I was raised in New York State and lived there about the first 30 years of my life. I was no where near New York City and had always wanted to see it.
After moving I was then 4 hours away so I made a friend on ICQ and was invited to come and see the Bronx.
Never having travelled anywhere alone I was a bit skeptical and of course there are all the horror stories of rape and being robbed, etc.
I made up my mind to take a bus and go against many protests from all my family and friends worried that I was going to be murdered or something.
My brother was the worst one of all, I had to promise him to call when I got there and every day there after and if I didn’t call by a certain time he called me.
Anyway I arrived in port authority and it is located in a slum area, rats running around, and all that but I found my way to where I was supposed to meet my friend and he was there waiting so with a sigh of relief we got a cab and headed for the Bronx which was about half an hours drive. I was mesmerized with all the water and all the lights, tall buildings and so forth along the way. It was dark which just made everything twinkle.
It was mid April and still pretty chilly with snow on the ground and below zero temperatures. The first night was spent having dinner at my friends apartment on the 12th floor. Nice view but I am afraid of heights so stayed away from the windows.
The next morning I was ready to venture out shopping.He told me how to get to the famous Macys that I wanted to go in but he did not want to go so off I went on foot, ducking in here and there to warm up along the way. Everyone I met was friendly and not one person tried to bother me in anyway. I had a great time shopping and even stopped to some other shops on the way back. I wanted to take a subway as I had never done that but for fear of getting lost decided against it.
The next day was a warm spring type day so we went to the zoo. Although not totally open yet I enjoyed walking around and seeing what was there and hope to go back again when the whole thing is open. You might want to rent a cart to ride in as there are acres to this park. You are in the city yet while in the park it is like being in the wilderness. I loved it and took many pictures.
The day I was leaving I wanted to take a carriage ride around Central Park but it had again turned bitter cold. I would say since the weather is so changeable you might want to wait until at least May to go or go prepared for heat one day and freezing cold the next.
I have been back to the bus station there several times on my way to other places, once I discovered I enjoyed travelling alone I went many places.
I had to go through the Lincoln tunnel on my journeys and did see Miss Liberty from a distance but there is so much to see yet.
I have never been to a city before that was so large and had so many things to do and see.
I have seen pictures of the botanical gardens and would love to see that in person.
Also many street vendors and one even had the little monkey doing tricks. Like a picture out of the past. I will tell you that everything is expensive there so you will want to bring lots of money with you.