Lost in New York - Days 4 & 5
Here's the final days of my solo trip to NYC. This post will be relatively shorter in comparison to the other three posts.
Sunday - Day 4: I wanted to make a reference to the Commodores Song "Easy" but yea it might be interpreted in a horrible light lol. But Sunday morning Kyra and I talked food. We hopped on the train not really sure where to go because given my list of food places in my phone, they weren't really being reliable lol. So I scoured Instagram while we were on the subway. I don't remember how many tags I searched while the signal allowed, but I managed to find a place for us to try in SoHo. (unedited iPhone shots for awhile)
I found Nomo SoHo on IG. I think literally I saw the arch and that led me to the restaurant lol. So Kyra and I arrived and we stood outside to take pics at the foliage covered archway.
Once we walked in, I didn't exactly expect it to be a hotel. So we walked into a slightly beyond average hotel lobby (compared to my New York standard), and we approached the hostess stand. Both the man and woman looked at us funny. Not tryna give bad press, but they did legit look at us with their noses a bit turned. I think twas due to my clothing - I looked like I wasn't from New York, while Kyra had the New Yorker vibe going. But it could have been due to other reasons if you catch my drift. Whatever the case, they sat us despite not having a reservation. We weren't aware we were supposed to make one since "brunch hours are their busiest hours".
The dining area I absolutely loved just because it was perfect for food shots lol. All of the natural lighting seemed a bit hard to come by in New York restaurants. So I was internally ecstatic.
We sat an ordered and the food didn't take long to come which was pretty good and you know how that can also be worrisome lol.
Yes we had to be millennials and take pictures. Don't judge us.
Whenever food comes quickly you have to wonder if it wasn't prepared right, or if it's cold or even old. But everything was delightful.
I'm pretty sure the waiter wasn't expecting us to order dessert, but we did. We ended up splitting a peach cobbler. As a fan of peach cobbler, I can say that the peach cobbler needed some work, but it was still decent and nice to look at.
Whenever I dine out, I think I either over tip or I tip despite how I felt service was. The service wasn't bad so I made sure I left a tip that was pretty generous...in spite of the greeting we felt when we walked in.
Leaving Nomo, we stopped to take more pics in the archway lol. (Actual cam pics now)
We ended up roaming the streets of SoHo and also stopped into Zara because I hadn't been inside of a Zara store before. I was left with quite an impression so much so that when I came back to MI, I went and bought something lol.
I only have one photo for this next part. Kyra and I parted ways as I went to attempt to get to the Statue of Liberty. Note I said "attempt". I was researching online the night before of places to purchase tickets to see Lady Liberty. For a reason unknown to me, I didn't buy online. When I arrived at the tip of Manhattan where the ferries depart, I realized I had to purchase a ticket to 1) ride the ferry, and 2) actually get into the monument. I wanted to go into the crown because I read it is accessible again.
To try and make a long story short, I did something stupid and against all common sense and my smart mind and purchased a $40 ticket from what was basically a scalper. They took me to an area where they said a bus will come pick me up. When I got there, it was already people in line so I figured, maybe it wasn't so bad. But time started going by - like 40+ min with no shuttle in sight. Me and some foreigners from Norway got to talking like we think we've been swindled. In my mind, I'm like "Stephen, let's not be rash and do something to end up in jail" lol. You're not from here.
So we go confront the guys, and they're being shady about transactions and refunds, then tell us "oh the bus locations moved on the other side of the area". So they take us to another area where again people are waiting. Me and the guy from Norway asked how long the people have been waiting, to which they replied about 10-15 min. At this point I'm over waiting and the run around so I go confront the guys again alone. They tell me I have to get a refund from the guy that sold me the ticket and he left (what a coinydink). I said I was trying to do this before I leave Monday. I'm visibly upset and ultra sarcastic with remarks about the situation and they ask where I'm from. I said from Detroit. It made me audibly laugh to see how they straightened up lol. Their whole demeanor changed with me upon learning origination lol. They then said, "hey hey, you can take a ferry from our other port on the east side tomorrow. It leaves more frequently and you probably wont hit as much traffic with it being a week day." I sucked it up as a loss and said whatever fine.
Here's the only shot I took from that area as I made my way to depart the most (self-inflicted) stressful part of my trip.
It's amazing how a person can change a crappy mood or day. Meeting up with Mona at the High Line was like music to the savage beast. Our time was spent enjoyable conversation, shooting (of course), and while shooting, noticing men creepily gaze lol.
Aimlessly walking because I wanted a taxi shot, and it just so happened that we stumbled upon a taxi freshly parked. It was perfect because the driver had JUST gotten out of the car. He was still in earshot of us and ended up turning around and saw us by the car and offered to open it up for us. I say it's only because of Mona's beauty and him prob thinking she was a model lol. But we took a few shots and moved on so we didn't hold him too long.
Last set of images of Mona were actually the last pics taken the rest of that day.
Monday - Day 5: Since I had a late afternoon flight slated back to Detroit, I wasn't able to do much. I woke up and headed to port the guys from Sunday told me about. Upon arriving to the dock, I thought they gave me a phony place because my GPS took me to a building where it said no trespassing and the gate was closed. I felt a rise of frustration starting to build but I decided to walk a block the opposite direction before jumping to full conclusions and found the correct dock. Even though I was at the dock with people and the boat was there, I still had a feeling something was off. So I boarded the ferry with everyone. Shortly after, we embarked.
I edited most of these like a film photographs because of one picture actually (below). From that one picture, it fit everything else lol.
The rest of these images are the ride to Liberty Island.
Remember that off feeling I mentioned? Yea I was right. I had a feeling as we got closer and closer to Liberty Island, that we weren't stopping on the island. Actually, as we got closer, I heard murmurs of people saying "how come we aren't stopping? I thought we're supposed to stop." I thought about suggesting we revolt and commandeer the ferry but I didn't want anyone taking me seriously lol. So this is the closest I got to the Lady Liberty.
I was low key jealous of these people on the Island.
We didn't even circle the island lol. We turned around in FRONT of it, and headed back to port.
Once we got back to dock, I had to pretty much start heading back to the airport. So I made my way to Kyra to grab my stuff, and bid adieu. Mona and I met to chat one last time before I had to leave. My trip may not have ended with a bang but it ended on a happy note due to those two happy friendly faces.
I can say I'm blessed for being able to experience the things I did whilst in my travels. I'm grateful for those I connected with and for them sharing their time with me in my first week long solo trip.
Thanks for reading folks!
Fin.