We had but less than a day in New York City before we had to head out to the airport for our flight back home, which tells you that we did not really see or do much.
We booked a bus tour that took us around the city, basically in a loop from the seaport to the key neighborhoods – Two Bridges, Lower East Side, East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Murray Hill, Sutton Place, Lenox Hill, Upper East Side, York Hill, Carnegie Hill, Harlem, Upper West Side, Manhattan, Lincoln Square, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown West, the Theatre District, the Garment District, Midtown Manhattan, Hudson Yards, Chelsea, the Flat Iron District, Union Square, Greenwich Village, West Village, Hudson Square, SoHo, Lower Manhattan, Little Italy, Chinatown, TriBeCa, and the Financial District. We crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and drove around the Brooklyn side as well.
While we saw a lot of sights, it felt like watching a movie in slow-motion. New York traffic was terrible! And because we had much to cover, we only got off the bus at the 9/11 Memorial, which was still under construction at that time. We were supposed to have three or four more stops, but because of the traffic congestion, the less-than-ten passengers on our bus had a consensus that we would just stay on and drive around. It was a hassle getting on and off, and it was a challenge for the bus driver to find a parking space. I was pretty sure he breathed a sigh of relief when we told him about our group decision. We were all too eager to go home and we all wanted to get to the airport in time for our flights.
Despite our limited time in New York City, we did not feel shortchanged at all. It was not our first time there and we had planned on going back at some point for a longer stay anyway. We were just happy to catch a glimpse of the hustle and bustle of the city once again.
After a grueling trek in New York traffic, we reached the airport and one by one, the passengers alighted. We said goodbye and wished each other good luck on our next journeys. We were the last ones to be deposited to our terminal.
It’s funny, but the best part of that trip was the plane ride from JFK airport back to Vancouver. We booked a flight from this small, relatively unknown airline company called Harmony Airways based in Richmond, British Columbia that went bankrupt the following year. It was so unknown that the tour bus driver even asked us three times if we were sure about the airline, flight number, and airport gate. In his more than ten years of dropping off tourists at the airport, he had not heard of that airline ever and was not sure where the gate was either. And each time we answered "yes" to his question, he cast us a doubtful look. It did not help that we had to circle the compound a couple of times before we found our gate. It turned out to be one of the occasionally-used gates at the far corner of the airport. "Aha! There it is!" we cheered in unison.
It was only then that we flashed our driver a triumphant smile. And as we got off the bus, he was still shaking his head in disbelief. He exclaimed, “So, Harmony Airways DOES exist! That's news to me.” And we said, “Told you...we’re not crazy!”
I guess Harmony Airways was popular only among West Coast Canadians, for they served limited destinations, mainly in British Columbia, Alberta, California, and Las Vegas, with some flights to Toronto, Hawaii, Mexico, and New York. The company marketed itself as a higher-quality airline compared to local counterparts, Air Canada and West Jet. They offered bigger seats, wider spaces between seats and aisles, all-inclusive amenities, and full meal service at the time when most major airlines removed these from both their short and long-haul flights.
At the time of our booking, we got a promotion deal and on the travel day itself, because there was a long delay for departure (which was not really their fault; there was a backlog at the airport due to the volume of flights that evening), we got bumped up into Business Class.
Not only did we get a tasty full-service five-course meal, but we were also served a cheese plate, a bread basket, and unlimited wine and beer. We were also offered assorted snacks and ramen noodles in-between. Aside from the food, we were provided with luxurious toiletry kits, generous souvenir packages, personal audio-video on demand systems for use throughout the flight for free (which you had to pay for, at that time, at other airlines) and good quality earphones for us to keep. Moreover, it was not a full flight, so we practically had the whole row to ourselves and received the personalized attention of the friendly and hospitable cabin crew. It was almost like travelling on a private jet for the price of discounted economy tickets.
Too bad they had to close business. But we sure were glad to have enjoyed their excellent service, especially on the last leg of our trip, when we certainly needed some pampering.
(We did return to New York City a few years after...with our son. Stay tuned for future posts.)
Photo Credit:
Wix Media
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