This Georgia girl had the pleasure of traveling to New York City for a vacation and concert. The scary part: I went alone. For a southern girl, the big city was an intimidating place. Atlanta at night is one thing, but New York City, even during the day, is a whole new ball game.
So I stayed on Long Island, and flew up on a Thursday night and got to experience my first cab ride. Let me just say this: Holy shit they are expensive! $130 for 25 miles to my hotel! That's more than half the cost of the hotel for two nights! By the time I got the cab, I was cold and bitter, so I didn't care, but I cared when I woke up the next day. After I got to the hotel, every restaurant was closed and no pizza delivered nearby; so I settled for Stouffer's Mac and Cheese that was available for purchase in the hotel lobby. The next day was my day to check out the city!
I took the Long Island Rail Road into the city; it was only about a 45-minute ride, and for $10 it beat trying to take another cab or call an Uber. I bought a bus tour pass, and rode the bus around all the downtown Manhattan spots that day; The World Trade centers made me so emotional, the Statue of Liberty is beautiful as she looks, and Times Square had me speechless. The people are not as rude as portrayed on television, however, cat-calls and funny looks are a very good possibility; even though I wore similar clothing, it's like everyone there knew that I had never been to NYC before. Now, onto the thing that mattered the most: the food.
Hear me out when I say, no one in the south makes a good New York Style pizza, except Bruno's Pizza in Palm Coast, FL. I have never had such a good slice of pie. I missed out on NY cheesecake sadly, but I was able to get my hand on a pretzel and "dirty-water dog" from the street vendors. (I was told a hot-dog was called a dirty-water dog when I was there, no idea how accurate that is.) The hot dog was delicious, and the pretzel was pretty good too; I got all the fixings on my hot dog, except saurkraut - gross!
New York City houses a whole world in one city, and the times there are those that will not soon be forgotten; I honestly cannot wait to return, as there is still so much to see and do! Don't take the cab though - there are plenty of other options for transportation!
