NYC was the #1 American city on my bucket list to see. So when I got the invitation to Sam and Mindy's wedding taking place in Jersey City, I knew I couldn't pass a New York adventure up. I meant to blog this trip as I went, but being super busy and the wifi being so unreliable, I'm doing it all now but I'll break it up so it's not one long exhausting read. And here we go!
The first day was all driving. Yes I drove 7ish hours to Manhattan. That's probably something I won't do again. Not because of the long drive but because driving and parking in Manhattan is a nightmare. Driving through Ohio wasn't and issue. Many long, flat roads, steadily moving cars and the occasional 18-wheeler wall or two.
The majority of the drive was spent going across the state of PA, end to end. This is where the trip go sluggish because when you drive through different states, the roads, the scenery, the whole atmosphere changes. But driving a state like PA end to end can get boring. Especially when you hit all the construction because you're driving one highway the entire time. The worst of it came in the central part of the state where they were doing construction for 15 miles and had only one lane open. That extended my travel time by 45 min. I was not a happy camper.
Once I finally exited PA, New Jersey was a breath of fresh air. The overcast skies were gone, the road became four lanes of freshly redone, well constructed asphalt with lush trees and exotic rock formations to drive through. I felt kinda like I was driving in California.
Finally, I saw the NYC skyline and my heart jumped for joy. I can't describe how excited I was. But as quickly as it came, it had to be put on hold. I was now entering NYC and had to deal with dense traffic, aggressive driving, horns, and chaos. I learned to drive rough real quick. When I reached the neighborhood of the Airbnb I was staying at, I thought I was finally in the clear...nope. Now came one of the world's most difficult tasks: trying to park in NYC. The first challenge is finding a spot. After you spend a half hour doing so, the next challenge becomes making sure whether or not it's legal. Oh look a spot! Nope. Hotel loading zone. Maybe here? Nope. Fire hydrant. Here? Garage entrance. How about here? Only up to this sign, anything past that get's a ticket. Here only certain times of the day and days of the week. It goes on and on and on.
I had one more funny experience that day. I called my Airbnb host to let her know I was going to be there soon. The thing is, she's only been in the country 7 months from Russia and speaks basic English. She couldn't understand most things I was saying and hung up on me. I thought "this week is going to be interesting indeed."
Day 2: Some things you have to experience for yourself. I don't know how anyone sleeps in this city. I fell asleep at 1am or so and was woken up at 4am by blaring music, random fireworks, and the very melodious car horn. I phased in out of sleep until finally getting up at 8am. I'm almost never up this early in the summer, so I decided to grab breakfast. I left the apartment and wandered around upper Manhattan. In a city like this, signage seems to be more popular then ads. "No parking", "No standing", "No house trash or business trash $100 fine", "One Way", "Photo Enforced" "No parking Mon and Thurs 11am-12:30pm", and it went on and on. Then I saw a McDonald's and went in. I entered a room of mild chaos. Two people were trying to order, an old woman with no teeth was shouting and talking like a teenager and barely comprehensible, and an impatient man was barking for some jelly. Welcome to New York.
My first destination was Central Park. I was 50 blocks away so I took a subway. Thirty-Two dollars for a week long unlimited pass was an amazing deal. I made that money well worth it. Once I finally saw the vast amount of green amidst all the steel, concrete, and asphalt, I began to wander. I headed south and made my way towards a geocache. This was more of a challenge than the ones I find in Ohio because people are everywhere. But my expert stealth skills allowed me to climb the rocks and down to where it was hidden. I signed my name and moved on. As I meandered on I came across the elegant Shakespeare gardens and the Belvedere Castle. The castle isn't that big, but it is a castle nonetheless and gives you a sweet view of part the Manhattan skyline.
After I took those touristy pictures, I kept wandering with no particular spot in mind, but each time I came across a sculpture, I went to admire it. The first was Alice in Wonderland. I had to wait for a hoard of kids to take a group picture and dismount it before I got my poorly taken selfie with the Mad Hatter (I hate taking selfies but I was in NYC so what the heck?) I ran into Hans Christian Anderson next (creator of the Little Mermaid). The third sculpture caught me by surprise, but when I saw it, a swarm of childhood memories came back to me. The statue was of the legendary sled dog Balto who delivered much needed medicine in a snow storm across Alaska that saved many children. I saw the movie as a kid and loved it. At the end of the movie, they have the main character in real life visit this exact statue in Central Park. I was in awe.
I only made it through the lower half because I left to meet Sam Chen for lunch at Shake Shack. He then gave me free tickets to the Metropolitan Museum. Holy cow batman! That place is huge! I spent 3ish hours in there and still didn't see it all. There was an entire room that contained an almost complete Egyptian temple, and entire wall dedicated to a massive George Washington crossing the Delaware painting, and an entire rooftop with a garden and bar. It's a must see museum for sure.
To end the day, I hopped on a subway and headed to the Bronx to see a ball game at the historic Yankee Stadium. The Stadium is beautiful and I had front row bleacher seats. The fans, however, don't have heart like Cleveland fans do. They were heckling more than cheering. Half of my section left before the game ended and the Yankees were winning! The fans didn't even stand up or get into it until the very last strike. They let out a 30 second cheer then left the stadium. Besides them, the game was worth it. I had my doubts about taking a subway for 20 min and then walking five blocks after midnight. But there were so many people and I didn't get approached, harassed, or bothered once. Not that I wasn't careful and alert, but my nerves were eased for the week. And this is just the first full day folks.
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