May 22, 2022 Newark

We saw some of the Newark, New Jersey city centre yesterday when we took the wrong shuttle bus. After breakfast this morning, we checked the weather and it was already 77°F (25°C) in Newark under a mostly cloudy sky. We decided to walk after breakfast since temperatures were predicted to be in the low 30s and a possible thunderstorm in the late afternoon. We took a shortcut through one of many airport parking lots to get to Haynes Street and over to Newark sidewalks, since the hotel is in a semi industrial area with no sidewalks. Well, the shortcut took us under the Haynes Street bridge and we walked out to a turn off from the freeway, but we followed it to McClellan Street which had sidewalks and back to Frelinghuyen Avenue, which was our route to the city centre. It was a three kilometre detour during which our hotel keycard fell out of a pocket. Before the discovery, we found Haynes Street and saw that it had a bridge that crossed over the train lines and where we had walked under. We walked to the summit of the bridge to get a good look at the New City skyline and could see the World Trade Center tower. Just like yesterday, the skyline was hazy from the heat. We had been up to the top of one of the former World Trade Center twin towers 35 years ago on a five day visit to NYC. Once the missing keycard was noticed, having walked 90 minutes, we decided to find a taxi to get to the hotel and report the loss. We had walked over seven kilometres and the $15 taxi ride took less than five minutes, by the most direct route. The remaining card was turned in and new keycards were issued. We were advised that as soon as the new cards were used the old cards were cancelled. After a look at yesterday’s newspaper online and some reading on my Kindle, we realized it was time for lunch. This morning we had seen a Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen, which we have within walking distance at home, but have never tried. It was a short 2.5 km walk using the Haynes Street bridge route that we should have taken in the morning to get to Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. After lunch, where there were only three other customers, we strolled through Weequahic Park, which had a lovely hilly golf course, a baseball field where a league baseball game was being played, a combination soccer/football field and walking paths. It was already 33°C by 2 p.m. as we returned to the hotel over the Haynes Street bridge. Hopefully we can have a good sleep tonight.

We received an email to complete the Celebrity Health questionnaire, which was the last step to accomplish before the final live check-in at Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal on Monday. While checking the Facebook group and Cruise Critic posts for this cruise, people posted that while Bermuda still requires the $40US travel visa, it has changed its COVID test rules to accept the negative COVID tests presented to board the ship and they are valid for four days after boarding, not two days, and the ship does not have to go directly to Bermuda but can make other stops.

We returned to the hotel restaurant for a light dinner. Although there were rain storms in the region, they did not reach Newark airport area.

Almost 21,000 steps today.