NYC in 24 Hours

Saturday morning, 4 am, I got on a bus filled with a class of first-years, a handful of kids in other years, the president of our school, two staff members, and two nine-year-old boys. It was packed.

We got to the Ellis Island ferry around 9 and took a whirlwind tour of the museum. We didn’t go to the Statue of Liberty, but it was still good. I was happy to realize how much of the history I remember. They also had a neat panel on the history of the banjo and accordion, which I studied a bit last semester. So props to my parents for choosing a great curriculum, and props to my university for being well-rounded.

 I am particularly fond of this exhibit with the ships. Yet another reason I should have been born in the 1800's.

 After looking for my relatives names on the wall (finding none that I recognized), we got back on the ferry, which took us across the Hudson to New York. We spent a little bit in the Bowling Green vicinity because our bus got stuck in traffic, then we ate lunch very quickly because we had a reserved time at the 9/11 Memorial.

By this time the security check count was two, and people who wore belts were beginning to get quite sick of it. Plus it was chilly. Anyway, when we got to the place our leader had been told to wait, we couldn’t figure out what to do. There were probably thirty of us, and we all walked down the street toward the memorial, only to get confused and walk back up to where we started, then find the signs that said yep, it’s the other direction, but when we got there they told us we were right the first time, so we ended up forming a line back where the bus dropped us off, and we were handed our tickets. I was quite impressed. That was the only miscommunication/poor planning episode that happened the entire time, at least to my knowledge.

The 9/11 Memorial was quite moving. I love the symbolism of the water falling down beyond where you can see. It was so impressive that my photographic creativity didn’t know what to do with it, so my pictures of it aren’t very exciting, but oh well.

When we left the memorial we had time to spare before the bus came back, so my little group went to check out Occupy Wallstreet. They had an event that morning at 10, but it had emptied out quite a bit by the time we got there. We did get to see the line of police vehicles (trucks, Chargers, motorcycles, the whole gamut) and a few Occupiers. I felt like we were witnessing history being made.

The U.N. held another security check, and I had to dump out my water bottle. Unhappy tourist, here. What was I supposed to do for the next seven hours before we got back on the bus? NYC is not like Australia. No free water stations.

But back to the U.N. I enjoyed it. We were given an audio tour (code for walking with big, first generation cellphone type device held to your head). One of the most interesting objects was the gun guitar. I like the ideal it represents of one day having no use for guns but turning them into guitars. It was also neat to sit in the council chambers where they talk for hours and come up with resolutions that carry oh so much weight, haha.

^^^I thought this was hilarious.

I’m sitting here trying to remember what we did after the U.N. tour. ....   .....    ..... ..   . .   . That seems like such a long time ago, but I’ve said that almost every week this semester. ...okay now I remember. It was around 4:30pm, and the bus was set to pick us up near Rockefeller at 10:30. So we had six hours to spend in New York, but not enough time to see a show. I was disappointed, to say the least. My group decided we wanted to go to Macy’s, Rockefeller Center, and I thought Central Park, but apparently that wasn’t the consensus. We never got there, but it was getting dark anyway. So, long story short, Rockefeller was incredibly crowded. It was like 2,000 people decided they wanted to play sardines! The tree was beautiful and very tall, which is good because I was holding onto a loop on this guy’s backpack to keep from getting lost. I never saw the rink, but that’s okay. I’d like to imagine it with a few less people skating so they have room to move.

It’s all jumbled up in my memory after that, but at some point we went to FAO Schwarz (“I promise the wait will be less than 15 minutes!” says the toy soldier running around outside), Times Square (smaller than I thought it would feel, bright but not overwhelming), Starbucks about 5 times(managed to get off without buying anything), the M&M store, and Roxy Deli (I got calamari, which has become a tradition for me when I eat while traveling. Sorry, NY, Cleveland still has you beat), and some touristy stores so we could warm up. We never could find directions to Macy’s, which baffles me, but we still had fun. 8:15pm came around and most of us were pretty much done, with nothing else we could think of to do, so we just went to Starbucks again and then hovered around the vicinity of the bus stop. Imitating the statues, quoting Despicable Me, being silly college kids who are trying very hard to not think about finals.

I was one of the first people back on the bus, quite ready to leave. It was funny hearing people’s comments as they got on. 95% said it was great but they would never want to live here and were glad to be going home. I can appreciate the city, and I could see why I would live in one, but I LOVE the country. I have the boots and the music to prove it.

One exciting thing that came out of the experience was getting to know my school’s main photographer. After she saw some of my pictures and we talked she told me I should meet the creative director here at school, so I have a meeting to set up with him after Christmas break. I’m excited, although I know a few people who are more talented than I am, by far, so it may just turn into a “hey, I know who you should talk to” meeting. We’ll see. Since music isn’t my outlet any more, I need another one!

I really need to post more often. It’s very helpful. I think my brain organizes itself more neatly when I do.

Well, time to sleep. I have one final exam down, six to go. Christmas is so close!