My First Visit to NYC

There comes a time in life where you start to get a little anxious about all of the things you hope to accomplish. Honestly, I’ve kind of been anxious all my life. My mom says I didn’t sleep through the night until I was five and I still have a hard time keeping still for long periods of time.

I don’t consider myself old at 38 but, when it comes to all of the places I hope to get to, I’m really starting to feel like Alice’s White Rabbit. So much to do. So little time. I’ve come close to visiting New York City a couple of times in my life. Once when we went to visit my aunt and cousins in Long Island and once when my father was working in Niagara Falls. The first time I was promised a visit to the Statue of Liberty, which I still have yet to see, but they failed to mention that at this point it had been closed to visitors for renovations. I ended up leaving Jersey with a miniature version, not even a glimpse of the Big Apple and a major dose of childhood disappointment. The second time I was crushed to realize that during all that moving around I did when growing up I’d failed to get a good grasp on geography. If I had, I would have known I was more likely to visit Canada from Niagara Falls, which I did, than NYC.

But this time I was in Yonkers visiting the Consumer Reports headquarters and I was only 20 miles away. 20 MILES.

It took two New Yorkers and my hotel’s free wifi to help me figure out that I’d take the Metro North from Greystone station. The Hudson line they call it because throughout my entire 30 minute train ride I had a view of the Hudson right outside of my window. Not unlike my plane ride to New York where I had a magnificent view of the Atlantic for most of my trip there.

I cannot not even begin to explain my excitement as I stood, as luck would have it, on the wrong side of this train platform with my ticket in hand (which I had managed to purchase all by myself from a very unhelpful machine) and I was on my way to Grand Central Station. Thankfully a kind soul took pity on me and alerted me to the fact that I needed to be on the other side if I actually wanted to catch my train. Turns out, I’m not great at public transportation. But at least this ticket cost me approximately $86 less than my taxi ride from JFK to Yonkers. It’s true what they say. Big cities teach tough lessons.

But I made it. And my heart almost stopped once I emerged from the train tunnels and into the grandeur that is Grand Central Station. I can honestly say that I could have just stood here, stared at that ceiling and people watched for hours.

In a sweet twist of serendipity a long time internet friend of mine, who is currently on the road making her move from NYC to Florida, was in the city and just happened to see my post on Facebook about my trip. Without Zan I sincerely doubt I would have managed to tackle public transportation much less see all that is NYC. But she was kind enough to help me map out my train ride, meet me (for the first time in real life) at Grand Central Station and be my tour guide for the day.

I only had about 4.5 hours of exploring time before I had to catch my train back to Yonkers. Here’s my whirlwind tour through this amazing city, mostly the Westside.

Since I didn’t have much time the LOVE sculpture was all of the art I could manage. Hopefully next time I’ll actually be able to go in the The Museum of Modern Art.

But really, New York is all art and architecture anyway. No need to go inside.

If you know me then maybe you can tell by the look on my face just how happy I am in this moment. The only thing that could possibly have made it any better would have been being here for Christmastime. My dream is to come for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and stay for the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center. But at least now I’ve actually seen it. Even if all I had time to do was snap this picture and move on.

This is me happily stumbling upon the Mackenzie Child’s store.

Who’d have thought that a simple, yet bold checkerboard tempered by a passionate artistic spirit would have turned into all of this! Something tells me that I’d really love the real life Victoria Mackenzie-Childs. It’s probably the hair.

My one mission on this trip was to appease the two little munchkins that felt completely betrayed by, not only my absence, but also for making this monumental trip without them. So what else is a guilt ridden mom to do but shop at FAO Schwarz?

First stop Lego store!

Pictures of iconic NY characters made entirely from Legos were optional.

But the giant piano was not. We’ve all seen, and loved, the movie ‘Big’.  So naturally I had to purchase them one and in doing so I learned two things 1) A giant piano, even neatly folded and therefore much smaller, is frowned upon during air travel and 2) the word schlep. As in what I did for the next 30 blocks after buying the thing and having so much more to see. {To be fair, it was actually Zan who schlepped the piano.}

But the smiles on their faces when I got home was worth all the schlepping in the world.

Something else I’d like to do if (let’s think positive) when I come back is check out the Rockettes’ Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall . On this day I was content just to snap a photo.

And then it happened. My friend Zan had led me expertly through the streets of Manhattan on a trajectory with Times Square but not until the magic hour. Not until it was dark enough out that I could appreciate the artificial daylight that is Times Square. And it did not disappoint. I now know why people get mugged in the city. We are all preoccupied with looking up at all the pretty lights and buildings. For the record, I did not get mugged.

I am told I have a career in jazz hands. I don’t know about that but I was feeling pretty jazzy by the time we made it to Broadway.

I loved (and equally hated) the sad but sweet story of the Elephant Man growing up. This one stars Bradley Cooper. Next time I hope to actually get to watch a show.

It wasn’t until I was editing this quickly snapped photo of my visit that I realized that Rupert Grint’s name is on the sign outside of the Schoenfeld. It is probably for the best because if I had had any hope of running into Ron Weasley on the streets of NYC it would probably have been too much for my nerdy little heart to take.

I don’t know what it is about New York City that draws me in. I found it more exciting and more intimidating even than international travel. Probably because it is so iconic to me and I have wanted for more than half of my life to be there. I find myself looking back on my photos and wishing I was there again, just like I do with my Toronto pictures. I am grateful to the kind NYPD officer who waited with me in the dark at my train station while I waited for my hotel shuttle and I hope he gets to make it back to Savannah some day with the kids. And to my new friend Michael, the ‘edited for content producer’ at MTV Times Square, whom I met on the airport shuttle back to JFK Halloween morning, I hope his first flight in 20 years was uneventful and that he gets to take that Daddy’s day off vakay every now and again.

And as for me? Next stop London, baby!

 

**For more info on my friend Zan, my unofficial NYC tour guide, fellow Libra, dreadhead, folk artist and wanderlust soul please visit her blog Beyond Vagabond.