When life delays your flight... make lemonade. I think that's how the saying goes, anyway, right? Or maybe they say "go to New York City". Let me think about that for a minute...
Today has been insane. And I am full of energy and thrilled for the adventure. It's quite a ride. For the last week and a half, I've been here in upstate New York, in the Adirondacks - by Lake George. It was the ultimate escape with no cell service, no worries, very little internet, hardly any people for miles. Just lots and lots of nature. What an experience! And it drove me crazy to be that disconnected... I have work to do! People to call, photos to upload, and blog posts to write! Well, I found a little bit of internet to check in from time to time and I went through all the withdrawal symptoms from the phone. It was remote and beautiful. I feel much more peaceful now.
Today, that visit came to an end when I rode the 3 hours with my little sister and her family to Albany airport, several hours early because they were on a different flight.
Their flight left at 1 and mine left at 5:15, so I located a great little place called Blu Stone Bistro on Yelp with internet so I could work, eat, drink, and experience something about Albany other than the airport. Then I was going to walk the 2 miles with my 3 bags to the airport. Sounded like an experience worth having. Maybe even fun. The address was wrong, my brother in law was running late, and when they finally found it and dropped me off, the bistro was closed. I had 3 hours to kill, then I would have 30 minutes with the bistro open until I needed to start walking. It's almost comical how everything went wrong. So I went to the lobby of this beautiful hotel and awkwardly piled my luggage on the floor of their cafe - this cafe was also closed. Aaaaand the internet required a password, so I edited photos and made my work to do list for the next 3 days while listening in on a job interview and an awkward family fight also in the lobby. Then I got a call - my flight was delayed an hour and a half! This means I have an extra hour to enjoy the Blu Stone Bistro while it was open! :) I will miss my connecting flight in Chicago and I'll figure that out when I get there! I grabbed my bags and walked along the rather busy highway to find something, anything with wifi until 3 pm. I ended up at a Starbucks for a couple hours, then back to the bistro. Now, I love days like this. In one sense, everything goes wrong. In another sense, it's an unexpected adventure where nothing goes as planned - which is perfect. I thrive off of that energy. And all the people on the highway in Albany, NY waving to the girl walking on the shoulder laughing to herself because there is nothing to do but laugh.
All of a sudden, I get an ingenious idea! instead of going to Chicago and figuring it out, why don't I try to go somewhere awesome for the night? I have always wanted to see the Tuesday night jazz club at Mona's in NYC. And indeed, we have lemonade. I actually get money back from the airline by hopping on a bus and flying out of New York tomorrow instead of sleeping in the Chicago airport and flying out there tomorrow... So here I am, on a bus on my way to New York City with more money in my pocket, drinking my figurative lemonade (from the lemons I was given) and watching the real sunset go down over the city. I get to go dancing, listen to incredible jazz, meet up with some childhood friends, take photos, and feed off of the energy of this incredible city.
From one perfect escape in the middle of nowhere to the exact opposite with the rush of people and crazy everywhere - and also perfect.
Now, last time I was in New York City was 2012, on the way to and from Europe. I photographed a beautiful wedding in Holland, and spent an month discovering NYC, Ireland, England, Spain, Holland, and NYC again. A few of my photos from that trip here:
Wish me luck! And I'll see y'all again in Salt Lake in a couple days :)