As most of you know, I took some time off and last Thursday morning, hopped on, or actually slept on, an American Airlines jet and headed to New York City to visit my daughter for the first time since she moved to Brooklyn for a new job opportunity. If I had to describe New York in one word, it would be “action”, in two words “constant action”, in three words “constant action everywhere”, or in four words “everyone in a hurry”. I do like the usual peace and tranquility of my country life but it is always a nice thing to get a look at how the other half lives and immediately wonder, “How do these people do this every day?”

While in the Big Apple, we tried about every form of transportation available, beginning with a car from home to the airport. Then it was a plane, an air train, many, many trips on the subway, an Uber, a boat, a taxi (expensive!), and finally a small bus back to our car when we arrived back at CVG. And of course, my feet which put more miles on them than I could count, especially after 15,000 steps the first afternoon in the city. The subway is always an interesting experience, we only got on the wrong train once which I consider a victory. Of course, we got directions each time from my daughter and her boyfriend. Every history teacher in America should just use the NYC subway to teach why America is called a “melting pot”. Simple to just say that numerous countries and nationalities are represented on those trains, all shapes and sizes. It is obvious that many people from abroad visit NYC as a vacation destination as Americans might do London or Paris.

There was not enough time to do all the things we wanted to do and see all we wanted to see, but we got around a good bit. A trip to Times Square at night is always a good time, just to see the lights and the mass of people. One of my first stops and one that I had planned was Trinity Church where I wanted to visit Alexander Hamilton’s gravesite. It is an impressive site, fitting for the big personality that Hamilton was. Made a jaunt down to the original Soup Kitchen too, and it was “No soup for me!”

On Friday morning, we were at the 9-11 Memorial Museum and there are no real plausible words to describe the experience. The museum is overwhelming and I was just amazed at how many things surrounding that horrible day had been saved and were on display. The museum is kept in very low light, which it should be, bright lights just don’t fit that mood that the museum presents. Just before we left on the trip, I read that all of the human remains yet to be identified 22 years later were stored at the museum and that made me curious. I found that they were behind a wall of blue tiles, every shade of blue imaginable meant to represent the different colors of the sky on September 11, 2001. The amount of work put into the memorial is staggering and though we spent two and half hours there, we could have spent twice that long. Then you go outside to the pools and realize you are standing on the site where an entire skyscraper fell to the ground and it is emotional.

The sights and sounds of three days in NYC are too many to mention, but since this is a sports page, there was certainly sports involved in this trip as we were kindly gifted seats to see the Reds and Mets at Citi Field on both Friday and Saturday nights, three rows behind the Cincinnati dugout. In the midst of an improbable playoff push, the Reds won both those games which was a good thing, even though we are Mets fans too, but they have probably changed the thinking of every organization in baseball this season by proving that $380 billion does not a championship buy. It always feels good to board the 7 Line, even if it is totally packed with people. If you have ever been to a game at Citi Field you know what I am talking about.

There are so many little moments from the weekend that I could elaborate on, but my wife would not want me to mention, but one of my favorite was just a short one. As we were entering Citi Field on Friday night, there were four of us going in and the ticket taker made the comment, “Seinfeld, party of four.” New York, New York…gotta love it!