A Manhattan Love Story | Day 1

In a comedy of errors (that I will only take 18% of the responsibility for) I found myself boarding a plane for New York a full 24 hours ahead of my travel partner.  I boarded the plane in Portland at 9:35pm and landed at JFK airport around 5:25am.  Much too excited to actually sleep on the plane, I arrived exhausted, a little delirious, and jazzed out of my mind to be in New York... something I had dreamed of since my teenage years.

The suitcase that I had borrowed from a friend arrived with a broken handle and missing wheel and I found myself dragging all 49 lbs of various crap that I had packed across the terminal and down 3 flights of stairs while I located the air train that would take me to a place called Jamaica.

$45, 3 trains, multiple flights of stairs, 6-7 dodgy corners passed and 1 helpful stranger later and I had found the apartment I was looking for.  In Harlem.

I had arrived.  No time for a shower, no time for food, no time to change my clothes.  I fell on top of the bed and passed out for a solid 3 hours.

When I woke up, I posted a few quick texts that read "Merry Christmas from New York!" to my friends and family, showered, dressed and headed out to explore.

I was in Manhattan.
I was in Manhattan on Christmas day.
I was in Manhattan on Christmas day alone and had the whole city to myself!

I started with a visit to Times Square...

Next up was saying hello to the tree and ice skaters at Rockefeller Center...

I wandered around the area for a bit and took photos here and there.

After a couple of hours of walking and taking in the sites, I decided it was time to head back to the apartment to eat and get more sleep.  As exciting as being in the city was, it just couldn't compete with the lack of sleep.

Christmas day 2014 was an amazing one.