This year, my family was blessed blessed blessed with an opportunity to revisit the city that never sleeps. I love New York. It was kinda weird to think about spending Turkey Day without a week of baking prep and clean up, but it turned out to be everything I could've asked for.
Times Square
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like we spent a lot of time getting lost. And that was fun, maybe not for my feet, but we saw a lot of things we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Not like we saw a million bucks, or anyone famous, but I feel like the best way to get to know a place is to just sit their and look at it. Breath the air. Hear the sounds. That sort of thing. You don't get to know a city on a tour bus, at any rate.
Washington Square
Central Park
Some of the planned adventures included two musicals that I had dreamed of seeing since middle school: The Lion King and Wicked. I was singing along with every song. They are both fantastic shows. SPOILER ALERT, though, one thing that totally caught me by surprise is that in Wicked, Elphaba gets to run away with Fiyero in the end. That never occurred to me, after years and years of listening to the soundtrack. I couldn't get over that, for the rest of the night, I was just so happy for them, even though she was banished and he was a scarecrow. Oh, love.
My mom and I got to go to the Frick collection one afternoon, which was absolutely lovely. It was raining that day, and we got really wet trying to get back to the hotel, but we ended up sloshing by Beth Emanuel, this gorgeous synagogue that I had wanted to see, but didn't think I'd get to. We didn't get to go inside, but the outside was at least a taste.
Shake Shack, in the Financial District
Speaking of tastes, when we weren't eating pizza (my dad's goal was apparently to find the best pie in America), we went to Junior's, various bakeries, and Shake Shack--the last one, a grand total of three times, and every time it got better. My dad says the only reason their burgers taste so good is the fat content, but I think it's magic. Magic>fat content. Also, the SS in the theatre district has a concrete called "Pretzel!" The Concrete, and it's probably the most delectable ice cream I've ever tasted. On that note, while traipsing in the lower east end, we ran into Il Laboratorio Del Gelato, which was a blast. So good. I got a scoop of peanut butter and a scoop of blackberry, and it tasted like a creamy, cold PB&J. Like a DREAM.
On Thanksgiving, my mom granted my wish to see the Macy's parade in person on Times Square, and it was heartbreakingly not all I thought it would be. For one, we got there right before it started, which means five million (probably literally) were already lining the street. For two, even if you could strain your eyes to see the floats a mile away, every kid in the city spends the entire parade on their parent's shoulders. So you've got to be like ten feet tall to see anything. Trying to take pictures was nothing short of an acrobatic feat. Also, that morning was the coldest of the week. Needless to stay, we left about halfway in. But, I'm glad I can say I went!
The Fireman Balloon, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Of course the best part of the whole trip was being able to spend the week with my family, far away from school. For seven days, my mom was off the hook from replying to all 3042938 of my daily texts. My dad didn't have to ask me if I was studying. And I didn't have to wonder if Jacob was getting any taller. And Mark was there, too! Yeah! We were all there, all the time, and it was just great.
Ten more days of class, a week of finals, and all the other antics of life will hold sway until December 16th rolls around, and then I'll be on my way back to the motherland. 18 days until TEXAS and 2 different kinds of ice cream in the freezer in the garage and ESPN at all hours of the day and Maxy Waxy being his puppy self and decorating a Christmas tree and my mom tucking me in. Not to mention Picnic Club, the Bros, PC, etc. etc. etc. LET'S DO THIS.
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