NYC trip

We were on vacation in New York City this past week.

The last time I visited NYC was 1992, I was driving a van full of sound equipment from Portland, Maine and delivered them to a musician who lived in Midtown. I also came to NY the previous year to interview for a job in New Jersey and stayed one night at a hostel in a YMCA. That was my first experience with Port Authority. I didn't get that job and went back to San Diego, but got the job at Portland Stage Company in Maine the next year.

Wow, almost 20 years has passed, how quickly time flies, especially as we get older.

My wife and I did all the usual touristy stuff: Times Square, Empire State Bldg, MOMA, museums, restaurant row, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Theater district, and Central Park. It seemed like we walked at least 5,6 miles every day which was great exercise after eating all the amazing food that was everywhere.

It was a complete sensory overloading experience with the sights, sounds, smells, people, cars, products on the sidewalks, Broadway shows, restaurants and shops. We managed to spend about 4 hours in Central Park, where I ran one loop around this Jackie Onasis Reservoir in about 14 minutes (1.57 mile). It was nowhere as hot or humid as Georgia so I felt great so we walked some more. New York City (or at least Manhattan as I remembered it) is more diverse, vibrant, clean and safer than ever. I would not want to live or drive here. The Subway was great to get around to wherever we need to go, why would you need to drive and park with the ridiculously high rates and the reckless driving. We even made it down to the Village, SoHo and the NYU area. Another week would not be enough to see every thing, but we enjoyed ourselves in the Big Apple and are ready to head back to our humble mellow lives in the little town of Smyrna, Jo Ja.