had traveled there the previous year for a Labor Day party and was doing the same thing again in 2023. Only this time I'd have more knowledge of how to get there and perhaps what to do.

It started with the normal Uber versus Lyft challenge, where I had to find which method was the cheaper way to get to the airport. It was about 4:30am, so taking the train was out of the question, and since I was staying for several days, I couldn't park at the parking garage because it would be too expensive.

This would be a very early morning flight since it was 7am, and I had to get to the airport at quite an early hour, which also meant waking up at a crazy hour period.

But the flight was upgraded to first class, so it made for a nice trip across the States with an enjoyable sunrise. I got served the breakfast meal, which was some beans and sausage and yogurt and a croissant. It wasn’t too bad. I kept the yogurt for later, although I don't think I ever ate it. I just never have much hunger on flights.

This time I was flying into Newark Airport, which meant having to take the trains over to Penn Station. It’s a lot of lost time, though saves quite a bit of money. Once in New York, I walked to Grand Central Station, so it was about 40 minutes of getting to see the city and some of the tall buildings. The weather was perfect for such an adventure.

At Grand Central, I took the normal photos of the main concourse and the clock, and eventually found my train with time to spare. It was a nice journey up the Hudson River. I took photos along the way, except the somewhat dirty windows prevented me from getting any great shots. Plus, we were moving pretty fast.

Somehow I missed the view of Sing Sing on the way there. And come to think of it on the way back as well. A pity as it’s a cool site, though I did see West Point and Bannerman Castle.

In Beacon, I arrived just in time for a really nice sunset and I stayed there for a while just to take pictures and watch the sun dip into the horizon. Again, perfect weather and a park had a nice bench facing the waters. I even did a time-lapse photo there.

After the sun had set. I took Uber across the Hudson into a city where a house party was going on. Thought not at first. There were two streets at the same address and that sounded similar, so I spent several minutes outside the wrong house where a lady finally came out and asked if she could help me, and I told her what I was doing and she said I was on the wrong street. I then had to walk over to the correct street.

The house party was your quintessential New York party. Still great weather, so people were outside. Everyone was talking and eating cake and drinking and having a great time. It was a really nice experience.

After that, we headed to Beacon and I got my own room to crash in this year. Soon, I was fast asleep.