Isaiah and I just returned from 10 days of driving up the east coast from Washington, D.C. to Prince George, VA to New York City and back.
Like many, we have this rule: work hard/play harder: so any time we celebrate our anniversary & staying committed/loving and joyous throughout the year we like to commemorate with a BIG trip.
Our first year of marriage took us to South Beach. We loved Miami so much. Its so international/so fast/so sensational and we loved our trip until a tropical storm showed up and threatened to keep us there for more days then we had hoped: so we rented a car and took to the highway and drove to our final destination; which at the time was Richmond, VA. We drove through Florida, staying in Jacksonville, visiting Savannah, GA & stopping over in Kingstree, SC, overnighting in Charlotte, NC until we finally made it home (my second, Isaiah’s first: to Richmond, VA) along that whole journey up 95-N we joked about taking that incredible journey on the road again/but this time up to New York City. We always talked about this road trip and although last year we weren’t able to make it happen due to previous commitments/we knew that this year when our anniversary came around we would have our road trip.
This road trip took us from Prince George, Va through Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, Newark, NJ and dropped us off into this tiny little dream-filled city called New York.
Along the way I saw so much. The grandeur and poverty of the America never ceases to amaze me. Driving through D.C. seeing the monuments and envisioning the people who walked/drove/were carried by horses on those very streets that I was driving on/the monumental moments that have built our country and then driving through Baltimore… I was sick as I saw the dilapitated housing and the poor living conditions (I’m sure there is more to B-More than that: but the part our route tooks us through was anything but inviting), young kids chilled at abandoned houses as though it was the norm. Made me so grateful for my day job: helping young people find themselves, jobs, and education & made me want to work even harder to be present in my day-to-day work, in the midst of this particular business venture.
Philadelphia was the most exciting for me, because its so rich and full of great food. I cant thinking about Will Smith playing basketball on the courts of his famous tv show opening song—that every person I know can rap and repeat back without fail. I had my first Philly Cheesesteak; a goal that I had saved for a trip to Philly one day. I also saw the famous Liberty Bell and learned why & how that famous crack got in it. Really not as a big a deal or as exciting a story as one would think…..
drove into Jersey on the turnpike and as we got closer to my beloved New York, I grew anxious as I could see the skyline through the rain drenched windshield.
New York City. New York City.
There is a reason its considered the greatest city on earth/the city that never sleeps/the concrete jungle where dreams are made of && when you are there you feel it. This was not my first time to New York, but I have a feeling that every time feels that way.
New York City is one of those places that you wish you were from. As gritty & hard & fast paced as it is/you know that if you can survive there the rest of the world is easy.
New York City is full of the best! Some of the best food/clothing/stores/artists/architecture/television shows/movies/ are inspired by and are home to NYC, so much greatness on one very large island-its amazing!
I totally felt like I was on a food network tour! I seriously gained 6lbs but I am happy to say that I am slowly deflating down to normalcy!
Below is our trip in pictures all totally taken from the iPhone; a application called Hipstamatic (a sweet anniversary gift from the love of my life). I totally plan to hone my skills using this bad boy because there are some seriously sweet pictures out with iPhone cam’s and I want to be in that club, but for now: here is what I captured in the hustle and bustle of our trip. Enjoy! Leave some love if you like & book those tickets to the greatest city on earth (according to, well me).
