24 Hours in the City that Never Sleeps

A few months ago, I was messing around online and noticed that the cast of Something Rotten would be appearing at 54 Below on April 25, and there was exactly one ticket left.  It was fate really.  So I purchased the ticket and booked the bus and hotel for my very first solo adventure to New York.  I didn't have a problem with the idea of traveling alone.  It's just that I'd never had the opportunity to actually do it.  Now was my chance.  While most of my friends and family thought the idea was a bit nutty, I wasn't worried at all.  I've never been nervous or afraid in New York - DC yes, Baltimore yes, but never New York.

So, you ask,  what did I learn in my little adventure? I learned that traveling in NYC alone, is basically awesome.  Ok, I say awesome.  When you hear exactly what I did, you may think I have a slightly skewed definition of the term, but hey, I had fun. That's all that counts.  It was great to be back in the city again, as it always is and it was even better to be there in the gorgeous weather.  It's been winter for so long, I'd forgotten what New York looked like in the sun and warmth. And thank goodness for the lovely weather, because most of my plans involved wandering which is not nearly as fun when it's cold and rainy.

For transportation - because no one in their right mind actually drives into the city if they don't have to - I took the MegaBus, which is not usually my favorite form of travel, but it's cheap and easy.  And this time around, it was completely fine. Unfortunately though, MegaBus drops you off at 27th street, a bit outside of Midtown (17 blocks to be precise). And while I would normally cab it, I was feeling very "I am woman, hear me roar" so I walked to my hotel - The Row.  This was my first time staying there and I will gladly recommend it to everyone.  It was really affordable and had a cool vibe.  At this point, it was past lunchtime, so I decided I needed to eat (and when don't I decide that, really?)  

My original plan was to walk down to the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle because it was supposed to be raining and I wanted to have something inside to do that I hadn't done before. It wasn't in fact raining, but I just went along with it, because it was on the list and lists are meant to be followed.  Time Warner Center is sort of a high end mall, so if you like that sort of thing, you'll like this place.  But I'm not rolling in the dough, so I just chose to grab a quick sandwich at Bouchon Bakery and move along.  At this point, I had about 2.5 hours until I needed to be back to the hotel.  Something you may not know about me: when I plan a trip, I always estimate things are going to take WAY longer than they actually do.  So I always wind up with WAY too much time on my hands. 

Since I had nothing else planned for my first day, I chose to raid the plans for the next day, which were Lincoln Center and Levain Bakery - home of the best cookies in Manhattan. So I meandered my way up Broadway and happened upon Lincoln Center.  In my head I knew the complex was large but I don't think I realized it was that large.  It's a huge area filled with gorgeous buildings and sculptures.  And on a Monday afternoon, not a lot of people so there were great picture taking opportunities to be had. From there I continued upward and found the bakery of my dreams - along with 25 hipsters waiting in line for the cookies they had dreamed of as well. For once my ridiculous over-estimations worked in my favor and I had plenty of time to wait with them.  

I'm not sure the cookies were life-changing like the articles I had read said they were, but they were pretty darn delicious.  I could only eat half of my Double Chocolate Chip, so I saved it for a midnight snack.  (Helpful hint: One can only assume the cookies are full of all sorts of sugar that makes them delicious.  Therefore, they may not be the perfect midnight snack unless you want to toss and turn for the next 3 hours like I did...Now you get why my post title is clever, right?)  After Levain, I should have walked the 30 blocks back to my hotel to get rid of some of the calories I had just ingested but instead I wanted to try the subway to prove that I could do it and not get lost.  So I hopped the downtown train on 72nd street and after only 2 missteps - Don't text and walk down stairs, you may end up almost breaking your ankle and the 1 train may work, but hopping off to catch the 2 train just in the knick of time is a better idea - I managed to get back to 42nd street and then to my hotel quite easily. 

In the madness of the day, I realized some things can only happen in New York which is why I happen to love it so much.  At Lincoln Center, I missed by a matter of minutes (I saw the news van setting up) a press conference with a famous opera singer.  On 44th Street I walked through a hoard of screaming tweens who were super excited about someone (still not sure who it was) walking into the MTV studio and then walked by Sardi's wherein a movie was filming.  How often has any of that happened to you in your own city?  Never in mine!

And that's just the first day.  I still had a lovely evening and a great tomorrow ahead of me which you'll hear about soon, if you can handle any more of my gushing.