We had a few small issues, but they got resolved in a fairly quick fashion. I am absolutely amazed that people LIVE in New York by choice. Just for Brad and I to get into the city, we had to take 3 different forms of transportation. Hotel shuttle to the airport, airport to the bus, the bus to penn station or another train station, then the subway to get to our destination. CRAZY! How people do it, no clue. And how those city people know which way to go and which way is uptown or downtown is beyond me. I can do Seattle . . . I can’t do a city bigger that.
I left Billings around 6 am to fly into Seattle where my mother-in-law surprised me at the gate and we had a cup of coffee and a bagel. There was a chance I would get on the 9 am flight out to Newark, but it didn’t look good so I was kind of hoping that I would get on the 3pm flight so I could see my mom and some other people. My angels were watching over me because a couple who didn’t want to be split up traveling, gave up there seat which in turn gave me their seat! So I had mixed emotions about that because I really wanted to get on the plane to see Brad, but I also wanted have a few hours with my madre’! I think the better option happened.
I arrived in Newark around 5, got to the hotel and situated. By this time, Brad was almost to the airport from the bus so I got into the shuttle and we went to pick him up. It was the best thing to jump out of that van to run up and get him!
Those reunions are the best feeling ever. It almost makes it worth being away from him. Just to have those butterflies till the next time we see each other.
The next morning was our first day in the city.
Took the bus to New York and the subway to the world trade center. I thought it would hit me harder than it did. Its pretty amazing how much they have rebuilt and are doing with the area since. Brad had told me that the last time he was there was 6 months after it happened that there was just a big fence around it. This time it showed what they were building and what it would look like when they were done. It’s going to be quite the building. They are only 30 stories up, but the finished product will be close to 110 stories. That’s pretty awesome.
As Brad and I were walking around, we came to the realization that THIS is the reason he leaves at the end of the week for Afghanistan. The reason these buildings aren’t there anymore is the reason HE is going over.We went over to the church across the street and experienced that. Once again, thought I’d have more of a reaction to it.
My good friend Erin recently moved to New York so when I knew for sure I’d be there, I text her and told her, so we ended up meeting up with her when we went into the church. We had a great little lunch/dinner at a local bar and then went to a comedy club that Brad and I got tickets for. It wasn’t an amature night either, so it was professional comedians giving their all. I am pretty sure Brad and Erin and I agreed across the board that the black man and the ‘one armed’ man was the best. Couldn’t tell you their names, but they were pretty funny.
We had a harder time finding our way through the subway station after we left Erin, but lucky for us there was a nice bum who showed us our way, for a small fee of course. But if it wasn’t for him, it would have taken us 3 hrs to get back to the hotel, instead of 2! I will admit, I was a bit scared. Maybe even a bit is an understatement. I was very scared while the bum was showing us through the station. It was obvious we were from out of town and its not like we were dressed in grungy clothes. From seeing all of the movies and SVU and stuff on TV, I had this idea of awful things happening to us. I then freaked out on Brad because I was scared. But what I need to do is trust him that things wont happen to us. Brad would never allow anything to happen to me, I just needed to keep telling myself that. lol
This was a lot of walking, so we stayed in Newark the next day and just hung out. Watched a movie or two and just enjoyed being next to each other. We decided to seize the moment and have our last nice dinner together at the hotel bar. It was a very nice time.
We got up early and started our realllly long day on Monday. We covered a lot of ground. I am a HUGE fan of felicity and it was based out of New York, near New York University. So we walked around over there, went into the FCUK store and then found this great Chinese place to have our lunch at. We tried to go up to the top of the empire state building, but we couldn’t justify spending close to 40 bucks to share that experience with every other tourist. So we continued to walk around. We got on the subway to attempt to get to central park but instead got on the subway to Brooklyn. It was a fun adventure because I got to see the statue of Liberty from far away. We eventually made it to central park and it’s not what I thought it would be. I thought it was a large piece of grass and trees, not filled with vendors and stuff. It was huge and very busy on such a nice afternoon. Brad and I joked that this is probably the closest that any new yorker gets to being in the ‘outdoors’ and being in a park. We quite frankly think it’s pretty sad, but that’s why we don’t live there, we live in Billings instead.
Re-reading all of this, it sounds like I didn’t have very much fun and it’s the opposite. I had a blast with my husband, just having us time . . . I just didn’t expect new york to be so busy or rude I guess. Ive experienced it now though and can say I’ve been there, done that. I would go back again but I would change a few things. 1. Id bring newer more comfortable walking shoes. 2. 1,000 bucks 3. About a week to do everything we wanted to do. I saw time square and it was amazing. There weren’t any street lights in time square, that’s how lit up it was 24/7. I made the comment to Brad “How much do you think it costs to generate the power it takes for time square to be lit up this often!?” we didn’t want to fathom that amount of money.
On our grand adventure, we found Tiffany’s on 5th ave, Sacks fifth avenue, Trump Plaza, Rockefeller plaza and the LEGO store!
We thought it would be bigger, considering everything is big in New York. We got to see the ice skating rank that has been in numerous romantic movies, our favorite being Serendipity.
All in all it was a pretty fantastic trip.
Tword the end of our day on Monday, we found a place to have a quick snack and were on our way our the door when we noticed it was pouring rain. I mean like seattle downpour kind of rain. We had watched the news that morning and were expecting the nasty weather, but we got side tracked and forgot about it.
So we stayed in our restraunt for a little longer while it died down. We then walked around time square again before it started to rain one last time.
I came to the conclusion that no two people in new york know the same way to get to the end destination. We asked a few different people how to take the PATH train or the subway to get back into Newark. One bum (because they are so friendly, right!?) told us to go up one block and make a right on a certain street and the entrance would be there. Another worker backed him up so we believed him. We got outside and discovered it was downpouring again. So Brad and I said "so what, we aren't scared of the rain!" and ran down the block in the pouring rain. It was probably the most fun I had the entire trip. Running through the rain with my husband. :) very cliche! Turns out, we were in the right place the entire time. so we ran BACK to where we had started through the rain.
If the Ireland families didn’t put this together, Brad and I wouldn’t have got this wonderful opportunity to see each other one last time and make these memories. I thought that at the end of this I might have some regrets about going through the heartache again, but its worth it. It was worth every moment to spend with Brad. It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to each other again, but it was considerably easier than before. It was also nice to have just Brad and Megan time before he deploys instead of trying to get him packed and make sure everything is alright on the home front. The week before he left was so hectic for us that it was a whirlwind. So it was nice to have just us time, even if we did spend a few hours with Erin. Although, she stressed that she didn’t want to infringe on our time because its so precious, so that was pretty sweet. But we did enjoy her company and had a few good conversations with her. Erin and I have known each other for years. She used to come over to my parents house after ballet, have dinner with us and do homework and then we’d go back to dance for hip hop. She was in the 5th grade when we started doing this and we are still friends to this day. I realize she is only 2 years younger than me, but it’s kinda cool to see her grow up into the wonderful and beautiful woman she is today. She has traveled to some pretty cool places and knows that she can’t live in New York, so that’s off of her bucket list.
Getting home to Billings has been another adventure in itself. I couldn’t get on the 7:30am flight out of Newark, but Don figured out a flight for me home to Seattle through phoenix . I got into phoenix around 7 and my flight from Arizona to Seattle left at 8 and arrived around 11. I got to spend a few minutes with my parents, get hugs from both of them and lovin from Sam the cat. It’s so nice to see them. Also had enough time to put in a quick load of clothes in the washer and dryer. This life of not having a washer and dryer at our house has made me take advantage of our resources. If there is a washer and dryer, I’ll be taking advantage of it.
I’m excited be home and sleep in my own bed. Have my quiet life of driving to school and back and not having to take 3 forms of transportation to get from school to home.
I wondered through this journey how much time new yorkers spend waiting for subways, buses or taxi’s. They must walk a lot, so why aren’t they the fittest city? Brad and I feel like we covered a lot of ground in these last few days, but in reality, we didn’t cover much at all. There is still so much to see and do that we never got to experience.
I coulnd't make it on to the 10:25 flight from Seattle to home so I took advantage of that and got to hang out with my very good friend Nicole and her little bundle of joy malachi! This is the first time I got to meet my 'nephew' and he is soo precious.
After spending the afternoon with them, I had a quick dinner with my folks and I was off traveling again. I am not sure how pilots do all of this traveling. It's so exhausting! I told my father-in-law this and he said "well megan, you have lived a day in the life of a pilot!" I sure have!
It felt amazing to sleep in my own bed and to be home. Although Seattle will always be my 'hometown' and the place I love the most, I enjoyed coming back to Billings, my new home to the place that Brad and I have built together!
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