The Big Apple That Never Sleeps

September 26th: Justin and I boarded the train in Hamilton, NJ. We were headed to New York City, a place that I hadn't been to in ten years. We rode by the vast, dilapidated New Jersey suburbs for an hour and then I could finally see the summit of the Empire State Building in the distance. The anticipation kept building and building until we stepped out of the train at Penn Station, right in the heart of Manhattan.

We were suddenly walking rapidly amongst a throng of people, like a herd of animals rushing to get their next meal. And it was exciting! We rode up the escalator to the street and, well, we were on the streets of New York! We fought our way through the crowds of people and made our way towards our hotel to meet Adam. There were beautiful women everywhere. We walked a few blocks, going by the Empire State Building, and then we saw Adam standing on the sidewalk with a smile on his face. We greeted each other, then we entered the hotel.

The Affinia Dumont hotel was luxurious! We stayed on the fourth floor, which offered a good view from the window. It was very quiet and relaxing. We unpacked our stuff, rested for a bit, and then we walked back outside. And let me say, when you walk out of any building in New York, it is very surreal because you are reminded that you are in New York. It is a breath of fresh air as you hear the sounds of the city, and look up and see the skyscrapers around you. What a rush!

We went to the Rockafeller Center (you know, the place with the gold statue of a naked guy named Prometheus and the ice skating rink). Then we went to T.G.I. Friday's and ate dinner. Every restaurant is like 50% more expensive in New York. Afterwards, we wandered around until we came to Times Square, which was a phenomenal feast of sights, lights, and sounds.


The next day we got in a taxi and went to Greenwich Village. We walked around and went to some shops. We saw Chinatown and SoHo. After a while, we decided to take another taxi to downtown. Once we got there, we saw the New York County Courthouse, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, we went inside a cathedral, and last but not least, we went to Ground Zero.


Ground Zero was fenced up all around, and they were doing construction. It was an emotional moment and I felt anger and sorrow inside of me. I kept playing the events of 9/11 over in my head. After that, we went down to the riverfront and saw an amazing view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we went on the subway back to our hotel. It was cool riding the subway because you hear so much about it all the time on tv. It was cheap and a fast way to travel around. I liked it a lot better than the taxis.

That night we went to an Irish Pub and had a delicious dinner. Then we went to a party on the roof of an apartment, and we met Adam's sister. We also met a cool chick named Heidi, who had gone to the University of Delaware. Adam's sister gave us a ride home and we went to bed.


The next day we took the subway up to the Upper East Side. This was a fantastic neighborhood. We saw Park Avenue, which was like a canyon of beautiful apartment buildings leading down to a cluster of office skyscrapers. Then we walked into Central Park. It was serene. We hiked around for a while, and we saw a lake, several monuments and statues, baseball fields, and we went to the top of an observation tower. But it was almost time for Justin and me to catch our train, so we headed back to the hotel. Just then it started to downpour. Luckily, we had umbrellas. We went inside the famous Plaza Hotel (the one from Home Alone 2). Then we took a taxi to the hotel, said goodbye to Adam, and rushed over to Penn Station.

New York is probably the greatest city in the country. There is just so much to see and do. And pictures don't do it justice. As with any other place, you'll never know what it's really like until you actually visit it. And in New York's case, you will be blown away.