Want to know what I remember most about the first time I went to New York? The fact that the boys in my class kept chasing pigeons and my dad was getting pissed because he was having to keep after them about it all day every day.
So naturally, when we went back a couple weeks ago, we re-enacted, kind of.
Oh I also remember being scared to death at the top of the Empire State Building (because heights) and buying Oakleys (sunglasses) from these pretty sketch vendors in the park who we later watched run from the cops and then get arrested.
Yay for tourism!
So yeah.. we went to New York a couple weekends ago because once upon a time we promised Sami we’d take her this year.
What?!? Yeah. Back in the day, when we realized this momentous birthday would need a big celebration since we’d all finally be of legal drinking age (not to mention the fact that I had an allegedly momentous birthday the same year as this would happen) we told Sam we’d go all out for her 21st birthday.
Mind you, this was before we had full-time jobs and had no idea how much money we’d make/have to make this trip happen. And late last year, we were reminded of our promise.
Lucky for us, Santa (and our parents) are pretty awesome and our combined Christmas/birthday presents were plane tickets up to Boston and a hotel room in NYC for a night. Who knew, back when we planned this, that Rachel and Chuckie would live in a reasonable driving distance from the city and make it so we could get the experience but not have to worry about paying for a place to stay for four days.
Besides chasing pigeons, we actually fit a lot into those two days in NYC.
First up, a stop at the Freedom Tower/World Trade Center/9-11 Memorial.
That memorial is beautiful. It’s a testament to the beautiful lives of those people who were lost that day. I couldn’t take enough pictures of the waterfalls and names of the fallen cut into the stone around it.
We learned that when it’s one of the victims’ birthdays, a white rose is placed with their name along the memorial.
We paid our respects and took in the sights and feelings and reverence of that place and I’m so glad we got to include a visit there on our trip.
Later in the afternoon we made our way to The High Line, a very cool park in Manhattan’s West Side that was built on an old railroad line above the street.
The weather was pretty great that day – considering it’s been cold for just about as long as I can remember at this point – so it was nice to slowly make our way through the park seeing some of the sights. We saw several cool buildings…
…busy(ish) streets….
…amazing street art…
..and just a little tiny bit of the Hudson River.
There were tons of places along the park’s “trail” to sit and relax and I bet it is beautiful in the spring and it’s somewhere I’d be hanging out all the time if I lived anywhere near it.
The High Line is where my cousin Megan, and her boyfriend, G, met up with us. They’d come in from Jersey to go out with us that afternoon and night and spend the night.
So, once they got there, we headed back to the hotel to pregame, watch the UofL game and get ready for a night on the town in which we may or may not have tried to get Bryan Cranston and Neil Patrick Harris to come hang out with us..
But that’s a story for another day..
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