My First Full Day in New York

So naturally a blog seems like a great thing to do....of course when something interesting happens. On Saturday morning, I ventured out from my cozy apartment located somewhere in the Midwest to brace the East Coast. Mostly the trip was predictable - flat corn filled lands, cows, horses, the usual traffic. After 13.5 hours of driving, we landed in Cumberland, Maryland. A neat little town really...old and nestled right below the interstate. I didn't see much of the town, but what I did see was awesome. It's located in the Appalachian Mountains which is a true site to see. Of course, when you are used to the pancake lands of Illinois...even the slightest bit of hills thrills you.


The next day we headed to Ocean City, Maryland. It was a beautiful drive until crossing the Bay Bridge...which was hectic, crazy and quite comical all at the same time. Taking 10 lanes of heavy traffic through a toll then reducing to 2 lanes is pure insanity...but little did I know it would prepare me for the true reason of beginning this blog.


Yesterday I left for Garden City, NY. I really don't know how close it is to NYC, but it's close. Regardless, I was most nervous about what turned out to be the easiest thing: paying tolls. What a joke now...let me give you a play by play of what happened from passing from New Jersey to New York.


First off...I'm on the Jersey Turnpike. I'm cruising along, come over a hill and see in disbelief the wonderful New York City Skyline. I see the Statue of Liberty and begin to tear up. Never in my life did I think I'd be here to see such a site. It's something we grow up seeing pictures of, but to see it even from afar is breathtaking. Right here is where the fun ends. My GPS (affectionally nicknamed Marge) wigs out recalculating 15 times. Oh Marge...we had a good thing going there. So I get off on what I think is my exit...and all of a sudden come to a tunnel. WTF? I'm not supposed to go through a tunnel? I'm supposed to go across a bridge. It's cool though...I can deal with it. I'm a counselor right? All about adaptability, flexibility, and maintaining my cool...well it was fine until I excited the tunnel.


Worthy of a laugh now but surely not during the time it happened was a chick from Carbondale Illinois being stuck in downtown Manhattan traffic. Just for shock factor here is a picture for us non New Yorkers to see what I drove through...

Look for the Holland Tunnel. That's what I drove through...oh yeah. Chinatown, World Trade Center, Tribeca...all of that crap I'm in or just a few blocks from. These New Yorkers and people from New Jersey had to be like "how the hell did this chick from Illinois end up in this?" People yelling at each other, people walking in front of cars, total disregard of traffic lanes, cars SUPER FREAKING CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER, cabbies everywhere, thick New York accents...oh yeah..ALL OF IT. And here's me and my thought process...


"OMG..omg...OMG...omg...okay so this was not part of the plan. But it's cool...you can do this. Sure you're from Carbondale but right now you have to at least pretend like you are from a BIg City. Can I pull over? OMG no I can't - holy crap these people are nuts! Shit I sure hope the highway is near. OMG Marge I'm going to kill you" (edited because let me tell you....you can't go through this without saying about 500 cuss words)


Somehow - be it a blessing from God or whomever/whatever - I made it. So while I get nauseous even thinking about it happening again...I MADE IT. Do I recommend it? Hellllllllllll no haha. But I'm here...and so I thought the adventure would begin today but oh I was for damn sure wrong about that one.