Now, let me preface this by saying that I understand that it is not normal to jump into your car amidst rapidly falling snowflakes and countless television warnings about a Nor'easter, and begin a five hour drive.
But ... we had pre-paid tickets to a broadway show and well, how bad could it be?
It was just so slow -- and it's hard to remain "on" like that for hours on end -- and instead of driving out of the weather, we were really driving into it. It was headed in the direction we were coming from, but it had already begun in earnest, so there was no free ride at all. Just snow-covered roads followed by slush-covered roads followed by ice-coated roads and at last ... in Connecticut it ended with rain.
The scariest part was knowing that if I had to step on the brakes, we would go into a slide. I could feel the car slipping and knew that underneath there was no traction whatsoever ... so it was just a go-slow-approach and hope that everyone else on the road had the brains to understand that the conditions were tricky.
Then this tractor-trailer truck went by at a speed unfathomable for the road conditions and threw up tons of slushy, brown snow that coated my windshield and left me completely blind. For a second I was totally stunned and fortunately my brain screamed I CAN'T SEE and my hand automatically turned on the wipers, because that could have been it. Which of course then makes you wonder what the hell you are doing out on the roads in a BLIZZARD that never ends and whose stupid idea was it anyway?
Oh, mine, I guess. I'M NOT AFRAID!!!! And let me just say this. This morning I had to head up north a half hour to go food shopping and yes, it was snowing. The roads were snow-covered and not for one second did I consider NOT going. Hell, a half an hour on slippery roads? What neeny sissypants can't do that? Hell, I've driven across three states in a blizzard, and I am woman hear me roar!
HA!
I guess you can live your life in fear, or live it believing you can do anything. (Which I can, by the way!)
So our quick little trip to the city was AWESOME! Our hotel was awesome, the broadway show was awesome, the weather outside was frightful but everything else was delightful!
We stayed at the Marriott Marquis right in Times Square. Now, people have always said that they don't like to stay right there because it is too crowded, noisy and not nice. But I LOVED it. I loved that I could walk out the door and everything was right there, within walking distance. The show we went to, Spring Awakening, was right around the corner. The next show we saw, Wintuk, at Madison Square Garden, was a few blocks from there. Rockefeller Plaza, right there. Everything ... it made life so much easier.
And yes, it was crowded and you left the interior of the hotel and entered the moving river of people, but if crowds daunt you, then perhaps a bustling city is not your destination. I love it. I don't mind, though it amazes me how irate people get when they turn around from window watching and smack right into you, and then yell at you for hitting them! Wack jobs. If personal space maintenance is your thing, then go to Siberia for gawd sake.
We went to the Museum of Modern Art, not so much for the modern art but for the Van Gogh exhibit. But it was fun to see the girl's reaction to a piece of white canvas hanging on the wall with a square black box painted on. Or a mirror hanging on the wall with a red dot light stuck to it. I mean, it is kind of pointless and stupid, but isn't America grand that you can build a museum and put sheer stupidity on the walls and people will pay to go look at it?!!!!
Maddie and Emma also went ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza -- which is touristy but why the heck not.
We had our fun moments -- like when I dropped my mother, Maddie and Emma off right in the heart of Times Square -- just stopped in the midst of traffic and they pulled out all of our bags and stuff and went in to check into the hotel, while my sister and I drove a few blocks to save a few bucks by parking the car ourselves. But ... when we arrived at the hotel we discovered there was an ENORMOUS area to drop off located underneath the hotel.
Who knew. Perhaps the cop rapping on my window telling me to move might have mentioned that. Geesh.
We had our tense moments, like when my mother accidently spilled wine on my sister and Emma and they were furious and made my mother feel awful.
You know, typical family bliss!
But all in all it was a successful, fun and fabola trip, and the only thing missing was Hallie!
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