Little Girl, Big City

First impression of New York: I love it! I'm a sucker for downtowns, bustling streets and the nonstop entertainment of people watching.

My second impression of New York would be the guy I saw on my first night as we left the restaurant, who ran from tree to tree with his pants around his ankles. Yeah. We can all pretty much insert our own assumptions of what exactly was taking place. But, personally, I will never be able to think of the term "tree-hugger" in the same light again. God bless New York.

I was long overdue for this trip to the city. Not only did my friends Andrea and Trevor move here almost 2 years ago, but there's no good excuse for a well-traveled American to go 27 years without personally seeing what all the buzz is about.

I arrived Thursday and left Saturday, which didn't leave much time for sight-seeing. But to be honest, I had little desire to hit up every guidebook hotspot. I prefer the more laid-back approach of aimlessly wandering while soaking in the sights and sounds. I feel very content with what I did do: a run through central park, walking in circles in SoHo, Little Italy and the East Village because I was too proud to pull out a map on the street, a night stroll through Times Square and good food and drinks with good friends. That's about all I need. Oh, and (to Andrea's delight) we had the added bonus of a star-sighting...Jimmy Fallon showed up for a late night dinner at our bar. Sorry, no pictures to prove it though. You'll just have to take my word.

So New York has won me over, as I suspected it would. And I leave with the understanding that I'll definitely be back to investigate some more. I think I could fit in here. And considering that during my very first subway experience, while waiting for my very first train, with the full backpack strapped on, a woman asked ME for directions because apparently at that point I looked like the most knowledgeable local candidate...I think it's safe to say that others would agree.