Road Trip From Miami to New York, and back (Complete Video) | Traveling Robert

[Music] [Music] when you live in South Florida like we do the only way to get out is obviously North hence our options are kind of limited a good part of the trip involves a tedious boring mostly flat Highway no matter which option you take I75 is not the worst but it goes along the west coast so it's no good for us this time State Route 27 and us one are a little more interesting because they go through cities and small towns but it takes forever the Florida St Pike it's horribly boring drive I refuse to take ever again and to add insult to injury they actually even charge you for it my route of choice North is usually Interstate 95 pretty boring as well but at least it's stall free and the quickest way we finally make it to dayona beach at around 9:30 p.m. we find a hotel to spend the night using the hotels.com iPhone app it is called La Playa and it was pretty cheap 60 bucks for the night good morning from dayona Beach Florida we wake up at the crack of dun to this breathtaking [Music] sunrise [Music] good morning it is 7:20 in the morning and we have uh waken up in this uh near freezing temperatures to photograph the sunrise today we continue to North on the east coast of the United States going to visit the S Agustin America's oldest city um what else Jacksonville and eventually we'll arrive at Savannah Georgia well enjoy the sunrise sorry if I seemed a little slow back there I was still half asleep and nearly Frozen but it is time to say goodbye to La Playa as we contined due north it wasn't the greatest hotel but for one night a comfy bed and the Beautiful and frigid Ocean Front Sunrise we just witnessed it was more than adequate we continue driving nor are here on A1A and uh our destination next destination is the Fort matanza as you can see I've been uh demoted to co-pilot but that's okay I'm taking a break moving along the A1A runs almost parallel to the Atlantic coast and we're going to be driving on this road for a while it is a refreshing break from boring I95 we pass by flagor beach near Palm Coast this Coastal area in Northeast Florida is called the First Coast for two main reasons it is the First Coast you see as you enter Florida through Jacksonville more importantly this was the first part of Florida colonized by Europeans namely the Spaniards as we are about to find out by visiting Fort [Music] Matas Fort maanas is a national monument and the National Park Service gives us a free ride on a boat to the Fort which guarded the southern mouth of the matanzas river which act to S Austine the fort eventually became a ruin as the Spaniards lost Florida and it was restored in the early 20th century one major flow of the restoration the Watchtower was originally a little narrower and some other historical discrepancies two of the Cannons are actually the original ones from the fort the rest are just replicas when they choose the location of the fort they choose this position because that was the original entrance to this body of water today you can see that nature took care of it eventually that old un let the army cour of Engineers come over and D Dred it out again it's going to completely get covered by sand made with coina which is a stone made of cross shell and it's actually a fortification that use motar from line inside we can see how life would have been for the poor Spanish Soldier stationed here how they cooked how they [Music] lept how they prayed look at the bedair and go to We Can't there's too many people up there okay a ladder gives the only access to the observation deck here we can get a commanding view of the matansa one can only imagine the poor Spanish soldiers seeing the British ships offshore our quick Excursion to the fort is over and I must say kudos to the National Park Service as this whole experience was informative Pleasant in spite of the unusually cold weather and totally free it's very dense there is also a nature trail but it's not so great not worth it really time to go but before we do that it is time to fulfill a childish whim of mind if you will I've always wanted to drive on the sand on on the beach actually will drive recommended and over here they let you do it well also back in dayona if you noticed the the speed limit signs at Sunrise earlier today but here we [Music] [Music] go [Music] we drive a few miles north to Historic St Austine St Austine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez Dees however Juan Pon de Leon was around here before in 1513 and he claimed the Orion for the Spanish Crown after a short drive with arrive the pretty building in the background is the famous Flagler College 500 ft at the roundabout what yeah the GPS sucks sometimes at the roundabout what what's up with ways that's it we're using Google Maps for the rest of the trip we passed by the San Marcos castle built in 1668 after a British attack and still stands today as the nation's oldest Fort now run by the National Park Service as the Castillo the San Marcos National Monument the GPS directs us to the closest parking lot St Augustine is famous for having the oldest drugstore in the US I often question the authenticity of these places apparently they sold liquor tobacco medicine and Indian remedies we continue exploring this H touristic town we are walking along St George's Street here in St Augustine this is the main drag St George's Street the tourist trap if you will here's supposedly the United States oldest wooden school from 1716 although there is an older claim in state Island New York from 1696 so I have a good conspiracy theory that all this is fake who knows the cobblestone streets the Cuban flag I was born in Cuba so whenever we see the flag we usually take a picture the beautiful inter Coastal View is a must do photo opportunity well we'll visit the pon Deon Fountain of you some other time because we are kind of pressed for time now so we must go on it's 1:00 p.m. time to [Music] leave North we go we decide to take a cynic Coastal A1A instead of faster I95 once again we drive for 45 minutes through Pont Vedra Beach which is mostly Ocean Front residential neighborhoods with multi-million dollar homes and golf courses very lavish we are approaching Jacksonville Florida the most populous city in the state if you only count the people living within the city limits and not the suburbs also quite musical as popular bands such as luner skard and Limp Biscuit both originated here also hipop acts 95 south 69 boys and the Quad City DJs very popular in the '90s they all came from here we are now arriving at Jacksonville and we are super hungry so we are not going to waste any time with any nonsense we are going straight to this place called the Jacksonville Landing they are having some kind of Christmas [Music] show send you a happy New Year and God send you a Happy New Year so we decided to break one of uh traveler uh rules and uh had lunch at the tourist trap namely at WS sometimes you need something [Music] familiar and The Show Goes On [Music] Hallelujah I would imagine that a place like this would be more full of people on a Saturday afternoon but I guess not maybe everybody was indorsed due to the chilly weather the Jacksonville Landing was designed and built by the same company that builts Miami's Bayside and some other similar places and one can sort of see the resemblance crossing the bridge we visit the Friendship Fountain on the other side of the river [Music] the water jets move to the rhythm of the music bag style but in this case a more bouncy music would definitely enhance the effect I think city of Jacksonville St Jones River Park and Marina well time to continue not before driving through the historic Riverside [Music] Neighborhood one cool thing about this trip going north is the change in vegetation as you can see there are no more palm trees as we continue North the trees will have less and less leaves and after a few miles we are in Georgia or should I say Georgia is on our [Music] mind we are quickly approach in the city of Savannah Georgia we're about about an hour away and um I95 seems endless I have no idea what I want to see [Music] by we finally arrived at Savannah we or should I say ways the GPS gets a little lost finding the hotel but we do get there eventually we have gotten a great deal using the hotel tonight app on the iPhone must if you're traveling like us with No Reservations we landed the Hyatt in the historic district we have arrived at the Hyatt it doesn't really get any better than this it was less than 100 bucks and of course when you get this great deal said they nickel and Dam you for everything else but I believe it was worth it and that's me and we have we have a great view of the River from our [Music] room later that night we take a stroll along River Street which has a bunch of shops restaurants and bars they have a wet wheelies which used to be one of my favorite bars in Miami Beach before it got too [Music] popular we really want to walk around but we're exhausted from the long road trip so we decide to finish the night at the Bohemian Hotel next door which has a rooftop nightclub called rocks on the roof with Life music and great [Applause] ambiance from Savannah Georgia good morning we walk around this historic and beautiful city uh we see City Hall from Bull Street which is right next to our hotel and then enjoy the beautiful vegetation of Johnson [Music] Square we walk up to Ali square and City Market which is a touristy pedestrian street with a bunch of bars and restaurants at the end of city market across Frankland Square we see the First African Baptist Church which claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America they do have a museum as you've seen the historic district is dotted with a grid of all these Charming squares such as chipa Square where they filmed the movie Forest Camp the actual bench in the movie was a fiberglass prop and it doesn't really exist bummer passing by the first girl scouts headquarters in the United States we arrive at Claris for [Music] breakfast we are having breakfast at Claris place is being here forever this has been a savannah hangout place since 1903 and it was made even more famous after it was portrayed in the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by Lafayette Square as we head back North on aboron Street we see the Cathedral of St John the Baptist it's a congregation was founded in the late 1700s by French immigrants a little further down the street we pass by Colonial Park Cemetery it's the oldest one in Savannah it was established in 1750 and is a popular destination for ghost tours it was vandalized by the federal troops during the Civil War but uh has been restored ever since we are back at B Street which runs parallel to River Street where the hotel is and there's a bunch of Quirk shops right behind the riverfront shops this is the oldest continuously operating English Freemasons Lodge in the Western Hemisphere yeah amazing the stuff you learn on the internet internets okay it's time to leave the comfort of our River Front Room as we must continue on the road but not before seeing a little more of beautiful Savannah grabbing a tip from travel Rider pire we turn off the GPS and try to reach our next destination on pure Instinct and a sense of orientation in this case I'm trying to find foresight Park which is just a south of the historic district and here we are H let's go around the park what the heck Savanah by the way is the historical birthplace of Georgia it was settled in 1733 the city maintains its antibellum charm Anum meaning an before Bellum War so basically it was paired the devastation of the Civil War the major gave Sherman meant run of the city in exchange for leaving it untouched pretty much like the French did did with Paris during World War II that's why that Cemetery got all messed up but everything else was left pretty much intact so we can see it today smart guy that mayor not brave but smart okay enough of that and we passed by Mansion which is a very luxurious hotel with a very nice nightclub where I played with my band a few years [Music] back [Music] well let's uh see forye Park the iconic overhanging trees the forye fountain which dates back to 1858 the Spanish mass draped oak trees there's a bronze bust of Major General lefet mlo in front of the Confederate Monument back there we walk back to the Fountain which is similar to those in plas La conord in Paris and we make sure we are observing the sidewalk rules of course and with that we almost say goodbye to Savannah for now and lastly we Cruise along historic Jones Street it's a very picturesque luxurious residential area of of course the cobblestones don't help with the camera stability but who [Music] cares [Music] we passed by Claris once again and the place where I stayed when I came to Savannah with the band back in 2006 or 2007 it's the blue [Music] house time to hit the road as we continue relentlessly on our journey north towards New York City the talm much Memorial Bridge spans the Savannah River between the states of Georgia and South Carolina we are driving on US 17 towards [Music] Charleston and we are now in the great state of South Carolina after a while on US 17 we move over to I95 in order to save some time [Music] [Music] our time here in Charleston is very limited so we're just going to walk along Market Street see the Waterfront and have a late lunch the historic downtown where we are is located on the peninsula formed by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers the city market on Market Street dates back to the 1790s the indoor market begins at the historic Market Hall at the corner of market and meeting streets and stretches for four blocks ending at East Bay Street this is where the also historic custom house is [Music] located from the dock we see Arthur ravenol bridge and the Charleston Harbor and castle on Tiny shs FY Island we have a late launch at this place called Magnolias which was recommended by roadfood.com is a fancy delicious Southern Cuisine but time flies when you're having fun and uh in the winter it gets dark way too early we want to reach New York by Christmas day so we must uh say AAL La Vista to Charleston and continue due north revisiting this pretty town is a [Music] must [Music] [Music] we will spend the night at North Myrtle Beach but before checking in at our hotel we are going to cruise along South Ocean Boulevard which is the heart of Myrtle Beach at this this time of the year it's not surprisingly deserted it is late December and the temperature is pretty low but it's it's very much reminiscent of Our Own Miami Beach this is another place we must revisit in the summer when it is at its prime but this time we're just here to sleep we are actually staying at a place a little further north so we're staying at the Bay Watch in the north Myrtle Beach this place is like a ghost to [Music] good morning today we continue north towards Wilmington North Carolina [Music] keep r at the fork Wilmington's Historic downtown sits on the Northern Bank of the cape Fier River the city is mostly famous for its beaches the seafood and historic plantations some amum house and other buildings survived the Civil War as the city didn't see much action the port however was very important to the Confederate side as supplies from England arrived [Music] here we have breakfast at this place called the dick Grill one of the few places we found open this early on Christmas [Music] Eve after breakfast we walk towards the river they have also this historic tours and HSE drawn carriages which seem very informative but we don't have the time on this particular occasion we must content ourselves with a stroll along the riverfront and the sight of Battleship USS North Carolina mored here once considered the world's greatest sea weapon and one of the most decorated battleships of World War II Wilmington was also the filming location of the fictitious town of capeside from the late night is TV series daon Creek this is another place that definitely deserves a less rushed visit what else is new back to the car we drive around a little bit on this Historic downtown area and then it is off to our nation's capital Washington [Music] DC [Music] he [Music] we continue driving towards New York 3 hours and over 180 Mi after we leave Wilmington North Carolina we enter the state of Virginia and naturally we stop for the photo app we are driving almost non-stop all the way to Washington DC and we are about halfway there we pass by Richmond Virginia and [Music] Fredericksburg and no matter where you are traffic will always slow down by the sight of an [Music] accident the the weather deteriorates gradually When we arrive we would have driven for over 6 hours along 370 Mi nearly non-stop as night falls we arrive at our nation's capital Washington DC continue on at 395 [Music] North our hotel is the capital Skyline very well located actually you can kind of see the capital building from our window we do a little bit of sightseeing on the cold rain the Washington Monument the capital building with the this nasty weather I actually give up on the video camera and just take a few [Music] pictures there's me and my 99-year-old car which has brought us safely all the way here this is the Jefferson Memorial with its famous view of the Washington Monument and the White House we've had enough of this rain let's enjoy Christmas Eve dinner at this place in Georgetown called Farmers Fishers Bakers after a full day of driving and the horrendous weather we've endured it's a nice break in the morning we take the Baltimore Washington Parkway it is a beautiful drive in the early morning Mist it is a shame we couldn't see much of this SE this time but don't worry eventually we have to drive back south so we'll [Music] revisit we arrive at Baltimore the amn bank of football stadium and the orol park as we reach the Hilton we turn right onto Camden Street towards the convention [Music] center we drive east on Pratt Street and continue roaming the deserted streets it is Christmas morning after all so I assume everybody is opening presents making this trip is present enough for [Music] me we continue driving along the Inner Harbor and Venture into Canton park but there's really not a whole lot to see here so we say enough wandering let's Head East on odonnal Street towards I95 [Music] [Music] North we cross the Susu Hanah River the longest one on the east coast and pretty soon we arrive to the state of Delaware and the city of Wilmington largest city in the state [Music] up to Filly we go and guess what another state line crust welcome to [Music] Pennsylvania in a half mile slight left onto South pen Square as we get off on 15th Street one of the first uh things we see is the city hall to the [Music] left we continue South on 15th Street into the District of South Philly the birthplace of the Philly stake not exactly the most touristy part of the city so we turned back North on 16th this mural is called the children of Philadelphia and it's one of the many murals against Crime these murals are all around the city and they have become a symbol of Philadelphia South Street is the invisible border between South Philly and Center City we are just uh driving around aimlessly it is not our intention to see Philadelphia today everything seems to be closed on Christmas day so we just want to take a quick look around and continue [Music] on and after a few miles we are in New Jersey sorry no pull out to take a picture we have it on good authority that the best place for brunch on Christmas Day is Harold's New York Del and don't let the name deceive you they are located in Edison New Jersey and they are famous for the gigantic portions we definitely ordered too much food Shake soup chili fries a meatloaf sandwich a hot dog what where we [Music] thinking [Music] Start Spreading the News I'm arriving [Music] today this is it we are approaching our final [Music] destination [Music] we have arrived at New York and we are going to spend Christmas evening in the city we drive on the Lincoln Tunnel crossing under the Hudson River see you on the other [Music] side yep New York we have arrived our hotel the Best Western Plus president on the right which we found using the hotel tonight app very helpful we got a great deal around 100 bucks just a block away from Time Square we park right across the street for around 45 bucks a night as soon as we get settled we get out and walk towards Time Square let's get the tourist to thing out of the [Music] way Yep this is New York no other place comes [Music] close yep that's [Music] us walking down Broadway we get a glimpse of the Empire State Building dressed in its Christmas colors the line to go up is hours long so we keep on walking this time towards Fifth Avenue this is the famous New York Public [Music] Library we turn right on 42nd towards Grand Central terminal we walk in to take this [Music] [Applause] [Music] Panorama the Chrysler Building and the metti formerly PanAm and get a life in certain video [Music] game don't know we're back I don't remember why I think we had to pass by the hotel to pick up [Music] something we walk towards the Rockefeller Center on 6th Avenue among the crowds of [Music] people Passing By Radio City Music Hall the famous ardco style theater this year the Rockettes celebrating their 85th Anniversary we try to get a glimpse of the Rockefeller Center skating rink but the crowds are just too large let's get into the glass elevator maybe we are luckier and we are we decide to go to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck since we couldn't go up to the Empire State Building some say this view is actually better because from here you can actually see the Empire State the elevator has a glass ceiling in which they project footage by NBC through the [Music] decades welcome to Top of the Rock 49 stre in the middle of the street by the view towards Central Park is breathtaking but it's even better looking towards the South the Chrysler the MetLife the empire state with a new World Trade Center under construction in the distance behind it Time Square to the right [Music] in this room called the the brdway supposedly the lights of a certain color follow you around I don't know let's get out of here before I go nuts this is [Applause] strange back at the ground level the crowds are still enjoying the magic of Christmas [Music] all the way this a very photogenic and iconic steam you've been seeing coming from under the streets is actually a byproduct of the city's heating system which uses steam naturally [Music] water and this statue of the Greek Titan Atlas dates back to 1937 as the action starts to die down and the temperature drops below freezing we return to the hotel only to spy on our unsuspecting neighbors they're having some kind of get together and after a while they go to sleep too and so do we in the morning we take the subway to downtown it is Our intention to visit the September 11 Memorial the memorial is right next to the new construction site and they have a TSA style security checkpoint with x-rays body scanners magnetometers the works and of course we couldn't photograph I don't want to get started with my opinions about all this security theater let's just say I think they're overdoing it a little bit one thing is common sense safety but this is borderline paranoia anyways on a more serious note the somber Memorial honors the victims of the September 11 attacks each Fountain built at the exact spot where the twin Towers were located water this tree in the middle was recovered from the rubble and it was replanted here as a symbol of Hope and rebirth time to get back to our hotel as check out time is upon us we have lunch at this excellent Vietnamese restaurant right next to the hotel called Saigon 48 and off we go we are going to do something very few tourists do in New York we are going to drive around the [Music] city we drive east on 48th Street and then turn left onto 6th Avenue surrounded by a sea of taxi cabs we once again arrive by the corner of the Radio City Music Hall we continue speeding north towards Central [Music] Park with turned left on West 59th Street Central Park South towards the Columbus Circle the tall towers at the end are the Time Warner Center they are home of course to Time Warner Incorporated as well as the Mandarin Oriental Hotel CNN Studios a shopping mall and theater at the Columbus Circle we turn right onto Central Park West and the Upper West Side on the corner of 64th Street we see the harperley hall formerly Madonna's home she sold it in early 2013 13 for almost $20 million by 65th Street we encountered the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and continue going north cruising along the lavish condos of the Rich and Famous The prominent to Tower a couple of blocks away to the left is the Sano home to Demi Moore Steve Martin and many other celebrities even the late Steve Jobs used to own an apartment there although he never lived in it and eventually sold it to Bono this building to our left is the Dakota where Jung lenon used to live with yokono she still lives [Music] there the New York Historical Society the American Museum of Natural History and this massive building in front of us is the burs for home to Diana Ross and Jerry Seinfeld I don't know about you but I've seen enough celebrities for one day suffice to say that in order to live in any of these buildings to the left you need to have some serious go seriously and as Central Park ends at Frederick Douglas Circle so does the luxury and it's time for me to fill up I mistakenly pulled the up to the full service pump we don't have those where I live it was a costly mistake we continue on to Harlem a major African American Residential cultural and Business Center during the 1920s and 30s there was a great artistic movement in theater literature and music called the Harlem Renaissance and ever since it has been up and down with periods of crime and great violence and cmer periods like the present it is still mostly a poor neighborhood with all the problems that come with that contrary to popular belief this was not the birthplace of the Harlem Shake as we turn right on 135th Avenue we are going into the Spanish Harlem sometimes it is cool just to stop and see the people crossing the streets the cars going by the train far away in the distance a slice of life in the city a slice if you will of the neighborhood we go back back south on Fifth Avenue and continues zigzagging East on 134th Street South sou Park Avenue which in this area goes right next to the railroad tracks we turn west on [Music] 106 the red brick low income buildings and yet another slice of the neighborhood through its people crossing the street we have turned off the GPS so we even take a wrong turn here some sometimes though it is good to get lost I mean we obviously seen the map and know the basic layout of the city but it's good to explore its nooks and crannies sometimes South we go on Second Avenue approaching the Upper West Side one of the most affluent neighborhoods we observe the contrasts of the big city from one of its poorest neighborhoods into its most exclusive one it's a merely a couple of blocks look at this nice highrise wouldn't you like to live there South we go on Lexington Avenue and turn right onto 81st Street but oops it is blocked so we must maneuver backwards not the safest [Music] thing we turn right again to blocks down on 7 9th we Drive West Crossing famous Madison Avenue we reach Central Park here's another slice of City Life little different this time would don't you say we turn left on Fifth Avenue going south one of the most famous Avenues in the city Fifth Avenue divides Manhattan into East and West it has been called the most expensive Street in the world just as we start approaching the south end of Central Park and the shopping section of this Avenue a light snow starts to fall as predicted by The Weather Service we are from South Florida so the slightest bit of snow is a major event for us it is very exciting even if the snow melts as soon as it hits the [Music] ground and it starts to fall a little harder we approach the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue the Southeastern corner of Central Park this is where the famous Plaza hotel is located and also the famous glass cube Apple [Music] Store we enter the famous shopping district with Louis Vuitton and Tiffy leading the way yes it is Tiffany from the Audrey hurn movie I think that every major luxury retailer has a boutique within this Den City blocks by the way Frido did not pay us any money for the product placement I don't even like their products we particularly admire the holiday decorations at the fendy store in front of the St Thomas [Music] Church we continue passing by cardier and the St Patrick's Cathedral which is under renovation nothing to see unfortunately we pass by the Rockefeller Center as we start to get a glimpse of the Empire State Building to the [Music] right and we continue going south along Fifth Avenue in Midtown to our right the New York Public [Music] Library here's a view of the Empire State Building through the sunroof we entered the gersy flat iron District at its heart Madison Square and the iconic flat iron building one of the tallest in the city at the time of its completion In 1902 across Madison Square Park there is the Metropolitan Life Tower which was the world's tallest building between 1909 and 1913 only to be surpassed by the Woolworth Building the snow starts to fall even harder [Music] now Fifth Avenue ends at Washington Square Park in the greenish village now let's get lost under the snow shall we it is what we came here for after [Music] all of this area is part of the New York University but of course we didn't know that at the time we turned left onto Green Street and then right on 8th Street the Cooper Union library to the right this black cube is called Alamo and it was sculpted in 1967 by Tony Rosenthal it is a popular meeting place here in the East Village we continue going east on 8th Street until we reach Tompkin Square [Music] Park this area is called Alphabet City because the Avenue names are letters for example the Avenue we are turning into is Avenue [Music] B we go further south on Avenue C Louisa Avenue until we reach Houston I mean hon it's is spelled like the city of Houston in Texas but pronounced hon hon street is the boundary between several neighborhoods most notably noo which stands for north of hon and Soho south of hon it's really coming down [Music] now we go back North on 6th Avenue also called The Avenue of the Americas we turn left or west onto 16th Street and then South on 7th and west on 11th street right at the intersection with the diagonal greenish Avenue in order to see the neighborhood away from the main streets we make a ride on Hudson and then back south on blecker Into the Heart of the [Music] village and they have a sign to prove [Music] it we eventually go south on Broadway towards Chinatown we get a glimpse in the distance of the Woolworth Building as I mentioned before the tallest building in the world for several years eventually we turn left or east onto Canal Street the main drag of Chinatown but before immersing ourselves in Chinatown let's turn left left right here onto mury Street to see a little bit of Little Italy Little Italy is basically just a couple blocks and perhaps a little too touristic I mean even the fire hydrants are painted in the colors of the Italian flag it's very [Music] picturesque then we immerse ourselves into Chinatown with feels like a different country all to [Music] itself [Music] we decide to continue towards downtown under the pouring snow the snow however doesn't deter the tourists from taking a picture with the famous Wall Street bull sculpture the bull is a symbol of financial prosperity and sometimes just optimism wishful thinking ever heard of a bull market we are actually a couple of blocks away from actual Wall Street and uh St exchange but it's getting late and I've been driving for hours we are tired and [Music] hungry I make a wrong turn and we end up on the Brooklyn Bridge Crossing the East River into the borrow of Brooklyn [Music] at this point we are not really in the mood for Sight saying so we just turn around take the bridge back to Manhattan we have decided to sleep in New Jersey tonight for economic reasons mostly besides we are going to the hotel next door to where we stayed back in 1994 a trip down memory lane [Music] after getting stuck in rush hour traffic we are able to take the Holland Tunnel to the New Jersey Shore I have no video of the rest of the day but let's just say that because in South Florida we don't really invest a lot of money in tires I almost paid for it as the streets in Jersey were more than a little slippery due to all the snow and [Music] ice we finally made it skitting all the way to the parking lot good night good morning we spend the night at the holiday in express in North Bergen New Jersey right next door there is the days in where we stayed back in 1994 we haven't changed that much have we many of my fellow Cuban Americans who now live in Miami called this area home when they first arrived at the United States many recall Union City and burger Lang Avenue with a certain sense of nostalgia what they didn't miss apparently were the crude Winters and having to shovel snow most of them worked hard saved some money and eventually bought a house in Miami I want to explore this area a little bit mainly aena Bergen Lang which is how they used to call it and the City of Union City excuse the cacophony but that's actually what the science says we cruise around seeing all the science in Spanish kind of reminds you a little bit of Little Havana they even have a Botanica El poo Supremo we used to have those in Miami back in the day po tropical put them out of business though another fine example of marketing triumphing over quality before crossing state lines we drive up to John F Kennedy Boulevard East to admire this view of the Hudson River and the island of Manhattan on the other Shore downtown and the new World Trade Center under construction the Empire State Building and Midtown the time War Corner Towers the upper west side and eventually Harlem in the [Applause] [Music] distance our next destination is a little further north we drive into the borrow of Bronx across the George Washington Bridge this is by the way the northernmost point of our entire road trip we take I 87 South passing under the aqueduct Bridge the oldest surviving bridge in the city one of the first points of interest we want to pass by is Yankee Stadium This Modern ballpark you see here was finished in 2009 and it replaced the original historic 1923 Yankee Stadium this is the Bronx ladies and gentlemen the birthplace of hipop HP music driving under the train tracks I make a wrong turn oh there's one [Music] way we make a left on 161st Street the correct turn this time it is Our intention to reach the Hub which is the heart of the South Bronx we turn right onto Mose Avenue for for that purpose but never make it all the way to the famous Hub we decide it's getting late and we rather visit the projects on Washington Avenue I know I think we're a little addd we go north on thirr Avenue until the early' 70s there was a train line running above this street called the L for elevated you may have seen any in movies we make a left on 168th Street and then a right onto Park [Music] Avenue the place is somewhat deserted it's supposed to be one of the roughest areas in town the Webster projects according to our on the go research but it doesn't look all that bad but we'll lock the doors just in [Music] case ink it seems to be at least partially a Latin neighborhood based on the Spanish sign on the Pentecostal church we continue driving along Washington Avenue in the South Bronx in this Shady looking neighborhood which happens to be the poorest congressional district in the United States they have been trying to revitalize the neighborhood after the economic collapse of the 1970s and the'80s but as you can see they still have a long way to go well maybe we should get out out of [Music] here ever since I saw the movie Warriors in the early 80s I have wanted to go to Connie Island and that's where we heading now we take I 278 towards queens and Brooklyn we take this bridge into Wards Island and then the Robert F Kennedy Bridge over over the East River into the borrow of [Music] Queens we continue South with the Manhattan skyline to the right crossing the kusco we are now in [Music] Brooklyn [Music] now on the Belt Parkway we see Sten Island to the right and the verzano nar's bridge in front of us let's stop for the scenic [Music] view the sight of the bridge is pretty breathtaken it was the longest suspension bridge in the world in 1964 and it still is the longest bridge Span in the [Music] Americas we finally arrived to our coveted Cony Island and I must say it's a little bit of a disappointment of course we are arriving only 2 months after super storm Sandy part of the park is still being used for the recovery free [Music] effort still the area looks a little [Music] rundown this is con Island apparently the amusement park has suffered heavy damage during the storm and you can see sand dunes formed way Inland the sand is probably a couple feet higher than normal the wooden deck seems some damage though at least to my untrained [Music] eyes [Music] that's it we're going back to Brooklyn hoping to eat a slice of pizza at grimaldis we are speeding West on the Belt Parkway in the distance once again we see the verzano narrow [Music] bridge as we turn north we get to see a great view of the Lower Manhattan skyscrapers in the distance [Music] [Applause] [Music] as we get closer we get a glimpse of the Statue of [Music] Liberty and as we arrive uh well don't go Google gets lost apparently so do we we try to find the parking to no avail and we finally see grimaldis further down the street next to the white building but the line is not surprisingly long and there's no parking so we keep going we settle for this place called My Little Pizzeria the pizza is very good actually at this neighborhood joint full of locals who needs grimaldis that place is too touristy anyways hence the long line we walk back to the car along the Lively streets of Brooklyn it's rather cold once again we passed by the verzano narrow bridge but this time we are actually driving on it towards the borrow of State Island we are beginning our journey South back to Florida we have decided to spend the night in Atlantic City uh to check out the boardwalk and to try our luck at the slot machines as night falls we arrive it looks like a mini Vegas in the distance we are staying at the Caesars one little known fact is that the properties in the Monopoly game were originally named after locations and streets in Atlantic City this is Atlantic Avenue for example and the next one is Pacific Avenue now we all know what Boardwalk stands for we Cruise along Pacific Avenue going south to see what's going on not much apparently must be the cold weather okay let's go back North we pass by our hotel the Caesars once again and continue [Music] exploring [Music] I think we took a wrong turn so let's go back to the Caesars and check [Music] in this is the famous a Atlantic City Boardwalk we take a stroll along the boardwalk [Music] also inspecting some of the damage perpetrated by superstorm Sandy two months earlier yeah this was supposed to be a hand level this was supposed to be the level of your hand yeah and this is I'm guessing there was wood down here yeah mhm and this is all covered in sand this all covered in sand holy well let's risk our lives here and hopefully any nails sticking up I guess we were not really supposed to be there okay oops back inside we've been told that this fountain at the scissors is like a mini Bellagio let's see if it's true [Applause] [Music] [Applause] okay it's time to say good night and goodbye to Atlantic City for that matter as tomorrow we leave towards Washington DC meanwhile enjoy the fountain it's quite [Music] [Applause] nice [Applause] so good morning from Atlantic City we spent the night at the Caesars and I don't think this gambling thing is for us really our winnings for the night oh well if you've been following our journey you know that we couldn't really enjoy our nation's capital on the way North due to the bad weather and lack of time but today we have a little more time to explore and frankly the weather is shall I say glorious we are living Atlantic City and I wonder who would do that to ANM but anyways I digress we drive non-stop to DC passing by many of the places we visited on the way North Wilmington this is K River Baltimore [Music] we finally arrive and park at the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Avenue A Mir two blocks away from the White House although I must warn you the blocks in DCA are very long so looking back towards the capital building we begin walking towards the White House the biters almost ready for Obama's second inauguration we continue walking on Pennsylvania Avenue admiring the Washington architecture passing by the treasury Department we arrive at the South lawn and take a long look at one of the most secure buildings in the world hello there we continue walking on this large open area which is called the National Mall it extends all the way from the capital building to the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument right in the middle the linol memorial was built in the form of a Greek Doric Temple the 36 columns symbolize the 36 states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's [Music] death and there's the statue of a himself sculpted by Daniel Chester French Washington emanates grandiosity with its large Open Spaces oversized the Greek inspired architecture and why not a gigantic Egyptian obelisk smack in the middle the national World War II Memorial honors the 16 million Americans who served during the second World War uh the monument has 16 pillars each engraved with one of the 48 states at the time of the war as well as DC and the rest of the American territories at the time our next point of interest is the Washington Monument which has remained closed unfortunately since the 2011 earthquake there's the White House again from the Washington Monument we were here back in 1994 noticed that there is no World War II Memorial yet the this was a much less paranoid Place back [Music] then it's h getting chilly so we go back to the car to get our heavier jackets and we have lunch at this place called The ocidental Grill fancy place delicious [Music] food we go back to the National Mall and get to see this beautiful view of the capital building almost at dusk and the Smithsonian Castle and the Washington Memorial the Washington Monument one more time the Smithsonian Castle houses the Smithsonian institutions offices and information center the the Smithsonian was created in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge today we are visiting the erand Space Museum and I'm really looking forward to this one it's one of those museums where you are seeing actual artifacts of the not so distant past such as the Alan Shepard capsule for example the first American in space and second human to have that honor the Gemini 7 the first American spacewalk amazing to see how small these early capsules were they were like claustrophobic and here we come face to face with a Cold War era Soviet ballistic missile the ss20 saber there's the Pioneer and the Apollo 11 Command Module yeah there is so much interesting stuff in this place I'm like a child at a Cy store I even get to touch a moon rock I'm touching a moon rock Viking never came back so this is the Viking Mars Lander while the Viking one and two were on Mars doing their thing this Third vehicle was used on Earth to simulate their behavior pretty cool stuff sh for the camera for color balance this right here is a sample of aerogel it's the lightest solid ever created it was used to collect Comet samples and Interstellar dust now let's go back in time to the earliest flying contraptions R Brothers weren't original we get to see different engines planes employed and the cockpit layouts from the 1940s to the 1970s to the legendary boying 747 jumbo jet the mother of all planes even to this day then we step on what I believe is a DC3 and we see what traveling was like back in the day much more comfortable I must tell you uh probably much more expensive as well predator drones and other planes World War yeah it's verer Yep this is Voyager launched in the 1970s it is traveling further than any other man-made spacecraft ever to the border of our solar system going back in time once again here's the original rights Brothers flyer Amelia aart and finally some more space stuff we got a peek inside Skylab the original space station it orbited Earth from 1973 to 1979 and then it crashed into the Pacific there is so much more stuff the lunar module the Hubble telescope you want to come here and see it in person and by the way it's free well it's time to go the Aon space museum is defitely one of my favorite ones in DC but then again I'm kind of partial to all this space stuff then turn right on to Constitution Avenue [Music] Northwest we continue our journey South we spend the night at the Country Inn in Petersburg a few miles south of Richmond a pretty good option right next to the [Music] interstat on the next day we continue relentlessly South anxious to get back home well the vacation is uh nearly over we are traveling on our journey South 995 but we still want have one more attraction to visit it turns uh the in the 1950s this there was this uh firecracker stand in the middle of uh in the border with between North and South Carolina and the engineers happen to run I95 right next to it the place became uh known as South of the Border and uh nowadays is the ultimate tourist track and we're going to get there in about an hour and we have arrived yeah it's the ultimate tourist trap all right but it's pretty unavoidable if you're traveling on I95 might as well enjoy the fall Mexican motive there's food fireworks and you can enjoy the view from the top of a giant SoMo what else can you ask for oh here we go there ni see maybe you can wait down there Mom oh no I guess he can't see us we're going right on off scared I'm scared I'm getting scared look at that big old Sun bro hat over there wow you can't really see it on obviously that little kid doesn't get out [Music] much [Music] we continue on this seemingly endless Journey riding into the [Music] sunset we cross into Georgia and finally into Florida we spent our last night at the Crown Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront we also got a pretty good deal using the hotel tonight app in the morning we depart 6 hours later we are back in the 305 Miami Florida I hope you have enjoyed our week-long holiday road trip along the Eastern United States if if you like what you seen please subscribe to the channel so I can keep you posted on our next adventure which will take place in the great land of Canada until then I want to thank you for watching and see you on the [Music] [Music] road [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Traveling Robert

Views: 301,355

Keywords: savannah, jacksonville, charleston, wilmington, washington, baltimore, philadelphia, edison, new york, manhattan, bronx, brooklyn, queens, coney, island, atlantic, city, florida, georgia, south, road nomad, driving from new york to florida, miami to new york road trip, road trip from miami to new york, driving from new york to miami, driving from florida to new york, new york to miami road trip, driving from miami to new york, road nomad usa, road trip from new york to miami, driving to nyc

Id: 58WX0wJN4BQ

Length: 85min 35sec (5135 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 08 2013