Wife willing to leave the DC early on Sunday.

by OnTheWayOut 17 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Okay, opinions here. It is very easy to get from the Airport hotel to the convention, but it takes time.
  You have to catch the free shuttle to the airport, then the train to Penn Station and transfer to
  another train to Journal Square. I think it's like $13 per person to do that.

  Alternatively, you can take a bus from EWR to Penn Station and then the train. I think that's like
  $5 per person, but on Friday, the bus is jammed up with people, so you have to leave way early.
  I always preferred the train to train.

  You could also take a cab from the hotel. I think that would be about $35. JW's look at you funny
  when you take a cab, but $13 apiece is silly for a family or group of 3 vs. a cab for the same.

  Then you have to get back at the end of the day, plus get to the airport at the end of the sessions on
  Sunday. (In my case- during the sessions)

  If I accompany my wife to Journal Square, all these ways add up. I don't intend to join another group of
  people, as their cars are usually full, plus I (the fader) wouldn't be welcome by then. I could just send
  the wife with other JW's, but she really expects me to be there for her- be her protector in the strange
  city. I will ask her if she wants to go to dinner with the JW's after each day's events, but then she will
  be unsure as to whether she should go with/without me, and whether I would be welcome, plus I wouldn't
  go with the JW's to dinner- too much time for them to say "Why didn't you come to the DC?"

  So, these are the questions that plague my mind. I am considering just renting a car for perhaps $45 a day
  but rates seem a wee bit higher. I could drop her off (and whoever cons her into saying "could you drop another
  sister off, we are in the same hotel?) and pick her up. The car will be almost a nuisance to me if I go to
  Manhattan. Economically, it doesn't cost much- free if we both went on the train and back each day for
  $13 x 4 which equals $52. That would pay for some gas.

  Most people just assume the bus and train would be cheapest and don't do the math. I will check out parking
  rates for museums, but any thoughts you all have would be appreciated.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Oh, what's the toll for tunnels or bridges?
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Would I be better off just taking the train Friday and Saturday? I could leave her at Journal Square and
  stay on to Manhattan ( I think I could) On Sunday, we could just take the train all the way to the Airport
  from Jersey City. Come on, NY and NJ people. Tell me what to do.
• 

  undercover

  Good luck on your upcoming trip. It's good to see that your wife is being reasonable when it comes to the flight schedules. Every little compromise like that is a victory. She's seeing things from an independant way of thinking instead of the groupthink way.

  I can't offer any info on the area transportation or fees being a Southern boy who has only been in the NYC area a couple of times.
• 

  carla

  All this expense for a dc? wow, guess I never thought of jw's flying to a dc, I knew about the hotels and all. Guess I figured they all drove long distances for a dc or liked staying at a hotel. Kind of a jw holiday.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  All this expense for a dc?

  Yes, 3 nights in a hotel, round-trip air, ground transportation. This is the woes of the
  foreign language groups that meet in only a few places within the country.

  NJ is expensive, more than most areas. Hotel is about $80 a night at the JW rate.
  Round trip air is $200 apiece. Nice dinners are between $12 and $25 a plate for not
  a burger or sub sandwich place, but we have done that.

  They expect you to bring food in, not eating out at lunch. This is difficult when
  traveling by air, so I always thumbed that. (Really, another finger)

  I never drive to assemblies. I have no problem doing it, but do you know how many
  freeloaders want you to take them along, then have them in your car to and from the
  assembly, then say where we should eat? Some have contributed as much as
  $20 for all that. OH BOY. Even as a fader, once someone hears we are driving, they
  would try to join us, rathionalizing that Bro. OTWO could be helped if they talk to him.
  Plus, I gotta be at work on Monday, unless I take another day off. I already offered that
  to the wife, and she said "No, it's okay."

  All this expense is why I want to make it a nice trip (for me, anyway) Any who would
  like to meet me in Manhattan, PM me and I will tell you the dates. If I don't post them,
  I can deny what language and what cong. this OTWO belongs to.
• 

  ex-nj-jw

  OTWO,

  If I were you I'd just take the train to NYC, by the time you rent the car, buy gas, pay tolls, find and pay for parking, not to mention the hassel and headache of traffic, you will wish you had taken the train. IMHO from a former NJ girl!!!

  Maybe the wife can catch a ride with some jdub's and then hang out with you in the evening for some real fun.

  nj
• 

  nvrgnbk

  It's only money OTWO!

  Give her a weekend to remember!