Recovering (a Hasty, Unpolished Version of My Trip to NY)

You must bear with me a little longer - still no deep or witty observations to offer. I am always running short on time and energy these days, and all the more so this week after a trip to New York last weekend. After having agonized over whether or not the whole family - or maybe even just some of us - should go see my baby sister graduate from Nyack College, I had finally agreed the best option would be for me to leave the kids with Dave and take a girls only trip with my Mom and sisters.





Having done so, we all left very early Friday morning and hit New York City before lunch, cruising Chinatown and having lunch in Little Italy. We walked and shopped after that until we had had all the noise and crowds we could stand, then made our way to our hotel in Nyack. We had dinner at the Asian restaurant where Erica (the graduating sister) works, and where they pleasantly surprised us by taking care of the entire bill! Alas, that was the only thing that didn't cost us money on the trip! The graduation was the next day, and we spent the morning relaxing, then finding ourselves scrambling to get ready, and some of us scrambling just to get there! My dad had taken a flight in that morning, and my mom had driven back into the city to pick him up, but his flight was delayed a couple hours because of fog, and my mom was still waiting at the airport at the time when we should have been leaving the hotel to get seats at the graduation site. Those of us still at the hotel, therefore, had to take a taxi. We arrived on schedule, but were dismayed when the driver casually asked us for $75! Feeling exactly like the inexperienced small-town girls that we are, we offered him all the we could scrape together (funy that we had thought we were carrying more cash than we would need!), which was about $20 less - and he "graciously" accepted it. At least we were there, though, which was more than we could say for our parents, who were tearing their way there from the airport. They arrived just in time for my mom to change into the dress we had brought for her, and the service had only just started when they took their seats. Of course, they really needn't have worried, because it was rather a long time before my dear sister, sporting cute white flip-flops, had her turn to traipse across the stage to receive her diploma. We shouted enthusiastically at her, and she swept the president of the college into a big hug rather than politely shaking his hand. After another long stretch of time, we were swept by the crowd out of the building, and we all managed to meet up for pictures.

That's my family - from left to right, my sister Sarah, my dad (who had worked all night and hadn't slept yet that day!), my mom (who treated us to the trip), Erica (who darted to and fro after the graduation meeting up with her many, many friends) Mary K. (who is married, but with no little ones yet -it's Sarah's baby Jack she's holding), and myself. We were quite exhausted when we finally made our way back to Nyack. Some of us stopped at a real NY pizza place before heading back to the hotel. Later we dropped by Erica's apartment for the graduation party she hosted, but didn't stay long, anticipating getting up early to go back into the city the next day.

It wasn't exactly the early start we had hoped for, but we did make it out before lunch, and this time hit Times Square, joining in the crush of people in that part of the city (random question - why do so many people in NY city dress in winter attire?!). We had lunch, and then we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked the entire rest of the day. We did stop by the Empire State Building, which was fabulous, although dissapointing on some levels. In the movies, people dash up to the top in romantic fashion, but that's not at all possible in real life. And not at all free, of course! But the view was spectacular, and I was pleased to discover that I experienced no vertigo at the top (well, not quite the top - you have to pay extra to get there!). I was much like being in an airplane, I thought, except windier.

After that, we walked some more, had a terrific row while considering riding the Subway (a family's still a family, even when we all grow up, it seems!), then split up and walked some more. My mom and I walked back up (or down - I don't know, since I had no sense of direction while I was there through Times Square) and over to Rockefeller Plaza and other sights that I considered classic NY City. I enjoyed all that much more than Chinatown. We all met back up to pile into 2 cars and head toward the airport, but we got lost in the city, and my sister's car began overheating, so we were quite a sight (and in not very good moods) when we pulled over somewhere near the Brooklyn Bridge to sort everything out. Amazingly, we all made it to our gate in time (some of us just barely) and endured a hot, crowded, and bumpy ride home. We finally made it to my mom's apartment (where Dave and the kids were staying) at about 10:30 Sunday night. About 20 minutes later, Dave had to leave for home so that he could get to work in Charleston early Monday morning. :-(

The kids and I made our way home Monday, and took it as easy as we could, but I was still quite tired, and not feeling very well, Tuesday. It has taken us all week to unpack, and neither schoolwork nor housework has received very much attention!