NYC Excursion - 20 Sept 2008

I joined a photography group a few months ago – it has been many years since I did anything except point-and-shoot – and maybe it was time to rekindle my creative interests in photography. That’s how I came to Shutterbug Excursions, a meet-up group of mostly amateur photographers. At our first meeting in Annapolis, we talked about venues and interests, as a result of this discussion we planned a wonderful photo excursion to NYC.

The insanity, I believe, began with the 3:30am departure. Our chosen mode of travel to the Big Apple was the Apex Chinatown Bus, mostly because it is cheap ($35.00 r/t) and runs throughout the day and night. The terminal (actually a tiny store front on a side street) was in DC Chinatown which I found surprisingly bustling during the wee hours. We boarded the generic white bus for four cramped and bumpy hours as we cruised into Chinatown – New York’s Chinatown!

Chinatown was alive with activity and aromas when we arrived at 7:30am. We walked past street vendors, fish shops, and women practicing Tai Chi in park. Then we ventured to what I consider to be the set of Law & Order - The Manhattan Municipal complex with the Manhattan and Federal Courthouses and Foley Square across the street. Of course we all had to pose for our best Law & Order group shot.

(Photo credit to Steve Rosenbach)

Foley Square itself was interesting with it’s circular green benches and spiral handrails. From there it was off to the Brooklyn Bridge and a chance meeting with about 3,000 walkers. I snagged one of their shirts, it says “Live United” and credits its sponsor, the United Way of New York City.

There were 11 of us on the DC bus, joined by 2 from Baltimore, and Steve’s son Ben from Philadelphia later in the day. So, for most of the excursion we numbered 14. Keeping 14 photographers together in NYC is no easy task. Our first lost soul wandered off in search of a restroom and food while we were at South Street Seaport – so we all took a lunch break thinking she would wander back. Eventually she spotted us, because we never did find her in the crowd.

Our travels then found us in Central Park where we walked and walked. I had never really explored much of the park and relished each step and was amazed at the people, activity, and splendor of the park. It is a treasure! We entered around 89th street and wandered through Shakespeare Gardens and over toward Belvedere Castle and Bethesda Terrace. Time was running out and we bypassed Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial – which means I need to go back! Actually we all decided on a return trip this spring – and maybe even making it a two day trip.

With Central Park behind us, we headed to the subway for our return trip to Chinatown and the bus south to Baltimore and DC. We boarded the subway at 59th Street – at that time we were all together – we opted for an express and that’s where the misadventure began. About half of us had boarded a really crowed train when we heard an announcement about “limited service” – Steve decided we should wait until the next train. We all got off – all except four who hadn’t heard the change of plans. As fate would have it, we all managed to meet up at grand central (of all places). We boarded our bus at 6:00pm and in spite of the cramped conditions – I think we all caught some shut-eye on the trip home.

See our collective photographs on Flickr – look for Shutterbug Excursions.