Country Mice Go to the City

See what happens when two people who have never lived outside of Colorado take a crack at the big city.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

The Day of Feeling Thankful

Ahhh, our final day. It is with mixed feelings that we begin packing up our month-long haven. The feelings then quickly turn to full-on panic as I realize that we are not going to be able to fit everything into the giant bags that we arrived with. J, in an effort to keep me calm, volunteered to brave the rain to find another suitcase at one of the shops along 14th. By the time he got back, with new bag in tow (he had managed to get it for $35 even though the price tag said $70), I had cleaned the upstairs and was calming down. We stuffed what was left in the new bag and headed out for a final quick boy bad coffee at our favorite place, called ‘snice.

As we wandered in the rain toward the coffee shop, I was just trying to take it all in – the smell, the stuff I was stepping over on the sidewalk, the buildings, the people. To add to the magic of the day, we enjoyed another celebrity sighting in the coffee shop – Julianne Moore likes ‘snice too! We downed – but still savored – our coffees and then headed back to say goodbye to our apartment. As I stepped over a dead rat in the street, I realized that I will never forget this experience and will always hold a special place in my heart for this town. Back at “home,” it was bittersweet to close the door for the final time, which was shortly followed by pain at having to get our 400-lb bags down the five flights of stairs.

NYC seemed to be laughing at us, as it started to really rain as we dragged our giant bags down the block to 8th to catch a cab. J did a great job of flagging one down, a skill we hadn’t really worked on while being here (the subway was just too easy). As we rode through the streets of the city for the last time (for this trip), I felt like I was saying goodbye to a slightly quirky but gracious host who I would miss but think of fondly upon returning home.

Reaching La Guardia brought an eye-opening discovery. When we had arrived on April 1st, we had thought this place was a good warm up to the muck to come. Having been out and about in the city for the whole month, we noticed how clean the airport really is. It gave us a clear sense of how far our standards had shifted. The airport was thankfully uneventful, and we were pleasantly surprised to discover that our plane was practically empty. We enjoyed stretching out in the huge space of the exit row, but couldn’t really manage to sleep despite the exhaustion of the trip and the hangover brought on by the Wells Pub Crawl of the night before. The real shock came when we landed – the ground was covered with snow and it was 34 degrees outside!!!

As we enjoyed deep breaths of clean (?, this is Denver after all) air, we shared an embarrassed snicker as we realized that we had positioned ourselves aggressively to get on the airport train first – that subway training stays with you! Prepared to brave the bus and perhaps spend an hour in the airport waiting for it to arrive, we slogged onto the escalator to reach the main terminal. “WELCOME HOME COUNTRY MICE CITY RATS!” I can’t even express how excited I was to see Doug and Lesley waiting there with a giant sign --their smiles and the fact that they had surprised us was enough to choke up even this hardened traveler. My sappy factor continued to increase as we arrived home to find that Dan had made an amazing dinner, stocked the fridge (the fridge must have been shocked, having rarely been stocked before), and cleaned the whole house. As friends arrived to welcome us home, I just felt really lucky to know such wonderful people. If the point of traveling is to expand your experiences, broaden your mind, and help you to truly appreciate where you live and all your friends and family, then this month of crazy and wonderful times has been a huge success!

Thank you to everyone for their suggestions, comments, and support -- we are so very lucky to have you all in our lives! And with two McSorley's darks clinking in my mind, I say Cheers to NYC!