NYC Through My Eyes

I went to NYC in high school for a choir trip.  I remember a couple minutes from that trip.  Last week, Tim and I took a 4 hour plane trip (ALONE) to the Big Apple for a conference he had to attend.  I did not have to attend said conference, so I got to explore.  Since I remembered next to nothing from my adolescent adventure, this was a wrapped gift.  I'll be honest.  I expected to hate it.  I expected to think it was grungy, concrete filled, dirty, stanky, over crowded, over priced, and rude. Instead, here's what my little eyes saw.  

 

 My deepest apologies for this one, but I couldn't keep it to myself.

  Ick.  

 

 My very favorite visual.  A group of elderly folks dressed in white playing croquet in the middle of Central Park.

 Couldn't get enough of these little loves.  

 I sat at Tavern on the Green for 2.5 hours, eating, drinking, reading, and eavesdropping on some ludicrously rich humans.  

 Art?

 Dinner with Jake, a member of the family Tim works for.  We walked 7 MILES to get there and it was worth every step.  

 That would be Jake, going the other way home.

 They built a freaking seating area so people can look at all the Times Square advertisements for as long as their hearts desire.  So weird.  

This was a powerful morning.  There was an aura of humility and respect in the air the second we got off the subway near ground zero.  It felt so much different than the rest of the city felt.  People were hushed, they walked slower, they looked each other in the eye, and treated the air with respect.  I loved this side of town and what they've done to memorialize the lost and the trauma of 9-11.

 

My two days in NYC were a gift for so many reasons.  I breathed in the diversity, sunshine, man made beauty, smells of thousands of restaurants I'll never dine in, sounds of human interaction and hard working people, more smiles than I thought I'd see, less hustle than I thought I'd encounter, shiny yellow matching cabs, accents and languages too numerous to count, a serene waterfront, artistic expression, feeling far safer than I imagined feeling....so much lovliness.

There was plenty that rubbed me the wrong way too, but I walked away with a surprisingly positive relationship with NYC.  She treated me well and I have to say I'll look forward to visiting her again.