Not Quite Flying Solo

I didn’t get many pictures today. At first, it was that I didn’t want to bring my phone out in the rain, and then it was because I’d gotten out of the habit.

I am not a natural picture-taker. It’s almost as if I forget my phone can take photos on a day-to-day basis.

For this trip, I’ve made a concerted effort to have my phone in my hand at all times. It seems to remind me to get a picture of whatever I’m experiencing. But I still forget a good half of the time. So having my phone stored out of the way of the rain meant I forgot to take any. Sorry, guys.

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Tako had to stay behind today because the rain was so heavy, I’m pretty sure he would have washed away if I’d tried to bring him. But I was also heading to an interview,* and I find hiring managers aren’t fans if you bring a pug along.

The rain was so intense that I watched a river build on the tracks before my train arrived. (Video of that on my IG stories.)

I got off at Rockefeller Center on this particular subway ride, and boy howdy was it hard walking with an umbrella in Manhattan. No harder than San Francisco, and definitely not as difficult as York, England, but I can see why slow walkers irritate New Yorkers. I was on Fifth Avenue for not five minutes before I was darting around people to get ahead.

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For those who haven’t visited NYC, Rockefeller Center is in Midtown Manhattan and isn’t as singular as it sounds. Rockefeller is a complex of buildings. This particular set face Fifth Avenue between 48th and 51st Streets.

Apparently, it has a great observation deck in one of those buildings, but I have somehow never been up there in all the times I’ve visited New York. I haven’t gone to the top of the Empire State Building either. Have I mentioned I’m scared of heights?

A few other things Rockefeller Center is famous for: the ice rink and Christmas tree during winter; Radio City Music Hall; 30 Rock; rooftop gardens.

photo source: Rockefeller Center’s website

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After my interview, I went to meet Val for lunch. Val is one of my mom’s oldest friends, as well as my friend Hannah’s mom. She’s a very cool lady, and she took me to lunch at a spot called Dig Inn in Morningside Heights (Upper West Side of Manhattan). Their bowls are divine; I got the Farmer’s Favorite, which is three sides on either quinoa, rice, or mixed greens.

My favorite part was the kale cashew caesar. I should have gotten a full bowl of that.

photo source: Dig Inn’s Twitter

I didn’t realize that Goop did a piece on Dig Inn. I guess that means it’s legit.

It was so nice catching up with Val. It’s been years since we’ve seen each other, and it was nice to get some in-person mom-style advice on life.

After, I went back to Brooklyn to catch up on some work and grab Tako. Within a couple of hours, though, I was back on the subway — this time with a pug in tow — and headed back to the Upper West Side to visit my friend Kelly, who just moved here from San Francisco a couple of months ago.

Kelly offered to order take-out, but I really wasn’t hungry when I got there, so we skipped dinner. And then we drank two bottles of wine.

I really don’t think being slightly tipsy is what made getting home a bit difficult, though. Let me explain.

To travel between Park Slope and Kelly’s particular area of the Upper West Side, the best route (in my opinion) is the F to the 1, transferring at 14th Street.**

And obviously to get back you simply reverse this route, and I’ve done this several times. Super easy.

Last night, I decided to go rogue.

The rain had finally stopped, Tako had been cooped up all day, and I wanted to walk. So I checked how far the closest F or R station was — discovered it was an F — and headed for that.

Here’s the thing I didn’t really realize. At that station, the F train stops on the E platform, so it is not listed on any of the signs anywhere throughout the entire station or above ground at the subway entrances. Google swore the F was within a block of my location, though, so I kept spiraling farther out until I knew I’d gone too far, and then heading back to the C/E station that Google seemed to be pointing me towards.

I wandered the streets of Manhattan for quite a while before I broke down and went to a station agent and pathetically asked how to find the F. He was nice about it, happy to tell me where to go, but I still felt droopy because it was the first time this whole trip I’ve had to ask for directions. And it’s the first time in all the times I’ve visited New York that I’ve gotten even remotely lost on the subway.

Plus, all that walking had worked the wine out of my system, and I was starving.

So when I exited at Park Slope, I grabbed a slice of pizza from Joe’s Pizza on 5th. It’s one of those walk-up windows, and they have pre-made pizzas that you choose a slice from. It was very late on a Monday, so there were limited options, and I got a slice of cheese.

I finished my sidewalk pizza before I got back to the apartment and crawled into bed as soon as I was through the door.

High

Probably seeing Val again. Catching up with Kelly was a highlight, too.

 

Low

No pictures.

 

Breakdown

Driven: 7161mi

Hiked: 54mi

Written: 12k

Listening to: Tinariwen***

 

*My (new!) friend Shannon told me about an opening at her office that she recommended me for. The position wasn’t perfect, and they wanted someone in office right away, but it definitely whet my appetite for job hunting in NYC. I’ll keep you posted.

**In New York, whenever someone advises on what route to take, at least one other person will chime in with a counteroffer. “Nah, what you should do is take Broadway.” or “Why would you take the F? Take the R. Boom. You’re there.” So I know there are a few doubters about my route out there. So let’s just address that right now.

You can also go the F to the B. But that was a longer walk to her apartment in the rain. So I did not do that.

And you can take the R to the 1, but the R makes more stops than the F. So I did not do that either.

***My friend is on tour with this band doing sound, and he’s been posting Instagram stories of bits of their sets. They’re from Mali and pretty cool. You should check them out.