7-11 Field Trip

Yesterday I decided to treat myself to a NYC field trip. Actually, it's something that I've wanted to do for ages now, but haven't had time. Finally, yesterday was the golden opportunity - it was hot and muggy and humid outside, with no sun (but strong UV rays albeit), which was the perfect weather for an outing.

I got off at Lexington and 59th street, my favorite shopping district because it's got a little bit of everything. But this wasn't about shopping. I was about to take the Roosevelt Island Tram.

The Roosevelt Island Tram is a neat contraption that takes you from Manhattan to the said island across the Queensboro bridge. It's on the left side of the bridge, harboring a nice view of the East side of midtown Manhattan. Plus it's been featured on Spider Man when he saves Mary-Jane from being thrown off the tram, as well as King Kong's rerun Kongfrontation. 

So I walked over to 2nd Avenue on 60th street, where the tram was located on the Manhattan side. Since I had an unlimited metro card, it was essentially for free. The tram comes every 15 minutes. I waited for 8 minutes until mine came. Actually there was one that came after right after I got there, but it went back around without picking up any passengers.

I guess it's not a well-kept secret anymore, because the tram that I took were 50% tourists. The tram car is pretty large, housing about 2 babies + carriage + mom, plus about 20 passengers. 

It took off from the platform, and I was a little nervous because I wondered if it would get stuck, as it happened a couple years ago. No one else seemed to be having similar concerns. I snapped lots of pictures when I got to the bridge, but unfortunately my view was blocked by some people standing right in front of me, so I had to squish to the front of the car to get a better view.

It was a really short ride. During the middle I thought we'd experienced turbulence, because the cable car lines were a little shaky. But it went through alright.

When we got to the other side, I went to the Visitor's Center to see what else there was to do on the island. The lady was really informative and helpful - she guided me to a map and the red bus, where I could take to go across the Roosevelt Island bridge into Queens.

I decided to do just that. I took the Red Bus, whose fare is $0.25 (finally a service that is cheap and works!), across to the middle of the island where the bridge was located. To get onto the bridge, you have to walk to the 4th floor (or take the elevator if you're tired), then head out onto the left hand side of the bridge, where there is a wired (head to toe) pedestrian sidewalk. 

The view was nice but barricaded by the wires, but it was a nice day and I was sweating a lot from the exercise. 

 

When I got to the other side, I walked through some industrial plants to….

…Costco! Yes, the Roosevelt Island bridge leads you right across towards Costco, which I thought was really cool. There I got myself a nice very berry sundae to celebrate my little trip and to reward myself for walking so much.

After relaxing a bit at Costco, I took the bus back home. On my way home I stopped by 7-11 for a cup of their free slurpie. I was surprised at just how many slurpie options they had. 

I got a cup with half watermelon and half pina colada.

Later on in the evening, I decided to take a walk in Astoria Park. It was lovely evening, wasn't hot at all even though I was wearing a sweater (and people were looking at me going like huh?). 

A lovely summer night in NYC.