Boarding the train in New Jersey, I tried to reign in my excitement. I had always wanted to visit the Big Apple, and today was my day. I had eight hours to do whatever I wanted in one of the busiest cities in the world.
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The day started off strong. My friends and I awoke in Pennsylvania, where we were visiting one of my buddies who studies medicine near Philadelphia. We climbed into the car and began the trek to New Jersey, planning to board a train that would deliver us in the heart of the city.
The first challenge was navigating New Jersey transit, but after a few minutes of staring at the maps and finally breaking down and asking a ticket collector which way to go, we managed to find the train that would take us to Penn Station in New York City. Emerging from the underground train station, blinking in the sudden sunlight, we gaped at the towering buildings and the rush of people around us.
I had never been to NYC, but I’ve spent a few days in Chicago. It felt like being in the Windy City, but with double the people. My friends and I tried to minimize our gawking as we hightailed it to Bryant Park, where I had arranged for us to meet up with my college roommate, who lives in Queens.
Not only was the reunion with my roommate wonderful — it had been six years since I last saw her, and we clicked again as immediately as we did when we met at age 18 — but she very graciously agreed to act as our tour guide for a few hours before she had to head to work.
Armed with coffees and our phones’ map functions, we followed her as she marched us through Times Square. I caught glimpses of Broadway theaters and late night talk show studios. A man in a Mickey Mouse costume stood by for photos and we wisely avoided eye contact. My roommate pointed to the perfect spot in the middle of Times Square and told us to pose for photos.
Standing under the electronic billboards and the skyscrapers, it was a little surreal. I had always wanted to visit the city, and I was finally here.
We continued our walk through the crisscrossed streets, dodging other tourists and New York natives who bustled by. As we strolled through Central Park, it sounds dumb to say, but I was truly shocked to realize there was a real park in the middle of the city. Sprawling hills and trees felt so out of place with skyscrapers peeking over the horizon.
Our walk concluded at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we took another photo on the steps and bid adieu to my roommate. Now, left to our own devices, my country mice friends and I decided to brave the subway. A nice New Yorker — which, until this moment, I had always thought was an oxymoron — showed us how to buy tickets, and then we were off, deep under the city and traveling to our next destination.
At Union Square, we ducked into a restaurant for huge slices of greasy NYC pizza. Then onward, doing a loop around the block until we came to The Strand Bookstore, a famous spot in the city.
Three levels of books! We wasted a good few minutes browsing, though I’m proud to say I didn’t actually spend money on anything, too afraid I wouldn’t be able to fit it in my backpack when we got on the plane ride home to Illinois.
Back on the busy, sunny streets, we followed our stomachs to Max Brenner, a chocolatier that my roommate swore had the best mochas in the city. Armed with rich, foamy coffee and tote bags full of new paperbacks, my friends and I wrestled our way back onto the subway and headed down to the Financial District, where our research had revealed we could get a pretty good view of the Statue of Liberty.
As it turns out, the park where you could view Lady Liberty was under construction, so we didn’t get close at all. But it was still neat to know she was right there, and as we sat for a moment on a park bench, sipping our mochas and taking in the late afternoon sunlight, I felt incredibly satisfied.
The walk back to Penn Station was exhilarating as the rush hour traffic surrounded us. I was still too giddy to truly feel the exhaustion that had begun creeping in. We paused for a photo outside the Empire State Building — it really is quite tall — and then headed back to the underground to take our train back to New Jersey.
As I collapsed into the air mattress that night on my friend’s living room floor in Pennsylvania, I was ecstatic. I had always wanted to visit New York City, and now I can cross that off my bucket list.
Even though the day left me blistered, sunburnt and grimy. Even though it was a little overwhelming for a country gal like me. Even still, I loved every minute.
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