I survived New York

I know that this blog is suppose to be about the RV adventures that Ralph and I are having. This adventure however is just mine. Ralph and the cats stayed behind in the RV while I am traveling the East coast. I am very happy to report that I not only survived New York I really enjoyed it. It was far from anything I was expecting or predicting. Ralph was convinced I would be "shanked by a sewer rat"' this not only didn't occur but I never even saw a rat and I actually went looking. Closest I got were the flying rats, otherwise known as pigeons. The main purpose of this trip was for my mom and her sudo husband Mike to spend the first night of Passover with his family. I was welcomed in to join this holiday and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The food was interesting, and as Jonathan said was every shade of brown. Jonathan is Mike's youngest son, married to Julianna. They are wonderful people and I look forward to seeing them again. Though a quick trip we did manage to hit the highlights. We started the night we arrived in NY by walking to Times Square. Though after midnight, it was so bright and full of people it might as well have been mid afternoon. I will admit that I did have to visit the Times Square Starbucks even though it was nearing 2am, the line was typical Starbucks. The next day we walked the highline which is an old railroad track used to shuttle goods from the warehouses to the harbour. It has been renovated into a beautiful walkway with plants and benches and amazing views. We also visited the union square open market which was full of bustling people and plants and farmers with their wares. We had New York Bagels, which surpassed every bagel I'd ever eaten in taste and quality. Next Jonathan took us on the subway, no rats, to central park. It was beyond anything I could have expected. The park is enormous and filled with thousands of people yet isn't crowded. There is ever sport imaginable, horse drawn carriages, benches, a carousel, boat house, paths, flowers, more trees than probably the state of Illinois and artists galore. Truly something I am glad I was able to experience and long to get back to. I could have spent days and never seen the entire park. For dinner Saturday night they took us to this little candlelit French restaurant in Chelsea. I will admit that at first glance of the menu I was way out of my comfort zone. This was only amplified when the French speaking waiter advised us of the specials. There were 3, but my brain shut off after the veal tongue. This was when I leaned in to my mom and asked if there was a McDonald's on the way back to the hotel. Several and I do mean several, glasses of wine later, I ended up finding a roast chicken dish which I will admit was phenomenal. I also have to admit here, that be it the wine or being swept up in the moment, I did try not only mussels but octopus. And while I would probably never order either for myself, they weren't bad. I actually enjoyed the octopus until my mom leaned over and said "you ate the suckers too?", appearently I missed that memo. Our last day in NY we had bagels again, I learned that they were boiled, and that getting them "tunneled" is a natural thing there, I had no idea. We then bumbled uptown to the empire state building. One last item to check off my list. The NY sky ride was very cool, although it left me more than a tad nauseous. It is a simulated helicopter ride over and through the city, narrated by Kevin Bacon. It was well worth it, since after the ride we went to the 86th floor observatory and looked out over the city. Having seen the virtual tour I was then able to recognize landmarks and find sights on the horizons. The view is unmatched. The observatory circles the entire building allowing a 360 degree view, with a visibility of 25 miles on the day we were there. I have so many pictures and they just don't do it justice. So this was my New York trip, beyond expectations and so worth it. I can't wait to return with Ralph so he too can see the city as I did. For an amazing adventure full of awe and beauty. Not the dirty, crowded shanking sewer rat infested city he thought it was.