An Unexpected NYC Journey

In truth, I was not expecting to be taking another trip to New York City so soon, but I was given tickets to see Lion King on Broadway by my father which I could not pass up. Along with some other expenses being paid for such as some spending money and gas; the latter which my brother paid for, the trip was relatively inexpensive. The first day heading down we survived the traffic and craziness of getting into New York City. This time around we stayed on the Upper West Side near Harlem. Different from Midtown in two very distinct ways. One, traffic was not bad in the least. Honestly, it was much like Manchester in New Hampshire; still city traffic but without the intensity of a river full of rushing salmon.  Another difference was this time around I heard a lot of English instead of a mix of foreign languages. I must say it was very interesting to see that different parts of New York City have different traits and characteristics. Any who, back to the journey as we found ourselves at the hotel, the Marrakech. A nice and cozy hotel with interior inspired by North African designs, it offers a fair prices for a room to stay for the oncoming nights. We did not have much time to explore for we had an escape room to rush to. With minutes to spare, we arrived at Hoodwinked and found that we would be the only two doing the room. Perfect considering how well my fiancee and I work together. The name of the room was called the Spirit of Harlem where our late uncle had left us a fortune to find. So many puzzles of varying cleverness left us with laughs, face palms, and admiration while we cleared the room with ten minutes to spare. It wish not to reveal any of said clever puzzles, but I will say that I had seen some riddles there that I had not seen elsewhere. After our narrow escape, we headed to something I was looking forward to, a jazz club. Now you must understand that I do not know New York very well and at first I did not realize where this club was establish. It was not until we had gone inside of Minton’s Playhouse that it hit me that we were going to listen to jazz in Harlem. For those of you unfamiliar with the significance, jazz was born in this region. Mark that off my bucket list as we enjoyed the band playing and the fine food in front of us. I enjoyed a New York Steak with garlic mashed that was absolutely delicious. French fries were ordered to partake in as the band played and I spoiled myself by getting a brownie ala mode. At one point in the evening, I looked over to my fiancee who, like myself, was asked by the club to wear something nice for the evening. I do not think I could accurately describe how beautiful she looked to me that night with the candle light flickering next to us. After enjoying the creative, bouncy, and smooth sounds of the bands last set, we headed back to our hotel for a nice long rest.

A quick nights sleep led to the next day as our stomachs rumbled. Guess we knew what we were doing first that morning. The previous night, my fiancee had seen a bagel place called Broadway Bagel that she wanted to try. What a great choice. A little crunchy on the outside while fluffy on the inside, so divine. With our stomachs satisfied, we began our journey to the American Museum of Natural History. So many floors of knowledge that we barely were able to complete. I found it quite interesting to learn of other people’s cultures from around the world. Of course the dinosaurs on the top floor were really cool as well. Once we were done taking our mini trip around history, we decided to head to the highlight of our trip. But before getting to that, our stomachs once again needed our attention. We took a quick stop at a place called Angelo’s pizza, not really knowing what the place. Oh my were we surprised. It just so happened they did brick oven pizza that is so well done we mowed through a whole pizza in five minutes. It was absolutely delightful with a sweet marina made in house and stringy mozzarella cheese. The crust was perfectly crisped that complimented the rest of the ingredients. It was soon time for the show as we took our seats in the theater. Without spoiling anything I will simply say it was amazing. From blending classic African music styles to pop culture jokes and references, it was truly a most enjoyable show. My favorite part by far was when Rafiki sings “He Lives in You”. Such a mystical and touching moment as the theater is filled with lights, voices, and feeling as every word is song with such purpose. Truly, it was one of those moments I shall never forget. After the wonderful performance, we headed back to the hotel on the subway. I commend New York on having one of the smoothest subway systems I have ever traveled. It was easy to pay, hop on, hop off, and come out right next to our hotel.

Alas, the last day came and we had only time to grab food before leaving this land of NYC. Pretty good diner food at a place called Broadway Diner that was a pleasant start to our day. The ride home was smooth, until we hit Connecticut where two lanes tried to merge to one. Narrowly avoided a multi-car accident as two lanes turned to one. After that we arrived home just fine with our memories firmly set in our minds. Trips to see the Big Apple again are already in motion. We want to explore multiple parts of the city, but every time seeing a show on Broadway. For now, I hope you enjoyed my telling of my adventure and the rest of what you might find on my site.