"All I wanna do is..."
Wow, it’s been almost a month since I posted here. Would you believe me if I said I’ve been very busy studying very hard?
I was supposed to tell y’all about the bike ride.
I can’t stay that it was a very fashionable ride, by which I mean, we all wore matching t-shirts, which is inherently geeky, and they were white and huge, which is even worse. However, there were about 100 of us, so maybe that makes it a trend? It was great, it felt like we took over New York. Of course, sometimes we went so slow we might as well have walked; but the advantage of biking in a pack of 100 was that no one could do anything about it. We went south on the West Side Highway, crossed over on 54th St, and then south again on 7th Ave, through Times Square, at 1am. We stopped traffic.
It was an amazing way to see the city, and an amazing time to do it in. After a quick rest at Washington Square Park, we went over to the Fulton Fish Market, which is closing down soon (which may already be closed, actually.) It opened in 1822, and is now being moved to the Bronx. (I’m not sure why. Because it’s smelly?) This was a part of the city I would never have seen by myself, it being 3am and all. The men (and it was by and large men) who worked there mostly ignored us, after throwing us a confused glance. I think they must have been used to tourists as the market was closing, but there were a lot of us. They had little trucks that they drove at top speed along the block or two comprising the market and then back, but they never hit anyone, because their routine was so cemented that everyone knew where everyone else was at any given time.
The best part of the trip for me was the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was about 4am or so, and beautiful. The bridge, I’m told, is an engineering marvel, but I can’t remember why. I do remember that when it first opened, in 1883 (17 years after they started building) no one wanted to cross it, they were too worried it would collapse; so in 1884 PT Barnum paraded 21 elephants across to demonstrate its safety.
After we crossed the bridge we biked for a short while and came out at Columbia Heights. I must say, the best part of Brooklyn was it’s view of Manhattan: long and dark. We were far enough away that the lights in some areas of the city did that wavy thing lights do when you're far away from them (my brother and I have discussed this; it's about atmospheric interference, I think?) and it looked, for a moment, like Manhattan was lit by candles. Mom, if you ever win the lottery, I think I may recommend that spot as a good place to invest in property. And I'll take care of it for you, of course. Out of the kindness of my heart.
I was supposed to tell y’all about the bike ride.
I can’t stay that it was a very fashionable ride, by which I mean, we all wore matching t-shirts, which is inherently geeky, and they were white and huge, which is even worse. However, there were about 100 of us, so maybe that makes it a trend? It was great, it felt like we took over New York. Of course, sometimes we went so slow we might as well have walked; but the advantage of biking in a pack of 100 was that no one could do anything about it. We went south on the West Side Highway, crossed over on 54th St, and then south again on 7th Ave, through Times Square, at 1am. We stopped traffic.
It was an amazing way to see the city, and an amazing time to do it in. After a quick rest at Washington Square Park, we went over to the Fulton Fish Market, which is closing down soon (which may already be closed, actually.) It opened in 1822, and is now being moved to the Bronx. (I’m not sure why. Because it’s smelly?) This was a part of the city I would never have seen by myself, it being 3am and all. The men (and it was by and large men) who worked there mostly ignored us, after throwing us a confused glance. I think they must have been used to tourists as the market was closing, but there were a lot of us. They had little trucks that they drove at top speed along the block or two comprising the market and then back, but they never hit anyone, because their routine was so cemented that everyone knew where everyone else was at any given time.
The best part of the trip for me was the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was about 4am or so, and beautiful. The bridge, I’m told, is an engineering marvel, but I can’t remember why. I do remember that when it first opened, in 1883 (17 years after they started building) no one wanted to cross it, they were too worried it would collapse; so in 1884 PT Barnum paraded 21 elephants across to demonstrate its safety.
After we crossed the bridge we biked for a short while and came out at Columbia Heights. I must say, the best part of Brooklyn was it’s view of Manhattan: long and dark. We were far enough away that the lights in some areas of the city did that wavy thing lights do when you're far away from them (my brother and I have discussed this; it's about atmospheric interference, I think?) and it looked, for a moment, like Manhattan was lit by candles. Mom, if you ever win the lottery, I think I may recommend that spot as a good place to invest in property. And I'll take care of it for you, of course. Out of the kindness of my heart.
posted by j | 7:49 AM
2 Comments:
Hey J! I just got your message--I never check my email. Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to link to your blog on mine, and I'll keep an eye on your writing.
Hope everything's super cool in NYC!!
PT Barnum is one of my heroes. God bless him.
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