New York, Take 1

I have no recollection of a time in my life when I ever had the opportunity to travel to another U.S. city - outside of my home state - twice in the same year. Rarely do Shanti and I take a vacation due to calendar conflicts, financial burdens, or available vacation benefits. Isn't that what working is all about?

In October of 2005 my job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took me on my first road trip to watch our team play against the NY Jets. Away games are generally a quick affair typically consisting of two plane rides, one overnight stay, about 10 mini-meals, and very little time to leave the team hotel on the night before gameday. Straying from the hotel is generally risky because the minutes following a technical glitch at the hotel become exponentially more critical than any normal working day outages at the office. On this particular trip, however, I had no such bad luck and was able to sneak away for a quick peek of downtown Manhattan at night. A meager $2.50 funds a one way bus trip from the Seacaucus, NJ, straight to the New York Port Authority located at the heart of downtown Manhattan. I don't recall spending more than a few hours wandering about soaking up both the sights and the falling rain, but I knew instantly that NYC was a place I absolutely had to visit again and share with Shanti.

Fast forward a few weeks to December. Time is fading and so would my vacation days if I decided to not use them before the end of the year. Fortunately for Shanti and I, we were able to coordinate our vacations days. Sitting around the apartment did not sound too productive. Curiosity got the best of me when I considered what we might do on a five day stretch of free time. After a few hours of last minute searching all of the internet's best fare sites, I booked a package that would provide us all of the accommodations we will need for a four day visit all under the price of a single roundtrip ticket to Hawai'i.

With my latest obsessive interest in photography, I plan on taking many photographs to document my short visit. The Holga will get a its first glimpse of the world in a truly urban environment. My D100 should serve me well in storage hundreds of documentary snapshots. As is with life, everything is too short and so will be this weekend's getaway. I just hope the pictures I take will provide me many years of good memories and an artistic appeal to those with an interest in photo art. For the first time in my life I will get to visit another city twice in the same year. Had it never been for the opportunity I have with the Buccaneers I do not think a visit to New York City in December would have been a reasonable thought. Let's just hope for safe days, great weather, and outstanding pizza.

Pictures and a follow up report in a few days.