NYC

If you don't already I know I have been very fortunate to travel to NYC. This was two years ago in May and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the BEST trip ever!! Now I don't want people to think that any of my other vacations didn't mean anything, but NYC has always been a dream for me, and it managed to meet and beat all of my expectations.
I went with Sharon (she is going to be annoyed by my blog). Her parents live in New Jersey, and they were kind enough to let us stay there with them.
When we arrived in NYC, it was later in the evening, I can't remember for sure, but it was around ten o'clock at night or so. Her parents drove from New Jersey to Kennedy airport to pick us up. As we drove through the city, I was amazed at NY, and how fast paced the drivers were, in such a small cramped area. It was quite fun, her dad drove like a pro. Now, I LOVE to drive, and I don't get intimidated on roads easily. One year Liz and I went to California, and I was driving the freeway heading towards San Diego and the locals enter the freeway as fast as humanly possible and ALL of them merge to their far left. It was rathering shocking, but I held my own. I still have no idea why they insist upon driving like that on their freeways. But in NYC, I thought to myself, 'could I handle myself driving these roads?' Its a challenge I hope to meet some day.
Sharon had been telling me about this little shop that sells the worlds best hotdogs. So her dad stopped there and we jumped out of the car and got a hotdog to eat on the way to NJ. My first step on the sidewalks of NY, and I was completely enthralled by the sights, the smells, and the energy. By the way the hotdogs were GREAT!!
On the way to NJ her dad had said "this is the weekend where the navy men and women get a break, so they will be all over the city."
I thought YES!! Navy MEN around every corner!!
He continued to say "so be careful out there."
Yeah, two single women and a town full of navy men. I can see how he would be worried, but Sharon and I weren't haha!!
The next morning we traveled via train from NJ to NYC. It was very exciting. Yah, its a train, but as you may know, I love TRAINS and I was going into NYC!!
The train stopped at the WTC. We took an escalator up to street level. I didn't know the WTC was still a working train station. But here we were right in the middle of it.
We saw the Trinity Church, built in 1697; we took a ferry that took us past Lady Liberty; Brooklynn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridge; China Town; Little Italy; Central Park; Tiffany & Co; Empire State Building; Sy. Patricks Cathedral; Rockefeller Center; Time Square at night; Madison Square Garden; Grand Central Station; The Met; The Trump Towers; her parents were SO kind, they took Sharon and I out to dinner to a Belgium Cafe and then to the New York City Ballet. It was so amazing. Eveerything we saw and did, was just surreal.
One of the nights there, Sharon and I stayed in the city. We stayed in The New Yorker, Ramada. We were in the 29th floor. Oh and all the while seeing the sites, Sharon and I each carried backpacks that weighed about 130lbs (that might be a slight exageration).
We walked from one end of the city to the next. We took the subway quite a bit as well. Sharon knew the city very well. She had a great sense of direction. I didn't know which way was east, or west.
We went to a bunch of stores such as Sephora; The Virgin Mega store; the booths in China town; and Urban Outfitters.
Well it wouldn't be right of me, if I didn't have some sort of mishap. I am clumsy, always have been. Growing up my dad called me 'Grace'. He had hoped that by calling me Grace I would somehow gain some gracefullness. It never worked, haha!!
Sharon's parents, Sharon and I went to a restaurant in NJ. It was a nice place, fancier than Chili's but not as prestigious as La Caille. Lunch goes well, her mom excuses herself to go and wash her hands before we leave, her dad goes out to the car and Sharon and I wait for her mom. When we see her mom start to come back, we get up from the booth. Let me set this up, you had to take a step up to get into the booth, and the flooring is hardwood through out the restaurant. Now as I 'gracefully' step out of the booth, my foot 'gracefully' slides along the floor. I have fallen many many MANY times in my life, and its like an art for me at this point. Things slow down, and I will have an actual conversation with myself as I am in the midst of falling. The conversation usually goes like this:
I'm falling
Crap!
How can I catch myself?
Its not going to happen. Just go down.
Fall GRACEFULLY!
So as I am falling and having this conversation with myself, I can see Sharon's mom coming towards me with her arms out stretched to help. But it was too late, I was down, oh, and by down, I mean completely Flat on my back! I sat up quickly, and got to my feet as fast as possible. I immediatly busted up laughing, especially when I looked around the restaurant, and noticed I was the center of attention. I always wanted to be the girl that could walk into a room and turn heads, THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT! However the fall was graceful, it was one fluid motion, of me sliding right down onto the floor. Sharon had been sitting next to me in the booth, next to the wall. She said later that she looked over as I was getting out, turned away, and the next thing she knew I was there on the floor. She couldn't help but laugh. I would have too, if the roles were reversed.
Sharon is a super fun person to travel with. We both enjoyed the same sites, walking along the NYC streets, shopping, resting, and then more sight seeing. We saw it all, and we loved every second of the trip.
I love how the city amongst all of the changes, still manages to stay the same. It was really neat to be in a city that was SO old, and held so much history. The people that have walked those streets, the diversity that exists there. My ancestors passed through those streets. It is the greatest place on earth. I LOVE NYC!
I certainly can't end this blog without mention of NJ. Its a great place. Very pretty and very green. It has quaint little shops. The town Sharon and her parents live in, is very beautiful. Tons of open space, walking paths near babbling brooks within five minutes of their home. There are even invisible deer there. Only the locals see them. Sharon had told me about the deer, and how they laze about on her front lawn. I couldn't wait to see them. But I didn't have the ability to see them. I kept asking her if she could "see them now?"*
It was quite the contrast to leave the quiet suburbs of NJ and enter the bustling streets of NYC.
It was a dream come true. I am SO grateful to be able to mark that off my 'life to do list'.
Thanks Sharon for taking the trip with me!!
*Per sharon, her mom said the "deer" showed up on their lawn after we left. Sure. :)