I am writing this on my flight home from NYC, drinking coffee, listening to Daniel Romero, and eating delicious gummy bears. I am determined to regurgitate as much of my first experiences of the East Coast in writing, before I forget. At the same time, how could I forget? The experience I had was unforgettable. I had always read and watched so much about the East Coast (a lot of history books and Anthony Bourdain) , it made me feel like I had been there before. It is hard to find the right words to describe the impressive, historic, thriving, and beautiful places that I saw this past week… It was great because I got to experience two extremes; two separate lifestyles: mellow and relaxed in Connecticut and fast paced and crowded in NYC.
This is a lengthy blog, because it has to be. If you want a quick list of highlights which sum up the trip, see below. To get the deets, read the rest.
Things and Stuff that happened:
- Cliff jumping
- GoPro Casualty
- Fishing (lots of it)
- Boating and Tubing
- Relaxing
- Trains, Planes, and Crazy Taxis
- West Point/Garrison, NY
- Lavish meals
- Central Park
- Uma F’ing Thurman
- Times Square
- Empire State Building
- The Met
- American Museum of Natural History
- Rooftop Bars
- More lavish meals
- Bat Mitzvahs
- Freedom Tower
- Financial District
- LOTS and LOTS of bagels
Starting from the beginning, my lovely girlfriend (referred to as Lexi from here on) has much of her relatives residing along the East Coast. Prior to this trip, she sat me down to go through a family tree that she had drawn out; things get confusing very fast when discussing the various degrees of kith and kin. She has grandparents in Connecticut, one in New York, her aunt in downtown Manhattan, cousins in Brooklyn, etc. So this trip is nothing new to her. Getting the invite to travel across the US and meet her family boosted my stoke levels to an all-time high, while also leaving me anxious and determined to make a good impression.
This was my vacation, so of course I brought my fishing pole.
First stop was Candlewood Lake, stretching across Connecticut with over 90 miles of shoreline. The houses peppered around the lake were nothing less than magnificent, multi-million dollar mansions. This is what million dollar homes are supposed to look like; Silicon Valley homes going for the same price do not equate whatsoever.
The lake was beautiful. Lexi’s grandparents were as nice as ever, and laughed at my determination to catch the “big fish” off their dock (even though I knew I needed a boat of some sort to get to the good spots). Alas, only little guys, but at least they were so plentiful that the action never stopped.
I have been using the shit out of my GoPro since I got it earlier this year, so of course I brought it to film random happenings throughout the trip. On the second day at Candlewood Lake, some of Lexi’s extended relatives took us out to a jumping rock on their pontoon boat. The rock is called “Chicken Rock”, aptly named for its ability to make grown men poop their pants in cowardice… Actually it’s probably about 30 feet; still sizeable if you’re not a fan of jumping off rocks into murky water. Regardless, the younger kids wanted to jump off of it and it sounded like fun to me so I acquiesced. Upon arrival, there were a fleet of other boats surrounding the rock, music blaring, people yelling, swimming, and jumping off of the rock. I will never forget the look that Lexi and I gave to each other as we passed a pontoon boat full of jacked up, tattooed, Jersey Shore casting call rejects as they fist-pumped to house music, and their way into my nightmares. Hilarious, yet scary to know that those people exist.
I swam out to Chicken Rock with the GoPro and the youngest of Lexi’s cousins. We climbed to the top, and I jumped off first, trying to assert dominance and act as a role model to the others as they waited to gather valor.
Of course, the one time I didn’t bring a floating GoPro case, it breaks off the tri pod it was attached to upon impact and quickly slips from my view and down into the murky lake water…
SO PISSED… SO PISSED. Wtf, I am an idiot.
I accepted the ramifications of my stupidity and swam back to the boat with a broken tri pod in my hand and my moral at an all-time low. The downpour of rain that accompanied us the entire (terribly slow) pontoon ride back really set the mood.
Though the GoPro casualty weighed at the back of mind, I still had hope that somehow I would just go back to the scene with the right equipment and hope to dive and find it. Plus, the times I was able to spend with Lexi and her amazing Grandparents at their beautiful lake home was priceless. I was a happy man, and my mind and time was kept occupied by fishing, tubing and swimming, eating great meals, and hanging with everyone.
We spent a day at her other Grandpa’s house up in Garrison, New York; this beautifully unique house overlooked the Hudson river, with West Point Military Academy standing stoic in the background. Each room in the house had a different country theme: Bali, Africa, Tahiti, etc. It was awesome. We spent the day swimming in a sweet pool, and eating grapes and drinking beer in the sunshine.
The weather was beautiful in both Danbury and Garrison: hot and humid, contrary to what the weatherman had predicted. Everything was perfect. I even was able to win over the friendship of her Grandparent’s edgy and nervous poodle that barked and growled at everyone.
The day before we left for Manhattan, Lexi’s uncle Mickey showed up to hang out and boat around a bit. He also brought snorkel gear and flippers for a GoPro recon mission at Chicken Rock. With a small shred of hope, we set out. Mickey and I spent twenty minutes “clearing” the landing zone, and diving to look for the camera… Mickey kept coming up and saying that he could see trinkets at the bottom; that it wasn’t too far. However, it was super murky and the water pressure was doing a number on Mickey’s ears with each dive. I even jumped Chicken Rock again to mimic the spot where I had originally landed, in hopes of pinpointing the exact location of the sunken treasure.
With one last dive in him, Mickey plunged to the bottom of the LZ. Twenty seconds later, he busted through the surface, holding my GoPRo and a pearl ring that he also found!
NO WAY! NO! WAY! I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t stop smiling, I was so happy.
The trip had been going great minus the loss of the GoPro, but this changed everything, and really topped the Connecticut trip. No one could believe it. Mickey is a legend and a selfless hero in my eyes!
It was sad saying goodbye to Lexi’s Grandparents and their beautiful lake house, but onto the second leg of the trip: NYC.
So we hopped a train from Connecticut to Grand Central Station. Upon arrival, I was face fisted with the furious pace of people traffic that embodies New York. Grand Central was so impressive, but I was in store for so much more.
We arrived to Lexi’s aunt’s house in the upper east side of Manhattan, two blocks from Central Park. It was an amazing apartment on the seventh floor, close to everything and two blocks from Central Park.
We dropped our bags off and met her aunt, Sara, and Gerry (Lexi’s Grandpa from Garrison, NY) at a swanky hotel for lunch. This was one of many swanky meals that I was going to have over the next few days. We spent the first day sauntering through Central Park, taking in the muggy NYC air; the humidity was intense, and I always felt sticky and drenched in sweat. That night we had dinner at this posh place called Phillipe’s, an Asian restaurant that apparently many professional athletes frequent.
We walked around after that, splitting off from Sara and Lexi’s cousin, Jack. We made our way to Times Square to partake in the bright lights and chaos, passing die hard Apple fans on the way who were waiting for the new iPhone outside the underground Apple Store. They had already been camping for a few days, and the release of this new phone wasn’t for another two and a half weeks…! Times Square was CRAZY. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. So much activity. We walked up some bleachers to sit back and take in the massive crowds as they pulsed below us while the neon lights illuminated the night, like one big rave.
We planned to do stuff and see things, as much as we could before our departure.
I don’t think one could ever get bored in NYC; there is just so much to do, see, eat, and experience.
Lexi and I crammed as much as we could into three days, walking everywhere we could and taking cabs all around Manhattan. The Met was beautiful, the American Museum of Natural History brought me closer to Teddy Roosevelt than ever before; I wanted (still want to) to play Age of Empires super bad because of that place. The Empire State Building was cool. I really enjoyed reading about the building process and history as you make your way through to the top. But honestly, way too crowded for me. We had lunch at ABC Kitchen and Cocina, where we were sat right next to UMA THURMAN. Like, right next to her. I totally played it cool, like it this stuff happens all of the time…
Lex and I finished our trip with some drinks atop a rooftop bar in the Financial District. It was called the Loopy Doopy Rooftop Bar and you could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance, and two blocks away was the Freedom Tower soaring above the rest of the buildings. I even attended my first Bat Mitzvah, that I wasn’t invited to. This is a big deal for me.
In conclusion, the East Coast trip was one of the best ever. I met so many great people, saw so many great landmarks, and really got to let go much of the daily pressures of life. This trip was one for the books, and I can’t wait to go back.