New York Dreaming

~ One of the things I like most about travel is the sense of anticipation I get as the departure date draws closer and closer.

Couple this with the research I get to do about my main destination (New York City); the events I pencil into my travel calendar; the excitement I derive from discovering new people, places (and new things about myself), and it’s safe to say the pump will be primed and ready to go from the moment I touch down at JFK.

Here are some of the events I have already added to my schedule:

• July 4th Celebrations featuring the Macy’s department store fireworks display
• The Bitter End All Star Jam gig (twice a month at The Bitter End in Bleeker Street)
• A Hidden Harbor Tour of New York harbor
• Catching a couple of Broadway shows: West Side Story and In The Heights
• A Brooklyn Bombshells vs. Queens of Pain Roller Derby event
• An all-time favourite, Iris DeMent at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
• A Circle Line Cruise around the entire island of Manhattan
• Check out the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum
• Walking tours of the Downtown area, Grand Central Terminal, and elsewhere
• Museum Of The City Of New York
• Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Walk The Highline
• Watch free movies and listen to live music in Bryant Park
• Explore the South Street Seaport Museum and Chelsea Piers
• Eat pizza at Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge...
• ...and sleep in occasionally!

I’m also researching open mic nights, Irish music sessions, and of course I will return to some of my favourite 2008 locations such as The Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Rockerfeller Center, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, the Staten Island Ferries, Greenwich Village, Central Park, and probably Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty (if I can be bothered fighting my way through the crowds and queues).

On my Been There – Done That! list are the Empire State Building and the New York Skyride; the United Nations Building; Madam Tussauds (tacky, yes, but worth doing once. Just); the New York Transit Museum; Bodies…the Exhibition; the New York Police Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History – although that is well worth a second look.

But what I particularly enjoyed on my 2008 trip was simply walking the streets of New York City discovering everyday life (people, events, places) in this amazing metropolis. On that trip (apart from one bus ride from the Staten Island Ferries hub, all the way up Second Avenue to Harlem and back down to 42nd Street), I never explored further than the American Museum of Natural History at about W 78th Street. This time I will be staying right at the top of Manhattan in Washington Heights, and I’m looking forward to ranging far and wide across the ‘top end’ of the island as well as revisiting the places listed previously.

Of course, there are many places not listed above. If you have any ‘must see’ locations you think I should add to my calendar, feel free to let me know via the Comments link below.