For more than a year before I went on this trip I had been daydreaming about taking another tour of New York City. I had been in 2013 with some of my friends, we were there less than two days but had a blast. There was so much I didn't get to see and I knew I'd really enjoy it. I had also heard about a Broadway adaptation of the movie, "An American in Paris", it is one of my favorite movies. I followed the progress of the show and tried to catch every clip/performance I could. It sounded like the perfect musical: romance, gershwin, ballet, all set in Paris; why wouldn't I want to see it? Eventually I grew to really want to see it, and to maybe try to see it with the original cast. Two of the leads were from the New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London. I decided to invite my sister, Gretchen, to come with me. We went in October as she has two days off that month for Fall Break, it makes it nice for a long weekend.
To my regret, I decided I would try another red-eye to get to NYC. I think it was a little cheaper, and I wanted to maximize my time in the city. Also, I still lie to myself and think I am young and can handle sleeping on an airplane overnight, when really it's one of the worst things ever. Gretchen got a red-eye flight as well. We were supposed to meet at JFK and head into the city together. What actually happened is that I got delayed from the get-go. When I got into the Pasco airport I found my flight to SeaTac was going to be late. Late enough that I'd miss my flight to JFK. I called the airline to see what they could do for me or if they had any other information. I really didn't want to get on that airplane if there wasn't anything for me in Seattle but what else could I do? I landed in Seattle and headed to the airline counter to get my flight changed. There were two people working the counter, but I guess for some reason it takes like 20 minutes per person to change a flight...? I waited for probably an hour before I was assisted. The best they had was booking me on another flight (and actually another airline) for early the next morning. I was really bummed out. I didn't want to spend the night in the airport. I didn't want Gretchen to have to navigate the city alone. And I had pre-ordered a cronut to pick up for breakfast that morning. My mom was baller and while I was flying to Seattle, she booked a hotel room for me. Something that had a shuttle service. At least I would have a bed for the night.
Before I left the airport I wanted to get an actual ticket number in my hand. What the airline employee gave me was not exactly a reservation, I didn't want any surprises the next morning. I went to the ticket counter and explained my situation to the lady, that I was being changed to her airline for a flight. She tried to look me up, spent a few minutes doing who knows what and then explained that I would have to go to the first airline to get a booking number (or something), and then bring it back to her. So I trudged down to the other airline and the counter was closed. It was like 11 pm so no one was there. I saw there were employees at the kiosks for the "elite travelers" and even though I wasn't the "elite" I was going to make them do it for me because no one else was around. Thankfully, there was a lady there who sort of understood what I was needing and she got it for me. Then I went back to the first lady and she was able to actually give me a ticket for the next morning. I am so glad I took care of this because I probably would have missed another flight the next morning. The thing about the SeaTac airport is that it is so busy right now. A lot of airlines use it. So like 70% of their flights are delayed. I have made another vow to myself not to take a red-eye ever again. Only if it's transcontinental...
Anyway, I had the joyous experience of being picked up in a sketchy white van and taken to a dumpy hotel. I couldn't find a thermostat so I was freezing cold all night long. And in the morning I couldn't get the water to heat up in the shower, so I washed my hair while standing outside it. The sketchy van took me back to the airport and I was finally on my way. Meanwhile, Gretchen had made it to JFK and then into the city on her own. I was proud of her. I needed to get to NYC that day because my "American in Paris" tickets were for that night! JFK was a really busy airport but I was able to figure out how to take the express subway into Manhattan. I had to chuckle a little, the couple across from me on the subway, the guy had a BYU "Y" on his briefcase. I should have said "hello" but I didn't. I got to the hotel ok and Gretchen was resting. She had gone to the Museum of Natural History that morning and had her New York hot dog.
Pretty much all we had time for was getting ready, finding somewhere to eat dinner, and then going to the show. Our hotel was near Times Square which was very convenient. We tried to find something that sounded good, but most things were touristy, like TGI Fridays, or would take too much time than we had. We ended up eating Sbarros pizza, haha, I know, super awesome cuisine. But it was quick. We did have time to look around both the Hershey's and M&M's stores in Times Square. They were packed. I totally get why locals avoid Times Square like the plague. It's not my favorite either. Then it was time to head over for the show!
"An American in Paris" was at the Palace Theater in Times Square. It was right across the street from the TKTS booth where you can get discount tickets to shows. I had gotten great seats for us because I had been waiting to see this show for a long time and I wanted to make sure I could see everything, I didn't want to be cheap and sit in the back just to squint at everything. The show was amazing. It had plenty to see and enjoy. The sets and scenery were pretty cool and served well to make you think you were in Paris. They used a combination of back drops, sets, lighting and projections to make different scenes. The projections, which were slightly animated, were new to me and it made the scenes look like they were more alive and made the "City of Light" look more believable and romantic. The Gershwin songs were good, they used a few more than were in the movie, the story line was tweaked a bit to add a little more meat to the characters. My favorites were the big song and dance numbers as well as the big ballet at the end set to the "American in Paris" symphony by Gershwin. My favorites were: "I've Got Beginner's Luck" where Jerry tries to flirt with Lise in a perfume shop and ends up dancing and leaping from counter to counter; "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" that had the flavor of an old school big Broadway song and dance number; "I've Got Rhythm" that just has the ebullience of people waking up from a long nightmare (the play is set right after WWII ends); and the ending ballet which had a bit of a modern flair, but was very good. Robbie Fairchild played Jerry Mulligan, and he did THE BIGGEST leap/turn/chaines around the entire stage with so much height and energy. Amazing. Leanne Cope played Lise Dassin and she was perfect. She was a beautiful dancer as well and it was so fun to see ballet in a Broadway show. I also liked the guy who played Adam Hochburg, Brandon Uranowitz, who was sort of a narrator. He sang the song "But Not For Me" about how everyone gets love but him, he almost had me in tears by then end. The show was everything I hoped for and I felt so fancy to be at a big Broadway show in the Big City. Gretchen and I took a picture in front of a backdrop and it is one of my favorites from the trip. It wasn't too late when the show got out so we went back to the hotel and shared a dessert to complete our fancy night out.
The next day was Friday. I had gotten tickets for a tour of the United Nations building. Sometimes I am really nerdy and love doing things like that, (only sometimes?? haha, ok most of the time). I don't really know anyone who has been to the UN so I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, it wasn't a time where they were having a General Assembly or anything so it was actually open for tours. Gretchen and I got up and rode the subway down to the nearest stop but still had to walk several blocks because the UN is right next to the East River. We stopped at a place to get bagels for breakfast, I was trying to be all new yorky but it probably wasn't that legit. G just didn't want lox on hers. The cutest thing was the international school that was across the street; it was cute because there were all these parents dropping their kids off at school. I'm pretty sure the kids of all the people who work at the UN go to school there because there were multiple ethnicities represented. How cool that that is your life as a kid?! After breakfast we had a few more blocks and then we were across the street from the UN complex. I had never been to that area of Manhattan before so it was cool to check out. We had to wait in a line before the guards would let us through security. There were a ton of foreigners there but they didn't seem to get that one may need tickets to go on a tour. There were also a ton of college age kids who were probably all studying foreign policy or something all there on a week field trip type thing. They kept cutting in front of us. Finally the security guards let our ticket time in. I'm glad I brought my passport because I'm not sure they would have let G or I in if one of us didn't have one. I'm not exactly sure why we both didn't need it, but since I had my passport and G was with me (with her driver's license) they let her in. It was weird. We went through security and then to a lobby where we waited for our tour to start. They had pictures of all the past Secretaries General of the UN. They only took about ten people at a time on a tour. We went with this gal who did a pretty good job. The most surprising thing is where the UN rooms you've seen on TV are actually located. When they show the complex, you see the big tall building with lots of glass. That was not where we went at all, I think that's actually a lot of offices. The building we toured is to the side and it has the large meeting rooms that you see on TV. I got to see the Security Council room and the General Assembly room. The Economic Council room was being used, and we barely caught the Security Council room, a meeting was about to start there too. I was kind of bummed that I wasn't able to get pictures of the General Assembly room as that is the most famous one, but they have all these diplomatic rules and one of them is not photographing a person who is speaking if they don't want to, and a guy was speaking about something in the General Assembly so we could only walk though very quietly. Our guide told us a lot about the UN, the different branches and their purposes; some of the rules/laws that govern the UN, it's history, etc. There were different items on display from various countries that were gifts of some kind to the UN, like art pieces. There were also a few displays/infographics about the mission of the UN and the guide would explain them. One of the most important things to me was the statue that was near one of the sites where a nuclear bomb was dropped on Japan at the end of WWII. The statue fell in blast of the bomb so one side is intact and the other side was rippled by the explosion. At the end of the tour we were in the basement, they have a post office there where they will stamp your passport with a United Nations stamp (it's not technically in the USA), so again I was glad I brought my passport! The other cool thing was the flags outside the front of the UN. All 193 member states including Palestine and the Holy See are represented with their flags arranged alphabetically. I felt so knowledgeable after this tour!
Chrysler Building as seen from the UN
Our next stop was to go inside Grand Central Station. On the way there I found the cutest little community garden/park thing in Tudor City. It's one of those things that you hope you come across when you go to NYC. I felt very Kathleen Kelly a la "You've Got Mail." Anyway, I wanted to see Grand Central because of the history and the architecture. I didn't know much about it but I didn't want to pay for/take the time to do their little tour. I really wish I had a Rick Steves lecture to listen to as I looked at it, that would have been cool. (See? Nerd.) I loved the blue color of the ceiling and the astrology painted up there. Also, places like Grand Central just amaze me because of the sheer numbers of people that move through there, also how it is a train/subway station and a mall all in one. How does that even happen? Then we rode the subway uptown to start working on our art museums. (I guess were were being super nerdy this day...;)
Lunch was a stop at Shake Shack. I knew I wanted to take G here because they have amazing hamburgers and french fries. Also, I needed some of that custard, I missed out on that when I went before. It was delicious. I don't know what it is, but that hamburger meat is just some of the best. The french fries are delectable and the custard blizzard (they call it a concrete) was so tasty. It was a lot of food, but so so good. It's probably a good thing that Shake Shack is so far away. G enjoyed it too.
Our first museum was the Neue Galerie which contains the painting from the movie "Woman in Gold," the painting is actually called Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer I by Gustav Klimt. The museum's theme is German and Austrian art/stuff. The Woman in Gold is it's highlight, they also have a few more Klimts, there was also some more modern stuff, also some stuff from WWII. It was interesting, but it is a pretty small museum. We had to wait in line to get in because they only allow so many people at at time in there at once. Also, it was kind of pricey and they don't let you take pictures of the art. But I went so I could tell my mom I saw "Woman in Gold" in real life. And it was really beautiful. I liked it a lot. Oh, also, we asked a security guard, you say the name of the museum the German way, so it rhymes with "Goya" as in the artist. I got my mom a postcard. She liked it a lot.
The next museum was the Metropolitan Museum of Art-The Met. I was so stinking excited to go here. So much art all in one spot! I did not realize how huge that place was. They don't technically charge admission, but ask for a "donation" and you can pick how much you want to give. I think we just gave what they asked for though because it was weird. I most wanted to see the Impressionists so we found that wing/floor first. I SAW IT ALL. It was just as good as the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. Monet, Manet, Pissaro, Gaugin, Picasso (only one that I saw), Van Gogh, Degas, Cezanne, all the french peeps. I had the app on my phone so I listened to some of the blurbs as I walked around. Sadly, they had two of Monets Water Lillies burn in a fire a long time ago, but they have since gotten another one, and I got to take my picture in front of it (they don't let you take pictures at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris). I got some pictures of some other ones I liked. There were so many Impressionists there!! I also loved that they had a really good collection of Degas. I always like his, partly because ballerinas were one of his main subjects. I also saw his iconic statue "Little Dancer" and they also had a good collection of some other statues he had made. Then on our way to the American art wing we stumbled across the weapons room and the historical instruments gallery. The instruments were cool, it was interesting to see the evolution of some instruments, and I got a picture of an early trombone. The weapons room had suits of armor on horses and there were flags up, so it totally reminded me of the scene in Bed Knobs and Broomsticks where the suits of armor come to life. The American art was baller as well. I saw George Washington crosses the Delaware, it is so HUGE. And also some good scenes of nature in America. They also had a portrait of George and a life mask of Lincoln. (Sometimes I wonder if there is ever anything left for other museums?!) After that we went to the Egypt room where they have rebuilt an Egyptian temple complete with Sphinxes and a pool. It was cool. I saw some pictures one time, this is where they have the Met Gala and Beyonce and Jay Z go hang out there with all the pretty people. So yeah, that's cool. We also looked at a lot of the Egyptian stuff they have. It's quite a lot. They have a good collection of a female Pharoah called Hatshepsut, so that was cool. Sad to say, after awhile, you get museum fatigue, and no matter how cool the stuff is there you are sick of standing/walking/reading the little plaques. We did get to the sculpture room and saw these young teens put on this modern dance performance. G thought it was weird, I thought it was New Yorky. I didn't check it out too much, but we did pass through the medieval collection, it looked like a catholic church. I think we saw probably 40% of what is in that museum. It was so huge. Another thing I thought was pretty cool is that they still have previous/older versions of the museum housed in the current one; ie, the very first Met building is small and made of brick or something, and they've just added on/built around it. And as the museum has grown they just keep adding on or building around it. It reminded me of in Europe how they try to preserve the old buildings but integrate the new structures around it. Very cool. After the Met, it was getting late so it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for another night on the town!
My other big goal in visiting NYC was to see the New York City Ballet. They are one of the biggest/best ballet companies in America and I was lucky enough to be in NYC when they were having performances. G and I got all dressed up for a fancy night at the ballet at Lincoln Center. We rode the subway there and came out across from the LDS temple in Manhattan! I'd been there before, but I just think it's so cool that the temple is right across from all that goes on at Lincoln Center. All those people get to see it. Anyway, the program for the night was a mix of five (I think) different ballets by "new" choreographers. New as in not Balanchine or Robbins. One of them was Justin Peck, who was the subject in the ballet documentary I saw in Portland earlier last year. I was super excited to see his original work. I tried to prepare G and let her know that this ballet could be a little different than what she's seen, more modern, not so much a story; she took that as the dancers would be naked! I didn't think they would be, but who knows? Thankfully they weren't but G does know she prefers ballet with a storyline. Again, I got us superb seats. I may never get back to the New York City Ballet so I wanted to see. But I think the Koch Theater doesn't really have bad seats because of how George Balanchine designed it. I felt all Sarah Jessica Parker (she's the president of the board of NYCB and besties with Peter Martins, the Ballet director) as I sat in that historic and glamorous theater. I loved all the ballet! NYCB has so so many talented dancers and it was crazy to see how good ALL of them were. Just like the cream of the crop of dancers there. I also was pleased to see Amar Ramasar dance, he's one of my favorites and I just love his style and athleticism. Bravo to him. Thankfully, G put up with all my ballet enthusiasm. After the ballet, I wanted to try to find this spot I had seen on a movie. You know in "Center Stage" where Jodi Sawyer gets applauded at the end of the movie? It's in a gallery and the white statues are on either end? Yeah, that was actually on the second floor not the first, and since we had seats on the floor we didn't go up that far. And then after the ballet they closed it off for a private event, so I didn't get to have my Center Stage moment. (I know, too many of my travel goals are based off what I've seen in movies, NYC especially). Anyway, we took a few pictures by the fountains in the middle of Lincoln Center, we were feeling so classy. Dinner was at an Italian joint near Lincoln Center that a guy at our hotel recommended to us. It was ok, I liked the fried ravioli and prosciutto we had as an appetizer but my chicken Parmesan was too much fried and too much cheese. Then it was time to head back to the hotel after a jam packed day!
We didn't have to much "planned" for Saturday. My goal was to visit the Brooklyn Bridge and walk across it. Our first stop when we got out was to visit the TKTS booth and try to get half price tickets to a show for that evening. It's in Times Square and they sell same day tickets to Broadway shows, usually at a good discount. We waited in line for awhile but it was moving pretty fast, however, when we finally got to the window we found out they were only selling tickets for the matinee shows. The evening shows would go on sale later that afternoon. Bummer. And then we decided it was chilly so we went back to the hotel to get our jackets, which ended up being a good decision because it was was a cold and windy day; and also we bought tickets over the phone for a show that evening. And then G decided she needed socks so we had to go back again to get her a pair of mine. So when we finally got going it was a little later than I would have hoped. We rode the subway downtown and got off near City Hall of New York City. I wasn't quite sure how the approach to the bridge would work but I figured we'd be able to see it/find it. And I was right. They have this pedestrian/bike path and a ramp that leads up to it. Not hard to locate. And then we were on the bridge! Brooooooooklynnnnnnnnn! I was super pumped to see it live and walk across it. I had read "The Great Bridge" by David McCullough earlier that year and learned a ton about it. It was quite a feat of engineering for its time and it is also amazing that it still stands and works today. I thought it was funny how after it was built it was a big deal to walk across it; it sort of feels like nothing has changed in a way because it's still a big deal to walk across it. The day we were there there was some kind of breast cancer walk for your life thingy going on and there were a bazillion of people dressed up in pink/costumes walking across the bridge to Brooklyn. So it was a bit crowded, however, it's probably always crowded. It was also cool to see Manhattan from the bridge. G and I walked across and then I was trying to figure out how to get down to the parks that are long the waterfront, get into Brooklyn itself. It was very confusing because the pedestrian path went really far into the city and away from the shoreline which is where I wanted to go. I decided that it wasn't worth it to me to keep trying to find the shoreline because we'd have to walk that much further when we decided to go back. Also, we had walked a ton in our first day and a half so I was probably a bit tired by now. So we walked back across the bridge and finished our tour of the bridge. I also educated G on what I could remember from the book I read. Better than a tour guide!!
G and I then wandered and found delicatessen type place for lunch, it wasn't fancy or trendy, but they had a variety of food and it was good, I think I had a wrap. I spied the Woolworth building so we headed over to check it out. The Woolworth building is one of the first skyscrapers built in America. It looks smallish now, but it was a big deal when it was built. One of the things I had found when trying to see what kind of events were going on in NYC the weekend we were there was a thing called Open House New York. The goal is to celebrate the architecture of New York city, so buildings that aren't usually open to the public are open for viewing and there are also lectures and things. I had thought the Woolworth was one that you could just pop in and see and right as we got to the building some people were gathering, but eventually I got told off by a OHNY volunteer that we were not welcome since we had not paid to take the tour. Ok, I just wanted to peek in, but we scattered. I think it would be cool to make a trip just for OHNY, but there are just so many places to see that you probably wouldn't get to see too much. One of the places that sounded cool to tour was a Jewish synagogue but it was closed on Saturday, their Sabbath. They also had really old buildings like the first treasury for America, super fancy high rises that are supposed to be urban friendly, furniture factories, a really old medical library, just all kinds of cool things. Alas, we missed it all because there are just too many things to see in NYC.
After that we walked down to the 9/11 memorial to check that out. I had been there before but G hadn't. I kind of wanted to go up to the observation deck of the new World Trade Center, it was just completed, but G wanted to tour the 9/11 museum, and I hadn't done that yet (it was not done when I was there before), so we did that. I did not get the city pass that gets you into a bunch of attractions because we weren't going to hardly any of the attractions it gets you into, but it would have been nice for the 9/11 museum. We waited a long time in line to buy tickets, and then we waited a long time to get into the museum. It took a long while. It was good to see the museum but it was not a happy time for sure. All my memories of that day and following events came back to me as I looked at the exhibits. It was definitely a somber experience and I got a little teary eyed a few times. I heard sniffling every so often as we went through. One side of the museum was more of an artwork/where do we go from here/actually showed you the steel anchors for one of the towers and how it was anchored into the ground (the museum is underground and they show you where the two towers once stood). The other side of the museum went through the chronological events and had images, video, sound clips and other things to map out and show what happened that day. I learned a lot more about what happened at the Pentagon, I hadn't known as much about that. I also learned about the first responders and what kinds of things all the people who were in the buildings and surrounding areas went through, how people got out of Manhattan right after the attack. There was a lot of memorabilia, tributes to the police and firefighters and a room dedicated to all who lost their lives that day and also a special tribute to those who died in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. One thing I noticed that was interesting is they did not have the iconic (to me anyway) photo of George W. Bush visiting Ground Zero speaking to the firefighters with a construction hat on. I remember people feeling very patriotic about that and Bush had a very high approval rating; it was just interesting to me that they did not include that. One of the most impacting things to me was a photo that was taken of Manhattan at 8:40 or so am right before the first airplane hit the tower. You can see the Twin Towers and it looks like a beautiful late summer day. It just hit home how much changed in an instant. How much of life was pre and post 9/11. I'm glad I got to see the museum, it was educational and definitely emotional.
It was evening by the time we finished with the 9/11 museum so it was time to head back uptown, find something to eat and get ready for our show. G got a street hot dog, and I ended up getting a pretzel. Super lame food again! But it was quick and cheap. We had tickets to see a show called Allegiance which was actually still in previews and not officially open. It had George Takai and Lea Salonga and it was a musical about a family's experience in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. Loosely modeled after George Takai's experience when he was a child and was sent to a camp. It was a pretty good show, I wasn't expecting it to be as funny and heartwarming as it was. There were some good songs and dance numbers and the leads were good. Lea was amazing as always and I can't believe I actually saw her on Broadway! Since the show was in previews we got these questionnaires on our seats to rate things about the show. That was kind of fun, I felt like a theater critic. I'm very glad we were able to fit in a lot of shows during our trip. It was so fun to have so much to choose from and something to do at night, which you don't always get when you travel. We headed back to the hotel after the show ready to pass out.
Sunday was our last day in NYC as we were flying home that evening. We went to church at the Manhattan 1st ward, so that was pretty fun. It was funny to see all the visitors that were there, but cool that they all came to church! We only stayed for sacrament meeting though, so we were a little bit heathen. We headed back to the hotel, packed our suitcases and left them at the luggage check in the hotel. Central Park was the one and only goal of the afternoon and it was a perfect end to our trip.
We walked to Central Park because it was only about 6 blocks away from where we stayed. On our way there we spied this restaurant that had these pastries in a window and we knew we needed to try some. I have no idea what the thing we got was, only that it was this twisty pastry that had chocolate cocoa and also powdered sugar on it. The pastry wasn't too flaky. We ate it on a bench in Central Park and the sun was shining. It was beautiful. I wanted to hit all those things in Central Park that you see in movies/tv shows and also show G some of the things I had seen on my first visit there. We saw Sheeps Meadow, the Dairy Visitor Center (they used to give children milk here back in the day, like an early public health effort), the carousel, the Mall/Poets Walk, Balto!, Bethesda Terrace-fountain-boathouse, Conservatory pond, Alice in Wonderland statue, a pond, great views of NYC skyline, Belvedere Castle, Bow Bridge, and Strawberry Fields. I sort of wished the trees would be all yellow and orange but they hadn't really turned color yet, but a few were turning. It turned out to be a really beautiful afternoon and was warm. Near the Belvedere castle there is a belgian waffle cart that smelled too good to resist. I had the WMD which stood for Weapon of Mass Destruction, which meant I had the works on my waffle, banana, nutella, strawberries and whipped cream. Mmm. I'm salivating a little as I think about it. Everyone who walked by us as we were eating were totes jelly. We only got about halfway up in Central Park-it's huge! I wanted to rent bicycles to ride around but just assumed we'd come across a place where you rent the bikes, but I guess we missed it? Oh well. We still had a grand time. I don't know why, but Central Park is my most favorite thing in NYC. It's just a park, but it's still pretty cool.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel to get our suitcases and head to the airport. We gave ourselves three hours to get to the airport and get checked in. And that turned out to not be enough time, dun dun duuuunnn!! To Be Continued: The Trip to the Airport that Shaved 5 Years Off My Life.
One of the things we learned as we traveled around Manhattan was that not all the trains that run regularly during the week run on the weekends. People aren't needing to get to work and they close some stations down for repairs. They also run fewer trains which means you have to wait a lot longer at a stop for one to come. We saw a sign that stated the train we needed to get back out to JFK was going to be down for the weekend. I didn't have another good route to get to the airport and I was a little worried we'd just run into the same problem of having more trains down if we just picked another route. So we decided that maybe a taxi would be our best bet. Just get in the car and get there. Our trouble started as we tried to leave Central Park and get back to the hotel. The subway stop we wanted to take to get to the hotel was closed. So we had to walk a lot further to get to another station to get a subway back to the hotel. Once we got our bags we went to the front of the hotel and the doorman helped us get a taxi for the airport. I was a little nervous to take a taxi, I'd never been in one before and I didn't want to get scammed. I still remember the doorman telling us to buckle up, and boy am I glad I did!
Our taxi driver was the classic/stereotypical foreigner, I think he was maybe a Sikh and he wore a turban. He was trying to get a nice fat fare of taking someone to the airport. But we only went a few blocks before we ran into one of the worst traffic jams I've been in ever. We were traveling east and trying to cross 5th avenue but traffic was at a standstill. Our driver tried his best to bob and weave and get into spaces he probably shouldn't have. There wasn't a whole lot of room. We were stopping and starting and I was so glad I had my seatbelt on! The driver was getting really frustrated that we were not going anywhere, he spoke with his buddies over the radio to find out what was going on. Apparently this group/organization of Muslims were walking up 5th avenue to protest something or demonstrate something. So every time they got to an intersection the cops halted all traffic. The driver was annoyed because he said usually when there is something like this the cops will stop the march and let traffic go for a bit, but for some reason they weren't. We waited for a long time. I was getting really nervous and stressed because I did not want to miss my flight. Especially after having all that hassle getting to NYC! Eventually the march passed us and we were able to get on our way. More crazy driving, bobbing and weaving, (although it was probably a good thing our driver was so aggressive). We finally got off Manhattan, crossed a bridge and were in Queens. I got out my phone and followed our progress with my google map because I had no idea how far away we were from JFK or how long it should take us. I am a West Coast girl and we have highways where we actually get places. I was so stressed. And then! The driver starts getting OFF the main highway and started driving through these side roads and neighborhoods in Queens!! I was like, WTF WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! The highway is over there...I had no idea where we were but I was pretty sure driving through suburban neighborhoods wasn't going to get us where we wanted to go. Also, the stopping on a dime got worse as there were many more stoplights going through town. I think he thought he was taking a short cut/missing traffic/or going around tolls. It was just stressing me out. I prayed like nobody's business that I would be able to make my flight. I did not relish the idea of trying to stay overnight at JFK. The driver was getting stressed out that the trip was taking so long. We had agreed on a set price for the ride so he was going to be losing money on our trip; he was also going to be late turning his car in and getting off his shift. Nothing I could do about that...Eventually we got to JFK, I peaced out and left G to deal with the driver, she had a later flight than me and was at a different terminal. I went into the terminal and it took me like 15 minutes to get my dumb ticket printed at a kiosk, the kiosks weren't working right and the people in line in front of me were not super adept at using them. Finally I had my ticket in hand, and then I had to get through security, which was not moving the fastest either. When I got through I ran to my gate and the sign said the gate to my flight was changed. I almost cried because I did not want to have to run again, but thankfully the gate was only one or two down. I had just enough time to buy a water bottle and some pretzels and then they started boarding. Phew!! The only consolation was that they had an in-flight movie on the way home. Oh, and the view of NYC at sunset as we flew over was pretty sweet too.
I quite enjoyed my trip. Pretty much everything was what I wanted to do. I am still bummed that I missed my flight there. Thursday morning was the day I had planned to go check out the West Village and SoHo. I had my cronut pre-ordered and my goal was to breakfast on the High Line. Ugh, I still want to go on the High Line so so badly. And eat a cronut. So I was sad about missing that. I also still did not make it to the MoMA but I saw lots of other art so that was ok. It would have been really cool to go to a really cool old building or skyscraper. But I was so fortunate to even go on this trip. I can't complain. One thing I realized is that even though the subways make NYC super easy to get around, it still takes time. For some reason I didn't really count that in as a factor when planning all that we could do in a day. The walking to the stops, waiting for the trains, riding the trains all took more time than I had figured. For some reason I had this idea in my head that I'd be bopping from one place to another like nothing. The hotel we stayed at was the Sheraton near Times Square. I think I got a decent deal on it, and it was a pretty good sized room for NYC. The location was great, right next to several subway stops and it was in midtown Manhattan so it wouldn't have been hard to get almost anywhere. However, I felt like we were in the super touristy part of NYC and being around Times Square is a bit sketchy. If I go again I'd like to find some cute apartment in SoHo or the Upper West Side to stay at. Of course when I make my millions I'll stay at some fancy hotel like the Ritz-Carlton right across from Central Park, ;) The other goal I didn't really do was eat somewhere super trendy/local. NYC is full of restaurants of all kinds and types. I sort of just wanted to pick a country and find a restaurant that had its cuisine. I just wanted to go somewhere and spend a little money and have a fancy meal. Unfortunately, the way I travel is "gotta see everything!" so eating at cool places is further down the list/gets abandoned for sake of time. We just didn't have the time to find somewhere to eat, wait for a table, eat, and get to our shows. So eating was a little weird this trip. I want to be better at that because I really enjoy going places and trying a local restaurant or something. G was funny because she kept mixing "Uptown" and "Downtown" when we were getting on subway trains. She lives south of SLC, but SLC is considered "Downtown", (I think it's a Utah thing, people there say "I'm going down to Rexburg, Idaho." when to me Idaho is north so I would say "Up"...weirdos). Anyway, good thing I was with her or she probably would have gotten herself to the Bronx or something. Also, confession, I bought a selfie stick at the airport on my way. I only used it in Central Park, but it was kind of handy to use. I didn't have to hand my phone over to a random stranger that would probably take a crappy picture. I didn't take it to Disneyland though because they are banned there.
New York City is something else. There is just so much to see and do there. It's not like I'm ready to move there or anything but it's an amazing place to visit. I'm not trying to brag or anything, my life is seriously not this exciting 90% of the time. I hope I can get back to NYC someday and hit up some more things on my NYC To-Do List. It was such a fun trip and I'm glad G got to come with me!
