I used to tweet and blog about the Staten Island Ferry during my commute. Since purchasing Jet Blue's All You Can Jet Pass, I've become completely consumed by wanderlust. All I sleep, eat, breathe is AYCJ. Well, maybe not eat, unless you count blue potato chips.
To not clutter my Ferry Blog, I started a new blog about my 30 days of travel. you can check this out here: http://www.girlonjetblue.com
September 16, 2009
September 13, 2009
Rum Swizzle and Scooter Warfare part 1
I'm in the Bermuda airport waiting for my flight back to NYC. Thanks to Jet Blue's All You Can Jet for a month pass, I arrived in Bermuda Friday afternoon. I was a little unnerved having to board an airplane in JFK during the first moment of silence on 9/11, but I soon forgot with the excitement of being Bermuda Bound.
On arrival I flew through customs, carrying only a backpack and some dive fins. Once I got out of the airport I did a lot of standing around, being unsure of where to go. Having read a few guidebooks and taking a look at a map, I knew I didn't want to take an expensive taxi, but I didn't see where I could acquire a bus pass. A very nice worker at baggage claim gave me one of his passes, and I took the 30 minute ride to "town".
In town, I decided to go ahead and turn on data roaming for a few minutes ( I'll tell you how much I regret this when I get the bill) so I could check out Google Maps/ GPS and find the ferry.
Yes, that's right. There are few pleasures as simple and exciting as public transportation, and I got to take Bermuda ferries all over town. Once I got off at my ferry stop, I asked everyone where Longford Rd was, so I could find the Guesthouse I was staying at. It was hot outside, and I was dying to ditch the backpack from my tired swamp-back. No one knew where it was, so I took a guess and went left.
After a 10 minute walk, I came across a beautiful pink home right on the water, with the title "Granaway" outside on a plaque (the name of the guesthouse) but all the doors and gates were locked. I shouted out, but got no answer. I reached over the small gate to unlatch it, and let myself down the stairs to a wide open door to a bedroom with a breathtaking view of the ocean. I called out again, "hello!?" before sitting down to rest ny back and pet the cat. After a few minutes I got up to explore. Pictures of happy family members covered the house, and the bed was in the middle of the room. I went over to the desk and looked at the stationary. The name listed on the mail did not match those who owned the guesthouse, so I pet the cat once more, and quickly let myself out. Turns out I needed to take a right at the ferry and walk 10 mins the other way.
After a few mins of rest, I wrabgled up my snorkle gear and started walking the 30 minute hike to the beach. There are hardly any sidewalks in Bermuda and the roads are very narrow. After having several near death experiences with oncoming traffic, I decided that a scooter rental is where it's at. I barely made it to a beautiful and abandoned pink sand beach, when it was getting dark. Walking these roads after dark would be
On arrival I flew through customs, carrying only a backpack and some dive fins. Once I got out of the airport I did a lot of standing around, being unsure of where to go. Having read a few guidebooks and taking a look at a map, I knew I didn't want to take an expensive taxi, but I didn't see where I could acquire a bus pass. A very nice worker at baggage claim gave me one of his passes, and I took the 30 minute ride to "town".
In town, I decided to go ahead and turn on data roaming for a few minutes ( I'll tell you how much I regret this when I get the bill) so I could check out Google Maps/ GPS and find the ferry.
Yes, that's right. There are few pleasures as simple and exciting as public transportation, and I got to take Bermuda ferries all over town. Once I got off at my ferry stop, I asked everyone where Longford Rd was, so I could find the Guesthouse I was staying at. It was hot outside, and I was dying to ditch the backpack from my tired swamp-back. No one knew where it was, so I took a guess and went left.
After a 10 minute walk, I came across a beautiful pink home right on the water, with the title "Granaway" outside on a plaque (the name of the guesthouse) but all the doors and gates were locked. I shouted out, but got no answer. I reached over the small gate to unlatch it, and let myself down the stairs to a wide open door to a bedroom with a breathtaking view of the ocean. I called out again, "hello!?" before sitting down to rest ny back and pet the cat. After a few minutes I got up to explore. Pictures of happy family members covered the house, and the bed was in the middle of the room. I went over to the desk and looked at the stationary. The name listed on the mail did not match those who owned the guesthouse, so I pet the cat once more, and quickly let myself out. Turns out I needed to take a right at the ferry and walk 10 mins the other way.
After a few mins of rest, I wrabgled up my snorkle gear and started walking the 30 minute hike to the beach. There are hardly any sidewalks in Bermuda and the roads are very narrow. After having several near death experiences with oncoming traffic, I decided that a scooter rental is where it's at. I barely made it to a beautiful and abandoned pink sand beach, when it was getting dark. Walking these roads after dark would be
September 07, 2009
Bears Smears
Mobile Blogging from here.
I am alive! Bears don't scare me, but 60 mph winds and sleet storms in a tent sure do the trick. Only have a few mins of Internet access. More to follow.
September 04, 2009
Beers with the Bears
This blog is supposed to be about all things ferry and my commute... and it will be again soon. I've got some exciting adventures coming up over the next month, and I don't feel like creating an entire new blog for them, so enjoy the change of subject.
I'm headed tonight to Montana with my buddy, Alicia. We are driving up to Glacier National Park where we plan to camp in freezing temperatures with the grizzly bears. I'm so excited. And frightened.
I'm headed tonight to Montana with my buddy, Alicia. We are driving up to Glacier National Park where we plan to camp in freezing temperatures with the grizzly bears. I'm so excited. And frightened.
July 08, 2009
So Long, Ferry! Hello Hovercraft! For real?
An article twittered from Wired magazine caught my eye, so I decided to do a little research to gauge the legitimacy of such a new-fangled, futuristic upgrade to my beloved ferry. A quick Site Search for "hovercraft" on the Staten Island Advance revealed quite a timeline of articles on the subject.
The abridged version:
June 18, 1976 "Hovercraft may replace night ferry"
At the request of the Marine and Aviation Department The Tri State Regional PlanJune 3, 2009 "A possible hovercraft for Staten Island"
Association has submitted a proposal to the federal government requesting a $1
million demonstration grant to operate two high-speed Hovercraft on an
experimental basis on routes including St. George to Manhattan.
This Mamba Jamba is apparently too speedy for the short distance, and is better suited for Manhattan to the Hamptons. Who needs the Hamptons with SI South Beach so close?
June 4, 2009
Hovercraft's vibe attracts polHovercraft's vibe attracts pol"
A Staten Island investor convinced Senator Lanza that hovercrafts are the way to go. However, the designer of the "wing in ground" (WIG) vehicle warns it's ""too fast" for a rush-hour commute. " Apparently if we don't jump on this design, Alaska, Canada, Greece, China, the Coast Guard, or countless drug dealers will.June 9, 2009 "Way outside the box"
This editorial says the idea seems "more cockamamie than inspired. " The proposed fare of $5 each way seems unrealistically low, and the 200MPH cruising speed over 5 miles doesn't seem to make much sense either.
My verdict: I love the idea of exploding into the future, but I sure don't want to be on one of these rockets when the hydraulics lose power and the breaks stop working. Just sayin'.
July 03, 2009
"Passengers, Hold On!"
The Staten Island Ferry had a "hard landing" on Wednesday, July 1st. This time I was not on the 7:00 p.m. (or 6:45) ferry, but I was on the water. I was on a samba party boat. Interestingly enough, I was also on the water during the crash of 2003, in a water taxi from Jersey City coming back to Manhattan from visiting a client for work. It was very windy that day, so I thought the wind had blown the boat into the cement wall.
On Wednesday, 10-12 people suffered minor injuries, the worst being a dislocated elbow. How much do you want to bet the person with the dislocated elbow was on the stairs, flights, or landings while the boat was docking? $2.50.
The fact that the power can go out upon landing is a little scary, but since the last incident, it seems the SI ferry crew was very prepared and able to turn this into a very minor incident. My favorite coverage of the crash was from the New York Post article, mostly because they interviewed the snack vendor/barkeep, my new favorite guy on the ferry.
Another passenger interviewed said "A crew member came on the PA system about 25 seconds before impact and said, 'Passengers, hold on! Passengers, hold on!' " 25 seconds is a pretty good lead time to get yourself off the stairs and braced for impact. Good job, ferry crew.
The verdict: I'm still sitting on the main deck.
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