My little town blues

they're melting away

I'm gonna make a brand new start of it

in old New York

ASHLEY, COMMANDING OFFICER.

...is fresh from her very first trip ever to New York City. I must say it was an exhausting whirlwind and far from anything I've ever experienced. New York City is really the city that never sleeps...unless there's a hurricane a brewin' but we'll get more into that a bit later.

After a long delay in Charleston we finally landed in NYC on the first day, late. The poor little plane was so tiny and turbulent. There were several episodes where I felt I should have actually paid attention to the safety bit about the seat being a floatation device. I mean legit afraid that I was going to fall out of the sky at 34,000 feet and plummet to my death. Now, I've never been afraid of flying but that was not delightful trip in the slightest. We finally landed in a gloomy NYC much later than we expected.

We arrived at Hotel 91 in Chinatown, got settled and set off to the city. During the great subway fiasco (aka turning the map every which way and hoping you're on the right side of the tracks) I remembered, "Hey, I actually have a friend in this city" and promptly got in touch with an old Phi Sig buddy, Andy. It was great to see him and get a more personal view of the city from the roof of his building. Not legal I'm told...but we got a great perspective of everything. I can't believe how great it was to see Andy after all this time.

The next day we did some more touristy type things including Rockefeller Center, tour bus guide of SOHO, Chelsea, the East Village, Theater district and other blah blah blah. Out of all of this though...I went to Tiffany's. Do you know how much I love Tiffany's? Didn't think so. Let's just put it this way...I LOVE Tiffany's. I got a necklace and felt like my trip to NYC was worth it just to say I bought a Tiffany necklace from the Tiffany & Co. I can now die a happy woman. We saw Central Park...I ooooohhhed and awwwed and all was right in the world.

Then...natural disaster struck, or so Emperor Bloomberg predicted. The next thing we know the whole of NYC is shut down and preparing for what you would think a CAT billion hurricane. No, literally. I'm not exaggerating. We trekked into a Chinese souvenir shop in good ol' Chinatown and the poor lady that worked there was comparing her feeling to that of September 11, 2001. Not cool meteorologists, not cool Bloomberg, not cool local news anchors/reporters. Really, not cool. I felt like everywhere Chrissy and I went we were trying to explain that everything would be fine and for people to keep their panties...well, wadless. I understand that Hurricane Irene was very real for a lot of people. Namely those in NC and the shores of VA and NJ. Hurricane Irene did nothing to Manhattan. Well, it did blow some debris about, but what I can gather from the streets of NYC...debris floating around is fairly commonplace. Here is a picture of the worst destruction we scoped out. Beware, what comes next is pretty disturbing. Hide your kids, hide your wife.

That's right! The news was friggin' telling people "the danger's not over! Stay out of stagnant water because you could get a nasty bacterial infection!" For Christ's sake, really?! I'm not even joking. Now, I know that NY isn't used to the threat of a hurricane...but still...that's a bit much. Just a bit. Much.

Even with what we were sure was impending doom we braved the hurricane and salvaged our weekend by walking about. Mass transit was down so we went about NYC the old fashioned way, on foot. Nothing worth mentioning was open but I will say that the happy construction workers working on Freedom Tower were still up there, working on Freedom Tower. So we went to Ground Zero and to the NYC Supreme Court building which we affectionately called the "doink doink" thanks to my sister. Cue my crazy love obsession with Law and Order: SVU and it was a good day anyway.

Then, we went back to our room where we had lovingly stockpiled water in case of a real disaster, and fortunately we never had a use for it. We went back out later that night just to see what was up in Times Square. That's when I began to hate Hurricane Irene the most. No. Cupcakes. The travesty.

Monday came and with it mass transit. Thank glory. I feel sorry for the people of NYC when there's no subway system. You learn how completely necessary it is when you don't have it. We went to Madam Tussaud's and met a lot of celebrities. No big deal, just a day in the life of two up and coming jet setters. We also saw the ruins of Pompeii, which formerly I knew nothing about and then ventured into the Harry Potter exhibit which was was over the moon about. I actually had to correct this kid on his trivia, to which Chrissy promptly informed me that I was, indeed, a big nerd. After all this we did a little more browsing and looking around. It was loads of fun.

And now, I'm back in Columbia with 7 days of work looming over me. Did I mention I was exhausted? Further I would like to mention the god awful smell of Chinatown will be forever burned into my olfactory nerve. Forever.

People are asking me now what my favorite part was..aside from the obvious Tiffany and Harry Potter experiences I was quite pleased with getting to know Chrissy. She's pretty fly. I felt completely comfortable with her and in the beginning feared that I wouldn't be. She's super easy to talk to and made my trip loads more fun. It was like having my old college roommate back. So, Chrissy, if you're reading this...you are admired and I would go on any trip with you any time. I hope your beau loved his goodies and we'll see you 'round Thanksgiving.

I think that about does it for my NY blog. I could go on and on but I think it's gotten quite long enough and has hit most of the high points. I'll leave you with this photo, the only one not taken with my point and shoot. I missed my camera this vacation. I wish I would have taken it. Instead, I got an awesome deal on an external flash and a new portrait lens. I haggled the man down about 300 dollars and walked out of his shop with some new swag. Success!

TOMATO, THE HUBS.

I miss you. Everyday I miss you. Thank you for supporting my want/need to travel. I appreciate your hard work and your love. You truly are a step above the rest and I can't wait to see more of the world with you at my side.

Always.

ZERO, THE DRAGON.

...is gonna get some major cuddles in tonight!

Song of the Day

New York, New York by Frank Sinatra