A Real New Yorker!
Our trip to New York couldn’t have been more fun! I’ve been wanting to go to New York my whole life! It was on the list – you know – the list. The list we all have that says everything we want to do or see before we die – the list! New York was right before Walt Disney World and right below working in Public Relations.
Arriving in November is like no other to a California native. We don’t really have a “Fall” season here in CA. New York was full of warm hues of burgundy’s and rustic oranges. Bright yellow’s and scarlet reds I had never seen on a bushes and trees before. It’s not like there’s one specific area where you can view all of Fall in one look. These colors are EVERYWHERE!
Yester’s first flying experience was just that – an experience. He actually did better than I thought. We thought flying at night would satisfy his expectations that the airplane would be taking him to outer space. So, we booked the red eye. No sooner were we up in the air did Yester yell on the plane, “OK….time to go down now!” We quietly explained that it was time to sleep and when we woke up, we would be closer to New York. Notice I said, “Closer”. We were still trying to figure out how switching planes in Michigan was going to go over. By the time we were up in the air again and landing in New York, Yester was a real pro. We ditched the car seat on the second flight because truthfully, no one else was using them and lugging it around was proving to be a real pain in the ass!
We were excited to stay with friends and enjoyed their hospitality and the historic charm of the town they lived in. I will go on record and say that “Endicot, NY has the best apple cider money can buy.” The day we left for the city was an exciting one. I couldn’t wait to see the skyline of Manhattan I had only seen in the movies. I was nervous and anxious to see how Yester was going to react to the hustle and bustle of the city.
When I first walked out of the glass doors from the subway tunnels and on to a busy street of Manhattan I didn’t quite feel the excitement I thought I would. Maybe because the door we exited from led to an area of New York that resembled Downtown Los Angeles. I mean I knew we were “in” New York but, I just didn’t feel it. We hopped on to another subway and exited the steps to another area of Manhattan. As I walked up the steps I could see tall buildings with striped awnings at the base. To my left was a large area of trees with those beautiful fall colors I swooned over. The street was busy with yellow taxi cabs everywhere and a man with a shiny silver cart was quickly handing out warm and nutty smelling bags of roasted peanuts to the crowd that surrounded him. My eyes got watery and my heart was racing with excitement. I looked at Tod, and I said, “Now I’m in New York!”
The view of Central Park was surreal and a must see for Yester. It was a perfect scene In my mind I was skimming through my roll a deck of favorite movie scenes where New York was just a sofa length away. That day, we had visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Beleveder Castle, St.Patrick’s Cathedral, Trump Tower, 42nd Street Theatres, Time Square, FAO Schwartz toy store, Rockefeller Center, and rows and rows of retail store display windows. Our evening couldn’t have been complete without at least 2 bags of roasted peanuts off the street. We had a full first day!
From tunnel entrance to street exits - Yester did great! Our friends had commented that even their 6-year-old wouldn’t have done as well as Yester was doing. We took a break from the city by viewing Lady Liberty from New Jersey. The locals say she’s easier to gawk at from across the Hudson River – they were right. She wasn’t as large as I thought she’d be but sitting at the base of the Manhattan skyline doesn’t really do her justice. Taking pictures from the docks of the Port Authority and old shipping docks was teasing me enough to want to get back into the city. Towards the end of the afternoon on our second day, Yester was wanting to stand on the subway instead of relaxing in his stroller. Boy did we put some miles on that plastic stroller with all of the walking we were doing. New York certainly doesn’t have a shortage of stairs or walking. On the subway, Yester would warn us, “Our stop is next!” He was becoming a real New Yorker.
The subway we were on that day ended in a place that any of us had been to since before 9/11 – The World Trade Center. Sunlight shined through the tunnel and into the windows of our subway. A sight you would have never experienced 7 years ago. We walked up the stairs of the newly rebuilt ground zero. When we got to the top we turned around to view the building debris and construction site of what was the Twin Towers. Chain link fences, stacks of metal beams, and piles of rubble at the base of their tractors were spread over what seemed to be three blocks of street. You can’t imagine how massive these buildings were until you stand across the street and look at the scale and length of the area they covered.
We walked across to the other side of the street where we checked in for our tour of Ground Zero and the World Trade Center. We wanted to hear the story of survivors first hand of what we were watching on our television sets that day. We also wanted to hear their opinions and facts about the recovery right now. Our tour guides painted a gross picture of the day’s events but explained it with such pride and sorrow. We were honored to have been in their presence and so grateful of their courage then and now.
Our trip to the city ended with a huge shopping spree of souvenirs for everyone back home and as many last minute pictures my digital camera’s memory chip would hold. One last look at the bright red and yellow lights coming from the top of the Empire State Building was all I needed to declare my trip to New York over. We had a fantastic and memorable time that made a huge impression on Yester, our memories, and our hearts.
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