Dear Friends,

I recently travelled to New York City with my friend Faith. This wasn’t something we planned in advance. In fact, we only made firm plans 4 days before we decided to go. I am not traditionally a spontaneous person, but I was ready for a getaway. My calendar was (for once) not overly packed, and the one meeting I had to attend I could do virtually, so it all worked out, right from the start.

Faith has a new car and this was her first road trip with it. It has a cool feature that tells you how many miles are left before you need gas. We figured we could make it as far as Woodbury Commons, so we planned to stop for gas and maybe do a little shopping. Watching the GPS, and watching the fuel it became apparently clear that we were cutting it very, very close. Suddenly, about 9 miles from our destination, the car went from “18 miles left” to “5 miles left” and then “no miles left” in a span of about one mile. We panicked and decided that we should get off the very next exit and just hope that there was a gas station close to the off ramp. I should also mention it was pouring out, so the idea that we may be stranded on 17 and have to walk in the rain (of course we had no umbrella) was not a fun concept. Thankfully, we quickly came to an exit and we made it to the gas station. It worked out and we learned a valuable lesson about Faith’s car … when it says you have “0 miles left” on the gas indicator, you can still go a couple of miles.

Did you know that when you enter the Lincoln Tunnel, it’s really important which tube you go through? It can be a little confusing. Some of the tubes are open, some are closed, some are for entering the city and some are for leaving. The GPS said to enter the “center” tube. We both looked at the looming tunnels … none of our options were “center”. Even if we wanted to change lanes there are barriers up so you couldn’t. We had a few minutes of panic because there was no way of knowing if were in the right tube until we exited. Lady Luck was still with us once again, because we were in the right tube and a direct shot to our hotel in Times Square. It worked out, this time.

I think we had a Guardian Angel (or two) with us because our whole trip seemed like a higher power was making things easier for us. We had bought advanced sale tickets to a couple of things, and then a “wish list” of things we wanted to do and see while we were there. We were also a little nervous because we weren’t sure what the City was like right now. We expected everything from the “Thunderdome” to something out of “Outbreak”. Very happy to report that it was neither. I have very little experience in NYC, but other than being less crowded than normally, it was great. It felt “normal” to see people out and about. Also, absolutely everyone wore a mask, even when walking on the streets. Go NYC!

I have discovered an underlying skill … “Expert Cab Hailer”. You need a cab? I’m your gal. I have a keen sense of knowing when an available cab was headed our way, which direction to go, and with an expert flick of my hand … Bam! A cab. It always worked out.

We ran into a little problem on Saturday morning. After sleeping in, bumming around, going to the Times Square Deli for coffee and breakfast we realized it was 10 am and checkout was at 11. I still had not showered, or packed, and Faith was just as unready as me. Not sure why we thought could do all of that … in a hour … but we started getting ready. At one point Faith said “Kerri, we have 5 minutes until checkout” I had been drying my hair, still not fully dressed or packed. I looked at my clock … OMG … she literally meant 5 minutes. It was 10:55 a.m. I thought she was being dramatic, like “hey, hurry up we need to leave soon.” I am very proud to report that we were out of that room 11:05. At the elevator we were laughing about how close we cut it and how it all worked out, also wondering if we left anything important behind. Time will tell on that one.

We were able to drop of bags off in our car at the garage, and we spent the afternoon at the Spy Museum (learning that we both have the skills needed to be an Asset Handler) and then wandered the City, doing some shopping and looking for a late lunch spot.

We had been disappointed to learn that Carmines was not yet open for indoor dining, and our dreams of an amazing Italian meal went up in smoke. We stopped at Bubba Gump’s, but the wait for a table was too long, and the Hard Rock Café was not open. We continued to wander down towards our parking garage and decided to see what was available on a side street. Then we saw it … Tony’s! Was it open for lunch? Yes! We quickly got a table and enjoyed a fabulous Italian lunch, completing the only thing we had not been able to do while on our trip. We made it to the garage, with ten minutes to spare, and zipped out of the city easy breezy.

All in all, it was an amazing couple of days. It felt great to go on a trip, feel safe, comfortable, and to feel “normal” again. Everything worked out the way it should have, and we brought home some exciting, hilarious, and memorable experiences. Midnight Krispy Kremes, the Naked Cowboy and a scary elevator ride are just a few. Thanks for a great time, NYC.

Be well, Chenango.

~ Kerri