I Heart NY ~ Part Deux

I know, I know. I went to New York in April and here it is June. Well, forgive me for not getting this done sooner, but I have been working hard trying to set up my writing business. My trip to NY did not end with me going from the airport to the hotel and having the bajeezies scared out of me in the process. I spent four days and three nights in the city that NEVER sleeps.

Trust me, New York never sleeps. I was on the 33rd floor of my hotel and am hearing impaired and I could still hear the noise on the streets below. The first night I slept, maybe, a total of 45 minutes. I actually got up and ironed ALL of my clothes. I didn’t have internet at that point so I couldn’t check my e-mail or even visit with my friends on Second Life. So I ironed and then flipped through the 10,000 channels on the television.

My purpose for losing my mind and acting upon an insane whim by going to NY in the first place was to attend The New York Round Table Writer’s Conference. The conference began at 8 am Friday morning and ended 5 pm Saturday evening. While I attended lots of panels and learned lots of stuff (mostly how ignorant I am of the writing industry) this was not my entire trip. One of the first things I noticed was that New Yorkers LOVE Starbucks. There is a Starbucks on every corner and one or two in between. The 4 Star Hotel I stayed in (thanks to hotwire.com) served ONLY Starbucks coffee. The biggest issue with this? I don’t like Starbucks.

I will drink Starbucks if there is no other choice or if the other choice is Folgers or some other generic coffee. I don’t know if I will ever have the opportunity for another trip like this, so I wanted what I wanted and would not just settle. This meant schlepping across the street to the little deli for their coffee. **note to self ~ when traveling, take your own coffee.** I did sit there the first morning and wrote a poem while enjoying my real coffee and a fresh bagel.

************
The Morning Deli

Coffee or tea
hot cocoa to go
sitting, waiting
The Times in hand
tasty aromas
tease and delight
bagels, bread
pastries, pie
biscotti and muffins, too
please one, entice all
behind the counter
apron of blue
a smile with coffee
made just for you.

April 24, 2009

************

Getting back to the hotel the first day was interesting. I learned that you cannot call for a taxi cab in NYC. You have to ‘hail’ one. OY!! Well, we (I had a bit of help) couldn’t get one so I had to hobble around the corner. I went into the drugstore for a moment and came out to hail me a taxi cab. At the moment I arrived at the curb, a boy on a giant tricycle came up to me and asked if I needed a ride. He took me all the way back to my hotel for $20. He went in and out of traffic and between vehicles and WOW was that an interesting ride.

Saturday, I finished the conference and my feet were killing me. I was so proud that I traveled with only one pair of shoes as opposed to one pair for each outfit I packed. This was so not a good thing. Blisters happen. After the conference I was advised where to go for shoes and a larger suitcase (I took my smallest one and it was already over full and I decided to buy two books that I would not be able to get home). I bought the case, but they didn’t have shoes. I went to hail a taxi cab to the hotel and well, things got ugly.

For those who don’t know me well, I really hate large crowds of people. My biggest fear with this trip was getting lost. Well, things got real ugly. I had my briefcase, my new suitcase and my cane trying to hail a taxi cab in a very large crowd of people. I had no idea where I was or which direction my hotel was. I was LOST!!! Yes, I had a panic attack right there in New York City. I tried to keep moving, but with all the people and not being able to catch my breath, I didn’t’ go far.

I saw a little alcove nearby where no one was inhabiting. I ventured there and scooched up close to the building trying to regain my composure. All of a sudden people flowed into my little haven and began taking photographs of the statue in the center of the enclosed area. A man came out of the building and as he tried to speak to me, I cried harder and got more intimate with the wall behind me. He said the place was a church and perhaps they could help me inside. Eventually to get away from the new crowd, I stepped inside the glass doors. Finally, a woman came in and I told her I just needed someone to call me a taxi cab, again, NO CAN DO. She went further into the building and a man came out and politely asked me to leave. The nice lady came back and lead me outside to help me hail a taxi cab while trying to help me calm down. As she was flagging down a yellow security blanket for me, I glanced back and noticed where I had been ~ St. Francis of Assisi Church. Yes, that one.

OY! My camera did not come out. But I had a major panic attack at a famous location and didn’t know it. I got back to my hotel and two hours, one hot shower and two adult beverages later, I was recovered from my total meltdown. New York should not have been my first big trip. However, I did learn a lot about the writing industry and mostly about myself. My trip was not the ideal trip that people imagine when going to New York. I did not want their kind of a trip, but this one didn’t meet my expectations either. I file it under education as I most assuredly received one.