As the days neared close to my departure for New York City, my anticipation grew and grew in hopes to find various cultural experiences that I could bring back with me to our farm bubble. If you know me, I'm a planner -- an expertise list maker -- lost without my lists -- fearful of plans detouring from what I envisioned them to be in my mind -- and I am also not very experienced in flying and airports.
So when I left home at 3:00 a.m. for my 5:20 flight out of Lincoln, I had my itinerary in hand, well prepared for my day ahead. It was going to go so smoothly (or so I had thought). I was going to have my layover in Chicago for my connecting flight at 7:30 a.m. and arrive at Laguardia Airport at 11:15 to share a cab with my sister (who was flying from Kentucky) to the apartment that Grammie and Papa were staying at. We would then have a whole 1/2 day in NYC before settling in for the evening. It was going to be perfect!
Upon arrival to the Lincoln Airport that morning, I noticed I was down to a quarter tank of gas, but I didn't think too much about it since I could fill up when I returned. I made it through security and boarded the plane without any problems. As we were preparing for takeoff, the pilot came on the intercom and notified all passengers that there would be a slight delay due to a missing flashlight on the plane (which acts as some sort of battery component). They were going to try and acquire another flashlight from a different aircraft, and due to this, there would be a 25 minute delay.
Immediately, I started thinking of how I was going to make my connecting flight in time, and I would be cutting it very close. I could run. I
can run. I can run
fast! So that was the new plan. Get to the airport in Chicago and run fast to my connecting flight.
Approximately 25 minutes later, the pilot returned to the intercom stating they were unable to retrieve a flashlight from a different aircraft, and the flight would be delayed until further notice.
Oh no!
As all of the passengers stood in line to reschedule their flights, I was well aware that I would not be able to meet my sister for our shared cab ride, and a bit of panic set in for how I would get a cab.
How in the world do you hail a cab?!?! Deep breaths. One thing at a time.
Once it was my turn to reschedule my flight, there was only one flight that would get me there sooner than the others -- my current delayed flight which would leave at 10:50 and put me in NYC around 4:00. So I decided it wouldn't be so bad to spend the next four hours in the airport to catch up on some reading.
An hour later, and the passengers were again notified that they flashlight part would take even longer than what was expected, and they are looking at delaying it until noon. I wasn't going to risk waiting around to see if this mysterious flashlight would ever turn up, so I rebooked a flight out of the Omaha Airport at 12:20, which would be a direct flight to New York with an arrival time of 4:20.
I began my journey to the Eppley Airfield when I realized that I still needed gas.
I knew I should've filled up earlier! After getting filled up, I made my way to the interstate. Three miles down the road, my
Engine Coolant Hot light came on -- and for those of you that are close to us, you know that this has been an ongoing issue with the Burb for quite some time now.
I was able to make it to another gas station to buy coolant before my engine overheated. I popped open my hood, checked to make sure nothing was hot, released the cap to my coolant tank...maybe a little too fast...and...WHOA! Coolant. Explosion. All. Over. Me. I panic. The coolant cap goes flying into the engine bed. I quickly drop to the ground to see if it fell through. Nope. I search frantically through the engine cavity, and low and behold, like a halo of golden light with angels humming all around, there it was. Propped ever so perfectly on the side of some gadget that was safe to grab. Maybe my luck was changing??? With a quick pour of the new coolant and a spit bath comprised of baby wipes, I was on my way -- again -- to Omaha, and I made it with plenty of time to spare!
Arriving at Eppley was a little scary, but I was up for the challenge since I had enough time to figure things out. I was able to find the long-term parking lot, and saw that there were shuttles taking you from the lot to the airport.
How do I get one of those?
I parked my Burb and headed out in the freezing wind to see if could spot a shuttle. Walking up and down the deserted aisles, I was beginning to panic again.
Do I need to call someone? Do I wave it down like a taxi? Do I chase after it like a dog? There were two shuttles that didn't see me and passed me by before I chased one down with my arms waving like a lunatic. The driver ever-so-kindly took my bags and escorted me to the airport.
Once in the airport, I checked in to get my boarding passes, and everything was going as smooth as butter before I see my luggage bag on the belt with tags on it that say "New Jersey."
New Jersey??? I'm supposed to go to New York! No, no, no, no! I explain to United that I was wanting to get to Laguardia Airport and not New Jersey. They rechecked my flight and told me that the attendant in Lincoln put me on a flight to New Jersey and the soonest they could have me fly to Laguardia would have me arriving at 11:30 that night.
Ahhhh! I was in tears at this point, just wanting to get to where I paid to go. After calming down a bit and talking with them further, they assured me that if I fly to Newark, New Jersey, it's only about a 30 minute drive to Manhattan and all three airports (Newark, JFK, and Laguardia) are really close to each other.
Oh, thank goodness! I apologized for being so emotional and thanked them repeatedly for their patience.
Here I go! Off to Newark, New Jersey!
So the next worry that I had was how to get from New Jersey to Manhattan. How do you get a taxi? Do you stand in a certain spot? Do you have to wave your arms in a particular motion? Do you have to yell profanities to get their attention? Yeah, I'm so NOT a New Yorker.
While standing at the baggage claim waiting for my items, I kept looking out the clear glass doors to see if I could see anyone actually hailing a cab. I kept my attention focused on those doors until my bag arrived. As a grabbed my bag and turned to walk out of the doors, a man in a suit approached me asking me if I needed a taxi. I said that I did, and he told me to follow him. But rather than going out those glass doors, we were headed to the parking garage. No, this isn't right. What in the world am I doing?
I was asking him about his taxi service and if he was like an Uber driver, and he said he was. We head into the dark parking garage to a black Suburban with tinted windows. He put my luggage in the back and said that I could ride in the front. This doesn't seem right. Everything about this is not right. Do I get in?
Yes, I get in, all the while thinking What in the world am I doing? This could be human trafficking! I am obviously not capable of making sound decisions at this point in my journey!!! OMG!
Internally panicking -- again! -- I set my navigation to make sure we are headed in the direction that we are supposed to be going. I update my phone every couple of minutes to make sure that if something happens, I can be tracked. I then take pictures of the "sights" around me and maybe happen to take some inconspicuous pictures of the driver himself. Every toll booth that we went through had cameras, so I made sure to have my face right where it needed to be for identification purposes. He was very knowledgeable about NYC and where I was staying, so I began to feel more comfortable the closer and closer we got to my destination. When we finally got to the apartment in the city, he gave me his business card (Luxury Limos) and charged me a hefty $101 for the ride. When I told my parents the story, and when they were finally able to stop laughing at me, they casually said, "Oh, yeah. That happened to us to on our first trip here. We know now to ignore those people at the airport. You don't ride in anything unless it's yellow and says taxi." Where was that information three hours ago?!?! Oh, well. I was very grateful to finally be with my parents and sister safe and sound!
$101 Black Suburban of Death Ride to the City
Partial Day 1: Times Square
First thing's first...Manhattan in Manhattan
Asssscat 3000
This was an improv comedy show that was hilarious! They talked with the audience a bit before the show, and Mom made it a point to let them know I had a bad day, so they (and the entire audience) wanted to hear all about it -- everything from the engine coolant to the potential human trafficking abduction.
Day 2: Coney Island
Cue
Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters
I was able to see some TV personalities while on the boardwalk!
Atlantic Ocean!
Central Park
Dinner Time!
Kinky Boots (Baby Barf), Chooty Hairy Board, and Fake Flowers and Candle Light
Grammie and I would get a variety of drinks to try, and when we didn't like them, we left it to Papa to drink them. Sorry, Dad!
Needed to move to better lighting:
A tribute to one of my favorite shows. Had to have a Cosmo in NYC.
Day 3: Shopping Day!
Chelsea Market
China Town
Little Italy
Bryant Park
This was the most fancy public restroom I've ever seen!
National Geographic Ocean Encounter
Gramercy Tavern
Heidi booked us a reservation at the fancy Gramercy Tavern for a delicious, pampering meal. The food was absolutely scrumptious!
Day 4: Liberty Island, Ellis Island, World Trade Center Memorial
Waiting in line for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island
World Trade Center
Freedom Tower
Spanish Tapas Dinner
Grammie: "What is all of this Italian writing?"
Shakespeare -- In a different way... :)
Crying tears of tea:
The croissant at Bibble and Sip was so yummy!
There was so much that we packed into the 3.5 days that Heidi and I were there. She did an absolutely amazing job organizing all of our outings and directing us where we needed to go. We could ask her anything! She was like our own personal "Alexa" on the trip.
"Heidi? What is the normal attire of Swedish mothers?"
"Heidi? Play New Kids on the Block."
"Heidi? Why are tacos such a big deal to our parents?"
"Heidi? I need directions to a bathroom...or TJ Maxx."
"Heidi? Where can I go to find a coin shaped like Baby Jesus?"
After those 3.5 days of walking miles and miles, I was ready to return to our simple, quiet bubble.
The silver lining to the whole experience from start to finish was that anything that is thrown your way unexpectedly should be looked at as an adventure, a challenge, and a learning experience. I definitely learned some things on this trip that I will take into consideration the next time I travel (i.e. avoid the Black Suburban of Death).
