After Hours at Bell Labs When you are not working, you may want to check out the local area, attractions in New Jersey, beaches, and New York City. Or do some real traveling! Important Links Weather MapsOnUs, MapQuest: get maps and route descriptions online Local Area Generally speaking, the area is dead boring for going out. There are movie theaters (Movies in New Jersey, Moviefinder, Loews Mountainside), you can rent videos at the New Providence mall, and you can try the mostly poor restaurants in the area. In contrast to New Providence, alcohol may be served at restaurants in Summit, so that there are actually bars, most notably the Office located next to the train station. As to sports, people gather on the Bell Labs premises for playing soccer, basketball and Ultimate Frisbee; there is also a gym at the labs, where you can do your workout every morning or afternoon (closes at 7 pm; since recently the gym is accessible only to regular employes, but this policy may be revised yet again, so stay tuned). Public swimming pools in New Providence and Berkeley Heights require a club membership. There is also an indoor swimming pool in Berkeley Heights on Springfield Avenue, where you can go swimming on Saturday afternoons for $3. New Jersey attractions Princeton University Edison Laboratory Complex in West Orange New Jersey Shakespeare Festival in Madison Night life in Hoboken Hiking: e.g. Hudson Palisades, Watchung Reservation, Delaware Watergap, High Point State Park, ... (if you are interested, look into a hiking guide!) Six Flags Amusement Park (lots of rides and a safari) Atlantic City Beaches If you wonder what to do on a sunny and warm (or in the summertime more likely hot and humid) day and you don't want to/don't need to spend your weekend in the cool rooms of Bell Labs and you have already seen all the sights of New York City, then you should go to the beach! Surprisingly close you will find a place to feel like you are on vacation: the New Jersey shore. There is a beach for every taste: pure nature (dunes!) as on Sandy Hook or boardwalk, ice cream shops and restrooms in Belmar. But nothing is free. A daily beach badge costs between $4 and $6 (between Memorial Day and Labor Day). You can either lie lazily in the sun or join people for playing beach volleyball. Don't forget a good book and plenty of sun lotion. New York City is on the same latitude as Naples! You should leave home early in the morning to avoid traffic jams especially on the big highways (at least between Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend - the official and rather strict beach season for all Americans). Recommended beaches Belmar, Point Pleasant Beach, Springlake (1.5 hour drive, but good water quality) Sandy Hook (1 hour drive, you can see the Manhattan Skyline in the distance, one of the very few nudist beaches is also located there) Atlantic City (could take some more time, but you can also enjoy the casinos and shows) Consider spending a day at Coney Island in Brooklyn! New York City So, the exciting stuff happens in New York City or at least close to it. However, to enjoy it one has to accept the fact that New York City is in general an extremely expensive place and that free events tend to be highly popular, creating long lines. It is difficult to quantify this, but during a busy weekend, $200 are quickly spent (without accommodation!) and waiting three hours for tickets to Shakespeare in Central Park is not unusual. How to get to New York City: The easiest way is to take the train (NJ Transit, Gladstone Branch) from Murray Hill to Penn Station , which takes about one hour and ten minutes. If you come on South Street from the labs, turn left before or after passing below the bridge. Check the online schedule of NJ Transit below, or better, get a printed timetable at one of the larger stations. Except if you are going to travel early in the morning, take a $9 round-trip ticket to New York. Then you can return from Penn Station or via Hoboken. You get the ticket on the train if there is no ticket machine or the ticket office is closed. If you are going to Penn Station, you have to change trains at Summit. That is very easy though. Be aware that during work days, the last train leaves around midnight. This also holds on Fridays. On weekends, the last train departs around 2 AM, but always check before you make plans. Search for small hints like 'SAT ONLY' in the time table! Some remarks regarding driving by car to New York City: Especially for driving in midtown, you should be a confident driver. In New York City, right turns on red are not allowed. Parking is a problem, more so during weekdays, but to a lesser extent also on the weekend. Avoid parking where nobody parks. Never, ever park in front of a hydrant, and carefully check any signs. In many residential areas, parking is forbidden alternately on the left or on the right side of the road depending on the day of the week. Moreover, there are sometimes posters on trees indicating that parking is forbidden due to some special circumstance. Fines start at $50 and happen quickly. You are lucky if your car is not towed away: the drivers of the towing trucks get paid by the number of cars they tow. It is tempting to go to a commercial parking lot, but that can get very expensive too, so read the signs carefully. If you drive regularly into New York City, consider getting an E-ZPass, which can significantly reduce the waiting time at toll booths. For a few years now, New York City has a law-and-order mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani. As a consequence of an enormous police presence, the city has gotten much safer. In places it is at or above the level of major German cities. In particular, during the daytime, one can go anyplace in Manhattan and during the night, one should only avoid Harlem and the lower East Side. As always, start out a little carefully until you get a feeling for the area. Public transportation within New York City includes the subway, whose stations may at first appear intimidating, but which is orders of magnitude faster than the buses. Both take the metrocard and tokens, the single unlimited-distance fare amounting to $1.50. At night, with luggage, and under certain circumstances when you are in a hurry, it is more convenient to take a cab. By New York standards, a taxi ride is not very expensive, especially if you travel in a group. Within Manhattan, the fare seldom exceeds $15. Unless you have substantial reason to be dissatisfied, you should give a tip around 15%. Also, pay before getting out. If the taxi driver makes funny noises, don't start fearing for your life. Often, he is just talking on his cell phone in a strange language. Do not expect the driver to know the place you are going to. Instead, tell him the street and avenue where you are headed. More NYC Links Sidewalk and New York Today, NYW: online guides to New York City Inside New York: offline guides to New York City. The Village Voice, The New York Times: local newspapers with interesting web offerings. New York City Zagat: a restaurant guide NJ Transit: trains between New Jersey and New York MTA: subways etc. in New York City Summer Stage '99: events in Central Park Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center: classical music etc. The Metropolitan Museum (free with Lucent badge), the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Frick Collection, the Brooklyn Museum of Art: art museums. Tourist Information Travel Preview Travel, Student Travel, smarterliving, Travelocity, IRES, 1travel, TISS, CheapTickets : (airplane) tickets, hotel reservations and more. Also consider calling up local agents. Greyhound: traveling by bus Back to the top. Back to the main page.