The Big Apple

What does a five day weekend mean to a travel nurse? It means one must do something more than just a day trip. So, I booked a trip to New York City for the weekend. I walked a half mile from my apartment down to the Light Rail station and rode that downtown to Penn Station, where I picked up the Bolt bus to NYC. It was quite the public transportation weekend. Once there, I took the subway, rode a bike, and walked to get around town.

After my arrival on Friday, I promptly hit the ground running. I met with the kind lady that took me in for the weekend and she helped me find my way to the subway. I rode the subway uptown to Washington Park, where I was to meet a friend's son for lunch. While waiting for Gabe, in the park, I saw a very interesting lady holding a sign reading "Wanna Chat?" Suggested donation $1. I circled her like a hawk for a few minutes to see if anyone was going to take her up on her offer. So I decided if I had a dollar in my wallet I would take her up on it. My thought, "I'm in NY. Who is going to judge me? Nobody!" Once I was sitting next to Nancy, I can't tell you how many people wanted our photo. I am probably all over facebook. And yes, I am signing autographs! :-) I chatted with her about her craziest customer, her youngest customer, how profitable this job was for her, and if Washington Park is her go to spot. She has only been doing this since April, she usually mingles with people in Central Park, her youngest customer was 3, she tries to listen more than give advice, and yes this is her only source of income. How is that possible. She did mention that she lives in Harlem, though. She was a very nice lady and I found my calling post nursing.

After lunch and mingling with the locals, I jumped on the subway and went downtown to ride the ferry over to Staten Island to get as close as I could to the Statue of Liberty. It was a very nice 25-30 minute ride over on the ferry and I got a really nice view of Lady Liberty. Well worth the trip should you ever find yourself visiting NYC during another government shutdown and unable to actually visit Ellis Island.

Since there was still daylight after seeing the Statue of Liberty, I figured I better head uptown to see Time Square at dusk, as that is the best time to get pictures before the bright lights mess with your camera. I sat on the red steps of the TKTS pavilion where Broadway tickets are sold apparently, and just took in the sights and sounds of New York City. I found myself sitting next to a very nice lady named Julie from New Zealand and she of course had questions for me regarding the government shutdown and our healthcare system. I diverted her quickly referring to how beautiful New Zealand always is in photos. :-) I was yet again amazed at how very few of us were just sitting there absorbing the sights. So many people were on their phones. Couples sitting together weren't even speaking with each other. Julie pointed out the fact that we have made camera's so small anymore and now the phones are getting bigger and bigger. Funny how the trends come and go.

Saturday I spent much of my day in Central Park and walking around in Time Square. Central Park is a crazy busy park. People are running, walking, biking, there are carriage rides, fitness classes in the open fields, tag football, frisbee, Thai Chi and Yoga classes, rock climbing ........ You name it and it was probably going on there. That evening I went to Rockefeller Center and went up 69 stories to the top of the Observation Deck. What a magnificent view! It was a little bit cloudy, but it was still very cool. I would recommend this to anyone. This is recommended over the Empire State building because then the Empire State building is in your picture. Oh, I forgot, today I also went down to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked all the way across it and down to the waterfront on the other side. That was A L-O-T of walking. That is one cool bridge. Just a quick factoid for my Cincinnati friends, the Suspension bridge in Cincinnati was built by the same gentleman that built the Brooklyn Bridge. I did not know this. The Suspension bridge was built about 17 years prior to Brooklyn.

Sunday I did an NBC studio tour as well as a Rockefeller Center tour. Those Rockefeller's, they had some money! And they loved art. On the Rockefeller tour I learned that NEWS stands for none other than north, east, west, south. Really? I can't decide if that is clever or not. The Rockettes, yep you called it, named after the Rockefeller's. The Rockefeller's were big into gold, limestone, and very dark marble ( I forget the type of marble. It was black in color.), symmetrical clean lines, and neon lights; hence the lights on the Radio Center Music Hall. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree can be no more than 80 feet tall because one year it was 100 feet and when they were bringing it into the square they crashed it through the Today show studio window. Oops! There is a gentleman that flies all over the country looking for the perfect Rockefeller Christmas tree. People can submit pics of their tree but ultimately this gentleman will land his helicopter one day, knock on the owner's door and request the presence of their tree in Rockefeller Center. They always have the option to decline and his search begins again. The tree is 100% green as it is lit with LED lights that refuel during the daylight hours from solar panels. What a tradition! I was excited to see the Today show studio for some reason.

I also did an NBC studio tour, which was quite neat. I had the opportunity to see where Brian Williams does the NBC Nightly News. He is the most watched TV personality in America. And a good job he does too. His studio was very cold. They don't cool it with AC, as it is bad for the cameras. They pump in refrigerated air. I guess when you have 3*4 cameras worth $250,000 you want to take care of it. I also got to see the studio where Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is taped as well as SNL. The guests on SNL have a plaster mold made of their face that takes an hour to form while they breathe through straws, so that the makeup artists can master their makeup not in person. With each skit change on SNL they have 60-90 seconds between makeup and wardrobe changes; otherwise they have to go to commercial or skip the skit all together. It is so neat to learn the inner workings of all these shows.

So I had a great but exhausting weekend! I am excited to be back to my home away from home, here in Baltimore. Pics to follow soon. I have to work in the morning, so this girl is headed to bed.