New York City, Part 1

We’ve come to this area of Pennsylvania several times in the past, but I didn’t realize until afterward that it’s really close to New York City!  Visiting that city has made its way onto my bucket list, and knowing we were going to be three hours away and had a weekend with nothing to do added up to a big, fat opportunity that was too good to miss.  We originally planned to go into the city Saturday morning, stay overnight and come back to Pennsylvania Sunday night, but after considering how many logistics we’d have to deal with (which luggage to take overnight, finding a place to park, taking the train, hauling said luggage through the train and city) we decided to make it a day trip.  Which was good; perfect, really.  While I enjoyed the city, once I was there I didn’t have a burning desire to stay forever.  When toting a five-year-old anywhere other than Disney World, day trips seem to fit the bill!

We got up early and took off in our car to Trenton, New Jersey, to catch the train into the city.

Check out Gabe’s tired eyes!  He did pretty well all day, mostly whining about not wanting to walk any further, but woah!  Did we ever pay for the lack of sleep the next day!  We’re trying to get back on track, which is a little tricky in hotel rooms.  But we’ll get there!

Sometimes I feel a little sad when I look at these photos.  When the three of us are off on adventures, it’s often Tahd and Gabe doing their thing while I tag along.  They don’t purposefully leave me out; usually Tahd is trying to give me a little break and Gabe is thrilled to be getting some daddy time.  But it makes the whole “one child” thing ever so poignant.

We had NO clue what we were doing when it came to catching the train, so I asked some other passengers, who kindly explained what we should be doing.  We had hoped to catch an earlier train, but due to a later start and a few uncertain turns, we arrived a little bit late, which was nice because it gave us a few minutes to sit and breathe!

I think this might be my most favorite picture from the whole day.  We were waiting for the train and I just happened to catch a natural smile on Gabe’s face.  I don’t catch those very often!

My outlook on the world became very clear to me on the train.  As we boarded, I noticed there were a few seats near the exits that had individual seats.  While most rows had seats of 2 or 4 spots so travelers could sit together, there were just a few solo seats.  Where did Gabe go immediately?  To the solo seats, the spot for the introverts.  I chuckled because I’ve long wondered whether I’m an introvert or extrovert, feeling I land pretty close to center.  That moment, however, indicated otherwise to me.  The solo seats?  Look lonely and sad to me.  I would never choose to sit there if I had the option to hang out with someone I knew!  Gabe?  Relished the “solo-ness” of it all!  He played on my itouch for a good portion of the trip.

After about an hour and a half, we arrived!  Penn Station!  New York City!  I tried to take a picture of the sign as we disembarked the train, but the rush of people moved too quickly and this was all I could catch as the crowd carried me toward the escalators.

We found our bearings, found the exit, and walked out into the daylight to see… this!

New!

York!

City!

I looked around, expecting it to sparkle or something.  But it didn’t.  Not one bit.  In fact, I thought it was pretty dirty and smelly.  And then we saw what I assume was a prostitute walking down the road, oblivious to the fact that her

ENTIRE

ONE PIECE

JUMPSUIT

was completely see-through and I could observe the way her lower cheeks shook beside her g-string while she walked.

And I giggled.  And decided to go along for the ride and enjoy the day.  Because even stinky and dirty?  NYC is still NYC.  And skyscrapers are really cool any way you slice it.

We made what I consider to be the best decision of our lives, or at least the best decision of the day.  We decided to get bus tickets to one of those double decker buses – the ones where you hop on and off at your leisure.  The tickets cost a small fortune, but I really believe the bus enabled us to see far more of the city than we could have otherwise seen.  And they were a lifesaver as far as Gabe was concerned.  That child walked 30,000 steps in 14 hours while we were at Disney World, but within 15 minutes of arriving in New York he expressed positive devastation over the amount of walking we were forcing him to do.

Ironically, we ran into Mickey while we were in New York.

But I’ll be honest – this was gross Mickey.  He didn’t look right, begged for tips, and screamed of “I’m-a-pedophile-under-here-trying-to-make-a-buck-and-get-a-cheap-thrill” at the street fair.

And don’t you love Gabe’s gangsta hat?

But I digress.  Back to the bus.

Guess where Gabe sat again?  Yup, alone.

Until some random guy got on the bus and sat in the tour guide’s seat and she – the same tour guide who talked ad nauseum about all the cheap goods and cheap labor in NYC and who also told us where “the gays like to go so they can find more of their kind” – berated him publicly over the loudspeaker and he moved and sat beside Gabe and then Gabe came to sit on our laps.  I pretended it was because he missed us and just wanted to be together, but I know it was really because although sitting alone is most preferable, sitting with someone you know is more preferable than sitting with someone you don’t know.

He and Tahd spent a lot of time on the bus like this.

I spent a lot of time taking crazy photos.  Like this

and this

and this.

Part 2 later so I don’t implode my computer (and probably everyone else’s) by trying to link to too many photos at one time!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments

  1. LOVE! I’ve never been to NYC! I adore the picture of Gabe on the train! PERFECT!

  2. I love, love, LOVE NYC. It’s a shame the train came into Penn Station because, IMO, that place is hideous. Grand Central is what a train station should be and it looks exactly like it does in the movies. Plus, the food hall there is incredible. You can tell what I love most about New York; all my stops revolve around food and places to eat. 😀 I just got back a couple of weeks ago and I’m already plotting a way to go back.

  3. I’m a big NYC fan myself! It’s so full of energy and you just feel like you’re a part of something!! Enjoy and can’t wait to see the rest of the pics! If you’re passing through on your way home and need a place to rest, let us know!
    .-= renovationgirl´s last blog ..Sunday Night Blues =-.

Speak Your Mind

*

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.