East Coast Adventure: Part 3 The Amazing Big Apple

Two things that I wanted to accomplish on my adventure was spending time with a great friend and seeing some of the sights of NYC and I wasn't disappointed.

                                              http://lmross-moanerplicities.blogspot.com/

Getting into New York, I went straight to Port Chester to see one of my closest friends. Lin, an incredible poet and author.  He's a writer with an incredible control and understanding of the written word but not only intellectually , he has a unique ability to put his heart, his emotions and his passion into his writing like no one I've come across in a long time.  When he writes something, it's real, nothing held back but so descriptive you feel as thought you are living it, feeling it, seeing it, even tasting it.  The more our friendship has grown, the more respect I've come to feel for him.  He's had his struggles in life but he has overcome them and learned to put what he's gone through and experienced into words of life.  As we sat talking over a plate of spaghetti and lasagna, it was a true highlight up my trip.  He was heading to Haiti the next morning so our time was short but one that made a memory for both of us.

The next morning it was time to head to the Big Apple and thank goodness for the GPS....one of the best inventions in our lifetime.  I was able to head straight through NYC to the B & B that I was to stay at.  With each turn my excitement grew, first seeing the Brooklyn Bridge, then the Intrepid, then there is was, the Empire State Building.  These things I'm sure are just part of life in New York but with each new sighting my enthusiasm  kept building up inside me.  Just about as I was to turn on my street, a city cab honked and cussed me for not turning fast enough....even if it was into on coming traffic but hey, that was a New York thing and I loved it. Getting to the B & B I' learned everything you read about something is not always what it's cut out to be.  The place was old, too expensive and no elevators.  I was on the 5th floor with narrow old steps but again, a memory I won't forget....my feet either.

After a quick bite I headed toward the subway....yes I did.  I got on not sure it was the right direction but it was great, a new experience.  Luckily I went straight to 42nd Street where all the sights were I wanted to see.  I've gotta say I walked for miles and miles and miles and did I mention that I broke the middle toe on my right foot two weeks earlier.  Nothing was going to take away from this moment, this memory.

I've always said that the angle of the camera is everything.  Getting to Time Square I was amazed at all the lights, video screens and buildings....but it was so small.  You see the ball drop on New Years Eve and it looks so massive.  GMA was there as well where they do the morning show....and again small....

But I was there and that was good.  After walking the wrong direction a couple of times and learning to ask the security guards directions, I made it to the Rockefeller Center.  I took the elevator to the Top of the Rock, the observation tower.  Now I was impressed by the size of NYC.  The views from up there were Breathtaking in every direction. To be able to see as far as the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty in one direction and Central Park and buildings as far as the eye could see in every other direction was amazing.  There was no angle of a camera that could take all of this in.

Heading down to the Rockefeller Plaza where the skating rink and Christmas Tree is placed at Christmas, I again realized the angel of the camera because they too seemed so small but again, it didn't matter....I was there taking it all in and making some incredible memories.

There was so much to see and I saw all I could downtown in one day but I had to get to the World Trade Center.  Getting on a subway, again not sure it I was on the right one because the red line was not working, I asked a lady where I was. She was sweet and gave me the directions I needed as on lookers smiled, knowing ...yep...I was a tourist.  I've got to say everyone I came in contact with in NYC were really nice.

Getting off the subway at the WTC, I was in awe. A place filled with so much tragedy, now being reborn.  The buildings of the new World Trade Center were rising from the ashes with it's pinnacle being the Freedom Tower.

The crowds of people coming by to see it were phenomenal and it was a memory I will never forget.

Heading back home or should I say limping back home for the night I had the experience of getting off the subway and walking with the multitudes down the streets of NY.  Hustling and Bustling, all with a mission, a part of the pace that New York has to offer, not one I would choose but the life of millions of people everyday, living their lives in their own way and making the best of what they've been Blessed with.

After a full day in New York City......the Adventure Continues....Part 4