Today marks the anniversary of our moving to New York City from Los Angeles. Five years ago today, fresh off our honeymoon, we were pulling into Times Square with our giant moving truck. We had driven over 3,000 miles and had arrived the afternoon prior to our scheduled move-in–as planned–and stayed in a hotel by the Newark airport. I was sick from food poisoning–the culprit probably something I ate around the time we were crossing into West Virginia–and had slept through the last day en route. Fortunately, we had called a moving company and had some guys coming to meet us just to unload the truck.
We thought that leaving the hotel at 5am to drive the 13 miles to our apartment would mean beating the morning traffic and that we’d have no trouble getting a spot near the front of our building and meeting the movers by 9am. The next morning after some missed turns and who-knows-what, we ended up waiting in line during what turned out in fact to already be rush hour at the Holland Tunnel; and then we learned that no trucks are allowed. So the police escorted us out of line and pointed us toward the Lincoln Tunnel, which is how we ended up arriving in the center of Times Square. Welcome to the city! Three hours later we had navigated all of 13 miles to the East Village. I hobbled upstairs and the movers had all of our stuff (that took us a full day of packing with two friends) out and in within about 45 minutes. It was wild.
Our apartment has sold and is in contract and I can’t believe it but we only have another month-and-a-half before we fly to Bali and bid farewell to New York. (For now.) So today we are trying to figure out what iconic New York experiences we want to be sure to do (again or for the first time) before we go. We are trying to keep our bucket list small enough to be realistic (it’s one to-do list among many). Help us out! What are your top three things to do in New York–iconic or otherwise?
P.S. That top photo is from Manhattanhenge–the day the sun sets in perfect alignment with Manhattan’s East/West grid–last year. Today is one of the days that happens this year and, if the clouds clear, it’s something to see! Here are more photos from last year.
Also, marking three years in New York. And four years.
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