Many years ago, there was an attempt to start a tradition of one seminal meet each year over 2 days instead of 1 day, in places with enough to see to keep people interested for both days. There were only a couple of these before they fell by the wayside, but I decided that if there was one place to revive the concept, it's the greatest city on Earth. Day 1 was the New York part of the meet, while Day 2 stayed in New Jersey suburbia, but we met in Woodbridge to start because the first leg was NJ 440 across the Outerbridge Crossing into New York to explore the stub end of Richmond Pkwy.. We then headed east to the Willowbrook Expwy. ghost bridges on the Staten Island Railroad before bidding a temporary farewell to Staten Island on I-278 across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The tour went under the Gowanus Expwy. and back onto I-278 through the quadruple deck on the BQE, then over the Manhattan Bridge to FDR Drive north. We then entered our fourth borough on the Queensboro Bridge and took some photos from Roosevelt Island. Back off the island, we headed up local streets through Queens to Shore Blvd. under the Triboro Bridge for our meet photo in front of Hell Gate Bridge:


From the left: Oscar Voss, Adam Moss (that rhymes), A.J. Bertin, Jason Ilyes, Bob Malme, your humble host, Rob Sargent, Doug Kerr, Cody Goodman, Mike Tantillo, Ian Ligget, Adam Winkler, Scott Onson, Anthony Costanzo, Carl Tessier (not getting towed this time), David Corcoran, Mike and Laura Pruett, Connor Lauzon (behind), C.P. Zilliacus, David Golub. Click for closeup.

Still one borough shy, the group got there via I-278 to the Grand Central Parkway and through the massive World's Fair interchange to I-678 north, up Hutchinson River Pkwy. and west on Pelham Pkwy. to US 1 in the heart of the Bronx. We hopped over to Mosholu Pkwy. and down Henry Hudson Pkwy. onto NY 9A and off the last free exit to get some views of the Henry Hudson Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil. We reentered Manhattan in Marble Hill and then a second time on Broadway/US 9, and waved goodbye to each others' cars as we took I-87 south to I-95 back into New Jersey. Those not going to the nightcap baseball game went back to the restaurant or onto their hotels, while those of us enjoying ourselves had a couple of choices of routes. Some stayed on I-95 to I-78 and down NJ 440, while others avoided tolls on US 1/9 and US 1/9 Truck to get to NJ 440. With everyone back together, we took a quick stop for views of the Bayonne Bridge and then crossed it into New York to get to the Staten Island Yankees. An additional treat for all in attendance was this view of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges:


Post-game, we grabbed pizza and took I-278 into New Jersey to rest up for Day 2. We met in Edison this time and took US 1 and US 1/9 north to I-278, exiting on Elizabeth Ave. to the waterfront for views of the Front St. bridge and a more famous one...


In front of the Bayonne Bridge, starting at left (initials for Day 1 attendees) and letting our hair down a little: Scott O., C.P.Z., Adam M., Anthony C., Adam W., Mike T., Rob S., moi, Bob M., Carl T., Laura P., Connor L., Jason I., Ian L., Mike P., David C., Michael Temme-Soifer, C.C. Slater (very relaxed) and partner (standing), Leigh Koven, Keith Thomas, Oscar V., David G., and Dan Murphy. I'm impressed by how many people came back for a second beating. We went back west on Elizabeth Ave. to NJ 27 and north to NJ 28 for a peek at NJ 59. The group went north on CR 577 to NJ 124 and onto I-78 at the west end of unbuilt I-278. This long leg went up NJ 24 to I-287 and north to I-80 to check out mainline reconstruction. From there, we went south to I-280, east to Eisenhower Pkwy., and checked out the northern stub before returning to I-280 east to the NJ 75 freeway stubs at Exit 13. The tour went east and parked to walk around the NJ 58 stub, probably the largest crowd that neighborhood had ever seen. That was the last stop, but there was more to see, and we got back on I-280 to CR 508 and east to NJ 7, taking the Fish House Rd. exit to spy on the undersides of the Wittpenn Bridge on 7 and the Pulaski Skyway on US 1/9. This was during Skyway reconstruction with it closed to EB traffic, so we continued east on NJ 7 to NJ 139 and back west on 139 Upper (for fun) before taking everyone on a drive of the half-closed Skyway on US 1/9. People had a choice of staying on US 1 or using NJ 81 to I-95 as a tolled shortcut back to the meet restaurant. I don't have my route to or from the meet locations because everything was local, but I wouldn't use too much imagination in figuring out how to get to and from I-80/287 interchange. All told, I think this two-day meet was a worthy successor to the ones before it, and I hope more people run with this idea going forward!

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