Satirical Thoughts on the States: New Jersey/New York City

New York City was the most surreal place we visited, and now that we've come away from it, I can't really believe we've been there. I suppose I never thought we'd actually visit such a famous place, so it's more or less like we went to the moon. Maybe it still hasn't sunk in that we went.

New Jersey/Jersey City:

We stayed in New Jersey the week that we visited New York City. The campground we stayed at was off the interstate but sufficiently far away so that we didn't have to hear the cars launching off the potholes. In fact, I would never have expected such a remote campground for somewhere only an hour and a half from New York City. (Or 5, during rush hour.)

The hairpin turn at the campground's entrance created a sense of nostalgia within me, and the roaming sheep that met us as we arrived were wonderful and horrifying at the same time. (I had no idea sheep could get so dirty. I'm rethinking ever buying anything made out of wool. Also, no matter what the campground owner said, they wouldn't come to us when we had crackers.)

One of the first things I noticed about the nature around us were the dead ash trees. I didn't know that there was some sort of disease killing them, and I found that sad. The campground owner told us he'd had to cut down 200 trees (I want to say 2,000, but I don't see how that could possibly be right...?) on his property in the last few years, and he didn't have time to use them up before they rotted. What a sad waste of once beautiful trees.

:( Needless to say we got a good deal on campfire wood.

The days that we weren't driving to NYC to visit, we spent our time familiarizing ourselves with the area of New Jersey we were in. I never thought it could be so confusing to get to the grocery store. (I was wrong; it got worse the farther north we went.) The roads were unbelievable, and the traffic rules were confusing. I suppose it makes sense when you remember that many roads were built on old cow paths. The state of the roads was dreadful. We thought it quite possible that by the time we left New Jersey, we would have to get new tires for our vehicles. Thankfully, that didn't happen, but we fully expected it to.

On our second day trip to New York City, we discovered we had a leak in our tire (not surprisingly from our first day trip to NYC). We took our mini air compressor with us in the car, ready to pull over frequently and fill up the tire if need be. As we were accelerating onto the interstate, my sister said, "Isn't that a mechanics shop?" We pulled over, got our tire plugged and headed off within half an hour. Turns out the mechanics of New Jersey have found the sweet spots for their businesses.

New Jersey, the Garden State, is very beautiful. We avoided the bigger cities along her coast, so we had a very pleasant view out our windows for most of our drives. There were beautiful fields, woods and deer. Even though there were few mountains, I enjoyed the nature all around us. Except, as I said, it was sad to see all the dead ash trees.

Go ahead, I dare you to take better photos from a car going 40mph at dusk.

Jersey City, is so close to NYC you could fly a kite over the Empire State building from New Jersey, but technically, they're two separate cities. I didn't know that until we got there and went to see the Statue of Liberty. Whatever else the city did or didn't have (like affordable slices of pizza) the Statue of Liberty was one of the most beautiful displays I'd ever seen. I had the crazy idea that I would be able to avoid looking at it until we arrived on Liberty Island. (I thought it would enhance the awe I would feel, or something strange like that.) Those who have been to see the statue can go ahead and laugh. I could see it miles away---hours before we finally set foot on the island. (It took so long because we had to buy tickets for the ferry, wait in line, go to Ellis Island and then Liberty Island.)

Doesn't the statue look gorgeous?

It's incredible to me that someone could create something so large and still be proportionally accurate! Nevertheless, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most beautiful works of art I have ever seen.

Imagine my horror, then, when we went into the museum of the Statue, and I saw what the face looks like without crown, hair or head.

Another learning experience for me while in New Jersey was the love-hate relationship one can form with Apple Maps. If you ever toggle "Avoid Tolls" on, prepare yourself for a ride. I saw the underside of so many bridges and railroad tracks, I lost count.

Would I visit New Jersey again? Probably, yes. Would I marry anyone and move there? No.

Why?

"I hope you enjoyed the first and last time you ever visited New Jersey. If anyone of you ever marry and move here, I won't be visiting you."

-My Dad

Obviously, it's a lot harder being an adult in New Jersey and knowing you have to pay for new tires, than being a kid and wondering when you can break into the lunch you packed for the road.

New York City:

I think we packed the best lunch we've ever packed in our whole lives for our trip into NYC---this was a different day than our visit to the Statue of Liberty. Honestly, it was a miracle that any of us arrived in NYC alive enough to eat said lunch. I had no idea traffic could be so terrible anywhere in the world. (Maybe I chose not to believe pictures I'd seen? Or maybe it seemed so much worse being in the middle of it?) Who knew you couldn't turn around and go back if you missed a turn? Who knew there could be more people in the roads than cars? Who knew that car horns were like seat belts---necessary and probably life-savers? Not me.

I also didn't know that I could walk as many thousands of miles as I did that day. Now I know why people in New York City are generally in shape. Why keep a car when you would end up spending 99/100 of your day waiting in traffic? I also didn't realize streets in NYC were so big. Don't 42nd St. and 5th Ave. sound so innocent and cute? Think again!

In New York City I learned that there are other people in the world who like jazz! I heard three different groups playing jazz in one afternoon. It was wonderful. One man played his saxophone in front of the Metropolitan Museum, a drum solo wafted from somewhere in Central Park, and a group played in the middle of Columbus Circle. It was so exciting to listen to live music, even (or especially) because it was played in a casual way, an 'of course we're playing jazz; isn't that what you do with great music?' kind of way. It clearly wasn't a big deal for them, but for me it was!

The greatest part about New York City was the Metropolitan Museum.

I can't (and won't) go into a lot of detail about what was inside. It's enough to say that you could spend a week in there and not sufficiently study everything within. It was one of the biggest, most beautiful buildings I had ever seen, and the inside was stunning. I can't believe I saw a statue of an Egyptian pharaoh, or Washington Crossing the Delaware, or The Death of Socrates. The royal portraits of Europeans were thrilling, and things as small as jewel-encrusted goblets (and crowns!! I actually saw crowns!!) were stunning and wonderful. The gold, jewels, royal portraits, statues of saints, giant medieval gates, ancient tapestries, rapiers and suits of armour I saw within probably corrupted my sensibility and urged me to write more fantasy/fairy tales.

But once you enter NYC, you have to get out again. Remember my thoughts on leaving Washington D.C.? I'm not going to say a word about getting out of New York City after dark. My lips are sealed. All I'll say is yes, I am typing these words in South Carolina now, so I must have gotten out at some point. I would definitely go back to New York City to visit the Metropolitan Museum again and spend some more dedicated time studying the art.

This was one of the most packed weeks of our trip, but it was amazing all the same. I learned so much, and I'd love to visit again. (Maybe after some rich great-aunt that I don't know dies and I inherit enough money to fly---instead of driving the tortured roads.)

Stay tuned for my thoughts on New England! ;)

In Christ,

Autumn