Cross Country - Day1

My Cross country experience is still pending in this blog after we decided the route and the car. Hope I will finish this by end of this month and hope I can explore new things starting next year.
The first Day we made a stop at Cleveland on our way to Chicago. We started early from office and reached Cleveland by nite. The next day we set out to have a look at the downtown Cleveland. It was a pretty decent downtown with some high rise buildings. We stopped at some Science Center for couple of snaps and then we headed straight to Chicago and parked our car at Navy Pier and went walking all of the beautiful Chicago Downtown and Lakeshore.

I have provided the slideshow of the Cleveland and Chicago fotos on the rite. Enjoi!!!!!!!!!!!

Balloon Parade - Stamford CT

Hi Guys...after months of hibernation back again...It is really hard to be on line with the blog...hope this time i will make it regular to post. I have added the new feature provided by blog...the Slide show...

The pictures were taken during the traditional thanks giving parade in Stamford, CT ...a week before thanksgiving...

The Car ......

After the plan was crafted, we were deciding on a SUV...that is comfortable enough to take us from coast to coast. First we decided on the Ford Escape and we were interested in yellow color Ford Escape so that it catches the attraction of the others. We called the rental company and asked for a yellow color ford escape...:-) Guess he would not had this type of request in his entire life. He couldnt assure that because it was a one way rental and finally when we made it to the rental place...all we could get was a Hyundai SantaFe....

SantaFe successfully took us all the way to SFO without any hassles...Hats Off SantaFe. Forget about the mileage...our expedition was when the gas prices started a kick off...we drove around 4000 miles on this 4 wheeler.......

The Route...

Sorry guys..was busy with something else so couldnt continue on Cross country trip. Our trip was named as "Brooklyn Bridge to Golden Gate Bridge". Below is the map of our trip. The origination and destination spots are numbered with green and red colors respectively. The intermediate stops are numbered with yellow colors. The moon symbol indicates the night stay en route. Thats approx 4000 miles...Me and my friend had a fight in the end as to who has driven more.....On the last stop he had for a smoke break....i got the oppurtunity to drive till the rental place :-). I will discuss abt the vehicle in my next blog

Cross Country Trip....

This was an interesting thing that happened in my life. I have a passion for driving and was always thought about travelling from east coast to west coast and this idea was not appreciated by anyone i know. I was talking abt this to my colleague and friend Amar casually and Bingo got another one who was interested. That day was the start of our planning and went on for almost three months and we decided to take a week off. Not only just drive , but also see places. First it was decided to drive to and fro ....thought would be hectic and needed more days and dropped the plan of driving back again. Three months of planning bore fruit and the trip took place exactly the same way as planned. After that successful trip in September 2005 we are still in the planning of making another one....

The details of our route and places can be seen in americabyroad.blogspot.com

NYC Subway

One cant miss this, when they are in NYC. The subways are the most effective and economic mode of transport. It is a rapid transit owned by the City of New York. 60 percent of its operations are underground.They run round the year. Subways started in 1904. It has around 500 stations and covers around 700 miles.

Everyone in NYC has this Card....even if they dont have a credit card.

I was a daily commuter of Subway to work.There was a Strike by the employees union with the transport authority. It took for about three days. The whole NYC was stranded as milions of ppl travel a day on an average.

you can get a detail info on subways @ www.nycsubway.org/

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a series of buildings in Mid town manhattan which comprises of 19 commercial buildings spanning betwen 5th and 7th avenue. This is the largest privately held complex in the world and is declared as a National Historic Landmark in the US.

The christmas tree at the Rockefeller center is a famous one. I visited this place last year xmas. There is a skating rink between the buildings. Recently they opened the top of Rockefeller for public viewing. It is called as the "Top of the Rock"

More Info @ www.topoftherocknyc.com/
A view of the NYC from the top of Rockefeller Center can be viewed athttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/NYC_Top_of_the_Rock_Pano.jpg

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden is located on 7th avenue between 31st and 33rd streets. This has been the name of the four arenas in NYC. Several sports team play in here. It is situated right on the top of the penn station, NY. Apart from sports, concerts and entertainment events also take place. The present arena is informally known to some by the advertising slogan "The World's Most Famous Arena".

More Info on this @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_square_garden

American Musuem of Natural History

This place is one of the landmarks of the NYC, located on the upper west side of Manhattan. I have missed this place for a long time. After I saw the movie "Night at the Musuem", I am eagerly awaiting visit this place..hope this will materialize the coming weekend.


This Musuem is well built with numerous exhibition calls, interconnected buildings, research laboratories, libraries and its collection counts to 32 million specimens, out of which only a small part can be displayed.


More Info on this Landmark @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Museum_of_Natural_History

Tamil Websites

Hi guys....

I found a interesting site....that searches the web in tamil. you can type the search content in tamil with easily usable keypad. Though I have come across several tamil font keypad this one is simply the best.

www.dosai.com

Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building is located on the East side of the Manhattan at the intersection of 42nd street and Lexington Ave. It is the second tallest building after Empire State Building in NYC. It was built by car manufacturer Walter P. Chrysler. This was in the race with Manhattan Bank (40 Wall Street) in building the tallest building in NYC.

The Chrysler building is one of the last skyscrapers in the Art Deco style. The gargoyles depict Chrysler car ornaments and the spire is modeled on a radiator grille.

More Info on Chrysler at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_building

Cross Country Trip

Hi Friends,

This month updates is all about New York city. Starting month of August i will be sharing the moments of my cross country trip with my ex-colleague and friend Amar. We started in New York and went all the way to San Fransisco visiting places in between. That was a week trip and we enjoyed every moment of it. Till then enjoy NYC.

bye, Take care.

Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge connects the NYC boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. This is one of the oldest suspension bridges in US, and the largest in the World. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in the year 1964.

The highlight of this bridge is it has a wide pedastrian walkway...a passage for most joggers and cyclists. It is located in the center of the bridge. Somehow I missed this pedastrian walkway and hope will make it sometimes before this Summer.

Lady Liberty....

Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the united states. Lady Liberty is found in the NY state quarter and also on the reverse of the US presidential one dollar coin (Courtesy: Wikipedia)
Liberty Statue was presented to the United States by France in the year 1886. It is located in the Liberty Island in the Hudson River. i have been here almost 5 times. Visitor have to take a ferry to Liberty Island. Reservations have to be made in advance on the web if one wants to get onto the top of the statue.

The live Webcam of the Lady Liberty can be found in the following linkhttp://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/statueofliberty/

Empire State Building

This is one of the must see place in NYC. Every visitor of NY never miss this 102 storey skyscraper. I have been to top of this building 5 times with my friends. It is located on the intersection of the 5th Avenue and 34th street. It was the world tallest Building until Twin Towers were constructed.

This building was constructed in one year and 45 days and is one of the new seven wonders of the modern world. One can also go for a NY skyride in the Empire State Building, which gives you a virtual tour of the city.

You can view the 360 degree view of the city in the below link.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Skyline-New-York-City.jpg

Official site of Empire State Building
www.esbnyc.com/

Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal is considered as one of the U.S. National Historic Landmark. It is the largest train station by number of platforms. There are two levels underground with close to 65 tracks. Metro-North Railroad is the one that serves the commuters from Grand Central to various parts of New York and Connecticut. Also it has access to the NYC subways.

It is located at vanderbilt Avenue in MidTown Manhattan. Me being in Stamford CT, a frequent visitor of Grand Central whenever I travel to NY. Most of my colleagues take trains from Grand Central for their commute to work.

More info on Grand Central: http://grandcentralterminal.com/pages/default.aspx

Central Park

Central park is a large public park located in the heart of Manhattan covering sprawling 843 acres of land. It is really a wonder to find this big park in the building filled Manhattan. It is the most visited city park in the United States.The park has several lakes, theaters, ice rinks, fountains tennis courts, baseball fields, zoo, and musuems. Central park is situated between 59th and 110th street and between 5th and 8th Avenue. Central park is considered as an OASIS to the city.

More information on Central Park

www.centralpark.com/

www.centralparknyc.org/

Times Square

Times Square is one of the major atractions in NYC. I never miss this place whenever I am in NY. It is located in Manhattan between broadway and 7th avene stretching from 42nd to 47th street. It is all about lights with animated digital advertisements.

New year eve crystal ball drop in Times Square is a famous event where millions of ppl fill the Times Square to witness the New Year.

More Info on Times Square

http://www.timessquare.com/

iPhone

iPhone was the talk of the town couple of weeks before. Apple boasts iphone as a revolutionary phone with multimedia, internet , camera and other facilities. Apple fans are queued up for the iPhone release in New York city.

(Picture: Courtesy Wikipedia)

My colleague Robert has developed a site for reviewing iPhones. Any user can feel free to post your views on that site. you can find the url in my favorite links section.

More Information regarding iPhone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone

Broadway Shows

One more interesting thing about NYC is the Broadway shows. It is the most prestigious form of professional theater in the US that offers musical revivals to political dramas to fairytale productions. Visiting Broadway theaters is a common tourist activity in New York. The interesting part is that i have not been here at all. I will visit this place before I move out of this place.

more information regarding show timing and schedules at
www.broadway.com/

New York.....

After fun and frolic in NYC ..the next thing that comes into ones mind is FOOD!!!!!!!!
Boasted as the world's best restaurant city you can find the finest cuisines from all countries.
I have so far had my hand in chinese, thai, ethiopian, mexican, american, vietnamese, italian, and of course Indian.

NYC is holding a Summer Restaurant Week From July 16–20 and July 23–27 where around 200 restaurants are chosen for 3 course fixed price dining for Lunch and Dinner. You can know more about the list of restaurants in the following link

http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=1713&CFID=9708234&CFTOKEN=11658059

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

New York City

Of all the cities i have visited, NYC is the one I like the most. One reason being...I started my career here after my graduation at Oklahoma State University.

New York City comprises five boroughs, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Manhattan is the heart of New York. The city has world famous landmarks like Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Wall Street.

For more information regarding NYC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

Vacations in USA

Hi Friends...

I am going to discuss the touring spots i have visited and going to visit in this blog and give useful information and tips. Stay tuned to this blog for future updates.

-Melwin

My first Post

Hi Friends

Posts will continue.

Thanks
Melraz