WARNING: this is a really long post.
(So, go pee first, get a drink, and make sure your chair is comfortable.)
It was the infamous year, 2012, the end of the world as the Mayans knew it….or the Aztecs. Pssh, who cares, they blew it.
In honor of this gift of time, a road trip was planned. The destination? I’ll give you a few hints: the site of nearly every disaster/superhero/fashion/action…OK let’s face it, every cool movie.
Yep. The Big Apple. Good ol’ NYC. I’d never been frankly because I didn’t think it was going to be as great as everyone said it was. I know, blasphemy right? New York City is supposed to be the Mecca of all dreamers, dancers, actors, wall street-ers…
I thought I could live without it.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to. Because this place is incredible.
DAY 1
For starters, we decided to shack up in Jersey and take the train in everyday
(to save $$ and avoid driving, and my sister brought her two dogs)
classic hotel myspace selfie
Times Square was our home base, aka Penn Station. I was overwhelmed at how alive it felt. It was pretty late when we finally got into the city, but there were gobs of people and cars. –I grew up in a town where everything closed up shop around 6pm.
We ate at Ruby Foo’s, which could’ve been a bad choice to some locals. But we thought it was pretty good! Naturally, we had to just take a peek into the four story American Eagle and enjoyed our 15 seconds of fame.
We walked around a bit, went to a bar called Rattle & Hum and called it a night. It was cold!! (we went in January remember?)
We were zonked out on the train home. Yeah yeah, we were rookies.
DAY 2
So, New Jersey seems to be the ugly step-nephew of New York. I feel bad for it really. It’s like putting the prettiest girl in school next to the pimply chubster all year. Not cool man. I felt bad for Jersey, so I tried to find the unique beauty it had to offer.
Well I tried.
Back in the city, we thought we’d get a quick coffee before picking up our Tour Bus Tickets (yes, we are those people) and prepare to not have any feeling in our bodies the rest of the day.
-side note- We actually bought The New York Pass which for lack of a better word, is a Fast Pass for all the attractions in the city (Disney folk will get it).
It was icicle weather and we were going to be sitting on top of the bus, in the wind, happy as clams. Well, there’s no such thing as a ‘quick coffee’. The line at starbucks was freakishly long, and the bathroom was something I never wanted to experience. But here was our view as we sipped our brews.
And onto the bus we went.
PHOTO INTERMISSION
(these were all taken from a moving bus, hence the slightly askew angles)
Our guide was Bruce, a true New Yorker (so they all say…) He really did know everything about the city though and he was funny! I think he told us he was a writer and his wife was a photographer. I gave him my card 🙂
THE FERRY QUEST
Ok, there was nothing noble or questy about it, just sounded better than ‘The Circle Line Cruise‘ — I don’t remember much of this because I fell asleep where it was nice n warm inside. It’s not my fault guys, they gave me hot chocolate, and I couldn’t feel my cheeks. I did snag a few shots before I passed out though. 
Lady Liberty was getting some major refurbishment so we couldn’t go inside to see if Mystique was one of the statues. Bet she was.
DAY 3 ~ Fifth Avenue
We couldn’t leave without doing a few corny tourist stunts. First stop: Tiffany’s
Unfortunately, it was closed. I mean, even the windows were bare. Rude.
Didn’t stop this from happening though.
Next door was Trump Tower. Now, I get into some pretty ridiculous positions to get a halfway decent photo, but sometimes I can come across a little creepy. Apparently, this lady either thought I was drunk, or trying to look up her dress. Either way, her snooty glance fit perfectly in her surroundings.
And just a few blocks away was the grand, the majestic, the never-expanding Central Park. I planned to spend a good part of the day here, because there were just so many things I wanted to see, an overconfident, obese squirrel definitely being one of them.
However, as beautiful as it was, we jumped in a cab about thirty minutes in. My bones were starting to frost over.
We popped back to Jersey to let the little pups outside, took a tiny rest and headed back in for one final night…..
Food always comes first. Everyone knows this. Heck, even Jesus knew better. Break bread first. —We ate at the highly recommended John’s Pizza. The line was long, like outside long, but it was worth the wait. To start, we had Garlic Cheese Rolls, followed by a classic Basil, Mozzarella, Tomato Pie, and finished it off sharing a Coffee Canoli.
By this time, I think the cold was getting to us. My brother in law tried his best to take a nice photo of us, but it was a lost cause.
It was a warm and welcoming place. Very family oriented. With full and satisfied bellies, we ventured out to see the city the way it was meant to be seen. 
The Empire State view was definitely better than the ‘Top of the Rock‘ (Rockefeller Center), but 30 Rock had other charms to offer, such as a tour through Jimmy Fallon’s studio (back when he was Late Night) which pretty much rocked my world. I almost lost it, almost.
It was a fast weekend. After all, we were only in the city two and half days, but we jam-packed it in! We had one last look at Times Square and headed back underground, back to Jersey, back to real life.
Fighting Fernweh 
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