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The Trip


The flight attendants warned us it would be a bumpy trip as we approached New York. The fellow wearing a Cartoon Network tee-shirt must not have been paying attention. He stood up to make a trip to the restroom at the moment the plane hit turbulence. He quickly found his seat as it rose to meet him. Minutes later we smacked our landing and you could hear a collective sigh of relief.

We had our very first experience with Uber after collecting our luggage. A man wearing a dress of some sort was waiting to give us a ride to Mid-town. On the ride over he shared a little bit of his knowledge about marriage, satan and the Koran. He said he’d discovered that Satan rises early every day to try to break up marriages. I told him evidently I had trouble hearing Satan. We were traveling to the city to celebrate our 45th anniversary. The rest of the ride was quiet.

After that it was subways and taxis for us.

We had booked a room at The Renaissance in Times Square. We paid extra for a room with a view. It was on the 24th floor and the cabs below looked like ants. We had a nice view of billboards and buildings. I saw the sunrise on the second day. It was the only time I could distinguish what was what. Otherwise I relied on Tina to give me directions. She’s good with numbers and names.

I learned a lot on this trip. If you spy a heads up penny while crossing a street don’t stop to pick it up. People don’t like that. I found two pennies, a dime and a diamond cat broach. I hope the broach is real and not a Hello Kitty trinket.

People in New York love their car horns. A lot.

People like to hand you stuff for free and get ticked if you don’t give them a dollar.

People will give you directions. Sometimes it isn’t where you want to go.

Rats. You may see one here and there. I saw one scurrying down a hole in the cemetery at Trinity Church. Another in Central Park.

If you buy a hotdog you may have to listen to Arabic music. Sometimes they look at you funny if you’re expecting change.

If you come to the city wear comfortable shoes. We averaged walking eight and a half miles every day.

You should bring a snack with you if you walk Central Park. I scared my wife when my blood sugar bottomed out.

Take the ferry to Staten Island if you want to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for free. You’ll also get a great view of New York’s skyline and there will be a free violin concert in the terminal.

Take the subway and you’ll see more free concerts. Occasionally you’ll see a great one. If so, it’s not free. Drop some money in their tip bucket.

Have a pizza at John’s just off Times Square. You won’t be disappointed. Also, eat at Juniors Cheesecake Restaurant off the square. It’s a must.

Take in a show. Another must. We saw Jersey Boys. Two and a half hours never passed by so quickly.

Drop by Rockefeller Square at night. Drop by Bryant Park at night. Walk Central Park during the day and if you want to be on television be outside The Today Show at 7:30 in the morning. See the 911 Memorial Wall Street and the Empire State Building. Don’t try to ride the bull near Wall Street. They frown on that.

See St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Just down the street you can ride the escalator in Trump Tower after you make it by the guys carrying machine guns outside.

The M&M store was two doors down from our hotel. And there was a fabulous cake store just next-door. That may have been a mistake. But both were goooood.

Whatever you buy, it’ll be cheaper down the street. Don’t worry about it.

If you go just take a bucket full of money and don’t expect to bring it back.

I could go on and on, but you get the drift. At least once in your life go to New York. I’m glad we did.

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Rick Algood
January 28, 2020

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