New York, New York: The Overview

So, hibernation over…time to get to work.

When I started on the New York trip I wanted to do three things. One: I wanted to see a Broadway play. Two: I wanted to ride the subway and see if it is really as bad as they say it is. Three: I wanted to meet some cool people and hear at least one real New Yorker go on one of their famous cursing rants. I accomplished all three.

In these posts I want to explore the differences between New York (where I would like to live) and Paris, Tennessee (where I currently live). Now most people would say “Ghee, it’s kind of obvious what the differences are. New York is a big city, and Paris is a small city.” To them I would reply “Duh!” It’s the social differences that I want to explore. That is where the humor of life lies. In the little things that often go unnoticed.

To begin, let me give you an overview of the trip so that when I get down and start talking about actual events and scenarios you good readers will have some sort of reference.

Thursday
Morning: I arrived at the airport at 6:30 am, two hours early (such as suggested by both the airline website and by frequent fliers that I talked to), and was in the air promptly at around 10:00 (an hour and a half late).
Afternoon: I arrived in New York and took a shuttle van to the Grand Central Station where another van was supposed to arrive minutes later to take me to the hotel. Thus I knew that I would be waiting at least an hour (which proved to be an accurate estimate). The only thing that made this bearable was the copious amount of very attractive females that walked by me.
Evening: After checking into my hotel (another 45 minute process) and resting for a while I hit the streets. I discovered that New York is one of the only places that I have been that you can walk around aimlessly for over two hours without feeling bored and with the feeling that you are still missing something. I then found a restaurant and had dinner.
Night: At around 8:00 I left the restaurant and headed for the bars. I discovered that the bars in New York did not close until 4:00 am, and this is when my liver and kidneys both groaned and began a synchronized cursing at me. At 5:00 am I stumbled into my hotel and slept.

Friday
Morning: Woke up bright and early at 10:00 and had breakfast across the street. I then met up with my friend John (who was also visiting New York) and together we searched out a cigar store that I had heard about, Nat Sherman’s. Both of us being smokers, we were delighted to discover that they offered a smoking room where you could sit in comfortable leather chairs, watch sports on a large flat-screen television, and smoke a cigar in relative peace.
Afternoon: Ate lunch and walked around some more. Once again, I was amazed that I could spend a whole afternoon walking and still feel like there was much more to see.
Evening: Caught a bite to eat at a sushi restaurant and met a really cool family from France. At least….I think they were from France. They spoke French. I then attended the musical Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre, which was an excellent show that I would recommend to anyone.
Night: Bars! Got to see a pretty good local live band, and met a cool group of people and had a great conversation while we stood outside smoking. We went from discussing John Grisham to discussing theological philosophies. It was a weird transition that was made natural by the fact that we were all pretty shit-faced. Good times. 5:00 am…crashed into bed.

Saturday
Morning: Woke up again promptly around 10:00 and had breakfast. Met John again and spent some time around the Times Square area (in the rain) and met a cool guy named Joe who worked for Comedy Central and sold us some tickets to a comedy show at The Improv.
Afternoon: Took the subway down to Greenwich Village to check out where I would have been staying if I had been accepted to The New School. It was a cool place. Had lunch there at a horror movie themed restaurant
Evening: Took the subway back to 42nd street and chilled out in the hotel room for a while.
Night: Went to the comedy show at The Improv, which was a little of a disappointment. Two of the comics were funny and the other three were just alright. These are the risks you take when buying tickets off the street from people named Joe. Hit the bars afterwards. I had to catch a plane the next day so I went to bed early at about 2:30.

Sunday
Morning: Had breakfast at 9:00 (yeah it surprised me too) at a pompous French place. It was still raining so walking was done in the fashion of trying to dodge other people’s umbrellas (which were mostly conveniently located at eye level so that I ran a constant risk of losing an orb to the pointy metal extensions). Checked out of the hotel at around 11:30.
Afternoon: Got smart and took a cab to the airport. Pissed my pants on the way (it was raining so no one noticed). My plane didn’t leave until 5:30, but I didn’t want to walk around New York in the rain dragging my, circa 1976, suitcase behind me. So I spent the afternoon at LaGuardia Airport.
Evening: Got on my plane promptly at 7:00 (an hour and a half late) and headed back to Nashville.

Most people so far have asked me much of the same questions. “Did you go to Ground Zero?” “Did you go to the Statue of Liberty?” “Did you go to the Empire State Building?” Basically most people want to know if I did the typical tourist thing and visit the typical tourist places. The answer is “No.” I didn’t want to do those things. They didn’t interest me as much as just the ambiance of the city and its different areas. The only places that I wanted to visit that I didn’t were Chinatown, Chelsea, Tribeca, and the west side harbor district. Each of those places deserve their own day, there just wasn’t enough time.

But overall I had fun, and I came back with a better appreciation of the city and an overwhelming need to go back. Possibly for good. After visiting I can see myself living there more than ever, and I believe that a job hunt is in order. But…one step at a time. For now I am content to admire from a distance and plan the eventuality of habitation in The Big Apple.