I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to NYC a time or two. Actually, Clark and I go there whenever our schedules permit. We both absolutely love that city.  It’s big and bustling and has an energy like no other place I know of.  I have wanted to take my sister there for a long time.   I’ve brought up the topic to her more than once.  I would beg and plead. “It will be fun!” “You’ll love it!!” Then one day, just like that, she agreed! Whoa! I was shocked! My heart flipped over! I could feel my NYC Tourist adrenaline start to surge through my veins. She agreed!! Hallelujah!!!

So after months of planning and what would become daily emails and phone calls, off we went. We were New York Bound! Big Apple, here we come!

We stepped off the plane in NYC – with suitcases in tow, we grabbed the first cab we could. Hurray! We were on our way to our fancy Big Apple Hotel!! The cab driver was like an Indy car racer! How exciting!! Swerving in and out of heavy traffic. Honking his horn at anyone who got in his way. I LOVED it! My sister, mouth gaping open, was holding on for dear life. I assured her we were safe and that after a few days, she’d get used to the fast pace of the big city. Did I mention that she is from a small town in Indiana?

When we got to our hotel, we were excited that our room was ready for us. (We took the first plane out and arrived at 8am – didn’t want to waste a single New York Minute!) We headed straight up to drop off our luggage.  We had decided to book a suite. And boy was it ever sweet! It was fabulous and big and the definition of luxury! It was situated in a corner room on a high floor. It was probably bigger than most NYC apartments. We had a great view of the city. And skyline. This was living!! It had 2 bathrooms and plush bathrobes and an amazing mini bar (with equally amazing prices!!) We reluctantly made a pact not to touch anything in it regardless of how tempted we got.  That was settled!  We changed and off we went. The Big Apple!!

And so it went – Our days were packed. We got up at the crack of dawn and would fall in bed exhausted well after midnight each day. I took her everywhere a first time New York Visitor would want to go. We stood atop of the Empire State Building and went to the Top of the Rock. We visited the 911 Memorial & Museum and took the ferry out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We went to the ABC & NBC studios and made our way through mobs of people in Times Square. We visited The Ed Sullivan Theater where David Letterman tapes his show. Every day, we walked past Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall which our hotel was situated between.  We explored Central Park and the Upper West Side (My Fav!) – as well as Midtown and Downtown. We traveled by subway everywhere we went. Or walked. And walked. And walked. We went to Grand Central Station and shopped on 5th Avenue. We went to Plays and had late night dinners. We spent Friday night in Little Italy and Soho.

The day before we left, we decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh Yay!! So exciting!! And Fun!! This historic bridge was massive. And Beautiful. And the doorway onto the island of Manhattan from Brooklyn. And it was crowded. Yikes! ridiculously so.

We found our way to the foot of the bridge and started to embark up the ancient, wooden slats that made up the narrow walking path used to cross the bridge.  It was probably about 10 – 15 feet wide. There was a white stripe (or was it yellow?) painted down the center of it which made it even narrower. We were surrounded by thousands of people who also were walking the bridge. And, riding there bikes over it. WHAT?? Whoa!. Half of it was for walking and we shared the other half with bikers who were riding over it at dangerous, high speeds. At first I was a bit uneasy with the way the bikes would so closely whizz past us. But then, you forgot about them as you got caught up in the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen. You were walking across this amazing structure and you could see views of the NYC skyline that you’d only seen before in books or on television. It was magnificent! And breathtaking.

I had my camera and was taking 100’s of pictures. I spotted a group of guys doing maintenance on the Bridge. They had climbed up the thick, metal wires that helped to suspend the structure. They were up several hundred feet over the water. There were lots of people taking pictures of these guys. The photographer in me wanted to get that shot!  I turned to focus on one of the men and BAM! Before I knew it, I was knocked off my feet and laying face down on the Brooklyn Bridge.

‘OMG..what just happened?’

I was a bit dazed. I looked up and saw my sister standing over me. Mouth gaping open. With a stunned look on her face. And then I heard a loud, snarly voice swearing at me. “What the F***…this is the bike lane you idiot”

Hmmph. How Rude!! I looked around and got up quickly. I could see a bike laying on its side. It’s rude rider knocked off to the ground. (Dear God, had I caused that?) In my excitement to get a good shot, my foot had accidentally crossed over the white line and caused a collision. (The rude bike rider was not very forgiving.)  I stood there in my touristy red shirt, camera hanging crookedly around my neck and scuffed up knee and kept apologizing over and over again. She just kept rudely snarling at me. It was one of those humiliating times where you hope nobody noticed. But you know they all did.

The embarrassing moment passed and we parted ways, I kept telling my sister how terrible I felt. She kept saying.. “Oh, nobody was paying attn.” I knew she was lying but somehow her words made me feel better.

I never did get the shot. But I did get this shot….

 

How can you write about a ‘FAB! NYC Vacation’ in one itty-bitty blog post? It’s an impossible task!

My sister and I had the time of our life! We ate. We drank. We went without sleep. We walked all over that huge, beautiful city with that touristy, deer in the headlight look. And, loved every minute of it!! More than once, I caught my sister out of the corner of my eye with her mouth gaping open. Just staring in wonderment and awe.

Like all vacations, it went too fast.  But we have such GREAT memories!

Take a look….