NYC: Part 1- Staten Island Glory

I made it through the week...but only barely.  I had a lot of residual exhaustion built up because...


....drum roll...

I went to NYC last weekend.

The plan was to fly up on Thursday to surprise Hannah for Valentines Day.  As soon as she knew she was going to be working and living on Staten Island, I bought a ticket: leaving Thursday after work and coming back late Monday night.  That would give me 4 nights and 4 days to see her.  It was going to be the most epic, Hollywood-esque surprise ever.  I made up this elaborate story about how I was going to get her a package that would arrive late Thursday night.  She had sent me something too.  Our plan was to talk on the phone and open each other's gifts.  I specifically made her block off a time frame on Thursday night late in order to do this.  But really, I was going to show up.  It was all so perfect...in my head.

Then about a week before, while evading Hannah's questions about her gift, she talked about leaving her housing to go get WiFi so maybe we could video chat Thursday night.  I panicked and told her that she had to...really must...be at her housing Thursday night.  It was all downhill from there.  She knew.  And she continued phishing.  And eventually I was clued in that she suspected.  So I began to talk non-stop about plans that I had for the weekend.  Which of course was obvious if you were looking for it.  And of course confirmed what Hannah suspected.

So, then she decides to make me sweat.  I'm in the airport and she is talking about not being home Thursday night.  So, at that point I knew that she knew, and so I let her know that I knew that she knew what I was about to do.  And we laughed via text message at each other.  And then we got excited. 

It actually worked out for the better.  Laguardia is about 1 hour and 5 minutes from the Staten Island Ferry.  So, I had to spend an extra 25 minutes waiting for the next ferry.  And she was staying in a church another 30 minutes from the ferry on Staten Island.  So, all in all, it took me about 2.5 hours to get from train to the arms of my girl.  It was about a 1.5 hour flight, so it seemed funny to take so long to get there after I was already in NYC.  I would have been 30 minutes late for our phone date.  Glad I didnt have to try and cover that up.  Instead, we texted the whole way from Laguardia to SI.  Play by play.  And eventually, I got off the SI rail, walked up the hill, walked up to the church where they were staying, and texted her a picture of the outside.  She ran down the stairs and we hugged and kissed.  Queue the classical music.  Her teammates watched from the window above, giggling.  I went inside for a bit, met everyone, and gave out the gifts I had travelled with.  Most of my packed bag was candy, letters, and PPE for the coming weekend of work.  It was late, so I didn't stay long.

I rode the rail back towards the ferry.  Getting off one stop short, I began to walk up the street I thought was towards my housing.  It was past midnight.  It was a little strange too.  Then I began to think I was in a bad neighborhood.  Then I began to gain ground on some people who appeared to be drunk.  And it was clear I was not in the right neighborhood for someone concerned about safety.  So, I walked slower.  And I started checking the map.  And I put my head on a swivel.  And eventually, I came to the solid waste department.  My room was across the street from where they kept the garbage trucks.  I made it inside, figured out where my key was, and quickly fell asleep in a bed in a new world I had never before visited.  It was going to be a good weekend.