Better Slip You an Ambien

NYC trip started off poorly, with a little bit of roomie miscommunication about coffee that ended up not happening.  Bummer.

But, you know—it was 9AM so that’s a pretty minimal concern, and that was really about the only pitfall of the entire trip.

We cruised to Bethesda to catch our bus, got there with time to spare and I was able to catch up with my grande mocha there, so, problem solved.

The 4 hour bus ride sailed by thanks to my friend CS Lewis, and next thing you know, we were being dropped off at Penn Station.  Let the fun begin!

It was about a 20 minute walk to Luke and Whitney’s and the weather was great (about 60 degrees), so we enjoyed taking in the sights and smells and noise of the big city as we walked.  One of my major goals for the entire trip was to make sure I did not look like a tourist, which for the most part, I accomplished. 

So Luke met us outside—what a cool apartment!  We walked up 5 flights, dropped our things off, and Luke suggested we hang out on the roof—why not?  What a view!  From the top of his building we could see several famous buildings, including the Empire State building.  It was great catching up with my buds and seeing the sights and enjoying the views.  We waited a few minutes for Whitney to arrive home (she was at one of about 14 million job interviews she had that week, she’s a really awesome designer) and she joined us on the roof shortly after we arrived. 

Walked to this great Cuban restaurant, and even though it was about a 45 minute wait to get a table, we didn’t mind hanging outside.  There was some…uhh…let’s say amicable disagreement about whether we were in NoLita or SoHo…I just knew we were in New York.  Dinner was a blast, food was excellent, conversation sparkling.  We grabbed the check then headed out to a local bar where we saw—of all things—a Skynyrd cover band, but it was great.  The guys playing were all probably in their 50s, but they were having a blast playing, and they were good, so we enjoyed it.  The walk home included a quick stop at Sixteen Handles, a great frozen yogurt place, and someone should have told Matt that they charge by weight.  I think he had about a $9 bowl of food, mostly toppings.  I’ve never known someone with more of a sweet tooth. 

Sleep.

 Saturday morning = blueberry pancakes.  Really nice treat.  We decided that we would do a little bit of the touristy stuff during the day, and since some of us had never been the Statue of Liberty, that was first on the list.  We purchased our Metro Passes, and navigated the subway like seasoned vets, albeit with the help of a couple folks who actually live there.  But, aside from our smiles, I don’t think we stuck out too much. 

I think whoever decided to nickname Chicago “The Windy City” should REALLY rethink that in favor of New York.  We got all the way to Battery Park, went toward the ferry that would take us to the Statue, and decided it was just far too cold to pay $13 to set out on the water.  So, we posed as ice cubes in front of the water, with Lady Liberty appearing as merely a speck in the background of the photo, then hurriedly rushed into Starbucks to warm up (this quickly became a theme of the weekend).  Then we checked out ground zero, where I had never been.  Really, really emotional for me.  It’s one of those things that, if there’s ever a special on the history channel or whatever I always watch, but it always drains me to reflect on the events that took place that day my freshman year of college.  Like many, I was and am profoundly shaken by that tragedy. 

Moving on, we had pizza for lunch at a place near Luke and Whit’s, and watched a little college hoops before heading out for the night.  And the night was great—We went to Brooklyn Bowl, which is like a bowling alley/bar/restaurant/concert venue in Williamsburg.  Have to give Matt some credit here, because when he said he wanted to go to a bowling alley I was not excited, but this was really one of the highlights of the trip. 

We walked to church on Sunday morning, and I really enjoyed their church.  The music was good, and the message was a tough one—“A Devastating Doctrine,” from Romans 3:9-20.  It really was devastating, until we learned in verse 21 that “…apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known...” (read: Jesus).  Awesome to read 21-22 in contrast to 9-20, but I still don’t know if we will ever be able to fully understand or appreciate just how big of a deal it is that the God of the Universe humbled Himself by stepping down from glory in order to reconcile to the Father a people who otherwise were irreversibly separated by our sin.  Incredible.

We then got two pizzas and four drinks for $15 (yes, in NYC) and ate lunch at Grand Central Station.  We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, seeing Rockefeller, 5^th Ave stores, Central Park, The Met, and a few other really neat places.  Went to Times Square Sunday night, and got on the bus to head home Monday morning. 

It was an absolute blast, and I was so happy to see my friends.  It was one of those weekends where it seemed incredibly busy the entire time, but I also felt like there was so much left to do that we didn’t get to, which I guess means we have to go back again soon!  (twist my arm)

I was not quite as overwhelmed with the big city as a lot of people told me I might be, but I was certainly impressed, and I fell in love with it pretty quickly.  Aside from the great food, famous locations, spectacular buildings and other attractions, the best part for me was just spending time with great people.

 Even if they did get annoyed that I was singing that Jay-Z song the whole time.

First person wakes him up..

We said it every time, without fail.

Like clockwork, we'd have just taken our shirts off and thrown them into the cabs of the trucks, grabbed our fishing poles and were headed down the side of the mountain in the middle of another scorching Virginia summer day.  Mission: well, there's a lot to it, so I'll bottom-line you: we wanted to have fun, and catch as many smallmouth bass as possible.  But there was a lot more.  Get away from our girlfriends, responsibilities, and cell phones.  Cool off in the river.  Share a lot of laughs.  Take in the absolutely breathtaking beauty that is God's creation.  You know the "fishing stories" your grandfather might have told you as a kid?  A lot of the ones my grandkids will hear about happened there on the river with my boys.

Anyway, we had a guy in the group who was terrified of "Mr. No-shoulders" as he called them.  Nobody's really crazy about coming up on a snake unexpectedly in the woods, but this guy was comically afraid of them.  His nickname is "Kramer" and his spastic-freakouts reminiscent of the Seinfeld character were never more vivid and animated than when we encountered a snake in the woods, or in the water.  The path that cuts through the side of the mountain is essentially a one-man trail so you have to go single-file through.  And, the saying goes, as it pertains to a snake, that "the first person wakes him up, the second person <upsets him--edited>, and the third person gets bit."  (this was proven false several times, as we saw at least one snake every time we went down there, and usually if anyone gets bitten, it's the first guy through.  And, even if you're one of those "tough" guys, it still kind of freaks you out when you're the one who gets struck).

The entry point to the fishing spot is so cool---right underneath a dam, where the end of the dam meets the side of the hill, and the water rushes over so fast, that there is almost always a cooling mist hovering that creates a mini-rainbow right in front of where we'd stand.  The deafening roar of the water rushing over the dam was always so peaceful, and often times we'd catch a few fish right there in the midst of all the rushing water.

In the summer, the sun doesn't go down until almost 9 o'clock in this part of the country, and it was often that late when we would finally make it back to the trucks.  The hours between were spent catching fish (and sometimes getting shut out), slipping and falling on the rocks, talking about women, and building life-long friendships.  I've been in several weddings, attended kid's birthday parties, and prayed with and for my brothers when they were going through serious life-changing crises.  Hard to believe it all started when a few crazy 17 year old kids decided to get together and wet a line to pass a summer afternoon.

The snakes never went away.  Shortly after college, I learned that the dam had been closed to the public because it was infested with rattlesnakes, and it was no longer safe to go down there.  I was crushed when I read the text message from Kramer. 

So we may never be able to spend the afternoon there again (with our football and basketball knees, falling on the rocks probably isn't the best idea anyway).  I see these guys all together maybe once a year, and the same stories we witnessed first-hand and have heard retold five thousand times are repeated, again and again.  And there's never one speaker--everyone chimes in with his own version of events, or things that someone forgot.  It's basically a train-wreck of verbiage jumbled together which hardly qualifies as conversation, and it's essentially incomprehensible through all the laughter. 

Nobody seems to mind.