An Ode to the City that Never Sleeps.
Prepare yourself. This blog post might be the lengthiest I’ve ever written and it just might give you the itch to travel to the glorious City that Never Sleeps. And if you have been there before, it might nudge you to plan a return trip to experience the sights and sounds of the dear place again! Please excuse the fact that this is mostly about food. We truly just ate all the time! And now that you’ve been warned, welcome to this chaotic New York City trip report!
Spring break! What a glorious thought to a teacher! For weeks, my sister and I had schemed places to go. Definitely not Florida where the flocks were headed. Not Washington D.C. and neither of us had the bank balance for anything Europe related. The one place that really seemed to bring a joy to our hearts was “The Big Apple”. It had been a year since my sister had been and even longer for me. Sister had a co-teacher that had never been and my bestie had never been either. Perfect match, am I right? The months of buying tickets and clothing and all the other necessities seemed to drag on for sooo long, until that one glorious Saturday morning of March one finally arrived. The carry-ons were packed, the trench coats were on, the Doc Martens were laced, and the hour trip to the airport commenced. Bug and I were bouncing with excitement!
One would think, on a Saturday afternoon, the airport security line would take forever. Lo and behold, the two of us walked in and waited five minutes or more or less. Easy, breezy, and actually no. Lacing and unlacing boots is not easy or breezy. That was our only TSA problem, at the moment. As we strolled to Concourse A, we bumped into friends of mine that were headed to spring break in Florida. Our outfit differences made me giggle, Bug and I dressed for the cold and they in their sundresses.
Since yours truly had planned for a long security line, the two of us were able to grab Chick-fil-A and Starbucks before breezing, yes breezing, on to our flight in Zone 1. How nice it is to be some of the first to buy tickets and get the best seats and boarding groups! The hour and a half flight seemed to “fly” by and soon we were circling the New York City airspace and exclaiming over the tiny buildings below. I tried my best to point out the towers and bridges from the air. With a soft bump, we landed at LGA and sat in a literal garden while we waited for my sister and her co, Muff, to arrive. Thankfully, they too were flying into Concourse B so we did not have to travel far to meet them. Soon they were zooming down an escalator and with hugs and exclamations, we gathered our luggage and headed out to the biting wind of the city. Our first obstacle was to find a bus that would haul us inner city to a subway station. After a freezing minute, we boarded the bus, bumping our roller bags and backpacks with us. What a view to watch the sun set between the skyscrapers as we rushed into the melee! Bug was certain that the bus would run into a passing car, but we were deported safely and without a scratch. Also if you have never been to the great city, you may think that honking your car horn is rude and annoying. In NYC, the person behind is simply letting you know that the light is green and you should hit the gas immediately. It took a bit for some members of our party to catch on to that. ;)
After departing the bus, we bought ourselves metro cards. Yes, you can tap your phone and yes, that is easier. However, once your metro card runs out, you have a nice souvenir from the city to paste in your scrap book! Genius, thanks to Bug! Obstacle number two was nearing us quite rapidly. There were quite a number of people rushing through the turnstiles to the station below that were not burdened down with a roller bag and a backpack. The struggle of pushing you and your bag through was challenging. If you put the handle down and slide it underneath, there is a chance that a desperate person will nab it and haul off. However, if you try to push your bag first with the handle up, it is possible that you will pinch your fingers. The turnstiles and roller bags were an obstacle we never quite solved while making the trek to and from the airport.
We told Muff and Bug about the giant New York City rats and ever after, it was a game to see who could spot them in the stations. We never saw the huge rats that the sister and I have encountered other times and the little ones we saw were actually cute. (Others in our party did not agree with me!)
What an entire relief to travel the subways with someone who lived here before. The big sister did an amazing job of getting us from point A to point B and back again. The uptown and downtown and D, L, W, R, and all the other train conglomerations are something that I am slowly catching on to after visiting so many times. Although for a newbie, it all looks rather daunting. It was a first on the subway train for the other girls and how fun it is to watch people try to gain their “subway legs” for the first time or try to get mine back. The girls resorted to tightly holding a pole or finding a seat instead.
After a short subway ride, we popped up in the middle of teeming Herald Square. We bumped past the H&M and the Macy’s that takes up an entire city block and has been around for over one hundred years. What a relief to see the Hilton Garden Inn sign glowing up ahead! We dropped our belongings and freshened up before heading back out to experience New York’s famous pizza. Thankfully, Lex, aka big sister, made sure that our hotel had a subway station ten steps from the doors of our hotel so down we scuttled and caught a train to Prince Street Pizza, home of the best spicy spring pepperoni pizza. It is a tiny space with standing room only and outdoor tables. It is simply part of the experience to stand around the small metal outdoor table and eat some of the best pizza in the entirety of the world that I know, as the grease drips off your fingers and the people behind you are yelling about random things and a homeless man is begging for a slice. Sounds a bit chaotic, huh? Best tasting chaos ever!
Time Square was the final stop of the night. There just so happened to be a Jewish rally going on and the crowds of people jumping up and down on the red steps was amazing. I have never seen to many of the Jewish race in one place. The girls got some souvenirs and we got Starbucks to warm the cold hands. We hurried away before the party hit the subways and clogged the trains. It was a truly exhausted group of girls that landed back in our room, chatting about all the lovely things we had seen and heard. Also a snack run to the lobby may have happened at some point.
Sunday morning was just a tad dreaded. It had been decided that we would attended church at the little Sugar Hill Mission on 145th St. Nicholas Ave. It is a boys unit and it seems a bit odd that four youth girls would show up. Given that my sister lived there at one point and that we actually knew some of the people there, we figured that would help. We timed it a bit wrong and got there early so we walked the streets and pointed out the old haunts to the girls. It brought back so many memories walking up those mission steps and entering the small haven of safety. We changed out of our boots and put on the tie downs and shook hands and made connections with the dear people there. Since we were there, it was youth Sunday school. The boys had good thoughts and all of us girls made comments at some point. Seems to be a good group of young men inhabiting the unit!
After exchanging our Sunday things for warm casual clothes, we headed to Bill’s Bar and Burgers. Three stacks of “Killer B’s” later, we sat in a food coma. For those unfortunate enough to have never been to this place, let me explain. The “Killer B’s” are a stack of five sliders on a skewer surrounded by onion rings and French fries. The sauce in the sliders is hard to beat and the onion rings were perfection. Lex informed us that there was a place that sold amazing cookies in the area. In her words, “better than Crumbl”, which I think is hard to beat. We stared at her in a daze for a bit. Did she actually mention dessert when we are up to our throats overloaded? To be fair, by the time we had walked around the building almost three times in search of Chip City, we had a little room for a cookie. It is NYC and it does have the best foods so why not? There was a coffee shop nearby and the under caffeinated females were appreciative!
Let me take a moment for the St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is (IMHO) the most beautiful church in the city. The white marble of the exterior glistens in the sunlight and the attention to detail is immaculate. When you step inside, all is hushed. It just so happened that the organ player was there that day and the majestic strains of organ music washed over the interior. How I wish I could insert a recording of that in here. The acoustics of the building are amazing and the sun shining through the stained glass windows and bathing the sanctuary in warmth was a picture of calm. I’ll stop with the wild adjectives for now.
We walked Fifth Ave. and went inside the Trump Tower just so we could tell our dads that, “We are in the Trump Tower right now!” It is quite the impressive building and everything seems to be gold. Walking all over a city can tire one out quite quickly it turns out. Back to home base for naps before freshening up and heading to K-town to get churro waffles and boba tea at a very South Korean style dessert shop, Grace Street. We hit up a good old Target for hotel essentials: lemonade, popcorn, peach rings, pickles, tortilla chips and hummus, Snap’d chips, and an assortment of other things. Like I said in the beginning of this narrative, we consumed an impressive amount of food.
Monday dawned warmer than the days before us. We arose early and traipsed to Ess-a-Bagel for a bite of breakfast and a coffee shop for the caffeine. The 9/11 museum was our first order of business. There was a hushed atmosphere to the place. It was a rather dark chapter in our history and you feel the weight of that as you walk through. I would highly recommend it to anyone going to the city. It is very informative and all the real artifacts make it very visually interesting. It impressed me how people of any race and social standing can come together in the face of disaster. I will warn you that it will take a few hours to make it all the way through and probably longer if you read every sign. After three hours, we walked back into the sunshine and looked at the footprint of both towers and the survivor tree. We also ducked into the Oculus which is a white bird-looking structure and on every September 11 at 10:28, the time of the second tower’s collapse, the sun shines through a strip of windows in the ceiling illuminating the shopping area below. It is also a subway and Path train station.
Chelsea Market was the next order of business. It is the most fun little market and food place in an old warehouse. Ramen was on the menu for two of us and tacos for the others. Dessert was tiny donuts in a variety of flavors. Once again, we ate plenty of food.
Our tickets to the top of the Freedom Tower were at 4:30. It was the most gorgeous sight to see the city at full light, then at sunset, dusk, and finally at night. The sun set and the tiny lights below began to illuminate. Oh the beauty of the streets filled with red lights and the Empire State building’s spire shining straight into the darkness above. And thanks to doctrine classes, I was able to answer some questions about “that thing” on my head.
The temperature had dropped and it was a little chilly as we walked the Financial District. We walked past the bull on Wall Street, Fraunces Tavern, a place where George Washington once dined, and finally made it to the water taxi. Even though it was very cold, we sat on the open top of the boat and watched Manhattan recede. Supper was at Juliano’s, a five star pizza restaurant, in Brooklyn where we downed one pizza and then ordered another. The Brooklyn Bridge was quite empty as we walked across and the skyline was exquisite against the black backdrop. The last order of business was bubble tea and tiny Krispy Kreme donuts at Fulton Station before hitting the hay.
Tuesday was a cutesy coffee shop with croissants and shopping in SOHO. It also involved walking through Chinatown and past fish markets that had Bug holding her breath against the stench. We saw Grand Central Terminal with its whispering gallery and at some point more bubble tea and Prince Street Pizza again because it simply is amazing pizza and why not? Supper was an illustrious affair. Since Muff’s birthday was the following day, we decided this would be her birthday dinner. We pulled out all the black clothing we owned and it was quite fun strolling through the subways in our matching black attire. Either we looked like the mafia or four Jewish women, probably the later. Teehee! The small Italian restaurant with its amazing food and the servers who waited on us hand and foot was such a “sorprendente” experience. Whether it was grinding pepper or fresh Parmesan on our food, they really did the most. Something else worth mentioning, this restaurant had the fanciest leftover boxes I’ve ever seen.
We walked the streets of Little Italy and as is custom in real Italy, there were Italians standing outside their restaurants beckoning you in. They were some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met and they always seemed so disappointed that we had already eaten. “Come back tomorrow night, no?” We said we could keep them on our list and truly if I ever go back, I want to go to that particular man’s restaurant. In the confusion of the language barrier, one man thought I had said we were from Cyprus. We laughed for a while after that. Dessert was gelato from a precious little patisserie served by the sweetest lady. Italian people are my kind of people!
Staton Island Ferry was a must just for the vibes. We were “cattle herded” through the great glass doors and on to the massive orange ferry. We got the back of the boat pretty much to ourselves and most of the ride we were joking around and laughing uproariously at funny little things and all the random people we had seen like the lady with the pink roller bag that looked easier to carry than roll along. We stepped outside and stared at the Statue of Liberty with her glowing torch and crown. When we reached Staten Island, we ran around to the place where we boarded the next ferry and soon we were heading back to Manhattan. Once again, exhausted girls and hotel beds match nicely.
A blustery day greet us Wednesday morning so we bundled up and headed to a French bakery for some exquisite croissants and while the girls got hot drinks, I opted for fresh squeezed orange juice. H&M was hit up for some new clothing and phone cases and we shopped for “prom dresses” at Macy’s and ended the morning with I’Milky bubble tea for the second time. ;)
When we went to checkout of the hotel, the lady at the front desk asked if we would like store our luggage. We had not known that we were able to do so and it was very nice given that we were not looking forward to bumping our suitcases around the city with us. A subway ride later we were once again at our favorite Prince Street. The pizza was just as phenomenal as it had been the two times before and the lady looked at us as if she had seen us before. News flash: she had!
All too soon, we were back to pick up our luggage and then off to wrestle with our favorite nemesis. Bump, clunk, ouch! One point for the turnstile; zero points for a sore and very red pinky finger. All went well including a mad dash to a bus we needed stopped across the road. Security was easy enough and by two o’clock, we were through and found a couch to chill on while we waited the two hours to board. As was our custom, we laughed about dumb jokes and good times and gossiped about all the people strolling around. The sister and Muff left us to find their gate only to return with the news that their flight was delayed an hour. Four delays, one Shake Shack supper, and a blueberry Dunkin donut later, Bug and I finally boarded our plane. What a relief to know that we were not sleeping in an airport! Cleveland airport greeted us almost four hours later than we had expected and due to some other delays, we did not feel the comfort of our own beds until early Thursday morning.
What a trip! It was worth every penny spent and while the city was a good time of course, it was the company of the people that made the trip! Then again, isn’t that always the best part? Besides, it’s much funnier to laugh together after screaming over a cockroach or holding your breath past a fish market or encouraging the one with the leftovers to drop them with the homeless man. So here’s a special shoutout to the three travel companions who made this a very memorable trip. Bug, Muff, and Lex, the memories we made won’t be erased or deleted from my internal hard drive for a very long time!