The morning of my 23rd birthday I landed in New York; well technically I actually landed in Newark, sooo same-same, but different! I roamed around the airport for a while trying to find the "express bus" that I had read about online. After roaming around for about half an hour dragging my suitcases behind me in a "train"; I decided to make a Dunkin Doughnuts pit stop and stock up on some pumpkin spiced goods for my journey to Manhattan. I noticed a girl about my age making the same circles around the airport as me, we teamed up together and found a train that would take us straight to Madison square garden! Score! Ironically it was right next to the gate that I had flown into. We visited while waiting for the train to come, she was also travelling to New York alone for the first time to meet up with some friends! We made plans to try to meet up later on but nothing panned out.
I'd tried out some new curlers before leaving to the airport, but sadly my hair didn't stay curly. I tossed my hair up into a very greasy looking 90's inspired half pony for the duration of the train ride.
When I made it to Manhatten I headed straight for Schwartz Luggage Storage. My airbnb host wasn't able to let me into the apartment until later in the evening so storing my luggage was my best option. The storage place was about 5 blocks away from the train station, 7 if you count all the wrong turns I made. By time I had drug my suitcases all that way my feet were on FIRE! Another thing I overlooked when planning this trip was the temperature; I was planning for crisp fall air and what I got was humid, sweltering warm ocean air. I ditched my uggs with my suitcases for the day and headed out (in sock feet) to find the nearest shoe store.
4 stores, a pair of new shoes, and a selfie stick later I was on my way to the south side of the island. I bought a 7 day long unlimited subway "metro card" scanned myself through the gate and was on my way! On the adgenda; Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, 9/11 memorial and the One World Observatory.
I hopped on the train and began to people watch, There is no phone service when you're on the train so it gets quite boring after a while. There was a family with 3 small sons, who looked like they could be triplets, and a older daughter; they were also heading to the ferry. I watched from a far while the boys played airplanes and climbed all over their mom chattering about how excited they were to go on a ferry! The older sister menacingly would tassel her brother(s) hair, or jump in on the airplane game playing the "terrorist plane" that made her brothers crash -- how american of them.
The water taxi ended up being a much better choice, it circled more of the classic New York sites; plus you could hop on and off as you please! I chose to stay on the boat and ride around the loop twice, this way I got enough time to truly take in the beautiful sights along the way. Lady Liberty seemed so much smaller then I had expected, next to the city skyline she looked tiny!! It wasn't until I was right in front of the statue that the magnitude of it really showed. I would have loved to go on the tour where you can walk up inside the statue but alas it was booked for months in advance. Next time!!
While on the Water Taxi I realized that my selfie stick wasn't working. I fumbled with it trying to take some pictures but it wouldn't work. I leaned over and asked the ladies sitting next to me if they wouldn't mind trying the selfie stick on their phone to see if it was just a problem with my own phone. Unfortunately my selfie stick was junk. As I was putting my selfie stick in the garbage one of the ladies offered me her old selfie stick, how kind!! The boat was pretty crowded so I opted to have my picture taken rather then trying to take a good picture with my selfie stick.
**My Selfie-stick Ladies**
Since the sun was beginning to set I decided to go up to the
"One World Observatory"
I absolutely loved the city lights. I love the way they light up the dark sky, twinkling with the stars above. I facetimed my family to show them the incredible view. When it was time to go I rode the elevator up and down one more time before leaving, that way I could watch the building of Manhattan once more. After picking up my luggage I walked a few blocks over to the train station, I drug my suitcases down the steps of the subway entrance only to realize I was on the wrong side of the platform. Back up the stairs I went, up to the street to look around for the "uptown" entrance to the train. For being my first time using the NYC subway system I'd say only making 1 mistake the entire day is pretty darn good!
My airbnb for the first 3 nights was a quaint little apartment on West 55th and 8 ave. It was perfect!! My host gave me the rundown of the rules and handed me the keys. I was pretty much starving at this point so I decided to head back towards times square to go to Junior's. My mom had heard about their famous cheesecake and insisted that I go there for my "Solo Birthday Dinner". When I got there the place was absolutely packed!! Luckily I got a spot at the bar right away and quickly ordered--- as you can tell I dove in on the cheesecake before remembering to take a picture for my mom! ...Whoops!
While I was sitting enjoying my dinner a couple came and sat beside me at the bar. The gentlemen turned to me and asked if the cheesecake was any good, my cheeks were completely full of cheesecake so I gave them a big thumbs up and smiled. I probably had cheesecake all over my teeth because the couple immediately started giggling. We ended up visiting for almost 2 hours, they were so sweet and friendly; they even offered to pay for my meal since it was my birthday! Before saying goodbye we snapped a quick selfie, I do so love meeting friendly strangers.
I hopped on the train and began to people watch, There is no phone service when you're on the train so it gets quite boring after a while. There was a family with 3 small sons, who looked like they could be triplets, and a older daughter; they were also heading to the ferry. I watched from a far while the boys played airplanes and climbed all over their mom chattering about how excited they were to go on a ferry! The older sister menacingly would tassel her brother(s) hair, or jump in on the airplane game playing the "terrorist plane" that made her brothers crash -- how american of them.
I had made my first trip on the subway successfully!! I walked out of the station into the street, naively thinking that the ferry would be right outside. Alas it wasn't. I started walking towards the ocean when a man selling tickets for the Water Taxi approached me, being the gullible young woman I am I fell straight into their marketing. I am not very good at telling people no, it makes me very uncomfortable especially when face to face with them. I got my ticket to the taxi and walked up the harbor to get in line for the next boat, as I walked up I recognized the family I had been people watching on the train. Surprisingly the mom from the train recognized me and immediately started chatting with me when I walked up!!
**** I look away from the camera in pictures because I don't often like my face in pictures. Instead of bothering people to take a million pictures till I'm happy with how I look, I face away from the camera. It's more mysterious that way anyways****
**My Selfie-stick Ladies**
Next I was off to the 9/11 memorial. I slowly strolled along the streets, taking in the sight of the beautiful buildings with the warm, sunset lighting. The 9/11 memorial was absolutely stunning.
Since the sun was beginning to set I decided to go up to the
"One World Observatory"
The elevator up to the observatory had TV screens for the walls, while you traveled up they showed a time-lapse of the Manhattan skyline. It was incredible to see the transformation of the city over the years. I strolled around the deck watching the sun slowly set and the street lights begin to glow. There was a musician playing that night, I sat down to listen to him play while watching the city start to come alive as the darkness set in.
My airbnb for the first 3 nights was a quaint little apartment on West 55th and 8 ave. It was perfect!! My host gave me the rundown of the rules and handed me the keys. I was pretty much starving at this point so I decided to head back towards times square to go to Junior's. My mom had heard about their famous cheesecake and insisted that I go there for my "Solo Birthday Dinner". When I got there the place was absolutely packed!! Luckily I got a spot at the bar right away and quickly ordered--- as you can tell I dove in on the cheesecake before remembering to take a picture for my mom! ...Whoops!
While I was sitting enjoying my dinner a couple came and sat beside me at the bar. The gentlemen turned to me and asked if the cheesecake was any good, my cheeks were completely full of cheesecake so I gave them a big thumbs up and smiled. I probably had cheesecake all over my teeth because the couple immediately started giggling. We ended up visiting for almost 2 hours, they were so sweet and friendly; they even offered to pay for my meal since it was my birthday! Before saying goodbye we snapped a quick selfie, I do so love meeting friendly strangers.
It was about 1 am at this point, but I wanted to see times square at night so I decided to take the long way home and roam around the bright lights. Times square is incredible at night, the screens are so bright that it looks like daylight, it's so amazing.
I went to the iconic TKTS booth to see where I would need to get in line for Broadway tickets the next day when I was approached by many strange people. The first lady who approached me had a baby in a stroller, she was clearly on drugs and asking for money while her husband was walking around asking other people for money. In an effort to not seem rude and upset her I changed the subject to her daughter, who had just began to wake up. The woman quickly swiped up her little girl and walked away angrily calling me a selfish *beep* and spitting at me. At this point I was starting to get nervous, so I began walking away. I looking at my phone to figure out how to get home, when I was approached by another pedestrian. He had seen the woman lash out at me and came to see if I was alright. He was carrying a bible so I assumed he was probably a decent person who wasn't going to mug me. He asked if he could walk me to my train station and tell me a little about god, I obliged hoping that the station was close and I could get home to the safety of my airbnb. He started to tell me that he was a man called of god to preach to the TKTS stairs, they were his "congregation", I politely nodded and smiled as he went on. Then I noticed that he was leading me away from the main square, away from the lights... I immediately stopped and told him I needed to go when he grabbed my arms. He started to tell me that he believed that god had sent me to him, to be his wife. I laughed, and tried to wiggle my arms out of his grasp. He squeezed just a little tighter and pulled me closer to him, I was starting to panic now and desperately wanted to be anywhere else. I lightly tried to push him away when suddenly he started leaning in!! I turned my head right at the last second, his mouth hit my cheek completely open, tongue wiggling. I screamed as loud as I could and with all my might pushed him away. I started running back to the lights when I looked back someone was running after me, yelling at me to wait. It was another pedestrian who had followed me (and the creepy pastor), he supposedly wanted to see if I was okay, to see if the man had hurt me. I quickly told him I was fine and I slipped down the nearest subway entrance. I waited until I was sure both of those creeps were gone then I quickly walked up the stairs put my hood up and walked as fast as I could back to my airbnb.
Needless to say I needed a shower. I scrubbed my face until it was almost raw, then wrapped my hair in my new Curlformers before collapsing into bed.
It wasn't a very comfortable sleep...
**** Step count 27,701 ****
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