Road Trip Diaries Days 11-13: New York City

We made it! New York City, the great metropolis perched on the Atlantic Ocean. I am now closer to Ireland than I am to California (I surprised a lot of people with that fact when I studied abroad in Dublin last year). In fact, going to Europe and encountering so many people who had seen more of my country than I had is part of what inspired this trip. So, next time I'm abroad and somebody asks me if I've been to New York, I can beam proudly and tell them I have.

In a Nutshell: Overview of Days 11-12
Route: Chicago, IL to NY, NY- via planes, trains, and buses for a change.
Miles traveled: 974 today, 4,168 total.
Hours in car: None today, but 2 hours in a plane. If I count it, that makes 56.5 total.
Coffee consumed: Caitlin: 5 cups these days, 16 total. Cortney: 0 these days, 5 total. Combined: 21 cups.
Food highlight of the day(s): Stogo Ice Cream. Traci, Caitlin and I were strolling along after a tasty brunch at Cornerstone Cafe (also a very worthy place), when I saw a sandwich board sign on the sidewalk for dairy free ice cream. I walked in and... could it be? Every flavor was vegan! EVERY FLAVOR. This has never happened to me before. Never in my 3.5 years of veganism and constant quest for tasty desserts. ALL THE ICE CREAM. I CAN HAVE ALL THE ICE CREAM.
I ended up settling for two scoops- Caramel Praline Pecan, and Bananas Foster. I don't remember which kind of ice cream these ones were- Stogo makes soymilk, almondmilk, ricemilk, and hempmilk ice creams. Okay, I have to say it one more time- I CAN HAVE ALL THE ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have taken a photo of it, but I my enthusiasm was so great it overwhelmed even my intense compulsion to take photos of nearly everything I eat.
Quote of the Day: Sometimes, actions speak louder than words. Like when the bus to Hoboken got stuck in a traffic jam so bad that half of us got out and walked.

Look! We made it all the way across the country! 

Being a non-tourist in New York City
     Those of you hoping to see photos of the Statue of Liberty or views from the top of the Empire State Building will be disappointed, because we didn't visit them. (I did see the statue once from the airplane I took to Newark from Ireland though, so I'm not a total loser).
    There is a lot more to New York than its big landmarks- it is home to smart little coffee shops, leafy districts of classy brick apartment buildings, a bookstore which claims to have 18 miles of books, amusing graffiti, and most importantly my friend Traci Lee, who's been working in NYC for about half a year now. We got to use her employee discount card at the Rockefeller Center gift shops, which was probably the highlight of the trip. I saved two cents on my little $1 Christmas ornament of Kenneth from the TV show 30 Rock. Now here's my shout-out: if you don't read Traci's blogs already, go read them! They're good stuff:  Notes from a Coffee Shop and The Didion Diaries.
    Now that I've shamelessly plugged yet another friend who's cooler than me, time to carry on. I think I shall have to classify sections of this blog, because otherwise there is just too much to write.

General Observations:
    A warning to Californians: Almost everybody in New York City will dress better than you do. People are so ridiculously well put-together. Even if they wear shorts and a tank top, they are top-quality shorts you can tell cost more than $50, and the thank top will be some gorgeous, fluttery, loose-fitting thing as seems to be the fashion here. But most women wear cute dresses, and men have the best jeans I've ever seen.
   Also, New York is almost impossible to navigate. Flying in, I rationally calmed my nerves about navigating the city by telling myself, "Hey, I got around Paris and London just fine. I'm sure New York is just like any other metropolis with an extensive subway system." Lies, all lies. I was nervous for a reason, and that is because New York City is full of mystery trains with no signs telling you what route they're on or what stops are on that route. The only signs in the subway stations are advertisements. Getting around in countries where I didn't speak a word of their language was far easier- I couldn't pronounce what was on the signs, but at least the signs were there.

   Speaking of signs- apart from the subway, there are plenty! Street signs and graffiti are very amusing. The drivers are so notoriously hurried that there are signs telling them not to honk at each other. And apparently somebody was very concerned about the possibility of passers-by shitting at a construction site. As for my fairy drag mother, I didn't know I had one.

I especially like the addition of "please" at the end.
New Yorkers have manners. 

New York Adventures
   One touristy thing we did was visit Times Square. Caitlin and I hunted for affordable tickets to a Broadway Show, but alas, it never came to pass and we simply got lots of photos of the flashy advertisements for amazing shows we have insufficient money to see. Perhaps the people who stood for several hours waiting in line in the sun at the half price booth in Times Square had better luck, but the shows we were willing to do that for naturally did not have half price tickets.

    We also went to Rockefeller Center (also known as 30 Rock) to be thoroughly intimidated by the place where Traci works. The inside has black floors and black walls with gold pillars and highlights- it is terrifyingly important looking. I am amazed that such amusing things as 30 Rock can come from 30 Rock.
    None of the photos turned out. Too black and dark and scary inside of there.
    But I did get a photo of the super creepy and shady looking NewsCorp building! Doesn't it look like they're plotting evil things in there?

From this building, Murdoch's media army
rule the world. 

     Strand Books is a much friendlier place to hang out, and comfortingly full of nerds. We actually had better luck at Strand than we did at Powell's in Portland, largely because Portland is just too hip and their books are super expensive. This coming from a girl who spent $15 on a Strand Tote.

OMG! He's holding Hamlet AND Macbeth!!! 

     We decided to get away from Manhattan for a while, and went up to Traci's neck of the woods in Harlem- a safe haven for drinking chai and playing ukulele. I realized then that we just drove and flew across an entire country to sit in a coffee shop with a friend and learn to play the uke. It may seem strange, but what else would I rather do in New York than just hang out?
     This is the farthest point in our road trip- the climax, the point at which we stop heading toward New York and start heading toward California. And really, it is all about doing this:




Pretty shiny sparkly things
     I'm not energetic enough to further harp on the profundity of finally getting to New York, so I'll just finish off this blog with lots of pretty pictures. Yay!

Manhattan as viewed from Hoboken, New Jersey

A bridge I'm assuming is important and famous

World Trade Center