Rock n Roller 18: Coney Island and Impounded Rental Cars

Another red-eye from Alaska and Michele and I were stumbling on our feet as we unloaded from the plane at JFK in New York. Neither one of us had slept a wink on the long flight over and we knew it was going to be a very long day. Little did we know we would rack up almost 500 bucks in parking tickets, have our rental car impounded and drive through the city like a maniac going from one borough to the other.

We were due to have breakfast with our friend Mannie in Manhattan at eight and we decided on a little diner. The food wasn’t too bad and it was fun to catch up but the service was terrible. I guess this is how they do it in the Big Apple. We chatted with our friend for about an hour and he gave us a bottle of wine that he had been promising us since his visit to Alaska the previous spring.

After we said our good byes we headed to Lower Manhattan to see the Freedom Tower and pay our respects at the 9/11 memorial. We found a parking spot after driving around the block a few times and jumped out of the rental car. The memorial was awe-inspiring and the area around it was very serene even after all of these years. If you are in New York this is a must visit place.

As we were heading back to the car, still punch drunk from the flight we went inside Target to find a bathroom. When we walked outside we saw two of New York’s finest parking cops walking away after putting a boot on our car. Michele ran up to have a few choice words and they pointed to a sign near our car that said “parking for city council.” What?! First it was a Saturday, second why would the city council get a choice spot at a local Target store and third the dang sign was misleading. It had little arrows that said you can not park from here to here and we thought we were, there!

The cop handed us the ticket and told us we had two hours to pay the fine or it would be impounded and we checked the address on Google Maps. It was some 70 blocks away. Michele ran over to a hot dog cart and grabbed a cabbie who was scarfing down his lunch and said she needed a ride quick to the impound lot.

We jumped in the cab and headed uptown. We surely were getting the full New York experience as it wasn’t even lunch time.

Michele had asked the cabbie to wait and as we walked away we saw him drive off. Just great! We went inside and paid our ticket. Since it was a rental we weren’t sure if they were going to accept it since the ticket said only the registered owner could pay the fine and must show proof of insurance. They accepted it and we walked outside ready to flag down another cab and just at the moment like Superman swooping down from the sky here was our friend, the cabbie that said he would wait!

We made it back to the car about an hour after this ordeal began and waited for the cops to come and take the boot off the front wheel.

What a morning.

We rev’d up the car and headed over to Brooklyn to Coney Island. The stupid Google Maps took us way out of the way and we had to back track a couple dozen blocks to find the spot. From this point forward we will use an app called Waze. I love that little app now. We drove around for what seemed like forever and finally found a spot near the boardwalk. Michele said “I dont know if you should park here.” I said, “what do you mean, this is fine” and jumped out of the car.

We walked up and down the boardwalk, looked in a few shops and headed over to Cyclone. Besides breakfast with Mannie, this was the only reason we were in the city. We paid our ten bucks each and we were able to ride in the front car! The ride was awesome as always.

Did you know:

Coney Island History Comes Alive on the Cyclone Roller Coaster!

The Mother of American roller coaster culture and the “Big Momma” of Coney Island, the Cyclone tops everyone’s list of things to do in New York City. Get ready to shake, rattle, rumble and roll over 2,640 feet of track featuring 12 drops and 27 elevation changes that still has the stuff to take your breath away.

You slowly rise to panoramic heights and grip the bar tight as you go over the ledge on an exhilarating 85-foot, 60-degree plunge at speeds of 60 mph. It’s an all-time classic amusement park ride that’s kept coaster lovers coming back since the Cyclone roller coaster first debuted on June 26, 1927.

After the ride on Cyclone we grabbed lunch at Nathans and headed back to the car. As we approached we could see a little orange paper under the wiper. Another ticket. What?! 90 bucks this time. I couldn’t believe it. Michele just shrugged her shoulders.

I was so ready to get out of the city and it wasn’t even 3pm. We jumped on the freeway and headed north. We drove for over six hours upstate on our way to Six Flags Great Escape. What a freaking day. I keep telling myself its not worth the hundred bucks we save flying the red eye flights. Heck no its not. We racked up 500 bucks in tickets because we couldn’t think straight after a freaking sleepless night.

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