A trip to NYC had been on my roster for months and months. I've only been thrice in my entire existence (NY state driver's license not withstanding!), so a few weeks ago I suddenly decided that this was it; I was GOING to New York no matter what else came up, so help me God. A whirlwind day trip ensued, starting with arising at 2 am to catch the 2:30 Chinatown bus... and that was the most organized part of it.
I have been promising to post these pictures for those involved. In honor of the cold spell that gripped our city of Washington for two whole weeks, I want you to FEEL cold when you look at these; it was approximately 21 degrees the entire day, with a wind chill factor of like -12. Fun as the day was, two words can sum up our entire experience: Frickin' FREEZING.
The day started out arriving at NYC at 7:30 am, bright eyed, bushy tailed, ready and rarin' to go...
We soon discovered the folly of walking some ridiculous number of blocks in the early frigid weather. We stopped at Ground Zero and took Broadway down to its southernmost tip. By the time we reached Battery Park we were ready to enjoy some heat.
Seeing the Statue of Liberty, I had to pause to take a picture, but that didn't keep me from nearly getting blown away...
We decided we had exactly ten minutes to run off the ferry, touch the Statue, take a picture and get back on. It was way too cold to do anything else. Behold, the first of EQP's self-portraits:
How's the weather, jr?
When we got back to shore we found a statue with the Statue of Liberty poem inscripted at its base. "Give me... your huddled masses..." and we decided to recreate our own.
Lunch at the Some Glamorous Cafe (?) was followed by a delightful Broadway romp through 1950's campy glamour of musicals of old, The Drowsy Chaperone. I highly recommend it simply for the brief diversion in the middle, a song that starts out with the line "What is it about the Asians that fascinate Caucasians? Is it the wontons, the egg rolls, the rice?" My answer? Yes.
EQP's self-portraits improved steadily throughout the day, culimating in my favorite at Times Square. "What an amazing camera to get such a wide angle shot!" you may exclaim. Indeed it is an amazing camera, and shameless advertising abounds if you check out the billboard directly above EQP's head; it's the Kodak EasyShare v570 and it's pretty hot.
My attempts failed miserably at Rockerfeller Center. Should have left it up to the experts.
Dinner in Little Italy was followed by a harrowing half hour sprint through the streets of Chinatown trying to find access to our bus back home. Exhausted and sweaty (for the first time all day) we finally made it home past midnight.
What's the craziest trip you've ever taken? If you can beat my freshman male friends' squashing seven guys into a Geo Prism (two being over 6'5") overnight to drive from Provo to Wyoming simply to have breakfast and come back, I'll think up some awesome prize for you.
8 comments:
All I have to say is that I would do it again in a heartbeat!
p.s. that was one of the coldest days of my life!
Try -9 F, -30+ wind chill, and temps in the single digits for highs, sometimes teens, for three weeks and then get back to me ;)
Can't relate. That day I was basking the Puerto Rican sun and snorkeling my heart away. ;)
A few months ago, a friend and I drove form DC to the Canadian border with virtually no directions in a snow storm. But we managed to get there somehow. We must have been following our noses to Tim Horton's (the best Canadian donut shop ever!).
Okay, so this one time, Princess and I decided to go to Puerto Rico. Three days later, we were there! We pretty made everything up as we went along...kayaking, snorkeling, riding bikes to hidden beaches, hiking around the rainforest, exploring 15th-century forts, making friends with the locals...*sigh* I get warm fuzzies just thinking about it. It was the most awesomely spontaneous trip ever.
Jared, my friend Adam from Maryland and myself decided to see the Anasazi ruins in New Mexico when we were in Provo. We drove down in a car Adam rented and stopped at a store in Manti where he locked the keys in the trunk. After waiting for a while these two really strange guys showed up to open the trunk. They told us that there were weird people in Manti, and all three of us were thinking that “And you’re two of them.”
We got to New Mexico late, 2 or 3 in the morning or so, and didn’t have any light to set up our tents; there were other people around so we couldn’t use the headlights. It was dark out (no moonlight) so we set them up in the dark.
But these were the tiniest tents possible. They weren’t even big enough for Jared alone, and I was sharing the other tent with Adam. We were squished, it was uncomfortable, and I didn’t have any padding. When we woke up, we realized that we had set the tents up on the gravel road. And they were tiny, tiny tents.
Walking around and seeing the ruins was spectacular. It’s definitely something I’d recommend it if you’re ever in the area, but just bring a tent that is longer than you are tall. As we were leaving we were wondering what the state motto of New Mexico. Jared suggested “Let’s get the hell out of New Mexico.”
I can't believe I missed not one, but TWO opportunities to visit Puerto Rico. Don't ever go again without me.
It was worth the night spent on the hard gravelly road just to see the original prehistoric pointer though, wasn't it?
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