Bright lights, Big city

Wow. What a weekend.

I am decompressing at the airport, waiting for my flight back to Charleston from New York City. Steph, who adopted me into her family when I was in Michigan, invited me to visit her in the Big City for a few days. I had a Delta flight credit and a free weekend. Easy decision, eh?

Friday co-worker Jim dropped me off at CHS. By dinner time I was boarding a bus with a couple of Catalan tourists for downtown. We said Adios at Lexington Ave, where I grabbed the 6 train for the Upper East Side. Steph's boyfriend, Dave, has an apartment (with a very comfortable guest room) in that super sweet neighborhood. Everything you could want within a few blocks. We grabbed burgers at Bareburger and shot some pool at the East End. We were falling asleep by the end of the movie we put on when we got home, and collapsed into bed by midnight. Do you know what a treat it was to sleep without air conditioning? I don't remember the last time I slept so well!

Welcome to Grand Central!

Blurry, but you can kinda see the cool constellations on the ceiling!

After breaking our fast, Steph and I headed to midtown via Grand Central Station. I had the strongest feeling of adventure walking through the halls, like each marble arch we passed had the potential to bring me to a new world. Magical. We met back up with Dave at the PWC office (he volunteers with a mentoring program on Saturday mornings) and he and Steph showed me the skyline from their office, complete with a glimpse of the statue of liberty through the downtown skyline. After lunch with some of Dave's mentoring team we wandered past the library and Rockefeller plaza to Times Square. 

There were masses of people waiting for show tickets, in lines for matinees, waiting to cross the street, waiting for the stage in the middle to be occupied by Korean martial artists... people everywhere. We ditched the crowd and found an Irish pub (actually run by Irishwomen!) to watch the Michigan game.

5 minutes later we were cheering on the Blue and Maize :)

Dinner was at a wonderful Mexican restaurant called Mole. I didn't come close to finishing the delicious pot of grilled meats and veggies - pork, pollo, carne asada, cactus- put in front of me. Next time i visit, I'll treat it as a challenge and not let it best me ;-) it was a short walk back to Dave's place, and once again we we dozed off watching a movie.

a Walk in the Park

I appreciated the lazy Sunday start to the day, dozing in the cool and quiet before pulling myself together and heading to breakfast at the Mansion (more like brunch by the time we rolled in ;). We took coffee to go and wandered through Carl Shurz Park on the east river, then up to Central Park. If there's any place to really get an idea of how big just Manhattan is, wandering the beautiful park in the center of town is it. The colours were just starting to change, children were running around on the playgrounds, miniature sailboats were zipping over the sailing pond... all while horse drawn carriages and rickshaws and runners zipped along the highways. It felt so livable,a sort of living room for the city. People out enjoying each others company on a cool fall day. Absolutely perfect.

Sailboats on the pond

From Columbus Circle at the south end of the park we made our way to glitzy 5th Ave. Steph pointed out the Tiffany's as we wandered by, and I felt as giddy as Holly Golightly. By the time we made it back home, there was enough time for me to check my gate, shift some gear, and secure my rucksack. Steph and Dave walked me to the bus stop and helped me with my ticket ,then hugs goodbye for my wonderful hosts and i was flying solo once again. A bit of time here at the airport, then south bound and down...

I see why so many people love this city. It doesn't compare to anywhere I've been before, and I look forward to spending more time here on my next visit... hopefully sooner rather than later :-)