NYC These Days
I made a trip up to New York City a couple weeks ago for an audition. It was a crazy bit of travel, several airplanes, buses, a subway and a taxi, but I finally made it to my destination. This was a trip for work, but it worked out so that my down time happened in a couple big chunks. Fortunately, the weather was nice enough that I could walk around and explore this city that I work in several times a year, but have not been able to sightsee in since childhood.
There were two places that I wanted to visit, in particular. The first one was just a short walk from where I was staying. Bryant Park is one of my favorite places in the city. The twisted trees of this park area in the middle of Manhattan and the garden atmosphere are great rain or shine. Although on this trip, my goal was adjacent to the park. It was the branch of the New York Public Library. I had seen a lot of beautiful pictures of the interior over the years, but walking through the classic hallways and rooms full of ancient tomes of literature was really cool.
After that experience, I felt like I needed a bit of modern history from my New York trip. My last memory of downtown New York (that is unrelated to the entertainment industry) was the World Trade Center Towers. Two years before 911, on a family trip, I went to the top of those towers. So, it was a beautiful day, just like it was those years ago, and I walked from mid-town Manhattan down to the Trade Center Memorial site.
The exterior of the Freedom Tower is almost complete. A few more floors of glass to go, and the area around the main ground floor entrance, and it will at least look complete. Even with the clouds of tourists, snapping cameras, and noise, the memorial site still manages and elegant calm in the midst of the chaos. The square memorial pools really exposed the gravitas of the event that occurred there. It was a poignant reminder of the past, but also a symbol of strength and unity of purpose, even amidst the current political climates.
Rounding out my trip was just a nice night out with some of my family that live in the city. I was glad that I got to catch up on some past and present bits of history while seeing a few parts of the city that were new to me. Adventures and experience can happen at any time! Taking advantage of those opportunities when they stare you in the face is what life is all about.
Till next time...
