CLASSIC TRIP - Montana and Yellowstone 2002, Part 1

A Montana Collage - Gallatin National Forest

Be careful what you wish for, right?  My wife wanted to really get away (we were having our kitchen remodeled and we were stressed) so I found what, so far, has been the most out-of-the-way and as-far-away-from-civilization accessible lodging in the country - 14 miles from the nearest town and 7 miles from the nearest paved road...the last mile was the driveway into the lodge.  She also had never been to Yellowstone so we put together this trip.  So let's go back to 2002, shall we?

Right up front, let's just say that you need a little extra determination to get here and then get around...especially if you use a wheelchair for mobility.

The state's major airports at Bozeman, Billings, and Helena just don't show up on major airlines radar screens so direct flights from most of the country is not an option. What flights you do find are not going to be cheap. Once you arrive, accessible public transportation will be a challenge to find as will accessible van rentals.

We decided to drive. From L.A., this is not a quick and easy road trip especially if you have trouble sitting in the car for long spells. After 3 nights on the road, we were finally at our destination....Big Timber, Montana, about 50 miles east of Bozeman. We needed some time to just not drive any more.

Researching for a place to stay yielded the Burnt Out Lodge, a bed and breakfast run by Ruth Drange on her family's cattle and sheep ranch. The lodge is accessible with three ramps leading into the building. The area around it is not, so you will need your own private van or car to get there.

The reason you need your own ride is because it is remote. In fact, for a wheeler, I cannot think of a more remote accessible accommodation that I have ever come across. The lodge is located at the farthest reach of the three thousand acre ranch abutting the Gallatin National Forest.

Only 7 Miles to go to the Burnt Out Lodge

To get there, you first drive seven miles beyond Big Timber. Then, it is up six miles of dirt road to the first gate. Someone must get out of the car to open the gate (an attendant here is really necessary for all but the most hardy wheelers), drive through, return to close the gate lest any cows escape the ranch. One more mile of bumpy road is necessary to navigate before you reach the lodge building where one more gate must be opened and closed.

It takes a pretty major effort just to get here.

Once here, it is pretty easy to go up a ramp into the building and into your room. The lodge has a vast open public area with a two story fireplace to warm up at. Five rooms are all on the first floor and each will allow access for a wheelchair easily. One room in particular has been built with bars for the toilet and bathtub for access. There is no roll-in shower, however. Plastic chairs are available for use as bathing chairs.

The View from the Room

We stayed in the accessible room, although as the only guests at the inn Ruth offered us our choice of any room. The room is huge and very open and airy. A twenty foot ceiling reinforces that feeling. It is furnished sparsely with just a bed, two night stands, a small table and two chairs. It was sparkling clean and comfortable, but it does take a bit of getting used to.

Our first day had started in West Yellowstone, Montana after we had stopped there for the night. Along the way to Big Timber, we stopped at Nevada City, a recreated Ghost Town where authentic buildings had been moved to from other areas. It was a quiet and not unpleasant stop but not exactly enthralling either.

In Big Timber, we had dinner at Prospector Pizza in a pretty little downtown area before bedding down for the night at the Burnt Out Lodge. We saw dozens of deer along that 7 mile access road up to the lodge.

After sleeping pleasantly in our large room with all the windows and the front door open (great things to do when you're several miles from the nearest road), we had our breakfast and decided to do a little sight seeing.

This morning, that would entail heading up the Boulder River valley from Big Timber. We stopped when we got to Natural Bridge.

A short hike lead us to a bridge and several viewing platforms built into the rock. The paths are accessible but be careful of the hundred foot drop off of the sides when heading to the platforms. The bridge path is not as scary.

From the bridge and the platforms, you can see the natural bridge when the water level is low, as it was when we visited in July. In a spectacular display, the river drops down a hole and travels about one hundred yard before emerging from a shear cliff face.

When the water level is higher, the hole is underwater and the river flows over the natural bridge but you can still see the other waterfall emerging from the hole in the cliff.

After our tour up the valley, we headed back to Big Timber. It was over one hundred degrees when we hit town so we decided to spend the afternoon in the community pool. A buck fifty was all it took to get all three of us in where we lounged around for an hour and a half...until the lifeguard's shrill whistle told everyone to immediate evacuate the pool. A thunderstorm was approaching fast.
 
We took quick shelter in the small pool house where I took the opportunity to give Tim a shower in the only roll-in shower we would see in Montana. Now that's what I call thinking on my feet!

We changed back into our street clothes and headed out of town. The rain had let up enough so that we could visit Prairie Dog Town State Park. This is a small area set aside for these large, barking rodents where you can see them in a wild setting to your heart's content. Outside the park's perimeter, the critters are fair game for the farmers and ranchers who shoot these animals as pests when they see them.

A shower and a nap back at the lodge refreshed us and we headed back into town for dinner at the City Club, a combination steakhouse, bowling alley (six lanes!), bar, and casino. We had some delicious Montana steaks...better than the steaks we payed three times as much for on the way home in Las Vegas.

The town turns in pretty early and try as we might, we couldn't find too much to do after 7:30pm. We missed the only showing (7:00) at the local theater but we'd already seen Lilo 'n Stitch back home. A trip back to the lodge where we could reach out and pat a cow's behind as we drove by was in order.

Another night with the fresh Montana air wafting through the room and we were ready to tackle another day. After breakfast, we drove fifty miles to Bozeman to visit the Gallatin County Fair's opening day.

This is a very small fair where everybody was giving out freebies or samples. Everybody had candy bowls out for quick little nibbles. A local political group opposed to an upcoming ballot measure gave us a huge sports cup (with their logo on it, natch) filled with ice cold water with a local chiropractor matching that with a big bottle of spring water out of an ice bucket...perfect for the 105 degree day.

A few local sportmen's groups filled our bag with free fishing tackle...lures and bobbers. A candy maker threw in some free samples of fudge. A local mine even gave us some raw rocks that they grind into talc...along with ruler, pens, pencils. Another local politician running for office gave out free American flags.

We were in hog heaven with all the goodies and we got to see all kinds of livestock and eat that great, greasy fair food while watching some country and western concerts. It was a great day and we met a lot of friendly local folks.

After the fair we ate dinner at McKenzie River Pizza in the beautifully restored downtown area of Bozeman, where some workers recognized us from the fair earlier. It was good pizza and even better beer.

Tonight would be our last night at the lodge. We had one more open-air night before our last breakfast with Ruth.

A deer walked by one foot outside the dining room window while we at our morning meal and a marmot rooted around outside. Before it got too cute, Ruth whispered to us that the marmot was a pest and she would have to shoot it if it returned. Ah, the ways of the Montana cattle ranch life.

Stay tuned for part 2...Yellowstone!

-Darryl
Copyright 2002 - Darryl Musick

This Week's Menu: Barbecued Pizza and Buttermilk Pancakes

Nothing says summertime like cooking outside. Pizza is a baked item but no one wants to turn on a hot oven in the kitchen during this hot season...especially in our neighborhood where over-100 temps are the norm this time of year.



But pizza is still a great summer food, especially with an ice-cold beer in your hand.  If you have a gas grill with a lid, you've basically got an outdoor oven...perfect for baking.



We'll use that to make our pizza.



For breakfast, we put up our third pancake recipe, this time it's the very classic buttermilk pancake recipe.



Everything you need are at the links below.

BREAKFAST: Buttermilk Pancakes

DINNER: Barbecued Pizza

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Barbecued Pizza

Well, technically, grilled pizza but we're cooking it outside on our gas barbecue grill.

Dough is premade from Trader Joes and so are the canned San Marzano tomatoes (which I substitute for fresh tomatoes in our regular pizza sauce recipe...click on that link).

After rolling the dough and spreading it out on the baking pan, I ladle on and spread the San Marzano tomato sauce evenly on it.

A layer of shredded prosciutto, mozzarella, and Parmesan go next.

Finish with another layer of mozzarella and Italian sausage.

Get the temp on the grill to 400. This is a little hot so we need to turn it down a bit.

Put pan on grate.

Cook covered for ten minutes.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Tuesdays with Letty: Avanti Bistro - Pasadena, California

With our son using a wheelchair, we have a need for adaptive equipment such as a lift for our van. That lift sometimes breaks down or needs maintenance. The closest service facility is MobilityWorks in Pasadena.

It's not in the part of Pasadena that's full of great restaurants and places to wander around, it's in a fairly industrial and residential part of East Pasadena on Altadena Drive...though the Rose Parade passes within about a hundred yards of it.

That means we don't have a lot of selection of places to eat while we wait for the lift to be serviced.  There's a subpar taco place and donut shop across the street, Wonder Burgers is a decent place for breakfast two blocks away, Super Burger on the other side of the 210 Freeway makes incredibly good burgers in a run-down shack, and the oldest existing and operating In 'n Out is about a half mile away.

Any will do for a quick bite but one time we wanted something a little more. Lucky for us, Avanti Cafe...known for it's wood-fired pizzas on Lake Avenue...opened another branch only a block away from MobilityWorks. This one is more upscale and called Avanti Bistro.

It serves very good pizza and Italian dishes at prices that will make you skip a breath or two but they do have a very fun and reasonably priced happy hour from 3-6 on weeknights.

Once in awhile, Letty and I will come here to take advantage on Tuesdays.  It's also the night a roving band of real estate professionals show up (they hit different happy hours each night after work). They're a fun and friendly group and we crowd into the little bar with them.

There's a drink of the day special plus discounts on wine and beer.  The happy hour dishes are very good and cheap, too.

We each get a personal pizza, which is only $8 and share a plate of calamari which will set you back $5.

It's a fun and easy place to get to but beware that outside of happy hour, the prices can give you a bit of sticker shock.

Avanti is at 187 N. Sierra Madre Boulevard at the corner of Foothill, just a bit south of the 210 Freeway.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Sunday Menu: Chilaquiles and Pizza

Time for another Sunday of food. Today's recipes are a little more involved than our usual ones but they're still pretty easy.

Breakfast is one of my favorite Mexican dishes while dinner is something everyone loves. 

Recipes at the links below...

BREAKFAST: Chilaquiles con Huevos y Salsa Verde

DINNER: Pizza

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Pizza!

Originally, I was going to do this on my gas barbecue but my pizza pan wouldn't fit with the lid closed so it was off to the kitchen oven to cook.

There are two time consuming steps to this but this is another one you can do a few hours ahead of time and stick in the fridge until it's time to cook.  The first step is the sauce and the next is rolling out the dough, which not only takes time but is pretty labor intensive, too.

Except for the sauce, I bought all the other ingredients premade at a local Italian deli, Capri in Covina, California. That makes things a bit easier.

INGREDIENTS
16 ounces of pizza dough (you can make this yourself but I just buy it premade at a local Italian deli. You can also find it at Trader Joe's and other stores)
6 medium Roma tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 links Italian sausage
1/4 pound prosciutto
1/2 pound mozarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded quattro formagio (four cheeses, available at most supermarkets - substitute with a high quality shredded parmesan if you can't find it)

Sauce
Take 5 tomatoes (you may want to cut them in half first) and puree in a blender with 1 cup of water.

Cut the 6th tomato up into cubes.

Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pan. Pour your pureed tomatoes on top of that and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then set to low to simmer. Put your tomato chunks, garlic, oregano, salt, and sugar into the mix and stir. Simmer for 2 hours or until reduced by two thirds. Stir occasionally during this time (maybe every 10 or 20 minutes). Taste a spoonful occasionally to see if the taste would be good on a pizza. Add ingredients to adjust, sparingly, until you get your perfect tast.

When sauce is thick, a little thicker than you'd want to serve on pasta, take it off of the heat.

Pizza
Preheat oven to 450 -500 degrees...very hot!

On a large, wooden cutting board, sprinkle about a quarter cup of flour and spread out over the board. Place dough on it and roll out flat. This will take quite some time as the dough will keep wanting to snap back to its original shape. Keep at it and, eventually, the dough will lose its elasticity and you'll have a flat dough. be very careful not to tear your dough.

Put a tablespoon of olive oil and coat it with a paper towel over a round pizza pan. Transfer your dough into the pan and, carefully, spread it to the edges.

Using a ladel, spread your sauce over the dough, leaving about a half inch clear around the rim to be able to hold your pizza slice later.  Put a think layer of mozzarella over the sauce. Put on your toppings (we're using Italian sausage and prosciutto but the sky's the limit on what you'd like to put on it). Sprinkle quattro formagio on it. 

Cover with another layer of mozzarella (I'm using a mozzarella ball for this and laying slices of it around the pie).

Put in oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Put parchment paper on your cutting board and transfer finished pizza pie to it once done. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano, California

This trip contains one of  the most popular videos we've yet produced.  Why?  I don't know, apparently you all like the beach!  Personally, I think our video on Morro Bay is a bit better, but you be the judge.  Anyway, here is my pick for the best beach in Southern California...

Watch the Video for this trip

It has the makings for a boring, frustrating day. The day after Thanksgiving usually presents us with nothing to do, unless you want to join the mobs at the mall. Not really our cup of tea (to be fair, my wife loves to shop but even she can’t stand the Black Friday stress).

It’s days like this that are made for a day trip. I know “staycation” is the new buzzword, but I just can’t stand that. Occasionally, though, we just like to go out for the day and see what we can find in our general area. That’s what we’re doing today. Hopefully, if you have a trip planned with Southern California…especially Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm…as your destination; you’ll find this information valuable.

I had always wanted to try the Original Pancake House, especially for their Dutch Baby pancakes, so we head down to the City of Orange for our closest location. While waiting for the server to take our order, the table next to use gets their Dutch Babies delivered and they looked burnt from having been in the oven too long.

Instead, we order a stack of regular buttermilk pancakes, some crepes with lemon/strawberry filling, and some “49er” cakes, which are very thin pancakes…sort of like a crepe that has not been rolled. All three are very delicious and we’ll give the edge…just a slight edge…to the 49er cakes.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Robert A. Estremo under CC-BY-SA license

Fully nourished and really stuffed, we head out on the road. Our next stop is the little town of San Juan Capistrano in Southern Orange County. This is roughly half way between Los Angeles and San Diego. We find a parking spot next to the train depot, across the street from the town’s mission.  Easily reached by wheelchair accessible trains run by Metrolink and Amtrak, all the attractions in town are within a block or two of the station.

The mission grounds are very beautiful but the original church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812. A side chapel has the twin distinctions of being the oldest California building still in use and is also the only documented existing building that Father Junipero Serra said mass in.

We’ve seen the mission many times before, so today we concentrate on the Los Rios neighborhood. This is the street time forgot, sitting across the tracks from the train station. Years ago, I would come here and walk down these shady, tree-lined streets and wonder how much longer it would last with the exploding development happening in this part of the county.

The residents must have wondered the same thing, now it’s a protected historic district. It’s still a neighborhood…families still live in the houses, small shops and a couple of cafes crouch up to the tracks, and it’s a place like no other you’ll find in the area.

Homes dating back 200 years line streets so quiet you can roll your chair along with few worries. A collection of fountains sits in front of little beauty salon. Around the corner, an ancient pickup truck sits in a chicken wire encased garage. Dozens of finches fight over the birdfeeder out back. A huge wall of bougainvillea lines the street.

Around the corner are a sleepy looking nursery and a petting zoo. Llamas sit in the sun waiting for food. A curious emu strolls up to see my camera. The luckiest turkeys in the world strut their stuff on the day after.

The 12:20 to LA arrives and we leave.

Back in the car, we head south to Dana Point and then double back up Pacific Coast Highway to our next stop, Laguna Beach. Even in late November, traffic still snarls in the downtown stretch that has traffic lights on every corner, none coordinated with the next. After the knot of traffic, we turn up a side street and find a spot at the curb to park about a block from the main beach.

Laguna is made up of a series of coves, the largest one, about a half mile long, makes up the main beach in the heart of town. An accessible boardwalk runs the length of the beach. On the north end, a step-free but steep access leads to the next series of smaller coves. When the water’s calm, these small coves attract hordes of snorkelers and scuba divers.

On the main beach, we find a concrete ramp that you can use to go to the high-tide line next to the northernmost life guard tower. In the summer, you can borrow a sand chair from the life guard to go all the way to the water. The mid-beach is a hot bed of beach volleyball, so we take a few minutes to watch. No pros practicing today, however. A musician plays for tips and a bird trainer puts on a pretty good show on the edge of the boardwalk.

We continue up the street where artist Wyland, the whale mural guy, lives and has a gallery. 

We stop to take a look at the art and to use his very nice, clean accessible restroom. A secret spot is located here. Outside the gallery is a hallway…continuing to the end and you’ll come out onto a private, quiet deck where Wyland has set up a small telescope overlooking the beach. It’s a nice place to come and get away from the crowds.

Back out front, we wander around the town a bit, doing a little window shopping and have a quick drink at one of the local pubs. I won’t name the pub…it’s a brew-pub…because the server tacked on an extra six dollars to the tip (which I found out while balancing my checkbook). That burns me up because the total bill was $9, to which I added $3 for tip…plenty, don’t you think?

Later, we head back up PCH and then inland to Placentia where we have dinner at one of our favorite Pizzerias, Tony’s Little Italy. This is a real hole-in-the-wall with only 8 tables and a giant mural of Wrigley Field covering an entire wall. The other walls have Cubs, Bulls, and Bears memorabilia along with a smattering of Angels, Cal State Fullerton, and other local team pennants, surrounding the two flat-screen TVs…usually showing whatever sports are going on in Chicago. This little piece of Chicago has some of the best deep-dish style pizzas around.

As Tony himself brings out our pizza and drinks, we bid farewell and hope to see you on another trip soon.

-Darryl

Copyright 2009 - Darryl Musick
Pictures courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Robert A. Esterno under CC-SA license

RECIPES FOR A CHEAPSKATE: Cherry Tomato Pie

I've been blessed with a lot of cherry tomatoes so I'm going to use them. I picked sixteen off of the plant today.

I'm going to make a cherry tomato/bacon pizza pie with them.

First, I slice each one in half.

Then marinated in olive oil for a day.

With a can of San Marzano tomatoes, some salt, garlic, and oregano (also from the garden), I boiled it for 20 minutes, then simmered for 2 hours.  Near the end, we added a teaspoon of sugar.

I was going to buy a premade pizza dough from our local Italian deli but my wife insisted on making a homemade dough.  Also, my son insisted on pepperoni on top, so what started as a tomato pie ended up being a pizza with a really delicious, fresh tasting sauce.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

The Ethnic Foods of The San Gabriel Valley: Pizza

Cuisines covered in previous posts: Mexican, Cajun, Nepalese, Lebanese, Thai, Basque, Argentinian, Cuban, Vietnamese, English, Belgian, Spanish, Jewish, Greek, Greek Diner, Hawaiian, Salvadoran, Iranian, Armenian, Afghani, Indonesian, Korean, Cambodian, American, California Cuisine, Soul Food, Japanese, Filipino, Barbecue, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian

Last week, we finished off the European cuisines that can be found in the San Gabriel Valley but we must add an addendum...pizza! 

Of course, when we talk about pizza here, what can be found is American pizza. Although mostly made by Italian Americans, it really bears little resemblance to the pizza you'd find in Italy. Our pies have evolved into several regional varieties like New York pizza, Chicago deep dish, and so on.

Actually, the best pizzas around here are found outside of the SGV, such as the pie at Red Devil (at the top of the page) in La Verne, Casa Bianca (just above) in Eagle Rock, and Tony's Little Italy down in Placentia for deep-dish.

It's not to say we don't have pizza here in the valley, there's lot's of it, just not a lot that rises above bad or mediocre.

We do have two we can recommend, each with two outlets in the San Gabriel Valley.

Carmine's in South Pasadena and Arcadia has some great pizzas. Each location is a comfortable, classic Italian dining room with friendly staff and great food. Beyond the pizza, the rest of the menu is good too.

Petrillo's...either at the very old school original location on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel or at the newer outlet on Route 66 in Glendora...is the pizza all of us old-time San Gabriel Valleyites grew up with.

Cheesy, generous with the toppings, and...if you eat in the dining room...served with that great, freshly baked Petrillo's bread.

While I'd drive a little farther for the best pizza in Southern California, you can't go wrong with Carmine's or Petrillo's either.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP - New York 1999, Part 1

UPDATE: 5-2-11, I had other plans for articles this week, but they'll keep.  It seems like a good week to celebrate the great city of New York instead.

Let's go back to 1999 to our first trip to the Big Apple.  Standard disclaimer, prices, events, and other items are accurate for 1999-things have changed...

In our travels around the country, one place intimidated me...New York. I heard all the horror stories about the crime, the filth, rude people, crowds, traffic, etc. My old boss (from Brooklyn) told me about how he got a flat tire and while he was changing it, someone started to steal the rear tire. You see movies like Taxi Driver and Mean Streets and have to wonder.

My son, on the other hand, had no such emotional baggage. He always wanted to see this city. He wanted to go up to the top of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and perhaps most of all to ride the Cyclone in Coney Island.

A couple of years ago, we decided to take a fall trip to the northeast corner of the country to see the fall colors. Since New York was only a few hours to the south, we decided to spend a couple of days there just to see what it was like, give Tim his time there, and continue on our way.

The short story? My illusions of the city were shattered. None of my preconceptions held any water at all. We loved it and made it a point to come back in the spring for a longer trip. Now the long story...

Our flight into Manchester, New Hampshire arrived two hours late. A rather long drive finally deposits us at the Susse Grand Chalet in Stamford, Connecticut at four o’clock in the morning. Dead tired, we happily climb into bed.

(to see what I think of Susse Chalet, my review is at http://www.epinions.com/content_42139750020 )

We wake up in time to catch an 11:00 Metro North train into Grand Central Station. 35 minutes later, we exit into Grand Central’s beautiful lobby. Being our first time in New York, we can’t help ourselves and quicky run out the door for our first glimpse of Manhattan’s famous skyline. A sense of vertigo envelops us...we have no idea where we are...and we see the familiar sight of the Chrysler building and the Met Life building.

It’s time to head back in to continue on our way to Brooklyn and Coney Island. We set ourselves up for quite a challenge. The MTA’s web site says that 33 of the city’s subway stations are accessible. Armed with our $4 fun passes (a one day pass that gives you unlimited rides on the city’s buses and subways), we feel that nothing can stand in our way.

Plotting this out on the excellent, free subway map we got at the information booth, we see that the B line (which goes to Coney Island) stops at the Lexington Ave. station near Central Park and also has an access symbol on it. The 4�5�6 lines go from Grand Central to the Lexington Ave. station. It’s decided to take the 4 up to Lexington and then switch over to the B.

Two things come up wrong with this plan. First is almost immediate and has to do with looking at our map a little closer. Although the Lexington Ave. station is accessible for the B line, the 4�5�6 line part of the station isn’t. Whoops. We cheat a little and take the escalator up to the B line station.

Once on the B train, problem number two crops up, although compared to the first problem is relatively minor. The B train turns out to be a local, stopping at every station along the way. It will take forever to reach Coney Island. On the other hand, we occasionally see a D train, the Coney Island express, stopping across the platform from us. Quickly, we decide to transfer at the West 4th Street station and continue on.

Eventually, we get to Coney after a scenic ride through Brooklyn (the D line goes elevated here). Brooklyn looks a lot like East L.A. The Coney Island station was built in 1919 and is certainly showing its age. It’s dark, dank, even a bit scary looking inside. But it has that very welcome accessory...an elevator.

We emerge onto the corner of Stillwell and Surf, directly across from our lunch destination, Nathan’s. Nathan’s has been here for eons selling their world famous hot dogs. We grab a few and are not disappointed. They are very tasty. This Nathan’s is also very popular for its seafood. Some of the locals there swore by the fried clams. This bit of legendary New York cuisine sets us back only $10 for the three of us.

Unfortunately, Coney Island’s famous amusement parks are closed for the season. Tim & I were hoping for a ride on Cyclone, revered as one of the world’s top coasters. No ride today, only pictures.

Time to take the D back to Manhattan to the Herald Square station, which is accessible (but the elevators are very hard to find and no one there seems to know where they are). A short walk over to Grand Central and we hop back on the 4 train southbound to the Brooklyn Bridge. This time access works as planned and the elevator deposits us directly across from the walkway over the bridge. Here we get an unforgettable walk with great views over this old, historic span.

The bridge is clothed in deepening darkness. It’s to return to Grand Central and catch a Connecticut bound train home.

Scroll down below for Part 2...
 
-Darryl
Copyright 1999 - Darryl Musick