After my crappy flight, I was now in Newark, New Jersey at 7AM on a Friday morning. I had done a little bit of reading up, so I knew which bus I needed to take and where I was going to get off. All in all, getting into the city was surprisingly easy. I suppose speaking the language does make things simpler.
Through no real planning of mine (a theme of the trip, at least on my part), I picked one of the later bus stops at which to get off, Grand Central. I actually just figured that getting off at Grand Central would give me options, and heck, it's called Grand Central. That just screamed "decent place to disembark that might be close to some stuff" to me, so that's where I got off. However, it also meant that we drove down 42nd St to get to my bus stop. That just happens to be a big street, and it gave me a glimpse of Times Square as we drove by. My bus stop choice had accidentally given me a rough layout of the city. Go me.
I had about 6 hours to kill because the friend who was joining me on the trip wasn't getting in until 3PM. So, I started walking. I figured my first task was to find the subway station that I would need later on (59th and Lexington). It was a fairly short walk, but I had time to burn, so I took my time. I quickly learned that New Yorkers don't just jay walk, they aggressively jay walk. They stand out halfway into the lane closest to the curb, and keep looking for the first opportunity to dart across the street. And since a lot of those streets happen to be one-way streets, they have plenty of opportunity.
After finding the subway station, I figured I'd walk back over to Times Square, since I happened to know where it was. It took me a little longer than it should have to get back there, but after a bit more strolling, I got there. I didn't really want to do any shopping, and I generally feel like an idiot blocking foot-traffic to take pictures, so I just walked through it. It's as big and full of neon lights as I expected, but little about it held my attention. I had been walking south to get there, so I just kept on walking. I felt like exploring.
I made it as far south as 23rd St, and zigzagged my way up and down the streets so I saw some of 5th Ave and Broadway. The streets start looking a lot more like a regular city and less like a tourist attraction at that point, and I found my first two-way street somewhere around 26th St. By then, it was sometime around 10ish and I was hungry, so I figured I'd turn around to grab some food.
I saw a bunch of cafes, but because there were so many, they didn't appeal to me. I eventually spotted a pizza joint that was open, so I figured I'd grab a slice of that famous NY pizza. And I would've, too, except for "the pizza's not ready, bro." Dammit. So, I kept walking. A friend of mine who used to live in NYC had recommended a couple of places up on Broadway and roughly 75th St, so that meant more walking (notice a pattern yet?). Sadly, I didn't find the places that she had recommended (I was working on memory, and I probably had the addresses wrong), but I did find a little spot that had, among other things, pizza. It was right around 72nd St and Broadway, which meant I had walked around a lot and I was starting to get tired. The pizza was all right, but more than anything else, I was glad to have a chance to rest.
Then, I trekked back down to the Times Square area. It was roughly noon by this point, and I still had some time to burn. After a little more walking around, I spotted various things that would later be helpful: the tkts booth where they sell discount tickets to shows, various subway stations, and Central Park. I eventually sat down in Bryant Park to people-watch and finish my soda (that coffee thing is played out).
By then, it was time to head over to meet up with my friend. I had planned poorly and picked a hotel that was way out of the way (my biggest regret of the trip, I have to say), so I had to take the subway and a bus. Adventure time. I had read up a little bit here, too, so it all went off well (J line and Q6 bus, you got nothing on me). In fact, it went off a little too well. I got there earlier than I planned. And his flight was delayed, so it was an even longer wait. Luckily, I'd brought a book.
Eventually, he made it out, and we headed back to the city for dinner. We were trying to meet up with a couple of his friends in Chinatown. This would be the first of many times we got off at Canal St; in fact, it became the "favorite" subway station of the trip. Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out, so we were on our own for dinner. We walked around some more looking for grub, and after much waffling, we finally settled on Rice. For an accidental meal, it was pretty awesome - eggplant maki, edamame hummus, a couple of curries over unique rices, and a good portion of red wine. Hell, I probably earned some culture points just for sitting at that table.
Afterward, we headed over to check out a comedy show that a friend had recommended (UCB). It was very hit-or-miss sketch comedy, though I think they ended stronger than they started. They did a free open-mic night right after that show ended, so we stuck around for that. That was more miss than hit, unfortunately. Still, not a bad way to spend my first night on vacation. Beats taking pictures in my book.
All that was left now was a taxi ride, and we got back sometime around 3AM. As my friend remarked, my "day of walking" was now over. There would be far less walking the next few days, thankfully.
Through no real planning of mine (a theme of the trip, at least on my part), I picked one of the later bus stops at which to get off, Grand Central. I actually just figured that getting off at Grand Central would give me options, and heck, it's called Grand Central. That just screamed "decent place to disembark that might be close to some stuff" to me, so that's where I got off. However, it also meant that we drove down 42nd St to get to my bus stop. That just happens to be a big street, and it gave me a glimpse of Times Square as we drove by. My bus stop choice had accidentally given me a rough layout of the city. Go me.
I had about 6 hours to kill because the friend who was joining me on the trip wasn't getting in until 3PM. So, I started walking. I figured my first task was to find the subway station that I would need later on (59th and Lexington). It was a fairly short walk, but I had time to burn, so I took my time. I quickly learned that New Yorkers don't just jay walk, they aggressively jay walk. They stand out halfway into the lane closest to the curb, and keep looking for the first opportunity to dart across the street. And since a lot of those streets happen to be one-way streets, they have plenty of opportunity.
After finding the subway station, I figured I'd walk back over to Times Square, since I happened to know where it was. It took me a little longer than it should have to get back there, but after a bit more strolling, I got there. I didn't really want to do any shopping, and I generally feel like an idiot blocking foot-traffic to take pictures, so I just walked through it. It's as big and full of neon lights as I expected, but little about it held my attention. I had been walking south to get there, so I just kept on walking. I felt like exploring.
I made it as far south as 23rd St, and zigzagged my way up and down the streets so I saw some of 5th Ave and Broadway. The streets start looking a lot more like a regular city and less like a tourist attraction at that point, and I found my first two-way street somewhere around 26th St. By then, it was sometime around 10ish and I was hungry, so I figured I'd turn around to grab some food.
I saw a bunch of cafes, but because there were so many, they didn't appeal to me. I eventually spotted a pizza joint that was open, so I figured I'd grab a slice of that famous NY pizza. And I would've, too, except for "the pizza's not ready, bro." Dammit. So, I kept walking. A friend of mine who used to live in NYC had recommended a couple of places up on Broadway and roughly 75th St, so that meant more walking (notice a pattern yet?). Sadly, I didn't find the places that she had recommended (I was working on memory, and I probably had the addresses wrong), but I did find a little spot that had, among other things, pizza. It was right around 72nd St and Broadway, which meant I had walked around a lot and I was starting to get tired. The pizza was all right, but more than anything else, I was glad to have a chance to rest.
Then, I trekked back down to the Times Square area. It was roughly noon by this point, and I still had some time to burn. After a little more walking around, I spotted various things that would later be helpful: the tkts booth where they sell discount tickets to shows, various subway stations, and Central Park. I eventually sat down in Bryant Park to people-watch and finish my soda (that coffee thing is played out).
By then, it was time to head over to meet up with my friend. I had planned poorly and picked a hotel that was way out of the way (my biggest regret of the trip, I have to say), so I had to take the subway and a bus. Adventure time. I had read up a little bit here, too, so it all went off well (J line and Q6 bus, you got nothing on me). In fact, it went off a little too well. I got there earlier than I planned. And his flight was delayed, so it was an even longer wait. Luckily, I'd brought a book.
Eventually, he made it out, and we headed back to the city for dinner. We were trying to meet up with a couple of his friends in Chinatown. This would be the first of many times we got off at Canal St; in fact, it became the "favorite" subway station of the trip. Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out, so we were on our own for dinner. We walked around some more looking for grub, and after much waffling, we finally settled on Rice. For an accidental meal, it was pretty awesome - eggplant maki, edamame hummus, a couple of curries over unique rices, and a good portion of red wine. Hell, I probably earned some culture points just for sitting at that table.
Afterward, we headed over to check out a comedy show that a friend had recommended (UCB). It was very hit-or-miss sketch comedy, though I think they ended stronger than they started. They did a free open-mic night right after that show ended, so we stuck around for that. That was more miss than hit, unfortunately. Still, not a bad way to spend my first night on vacation. Beats taking pictures in my book.
All that was left now was a taxi ride, and we got back sometime around 3AM. As my friend remarked, my "day of walking" was now over. There would be far less walking the next few days, thankfully.
I think I mentioned this some time during the trip, but on my 8th grade East Coast trip, whenever the charter bus was backing into a street in New York, the whole rest of the street, for at least block behind us, would be filled with people jaywalking.
ReplyDelete