The smoking remnants of a Greyhound bus. One could wish...(Image via NYTimes.com)
So we were all packed up and ready to hit the road on the morning of June 30th. We arrived in Minneapolis and had a quick meal at the Hard Rock Cafe across the street from 1st Avenue/7th Street Entry at around 11:30am then went over to the bus depot to get in line to get a prime spot on the bus where we could keep our luggage with us. Around 1:40 PM we boarded the bus and took our pick of the seats we we preferred and settled in. The bus left just a few minutes later than scheduled.
As we rolled on for the first few hours things were OK. I read the latest issue of Clasic Rock magazine. The Gorgeous One listened to some music on her CD player. We arrived in Tomah, WI around 5:00pm and stopped at a McDonalds. 30 minutes later we were back on the bus and rolling through Wisconsin on our way to Madison where we dropped off a few people and picked up a few more. Then off to Milwaukee. We arrived there on time - around 8:50pm. Dropped some people off, picked some people up. During the quick trip down to Chicago, I think we both slept a bit until we got about 15 minutes from downtown. We woke up and arrived a few minutes later at the Greyhound Station in Chicago about 11:10pm. Our thus-far problem free journey was about to run into a major snag. Plus there were some extremely annoying kids (and adults too!) on this bus running around, making too much noise, utilizing the bus bathroom as a play area, seemingly of no concern to their parents.
The bus driver tells us "For those continuing on to Cleveland," which was part of our itinerary, "go to gate 7 - the bus will be laving in about 15 minutes." We grab our luggage off the bus as this was where we transferred to another coach, and head over to gate 7. We arrive...and there is nobody there. There is no bus there either. I tell the Gorgeous One to wait there a minute while I ask the guy at the information desk what's up with that. So I ask the guy and he is kind of a dick about the whole thing. He tells me, in an upleasant tone, to go ask the driver of the bus parked at like gate 26 or something. I tell him it's not a Greyhound out there - it's a Trail-Ways bus or something, and he tells me "Look, how many buses do you see out there?" I'm all like, "Huh?!?" and he WALKS AWAY from me! So I go back over and explain to my lovely companion that this guy is a class A douche and I will try again in a minute. At this point I'm thinking several not-so-nice thoughts about the way Greyhound is running their business in Chicago. It's almost always nearly a complete madhouse whenever I'm there. It's safe to say confusion reigns supreme at the Chicago Greyhound Depot.
This other lady comes up to the information desk - I explain to her what is happening and ask her where we're supposed to get our bus - which gate? She informs me that "The schedule for thatNew York City route has been changed...next bus leaves here............at...........3:40am." It's currently 11:20pm. So we're looking at a 4 HOUR layover in Chicago. Not how we wanted to start our trip. A few not-so-nice words are exchanged between me any my travel partner and we settle in to wait it out. I call our hotel in NYC and explain that we have been delayed and will be arriving much later than planned and that they should hold our room for us. The helpful lady on the other end of the phone assures me it's no problem. At midnight, June 30th turns into July 1st and after what seems like an eternity, the four hours have gone by and we find ourselves boarding a bus for the next leg of our trip at 3:40am, now delayed at least four hours - plus a few more because of the new route we are going to take: we will have a few longer layovers than planned in other cities.
We roll through Indianapolis at 8:05 am for a one hour and 40 minute layover. Then back on the bus. Next stop, Columbus, OH at 1:35pm. We are running about an additional half-hour behind by the time we arrive in Columbus. They have a nice restaurant at the bus depot there where you can get a pretty decent cheese burger and fries. Eat quickly then back on the bus...
We arrive in Pittsburg sometime just after 7:00pm for a 50 minute layover that turns into well over an hour by the time we get back on the bus again around 8:15pm. We have a 20 minute meal stop at around 10:30pm in the middle of Pennsylvania. At midnight, July 1st turns into July 2nd and we are still running a bit behind schedule when we arrive on the other side of Pennsylvania for a brief stop in Harrisburg and then finally we arrive in Philadelphia at around 2:30 am. After a 20 minute stop in Philly, it's back on the bus for the final two hours to New York City.
We finally arrived in New York City at 4:25am on July 2nd. The trip that had originally been scheduled for 33 hours had taken 40 hours instead. We'd missed an entire evening of sleep in our hotel that we were paying good money for. I was a bit pissed about that whole situation but there wasn't much that could be done except get over it and enjoy our vacation now that we had finally arrived in the city.
We hopped off the bus, excited to finally have arrived at our destination. After months of planning and saving, NYC was finally a reality for us. We exited the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 8th Ave. and 42nd Street and walked a few blocks East and then about 9 blocks south to our hotel, stopping for a bit to sip cold Ginger Ale at one of the tables in the pedestrian plaza at Herald Square near our hotel at the ungodly hour of 4:45 am as the sun began to rise over the East River.
A short while later, after stopping in at a Duane Reed for some supplies, we were checked in short order at the front desk of the Hotel Radisson Martinique - located at the corner of 32nd Street and Broadway near Herald Square. We were really, finally here. We hopped the elevator and went up to our room, on the 17th floor (or "Penthouse 1 Level"). We'd been upgraded...very nicely upgraded, to a better room for no additional charge. It made all the travel hassels seem almost worth it. We settled in for a while, turned on the local morning news on TV and unpacked and cleaned up a bit and then headed out and enjoy our first full day in New York City...
...to be continued.
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