I'm a Travelin' Fool, Part 2: Fool in the Big City!

Week 2! During week 2 of my traveling adventures, I went to New York City with Kate, Niki, and Elizabeth. I had never been to New York before, because when you live in Utah, it's really, really far away. But when you live in Baltimore, it only takes 3.5 hours to get to the city on the bus. Craziness! That's like driving to Cedar City! So after getting really cheap bus tickets ($20 round trip, yo), we decided to head to the Big Apple.

The first thing that happened when we got there-Mom called! She sounded very worried that we would die, so I called her several times throughout the day to reassure her. Our adventures started right away. We were staying with Elizabeth's friend in Brooklyn, so we hopped on the subway to get there.

Here we are, riding the subway. It's kinda gross.

We actually rode on the subway 6 or 7 times during the trip. It's super confusing, and I would not trust myself to navigate it without help. On the bright side though, the pricing is really easy and pretty darn cheap, which you can definitely not say for the metro in DC.

Our next adventure was eating lunch at a diner, which was only notable because I still had my big bag with me, and literally as soon as we stepped into the diner, I accidentally knocked over a man's drink with my luggage. It was super embarrassing. Luckily, while I was still apologizing and feeling much shame, the restaurant staff ran over with paper towels and a mop to clean it up, plus a fresh drink for the man. He was really nice, too. The food was delicious too, so that's a bonus.

Then we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn!!! Niki and I may have serenaded the group with some songs, Newsies style.

 

It's a fine life, carrying the banner!

Photographic evidence that I called Mom while crossing the Brooklyn Bridge!

Brooklyn!!!

The real reason we went to New York so soon after our previous weekend trip was  Harry Potter: the Exhibition at Discovery Times Square. It's basically a super cool museum with actual props from the actual Harry Potter movies! And it's only in New York until September, so we had to get on it quick! There's no photography allowed in the exhibition (drat!), so I'll just have to tell you that it was awesome. I really liked seeing things up close. I think my favorite was seeing the clothes from the Yule Ball. Cho Chang's dress is amazing, y'all. I wants it! It was amazingly gorgeous in person. And Ron's dress robes are way more hideous that I had imagined. Yikes. I loved seeing how tiny the kids were (are), especially in their clothes from Year 1. I really loved seeing all of the Death Eater stuff. It seems sick (and it is), but seeing the detail up close makes the Death Eater soooooo scary! It's amazing how much fantastic craftsmanship there is in the props, especially since you can't see most of it onscreen. Since we couldn't take any pictures, here's a link to an article from Entertainment Weekly (journalists could totally take pictures). And yeah, this is basically what it was like. If you have to choose between this and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I'd go Wizarding World, but this was cheaper, and if you're in NYC, it's definitely worth a look.

 

 The only picture we took of HP.

The next thing we did in New York was see Wonderland on Broadway! It actually closed the night after we went (sad). And apparently, in the last show, the guy who played Jack (the main guy) totally proposed to the lady who played Alice! So sweet! Of course, the night we were there, that did not happen. In fact, Alice was played by the understudy that night, so it probably would have been awkward for Jack to propose to her. Still, it's a nice story. Anywho, it was a very funny musical, and we had a great time. It's not as good as Wicked, which Kate and I saw in Florida, but I'd still say it's worth seeing if you ever get the chance. Honestly, the "One Knight" song alone was worth the price of admission. So funny.

The view in Times Square after we left Wonderland.

 

Then we wandered around Times Square, basically trying to avoid having seizures or getting trampled. It's insane. And we bought super expensive but delicious cheesecake.

We're tourists! 

 Niki is not a tourist. Look how cool she is!

The important lesson I learned on our first day in New York: Almost nowhere in the city has drinking fountains, so take a water bottle. Dehydration is not your friend!

Sunday morning we went to church. We attended the ward that meets in the same building as the temple. I'm pretty sure at least half of the people there were visitors. I wonder if it's like that every week. Obviously, we didn't go the actual temple, since it was a Sunday, but the building is very pretty, and it was definitely cool to see the Angel Moroni up there when we got off the subway.

It's not really that tall, but it's hard to get a distance shot because of all the other tall stuff.

 

The reason we went to church at the temple ward is because the temple is right by Central Park! After church, we wandered around the park for a couple of hours. It's ginormous! I got very tired of walking, and we only saw a little portion of the park. It was a gray, foggy day, the kind that makes everything look beautiful and a little surreal. It also made everything look super green. 

 

 It's a city, and it's a park! Amazing!

 Famous fountain.

Apparently, this is a super famous fountain that has starred in many movies. For me, this was a nod and smile while thinking, "Which movies? Why am I so ignorant?!?!?" I guess it looks kind of familiar. I need to watch a bunch of New York City movies now until I figure it out.

 

Me and my lizard purse in Central Park.

 

Then it was time to catch our bus back to Baltimore. We were in New York for about 25 hours, and we did a lot of things! But there was a lot that we talked about doing that we just couldn't fit in, so I guess I'll have to go back sometime. For now, though, I'm staying put. Being a travelin' fool makes me tired.