Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

No need to go to Disney to have a wild ride adventure. Instead, try the NYC subways on a stormy night.

Saturday night we had tickets to see Gypsy. My husband was nervous about getting home as the brunt of the storm was due to hit while we were listening to Patti Lupone belt out those fabulous tunes. Getting down was a cinch. We got a parking spot right in front of the subway and the E train came immediately. It didn't matter that the express wasn't running as we were in no big hurry.

The show was sensational but as soon as it was over, we ran to the subway, which was only a half block away. There was no rain and we felt we really lucked out. Lucked out, until we got downstairs and saw all the platforms sopping wet. Well, we got to our platform and waited, and waited and waited. An A train pulled in and that train waited and waited and waited. Finally, we heard "Signal trouble, please find an alternate route." This was no big deal to seasoned subway travelers. We hiked over to the R train, figuring we would get as close as we could to our destination and then walk, if we had to. En route we passed the 7 train, which was waiting and waiting and waiting. We finally got to the R platform only no uptown R trains were running. After 15 minutes we decided to try the downtown R. At 34th St we had choices--the F or the Long Island Rail Road. We had a short wait until an E train showed up. I guess all the Es were diverted to the F track but no one bothered to announce this to passengers. We got to Queens Plaza and the conductor announced "This is an express train. The next stop will be Roosevelt Ave." People scrambled for the exit. He shut the door and announced "This train will be making all local stops to Roosevelt Ave." Too bad he did not open the door to let the poor stranded passengers back in. He repeated the same announcement at Roosevelt Ave and again passengers were left behind on the platform. Although every local stop was made, if you did not move like the speed of light, there was no way you could have made it on or off that train. I pity anyone traveling with luggage, strollers or young children.

Finally, almost 90 minutes after our start, we exited the subway and found our car, waiting ready to take us home. And, believe it or not, this is not my most exciting subway story. More to come.