Not too long ago my father came to visit me here in the Big City.
He drove from his house in Van Etten. I was expecting him at 5:00 P.M. In anticipation of his arrival I went to the lobby of my building and waited. He is usually early, so I got to the lobby at about 4:30. I waited there until about 6:00 P.M. At that point I suspected something might be wrong and returned to my apartment on the 11th floor to check my answering machine. When I entered the apartment the phone rang. I answered it and it was my father. He was at the Newark International Airport. Had he flown instead? No. He was lost.
Somehow on his way to my apartment my father entered the grounds of the airport. It is an easy mistake to make. The exit for my street and for the airport is the same exit off of the New Jersey Turnpike (Exit 13A). When you pass the tollbooth you have six choices as to where to go. He chose badly.
So he was at the airport. He was parked in "Lot B". He couldn't figure out how to get out of "Lot B". Don't worry I said. "I'll be right there. I can lead you out."
45 minutes later, I arrived.
The Newark International Airport is about three miles from my apartment. I have never driven to the airport and not been lost.
This becomes an issue today because I just returned from a trip to the airport. Levi's mother and sister are returning to the Philippines. A group of us went to say good-bye and to waive as they passed through the security screening. It was a good thing we left for the airport three hours before the flight was scheduled to take off.
What is wrong with the airport you ask?
The road system of the Newark International Airport is actually a psychology experiment. It is a "rat maze". There is no sense of logic to how the roads are laid out. In the dozen times I have visited the airport I have not seen the same road twice.
The airport has three terminals. If you don't know which terminal your airline uses you have to guess. There are no signs. You have a one in three chance of getting it right. For me, that means I always go to the wrong terminal. When you discover you are at the wrong terminal there are no signs telling you how to get to the right terminal. There are also no signs to tell you how to leave the airport. I suspect there are cars that circle the airport grounds until they run out of gas.
There are options for getting to the airport other than driving. For example, you can take a train. A recent development is that New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains now stop at a special station that serves only the airport. From there you take a monorail from the station to your terminal.
You can also take a bus. Busses leave the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal every 30 minutes.
You can take a cab. From Manhattan that is about 40 dollars. Unlike taxi trips within The Big City, a taxi trip from NYC to the Newark airport is not "on the meter". Anytime you take a taxi outside of the city limits the cost is subject to negotiation. You will find a number of taxi drivers will refuse to take you to the Newark Airport from Manhattan. It takes too much time coming back to Manhattan empty. They are only allowed to drop off passengers at the airport. They are not allowed to pick up passengers at the airport. Only a Newark, New Jersey taxi can do that.
With all of these fine options why did I drive? Because I'm an American. American's use their cars.
No, that's not really why. It is because the flight was leaving at 11:30 P.M.
Newark International Airport may be one of the busiest airports in the world, but at 11:30 P.M. your public transportation options are limited.
Besides, when someone from the Philippines returns to the Philippines they take along as much stuff from the U.S.A. as is possible. Each passenger is allowed two 70-lb. boxes as cargo. In these boxes they pack all sorts of things that they can't get in the Philippines. For example Levi's mother is bringing back cans of "Spicy SPAM". I'm not kidding.
Obviously it is not convenient to carry 70-lb. boxes on a train, bus or cab.
So, the dozen of us escorted Levi's mother and sister to the airport. We watched them check in. We took photos. We sat around an almost empty terminal for about two hours. It was fun. The flight takes about 24 hours. Because of the International Date Line issue they should arrive yesterday.
At least they weren't leaving from Kennedy. That's a whole different story.
