Travel Diary

This would be my first trip to Beacon, New York. It involved going over thre to hang out with people that I had been playing Zoom games with on Friday nights for a couple years which started during Covid. Some of them I was finally meeting in person for the first time. But this would also mean a very long day of travel.

My flight was out of SFO, and around seven in the morning so I had to get up extremely early and drive over to the airport. I decided to splurge a little (it would be a weekend of splurging) and park directly at SFO and avoid the need for shuttles. Therefore, it was about $33 a day instead of $15.

The TSA wait was fairly long for six in the morning, but I guess it was a holiday weekend. For this flight, I had purchased an economy ticket on Alaska Airlines, but I was upgraded to first class, so it would be a comfortable flight across the States. For my meal, I got eggs, potatoes, bacon, a roll, fruit and yogurt. I then sat back and enjoyed the long flight.

In New York, I landed at JFK Airport and then had to take the Air Train to Jamaica Station. From there I transferred over and took the Long Island Railroad which ended at Penn Station in Manhattan. I then got to walk about 40 minutes to get to Grand Central Station; however, I got there just after the train left so I had an hour to wait. I went to nearby, Brian Park and hung out for a little bit, and then came back and caught my train north. I would be on this train for 90 minutes, but would get to see a lot.

Along the way, I got to see Harlem, and then Yonkers, and even Sleepy Hollow. I mean I passed through those places; I didn’t actually get out to explore them. It was just neat knowing I was going through such famous places I'd heard about. The sun was setting over the Hudson and the train ran right along the edge of the water, so I got to see the river most of the time. We also passed by Sing Sing Prison, West Point, and Bannerman Castle. Finally, we arrived in Beacon. The sun was setting at that time, so I got some really beautiful and colorful shots of the boats out there in the water in front of the fiery orange, red, and yellow skies. It was just a beautiful sunset. Then my friends picked me up and we went back to my friend Jennifer's house, and everyone drank and chatted until very late.