New York

Today I returned from spending eight days in New York. My friend Dave, who lives in Tennesee but grew up in Long Island, is unemployed and did not know when he'd be able vacation or see his family again once getting a new job. He decided, then, to drive the twelve hours to New York and asked if I'd like to come along. I had never been there before, and to me it's somewhere everyone would want to see, so I joined him for the trip. Dave, for his part, was told by his wife Jen that he was to "find a career and figure out his life." He said that he has yet to do so in thirty-one years, but one week in New York should be the answer. And so off we went.

THE FIRST WEEK: We stayed where Dave grew up, in Quogue, Long Island. Ooma (what everyone calls her), his grandmother, housed us on two twin beds. Across the street live his brother, Scott, and his brother's wife, Denise. Just down the street are Dave's parents, Randy and Diane.

Dave showed me all the sights of the area, including the places he and his friends hung out growing up. That included going to the Atlantic Ocean, where I took off my sandals and stepped into the cold waters. We also saw the Hamptons, which have numerous million dollar plus homes. If I had enough money, that would be a nice place to live. I also saw some of the homes Dave managed when he owned his own landscaping business before moving to Alabama, where he mowed, planted trees and flowers, made ponds, and the like.

We spent time with most of the friends Dave had growing up. We saw Chris and his mother Mary and fellow landscaper Dave. While at the Atlantic Ocean, we chatted with Moose (I don't know his real name), who works there letting people into the parking area for the beach. Moose accompanied us one night to see married couples Courtney and James, and Bob and Stephanie. We went to lunch with the latter another day, who paid for the meal, afterwards taking a walk in a local park and then going back to their house, where Stephanie cooked us a delicious dinner of chicken cutlets, pasta, and salad. To repay them for the two meals, Dave and I transplanted about seven small trees in their yard and edged the grass in the front.

I learned that being a fisherman is not for me. One morning we took Scott's boat, along with Dave's dad, and went shark fishing out in the Atlantic Ocean. I was feeling my stomach turning a little as we motored out, then when we stopped to begin fishing, the six feet or so swells took control and I was helplessly vomiting off the side. Dave has always gotten motion sick easily - even sitting on a swing with his feet off the ground makes him queasy - and so he joined me in contributing chum to our expedition. We were out there for only about ten minutes, before we went back to the inlet to fish for regular fish. There the waters are mostly calm. Unfortunately, we didn't catch any fish; however, I did accidentally reel in a crab once, which we threw back.

THE FOOD I ATE: Dave made sure he went to the restaurants he loves. We went to Popei's for seafood, where I got a scallops and shrimp pasta with broccoli; to Slo Jack's for a shrimp burrito; to The Triangle Pub for a cajun burger; to Ken's for sushi; to The Sandwich Club for a buffalo chesterbrester chicken sandwich; to the local deli for a breakfast special, two eggs over easy with sausage, cheese, pepper, and ketchup, all on a hard roll; and to Tonino's for an authentic cheese New York pizza. All of this food was wonderfully tasty. We also had spaghetti at Dave's parents one night and crawfish at Scott's another. In New York City, we had an incredible authentic Korean meal.

NEW YORK CITY: On the drive in, I saw Shea Stadium from a distance. We parked at Rescue 1, just a few blocks from Times Square, thanks to Dave's brother Scott being a NYC fireman. Lots of the sights in the city were accessible by walking.

Times Square is fun to see for all its lights, signs, and screens. In addition, we saw Rockefeller Center, The New York Public Library, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Theater, the Empire State Building, Chinatown, Ground Zero, Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, FAO Schwarz, and Central Park.

We tried to find cheap tickets to a Broadway show. It was impossible though. We went to where "Hairspray" was playing, but tickets were $75; at "Jersey Boys," tickets were $300. One lady told us she is buying tickets for the latter for February, and only about eight or so remain. That's how popular these Broadway shows are!

It was fun to participate in the crazy NYC driving. As Dave said, the most common color of cars is yellow, with there being so many cabbies. Drivers cut others off continously, swerve into other lanes without using a blinker, and basically do anything and everything if they can get away with it. Honking creates a perpetual hum all over. Eventually, however, I got used to it and stopped hearing all the honking. I even was honked at myself by a cabbie, and got to honk at someone else when we left the city. I am quite happy that I got to honk at someone in New York City!

I got to ride the subway. I think that has to be a part of any experience in NYC.

Ooma has two turtles from Chinatown, and somehow at some point I said it'd be neat to have turtles myself, so Dave's Uncle Jerry got me two from Chinatown. I wasn't quite expecting that! One thing led to another, and now I have a ten gallon aquarium with rocks from the rock walls Dave is building, a ramp made of wood we found in Dave's backyard in Tennesee, and fish which I'll buy later. I'm going to try to set all this up tomorrow. The turtles are climbing buggers. They about haven't stopped moving since I got them. We named them Dent (he has a dent in his shell) and Orbit (after the gum I bought on the trip).

I had a fun time on my trip. I am glad that I can now say I've been to New York. Seeing all of the sights of the city is something I'll always remember!