US here we come

Today Joey has gone crazy with bordem we started up a thing were when he insults me he owes $1, so fare he owes $17! Also people are so polite and welcoming here, just a couple of minutes ago I was in the elevater and since I am wearing my “Hollywood” jumper a guy in the lift said to me “Are you from Hollywood?” I told him I was from Australia and he was very excited and interested. The elevater stopped on the 2nd floor and another person hopped on as soon as she did the guy pointed at me and said “She’s from Australia!” She put her hand out for me to shake and I did. That was a first for me, I have never shaken hands with a complete stranger, in an elevater, and only about 5 seconds after I first saw her.
Hannah

I’m sure Joan will want to say something about our evening (to celebrate our 21st anniversary together) at the local French restaurant, Chez Josephine. It’s quite high class, beautiful decor, with French speaking waiters. The bonus for us – a big one – was that it’s named after Josephine Baker, the black American dancer of the 1930s and 1940s who settled in Paris from the US. She pushed the boundaries of popular entertainment with an overt sexuality in her movements but also parody of it. She was a staunch anti-fascist during the Vichy regime period in France during World War Two. I’m posting some photos for now. Barry

Here are photos of the Hampton Inn, in Johnson City, Binghamton – the dining room, our room, Joan typing for her blog, the view and the building. Very comfortable and good value. Barry

We had two days in Binghamton, about three-and-a-half hours upstate from Manhattan by bus. Binghamton is not a tourist destination. Its appeal to me was that it’s the place where Rod Serling, creator of the Twilight Zone television series and Emmy Award winning script-writer, was raised. Affection for one’s hometown was a recurring theme in Serling’s writings and, in one Twilight Zone episode (“Walking Distance”), Serling shows that one actually can go home again – quite literally (in the Twilight Zone, that is). (However, it can’t work out to anyone’s real satisfaction, as “there’s only one Summer to a customer”. In the real world, you only live your life once – so make the most of every moment!).

I’ll post again, in detail, about Binghamton. For now, some photos: “submitted for your approval”….

Barry outside the house on Bennett Avenue where Serling grew up.

Barry on the carousel (merry-go-round) in Binghamton’s Rec Park that featured in Serling’s Twilight Zone episode, ‘Walking Distance’. (The carousel in the episode was carefully recreated at the studio in California where the series was produced).

The carousel in Rec Park, Binghamton.

The plaque at Binghamton’s Recreation Park commemorating the Twilight Zone episode, ‘Walking Distance’, that was inspired by Serling’s hometown. The park is literally within walking distance of Serling’s home on Bennett Avenue.

Joan, Hannah and Joey with our new-found good friend and fellow-Serlingologist, Larry Kassan. (Larry, you are a true gentleman and champion!).

Barry at sign at front of Binghamton High School commemorating Serling, who graduated in 1943.

A patchwork portrait of Rod Serling donated to Binghamton High School. It was made by students from another school.

Joan inspecting the wonderful permanent exhibition in memory of Serling at Binghamton’s Forum Theatre.

Here are some photos of Roscoe, including the Reynolds House and Motel, our bush-walking, or hiking, track – and the river where we attempted in vain to catch some trout.

We stayed at Roscoe, population about 600, for two nights, 7th and 8th May. The Reynolds Family Inn and Motel is an early C20th boarding house, which has included Rockefeller and Roosevelt among its guests. There’s a motel by the house – our motel room was comfortable and basic. Roscoe is in the western foothills of the Catskill Mountains – the Catskill region is famed for being the site of the story in which Rip Van Winkle fell asleep for many years.

I said in an earlier post that we should see a broader slice of life on leaving Manhattan for upstate New York and that has turned out to be the case. Of course, we are and can only be tourists here. Every comment I make is qualified by the fact that I am only making immediate impressions. In this case, the two hour bus trip from Manhattan to Roscoe created two main impressions.

Firstly, the region is so green and lush. It’s strange coming from drought-afflicted Australia to see such abundant waterways and green grass and thriving forests everywhere. The other impression is the material poverty of life for ordinary people in this region, or at least those whose homes are visible from the bus along Route 17.

There are small towns such as Liberty and Deposit that seem to be stagnant and, in one place, it was like driving through a movie set of an old dilapidated town frozen in the 1950s. The former businesses and corner stores just seemed to be rotting, the old Coke signs rusting away. The homes of the people are like rectangular wooden boxes with windows. I hate to say it but those we saw – (and in no way am I implying, or can I reasonably imply, that they are typical in any sense) – were also quite sooty.

Perhaps we saw this overt poverty, akin to the stereotypical poor trailer park dwelling community, because it is located near a main highway. But it really did remind us that the glamour and dynamism of New York City is only one of the New Yorks (though no less genuine and real as the unglamorous and disturbing one).

Again, a hasty qualification: we have not really talked much with ordinary people. Many of the houses, including the poor ones, fly the American flag. In some cases, even Old Glory looked dismal and sooty rather than proud and democratic. Why do people marginalized from the benefits of the system fly the flag? The best way to find the answer would be to ask them. I know this only too well as a historian who has done a lot in the field of oral history. Otherwise, one can only speculate – and that will involve drawing on one’s own prejudices, which may or may not be in tune with the particular reality. As tourists, we don’t really seek out such intercourse, nor does it come our way readily.

One thing is for sure, though: capitalism creates vast wealth but the producers do not reap what they have created and the system does not productively use the resources of nature or of the people to the fullest but holds them back. If it did, there would not be structural unemployment (albeit camouflaged often by the welfare state, as in Australia). In New York City, we saw what the collective labour and creative imaginations of humans can achieve – yet there is still poverty (homelessness) in the city too. But in the rural upstate region we travelled through, we saw on one hand vast natural resources – abundant fresh water, fertile land and forests – and on the other human poverty.

I’ll step off the soap-box now to say how genuinely friendly we have found people. The manager of the Reynolds House, Louie, and his girl-friend, Susan, were just wonderful to us. Louie is Peurto Rican and told us he had lived for some years in one of NYC’s ghettoes in the 1990s when drugs and crime were a major problem. He loves the House and Roscoe, has two little dogs that are adored, and is one of the most dynamic and enthusiastic people I’ve ever met. He was very kind to us, going the extra mile by taking us to the local trout fishing pond (where the Willowemoc meets the Beaverkill River) and lending Joey and Hannah his fishing tackle.

We dined at a local pub – or ‘diner’ to use the proper term over here- and the food was, as always, inexpensive and very big servings. I had ‘blackened salmon’ which, to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. The pub, like Roscoe itself, is visited by many fishermen and deer hunters. Louie has a deer head mounted on a plaque above the corridor of the House. He told us his son hunted it and they all ate the meat over time. By the way, the salmon was just delightful – perfectly cooked after being coated in black pepper.

We had breakfast each morning in the House dining room, which also displayed historical documents about the place. We had a long walk up the hill at the back of the House – there’s a pond in the garden and frogs are common. The walk – or ‘hike’ as Americans say – follows a rough trail. The scenery is beautiful, gentle, inviting, pastel shades, thin elegant trees combined to make thick forest, very unlike the vividness and starkness, and huge gum-trees, of our own bush in Australia.

We asked Louie about wild-life in the area and were slightly daunted when he said there are supposed to be a couple of bears and a puma in the hills. The most common critter is the deer – Joey saw a few wild herds from the bus. It was funny when Louie mentioned the puma – Joey and Hannah looked at each other with a very concerned expression on their faces. The most frightening creature we encountered on the walk was the bumble-bee. Don’t laugh! These are huge, about the thickness of a golf ball (well, slightly less), with a bright yellow band marking around their bodies.

On Friday morning, Louie kindly drove us to the bus stop with all our luggage and we continued the journey to Binghamton. It was sad saying goodbye to him and Susan, but we’ve agreed to keep in touch by email.

So far we’ve found people to be very friendly and even kind and generous. In Roscoe this was the case – but in Binghamton even more so.

I’ll send a Binghamton report soon.

We’re heading back to Manhattan in a couple of hours, so better pack up.

Barry

Hi,

We are now in Binghamton, but I will leave it to Barry to write more about it here, being the birth place of Rod Serling (one of his heros). Surfice to say, that we’ve been lucky enough to have had a Serling tour of the city by a fellow devotee.

We are pleased with the hotel again, which is great, and this afternoon we visited the local mall to see if we could find anything (by way of clothes or shoes) for Joey and/or Hannah. And to our surprise and delight (and after walking the streets of New York) we finally came across both some shoes and clothes that met with their approval (thank God). Joey is seeking to replicate the rap/hip hop look and we noticed a couple of local black doudes who looked like they might have found their apparal from the same stores. Joey was even served by a black guy who looked the part which must have been a bit of a thrill (though he doesn’t show it, keeping his cool exterior).

One of the things i wanted to say, though, in case I hadn’t already. We (Barry and I) have really enjoyed writing the blog and checking for comments from friends and family, so if any of you might be thinking of travelling, particularly with kids, give it a thought. We have carried a portable computer with us and nearly everywhere we’ve been able to link into the local wireless network. There have been a couple of times where we’ve come across computers but I’m so glad that we haven’t relied on accessing these it wouldn’t have worked as well.

better go for now, got to go down to the gym with the kids.

cheers, for now, Joannie

Roscoe is a small rural hamlet. Our hosts at the Reynolds Family Inn and Motel were just wonderful. Here’s Hannah, Joan and Joey walking back from a fishing expedition.

Just some random observations, some inspired by comments sent (by Stephen and others) in other threads.

A gripe! I’m yet to have a really good coffee in New York. This is counter to my expectations. The coffee tends to be weak and too watery. I’ve waited a while before posting this observation, as I kept expecting to come across some good strong brew somewhere. I’m not craving vegemite but a real cappuccino, of the type we can routinely purchase in Canberra, would be great.

We haven’t watched too much television but, as Joey and Hannah and I love the medium, we have watched some. Yes, there are many channels to select from and it’s good to catch up on the latest from the World Wrestling Entertainment corporation, not to mention Jerry Springer and Judge Judy. Jerry remains extraordinarily entertaining… but why?! In NYC, as in Hollywood, the Spanish language is common on TV, with several Spanish language channels, including versions of Judge Judy and other programs except in Spanish with Spanish-speaking performers. Also, there are local channels that focus on state or city-based news and events, including a community channel. It’s fun having so many channels to choose from. The other night in Roscoe Joan and the kids and I were laughing a lot at the antics of Lucille Ball in the original series of “I Love Lucy”. Still a classic.

I’m still surprised at how cheap things are over here, in shops and restaurants. Stephen, even taking into account the tips or gratuities that are sometimes paid in addition to the cost of services, it’s less expensive than Canberra (and I’d assume other capital cities in Australia). This applies to things like laundry services as well as super-markets and restaurants. Also, the quantities are big – very big! And the quality thus far has been very good. Of course, in Manhattan, hotel accommodation is very costly – but everything else is surprisingly reasonable.

The practice of giving a gratuity, or a tip, had us a little tossed at first. When do we do it? When not to? Anyhow, it seems that if there’s a service involved beyond what you’re paying for anyway, then you give a tip as a sign of appreciation. We’ve had offers of tips rejected on two occasions, as unnecessary. I suspect that wage rates in service industries in NYC are low and tips are necessary to the individual worker. A tourist guide-book said that, in the case of a ‘bell-hop’, you should give one dollar for each bag carried. This tax-free income would boost income to a level considerably higher than that expressed in the official wage rate. In Hollywood, we offered to tip the guy in the local super-market after he packed our groceries into plastic bags for us. He laughed and declined the offer, saying that it wasn’t necessary in that situation.

John and Fiona asked about the flushing of toilets – does the water go clock-wise or anti-clock-wise? This is indeed one of the huge questions of our time! And, being committed to the scientific method of discovering truth, I set about testing the hypothesis that the water flushes clock-wise. Here’s my conclusion, based on tests in Manhattan, Roscoe and Binghamton. Make of it what you will. In Manhattan, the water just flushes very quickly, as though assisted mechanically, straight down the pipe. In Roscoe, it flushes anti-clock-wise. And, in Binghamton, – I kid you not – it flushes clock-wise!

Hoping this has elevated your understanding of the laws of Nature,

Barry

We’re currently in Binghamton, about three hours drive from Manhattan. We had a couple of days in the rural hamlet known as Roscoe, at the edge of the Catskill Mountains. The internet signal was quite weak there, so we haven’t posted a report for a while.

We’re in Binghamton for another full day and night and then return to Manhattan on Sunday.

There’s so much to tell and not much time, as tomorrow we’re being taken on a tour of Binghamton by a fellow-Rod Serling fan, who will show us the Serling-related sites.

I’m keen to do a post about Roscoe and the bus ride along Route 17 – glimpses of a very different America to Manhattan.

Anyway, it’s heading for midnight, trying to persuade Joey and Hannah to go to bed, so better go for now.

Barry