Wed. Sept. 5, 2012:
Our flight was delayed, it was just awful. I was beside myself with joy about finally getting to go New York City; I mean I had only wanted to go there for about ten years now? And there I sat, stuck in the airport, no explanation of why our flight was delayed, with the threat or it being cancelled looming over us. Two and a half hours later we were finally up in the air! And for once I was not absolutely terrified: I do not fly often, which is to say hardly ever, so it is nerve-wracking when the plane takes off. I just sat there and focused on reading my book but out of the corner of my eye though I could see Brent looking over to see if I was starting to freak out, more so for his own entertainment really. From the plane, leaning over Brent, I could see the Brooklyn Bridge and a ton of lights down below. We were so close!!
We took a cab from the LaGuardia airport to the hotel, and already I got to cross one thing off my list: cab ride. All the exhaustion and stress from before just melted away as we drove through the city, I was so excited. Everything was big and bright and I was entranced. We drove through the tunnel to get to Manhattan, it was fine and then suddenly it was not. Halfway through the tunnel started smelling like fish, and it is a long tunnel, there is nowhere for the smell to dissipate to, it was choking and not pleasant. No sooner were we out of the tunnel, then we found ourselves smack in the midst of New York City Traffic. It was 11 o’clock at night and there was traffic, trash pick-up and construction all causing a giant mess! And just like in the movies, everyone was laying on the horn. And just to top it off, we nearly ran over a biker- who did not even notice, he was weaving between cars and cutting them off.
We arrived at the hotel around midnight, too late for my Garrett’s Popcorn and pizza dinner plans, so we swapped them out with the next day’s meatballs-for-dinner plans because The Meatball Shop was open until 2am. As we walked we passed by hot dog vendors and fruit stands that were still open, it was after midnight! We passed a homeless man whom at first I might be dead, but this is because his face looked waxy, like a rubber Halloween mask (passing by on the way back, he had moved a bit). As soon as we left the hotel, we had gone the wrong way and I saw Penn Station (which was planned for day 3 in NYC).
We eventually found The Meatball Shop- it was surprisingly packed pull of people, even though it was almost 1 in the morning, the City really does not sleep. The meatballs were good. We made sure to cover the spread and order all three different formats (slider, bowl and hero), different meats (chicken, pork, and beef) and different sauces. It was fun to order as well, because you mark on the laminated menu what you want. The bowl was just that: a bowl of meatballs, and I had the buffalo chicken ones but the parmesan got to be too much towards the end. The slider was just the right size and fun to eat. The hero came in third place, it was too big and the sauce was kind of boring. The bowl was the best, no bread! Just meat! That is how it should be.
We left just enough room for dessert: customized ice cream sandwiches! We had the good sense to split one though, Snickerdoodle cookie with chocolate ice cream. It was enormous, about half the size of my head (I give up, it is an official form of measure now: my head). It came with spoons on the side for good reason: there was no picking it up and eating it like a sandwich.
Back in the hotel I was exhausted, all I wanted was sleep. Alas, the City was not having it. All night long there were sirens blaring, horns honking, so much noise- and it was past 2am!! It sounded like the NYC you hear on TV shows, but it was real and keeping me awake.
(I split Manhattan into sections to plan my days in NYC)
Inside My Head 