New York Series #1

We spent a few days in New York City. I'll document some of the trip highlights over the next few entries.

After arriving and lunching in Penn Station, we wandered around the area awaiting the time we could check into the apartment we had rented for a few nights. As an impromptu decision, we rode up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building to spy the city on a hazy, cold afternoon. We apparently picked a good time to visit, waltzing past empty velvet rope-rows and probably a score of gift shops right to the elevators that took us to the 86th floor observation deck.

Having only visited NYC in the past on day trips, I have to admit I had a bit of anxiety as to what all I would experience while there for three evenings. Oddly, starting the journey on top of the Empire State had a way of framing the city for me. While it is expansive and quite impressive to gaze upon, I found that looking down on it from such a height put the city in a manageable perspective. I pinpointed the street our apartment was on...sixty blocks north of where I was looking down from; but still, I had the right road in my head. I blocked out the general areas we were planning on visiting. All of a sudden, it seemed kinda small.

Perhaps this is why our cats like sitting up high on items in the house.

The pigeons were a trip, walking right up to us and even landing on some goofy kids who teased the birds with food a little too much. Fresh off reading Courtney Humphries' Superdove, I was intrigued as to the actions these birds would take around me. As they stared into the camera as if they were posing for a picture, I was not disappointed.