Sunday

Breakfast at The Roxbury Motel

After another lovely night’s sleep, we awoke to another beautifully sunny day, there was a slight cocktail headache lurking but it wasn’t too bad. We went up to the office/kitchen and had a nice breakfast – there was a nice selection of pastries and jams, granola and yogurt, muffins, cereals, cheeses and meats to choose from, we had a pretty controlled amount of food, sat in the breakfast room and ate while we enjoyed views of the mountains.

Greg, the lovely and slightly camp owner of The Roxbury came to say hello and we had a nice chat with him. We told him how much we loved the motel, he was very happy to hear this, as he’d just read a review online suggesting the bed wasn’t comfortable and the place wasn’t as good as hoped. We assured him that the person that wrote that was an idiot and obviously someone that is impossible to please, as the place was perfect; this put a smile on his face. He told us a little bit about the area and what they were planning to do with a new building next door that they’d recently bought. We wished we could stay for longer, or come back, it’s definitely the sort of place that would receive repeat visits if we didn’t have to pay so much for flights over. Greg did offer us a tour of the other rooms once people had checked out, but unfortunately we had to get back on the road and get driving to New York. We’ll just have to save up and visit again so that we can see the sci-fi themed suite.

View from the deck at The Roxbury Motel

Cool and funky: The Roxbury Motel

During our journey, we stopped off for a loo break at a garage in a small town in the middle of nowhere. The cashier asked where we were from and we had a little chat about our journey and she told us of her desire to leave the country and travel. When we got back in the car we discussed how nice the people we’d met over the past few days had been, and we thought we hadn’t done them justice on the blog, so we decided to let you know again how nice everyone has been and how happy we’ve been to meet some real Americans.

Scenic drive

(Laura is too tired to write the rest, so it’s Natalie here again…) The journey out of the Catskills was very pretty. The sun was shining, the sky was blue with little fluffy clouds, the mountains seemed to go on for miles into the distance and were covered in tress just coming into bud. On the road we commented that despite driving for almost 1,000 miles, we still hadn’t seen another Beast on the road (a Ford Flex to give it it’s proper name) and at that point we were then over taken by two in the space of half an hour! Rare, but not that rare.

After 3 hours of driving we arrived at Sunset Hill Shooting Range. We were ever so slightly apprehensive that a mad man with a gun might kill us all in a crazy rampage, so we were both a bit nervous. We showed our ID, signed a disclaimer (which, er, I didn’t fully read) and donned our protective eyeglasses and ear defenders. We then sat for five minutes waiting for an instructor to become free, all the while watching and being deafened by the gunshots from the other shooters on the range.

After a while our instructor introduced himself. We both instantly forget his name, so we’ll call him Mike. After explaining how things work (we pick a gun to shoot, he marks our card to say what we shot, we pay at the end), Mike asked us what we’d like to shoot first. We all agreed some sort of handgun, so Mike recommended we try a Beretta 9mm. It’s got a low recoil and it’s a nice easy gun to start with. Laura was up first and Mike explained how to hold the gun, what stance to use and how to line up the sights. Laura fired off her 7 shots and did pretty well, getting one bang on centre. I was up next and did a little better, getting 5 out of 7 in the centre and the other 2 just outside. The sensation of firing a gun was very exciting, but also quite scary, knowing how much power you had in your hands.

Laura and the 1911-A1

Natalie and massive big gun!

It was quite satisfying to see the results of how well we shot. The next gun we fired was an AR-15. This was much more powerful, but you were just shooting bits of wood, so not quite as satisfying. I then fired an even bigger gun (Laura opted not shoot this one) and it had a wicked recoil. Good fun though. Up next was a 12 gauge shotgun which had to be pumped after firing.

The last gun we shot was a 1911-A1 handgun which was harder to aim than the Beretta, so we both shot worse. After that we decided we’d shot (and spent!) enough so we paid and made a quick getaway before something bad happened. It’s daft that we were scared as I’m sure statistics prove that gun ranges are safer than just regular places, but we both breathed a sigh of relief as we drove away and the sounds of cracking gunshots disappeared.

After a few more hours of driving we approached New York City. That first glimpse of the skyline was magical, although the buildings didn’t really seem that big from where we were! We drove through the Lincoln Tunnel and emerged into crazy traffic. I had to battle my way into the correct lane and get onto a street heading uptown. We only had about 40 minutes before the car needed dropping of, so we went straight to the garage. When we found it, we suddenly realised we hadn’t filled it up with fuel! Returning it empty would result in a big surcharge so we hastily reprogrammed the sat-nav and headed to the nearest gas station. We found it, got the car filled up and returned it just in time. Phew!

Crazy traffic when we got to NYC

A short tax ride later (really short in fact – 9 blocks) we arrived outside Andy’s Deli where the keys for our apartment were waiting in an envelope behind the counter. After fumbling with the keys and locks for 10 minutes and negotiating the four flights of stairs with two suitcases, we finally made it into our home for the next 5 days.

The NYC apartment (after we'd messed it up with our stuff)

The view from the bed

The apartment is on West 74th Street on the Upper West Side. It's on the top floor so it has 14ft ceilings and a bed that is reached with a ladder. The décor is eclectic, shabby chic. Lots of arty prints, 50s signs, cool records and white-washed brick walls. The kitchen looks like it’s been there since the 50s too! It’s nice though and a lot cheaper than a hotel.

We were both knackered after the 6 hours of driving, but there was no time to rest. The big city awaited us! So we headed out in search of Times Square and some food.

Times Square

After spending the last few days in smaller towns and having driven 1,100 miles on quiet roads, suddenly being thrust into crazy traffic and crowds seemed really jarring. I think we were both a bit tired and very hungry, so everything seemed a bit scary and big and fast.

We got the subway to Times Square and walked through to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. This diner is amazing. The waiting staff are all singers (some ex staff members are now in Broadway shows) and they sing show tunes and walk on the tables. When we arrived, a woman called Jordan was singing “The Wizard and I” from Wicked. We got a table right in the centre of the diner and sat with open mouths as song after song got sung right in front of us. It was fab. The food was tasty too. Laura discovered a love for sliders (mini burgers).

Singing waitress at Ellen's Stardust Diner

Ellen's Stardust Diner in New York City

After that we headed home and relaxed in the apartment before climbing the ladder to bed.