For as long as I can remember I have been traveling to the state of New York. I think I've been to New York more than any other state, outside of the area where I live (D.C., Maryland & Virginia). My first memorable trip was in middle school. My mom let me ride the bus, by myself, to New York to meet my god sister and god mother. I was so excited to go and ever since then I have been in love with visiting New York.
My two most recent trips to New York were amazing. As a birthday trip to me (April 10) and my brother (from another) Darnzell, a.k.a. Dip, (April 11) my god sister, Talore, took us to NY and showed us a great time. The other trip was a day trip to the Barclays Center to attend a boxing event.
April, 2013
I honestly thought taking the train in NY would be similar to taking the train here in Maryland/D.C., WRONG. There are so many different routes you can take to get somewhere and if you don't pay attention you can get on the wrong train. Since I am already used to the train system we have here it was very difficult for me to grasp the concept of the train system there. We had a little trouble at first but the New Yorker in Talore (born in New York but raised in Maryland) came out and she ended up getting us on the right track.
First we stopped in Brooklyn to visit one of Talore's uncles at his job. He works at a boutique called Bedstuy Fly. If you are ever in NY I highly recommend you check it out. They have great stuff in there. We hung around there for a little and Uncle Tye showed us around the neighborhood after he got off work. After hanging out for a little we took the train to Times Square.
I remember looking at the clock and saying, "Y'all its midnight do you think the stores will be open?" Talore assured me that they would be open and not to worry. To my surprise, she was absolutely right! The stores were indeed open and were scheduled to be open for another 2 hours. Of course NYC is the city that never sleeps but I didn't expect retail stores to be open after midnight. We went to H&M and Forever 21. All three of us found some really nice clothes for the then coming summer.
After shopping we met Talore's uncles and some friends at Dave & Buster's. We grabbed some food and we convinced them to take us out to a club. I had never been to a club in NY and I wasn't going to pass down that opportunity especially since I recently celebrated a birthday. The best part about going was that I didn't have to change my clothes. We weren't required to go all the way back to the hotel just to change into something more acceptable for the nightlife. That's always a thumbs up for me!
Dip and I.
They took us to Club Amnesia. The entire night I didn't realize that we were in the club that Jay Z referenced in I Just Wanna Love U. It honestly took me a few days to figure it out. Even though I wasn't aware of the significance of this club, at the time, I still had fun. We had a table and bottle service, which I totally wasn't expecting. We had a great time partying the night away with Talore's uncles and their friends. They were gentlemen and showed us a great time in their city. We didn't leave the club until 5AM. None of us had ever partied that long.
The next day we attended a sneaker convention. That was another major part of our weekend trip. Talore and Dip are true sneaker heads, I am not so much of a sneaker head but I do love a good sneaker. We all looked around and found some pretty dope shoes. We also went to a deli and got some authentic NY deli sandwiches. Nothing better than that. This was our last day in NY and after the convention we decided to walk down to the Barclay's Center. It was a nice walk. I really enjoy walking and exploring a new place.
After taking some pictures outside of Barclays we headed back to the hotel for the trip home. We had such an eventful night the day before that having a chill day on Sunday really didn't bother any of us. It was such a great trip for us all, especially Dip because it was his first time in NY. I always love experiencing a person going to a place for the first time with them. You have the ability to help them fall in love with the city. Dip loved every bit of our trip, which Talore and I were really glad about.
August, 2014
For all my faithful readers you know that I love boxing so it shouldn't come as a shock to you all that I went on a day trip to Brookyln for a professional boxing event. I honestly wasn't planning on going but my mom had some extra tickets to the fight so my aunt and I decided to tag along. We went to support local professionals Anthony and Lamont Peterson. This was not my first bus trip to NY, I have taken many over the years for shopping days.
View from the top before the fights started.
My aunt and I didn't get to sit next to my mom and god mother because our tickets were different from theirs but we had a great time goofing off and enjoying the fights. Anthony and Lamont both won their fights. A bonus, for me, was that my dad and younger brother were also there so I got to spend a little family time with them as well.
Aunt Cookie and I. She's such a goofy person, hence the goofy faces.
The main event was Danny Garcia vs. Rod Salka. Going into it I knew that Danny would win but I did not expect the fight to be as short as it was. The fight only lasted 2 rounds, as a true boxing fan that was disappointing. Of course I wanted to a see a fight go the distance, but things happen.
When I go to NY I always have such a great time whether its for a weekend or just a day. I hope to return for a longer trip so that I can see more of what NY has to offer. I have a lot of family in NY and I have been talking about going to visit for a very long time now. I definitely think its time to stop talking and take action. Check out some more pictures from my trips.
There's nothing like a picture of your J's on a NY train.
My favorite sneaker that I own.
We were so obsessed with taking pictures of our shoes.
Someone was tired from all that partying the night before, she slept the whole way home.
P.S.
For those who may, or may not, have noticed I tend to post every Thursday because of the hashtag #TravelThursday on Instagram and Twittter. Unfortunately this may be my last post, for a little while. But as my frequent readers know I will be going out of the country in a few weeks and I am very excited to share my travels there with you all. I will be gone for a week (Nov 30 - Dec 7) but I will be taking my laptop with me and I promise to post while I am there (permitting that there is no issues with wifi, etc.) If I find anything interesting from some past travels before my trip I'll share them with you all. Thanks for being so patient with me especially when I didn't post for a few weeks after posting about my best friend. And thanks for being patient with me now leading up to my exciting trip abroad. :)
Peace&Love
Janisha