My first 4th of July weekend in NYC!

This was by far one of the best 4th of July weekends I’ve ever had, but it was definitely not what I had expected. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was the first 4 day weekend I’d had in awhile and I had even secretly dreaded it. I just kept thinking…what am I going to do with myself for 4 entire free days? I am still relatively new to New York and although I do have a few friends here, I knew for sure it wasn’t going to be one of those party-type weekends I may have had if I were in SF, but somehow, with the few people that I do know, this weekend turned out better than any weekend I probably could’ve had in SF. Let’s start with Friday July 3rd. I spent the day taking a beautiful walk (with a new friend who happens to develop commercial property) along the Battery Park path from my house all the way down to the Chelsea Pier. We also took a stroll along the new “High Line” park above the Meat Packing District. It was the perfect weather for such a walk and I was lucky to have done it with him because he was able to point out all of the different famous architectural buildings and even provided back story on some of the million dollar NYC real estate dealings. After the walk, I relaxed at home and then had dinner with a few girlfriends down in the East Village at this French Bistro called Jules. We had such a laugh and enjoyed some amazing escargots and several yummy seafood dishes, and just really enjoyed ourselves. It was the perfect way to spend a Friday evening.

Then Saturday; July 4th, my new friend Samantha and I had decided a couple days before, that we would spend the day at the beach. I had never been to the beach since I moved out here, so it seemed like the perfect thing to do. We decided literally the night before to check out Coney Island and OMG was that the best decision. I mean, I couldn’t think of anything more cliché then to spend the 4th of July at Coney Island. Sam had prepared me though and said not to expect too much and that there would be a lot of “colorful” people…and boy was she right. But just to give you an idea of how my day began, let me just start by saying we got off the subway and right into a crowd of people getting ready for the famous “Nathan’s” hot dog eating contest. That was so unexpected and so awesome at the same time. We joined the mob scene briefly and waved to the ESPN camera as it scanned the crowd, but when it got too hot and we realized they were going to take their time milking every second before the actual contest, we decided to take off and just walk around the boardwalk. We walked through a flea market and then waited in line for about 30 minutes for my first Nathan’s hot dog experience and ended up going next door to a biker bar to watch reruns of the contest. Joey Chestnut, the 2nd time title winner from San Jose, CA ended up setting a record and taking the title for the 3rd year in a row. He ate 68 hot dogs in 12 minutes. I was happily enjoying my Nathan’s dog while I watched it…and I’d have to say, they are damn good dogs, but 68 of them in 12 minutes…gag me! After lunch, Sam and I found a nice spot on the beach and basically people watched for the next 1.5 hours. I brought a book with every intention of relaxing and reading on the beach, but with a sea of people and freaks to gawk at…I never once pulled the book out of my bag.

After Coney Island I hopped on the subway and made my way to Brooklyn where I spent a lovely time at my cousins house bar-be-quing and just hanging out and enjoying each others company. We finished dinner around 8:00 and afterwards my cousin drove his family and I back to Manhattan where we walked from my apartment in Tribeca towards the Chelsea Piers to watch the Macy’s fireworks show which was being shot off above the Hudson river for the first time (Apparently every year the fireworks go off above the east river…but they decided to shoot them off the west side this year, lucky me! ;-). So yeah..it was quite the 4th of July! I had the best time, Coney Island, BBQ and fireworks and in the company of great people. What could be better?

Then on Sunday/Monday July 5th & 6th, I was lucky to be able to spend the day and night in upstate NY with my cousin Lisa and her husband and 2 incredible boys. I took the Amtrak for the first time up to Albany where Lisa met me and from there, we drove over to Lake Saratoga where her husband Paul and the 2 boys were busy setting up their sail boat for my first sailing venture. We spent about 3 hours sailing around Lake Saratoga and even ended up on a course sailing amongst a bunch of sailing enthusiasts who were on the course for a race. I’m sure they were not pleased to see us there, but it was fun to get so close to all of these sail boats and check them all out. Paul had grown up sailing and even did it competitively when he was in college, so he was explaining the whole thing to me and near the end of our outing, his oldest son, who is 9, took over the boat and sailed us back to the dock. It was so nice to see a father teach his young son how to sail. It was such a sweet and tender moment and you could see just how proud Paul was of his son.

After our time on the lake, the 5 of us went into the town of Saratoga where we had dinner, took a nice stroll around the park, got to ride on a carousel and drank out of the Saratoga geyser (the water had a strong iron-like taste but is said to be good for digestion). We had such a great time and spending time on a lake is something that, as I’ve gotten older, have learned to appreciate and really love.

My time spent in Albany had been exactly what I needed - A quick escape from NYC and the ability to spend time with my cousin and her rambunctious little boys. I already had a great trip and couldn’t even imagine that anything could top it until the next day when Lisa and I accidentally got a tour of the Senate Floor by the Sergeant of Arms (the head of all security for the State Capital) himself. We had dropped Lisa’s youngest son off at the Museum for Museum camp and had about an hour to kill before heading to the train station. Lisa being an Asst. General Council knows Albany and the government pretty well and so we decided to take a quick peak of the State Capital. The building itself is amazing. The staircases are grand and opulent, marble tiles, ornate carvings and murals make up the entire capital building (as you could imagine). The place was pretty empty so the two of us just walked around and happened upon the floor where the Senate Chamber is located. Just going into that hallway was exciting enough for me. I had my camera and was happy to be able to sneak pictures of the Senate hallway when out of the blue, a gentleman coming out of a room asked if we would like to actually go into the Senate Chamber. Oh my god…I couldn’t believe that we actually got to walk onto the actual Senate floor. There are signs all around us that said, “Sentors only”, “Senate ID required” and here we were 2 little Asian chicks inside the chamber and it just so happens, that the nice man who let us in, was the Sergeant of Arms of the entire Capital. He gave us a tour and told us all about the room, the fact that the walls are covered in 24K leaf, where some of the marble that make up the archways and walls were from, he also pointed out that some of the marble archways that were not ornate are that way because they had run out of money to complete some of the detailing when the capital was being built and he also gave us some history about the tables and chairs that make up the Senate Chamber. Apparently, the tables that the Senators use have these built-in cups that looked like ashtrays. We assumed that they were ashtrays but he told us that they actually use to be pen and ink holders. Then there are the large burgundy leather chairs the Senators sit in. Behind each chair is a small gold tag with the name of the Senator and their district delicately inscribed. Once they retire, they are given the chair as a souvenir of their tenure. In terms of how the floor is set-up, the chair farthest away from the front means they are the newest to the floor, the closer to the front means that they have the most senority. The floor is divided by which the Republicans sit on the left hand side of the room and the Democrats are on the right. Whoever has control of the Senate floor holds the actual key to the Chamber and recently because of some political discourse between the 2 parties, the Democrats literally locked the door and turned off the lights to prevent a certain Senator from entering as he was threatening to vote for the other side. So besides that Democratic leader, the only other person who holds the key to the Chamber itself was the man we accidentally met. What are the odds of that happening? Certainly a once in a lifetime moment and even after almost 20 years of working for the New York government, it was my cousin’s first time into the Senate Chamber. How lucky are we and definitely the highlight of my weekend, and possibly highlight of my time in NYC thus far.

So there you have it….my very all American 4th of July weekend in NYC! From Coney Island, to a firework show above the Hudson river, to riding Amtrak, to sailing on Lake Saratoga, to the State Capital, and onto the Senate Floor of the New York State Capital….can’t really get more American than that! So yeah, this was by far one of the best 4th of July weekends I had ever spent. And just a few weeks earlier I was regretting not making any plans to go back to CA where I thought I could potentially have a better time. Now I’m glad I didn’t, because it just goes to show that you never know what can happen. The possibilities, especially in a city like NYC, are endless and perhaps that is what continues to draw people to this great city. I hope you all had a great 4th too and as always…thanks for reading!