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Nanny and land navigation


NYC was interesting and mostly fun. Nanny proved (again) that she can do anything she sets her (slightly stubborn) mind to. 

Nanny Conquers Land Navigation

(Remeber never let the facts mess up a good story).
I love Nanny, she has lots of talents and strengths, sense of direction is not one of them.
Our second day in New York City she had figured out which sights we had to go see. Statue of Liberty/ Ellis Island, “Top of the Rock” and Gulliver's Gate.
I though we should take the bus from near our rv park to the NYC Transit Authority (NYTA), then catch a city bus from there to Battery Park. Take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Take the ferry back to Battery Park and take the subway to Rockefeller Center (where “Top of the Rock” is).
Welllll
When we got to the NYCTA Nanny ask the guy in the information booth the best way to get to the Statue of Liberty, he said “take the subway, which is down stairs” (FYI in some places the subway is 4 layers deep, lots of stairs). Nanny went into full “Conquer Mode” and off we went. I'd picked up some maps the day before, one of which showed the subways (sorta). Nanny confiscated it so she could navigate.
When we got down to the subway I was looking for how to get to “Bowling Green” (it's near Battery Park) and nice young lady in a NYTA uniform ask Nanny if she need some help. Nanny said we wanted to get to Battery Park. The lady said take Green 4,5 or 6. We bought subway passes ($2.75 each and head in the direction indicated by the signs. Down more stairs (most escalators in NYC seem to be broken).
We got to the platform for Green 6 and got on the train. Nanny was looking at the map posted inside the train, trying to figure out where our stop was, when a young lady, who was seated near the sign, ask if she needed some help. Nanny told her what were trying to do. The lady said we were on the wrong train. The Green 6 headed “up town” we needed to be on the Green 4 or 5 that headed “down town”.
Next stop we got off the #6 went down some stairs, up some stairs around some corners and eventually wound up on the platform for the #4 and #5 trains (FYI once you get in the NYC subway system, you don't need another pass till you leave and come back).
We took the #4 to the Bowling Green Station. Walked to Battery Park and caught the ferry for the Statue of Liberty/ Ellis Island (which was pretty cool).
Then we went back and got on the subway again (more stairs) and head uptown, but not on the Green line.
Side note: in Manhattan, where all this occurred, streets run East and West, the blocks are about a 10th of a mile long. Avenues run North and South and the blocks are about a 20th of a mile.
We got off the subway, went up the stairs and head the wrong direction for a block (short one) then turned around and head to Rockefeller Center (little over a mile). It had started raining, so we got a little wet.“Top of The Rock” has a good panoramic view of NYC. On a clear day you can see 5 States, it was raining and over cast while we were there. Back down to the street. Nanny ask which way, I pick the wrong direction so we went a long block, then turned around.
Gulliver's Gate is a bunch of miniatures (HO scale) of places all over the world. Probably could have spent several more hours there. Grand-kids would really love it. Lots of it is done with 3D printing. Nanny took lots of pictures. When we left Nanny ask for directions, so we started out in the right direction (another mile).
Nanny did get us, eventually to all the sites on the list for that day, in spite of her having no sense of direction.We only got going the wrong direction 3 or 4 times. Some how me having a compass in my pack and both of us having phones that could have given us accurate directions didn't come to mind.

Relevant comments;
“Conquer Mode”: My kids all know what it is so if you don't know ask your spouse. Son in laws (also known as odams in old English) you already know. My daughters all have this mode. It's not genetic. Debi learned it from my Mother, they learned it from her.
I don't if people offer to help Nanny cause she looks like a nice person who is lost or they look at me and think “that poor woman needs any help she can get”.
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