If I Can Make It There…
I got out of New York City for the first time this year over the weekend. Ok, so I only went to Jersey City for a visit with some friends but it was out of the city! Of course, you can still see the city from Jersey City but it does put it in perspective. Even the greater NYC-area parts of Jersey (and Connecticut, I gather) have a decidedly “hinterlands” feel to it. We walked through a small part of JC (the city, not the Messiah) and it felt…nice.
I love New York. I love Manhattan. I love the proximity to just about everything except my less-than-neighborly neighbors (no amount of friendliness can make up for having to listen to someone’s musical choices or phone conversations at all hours of the night). Grocery store? Block away. Post office? Right around the corner. Park? You got it - with dog run!
Still, this small-town boy has found that with age comes a desire to get back to what the body knows…and this body knows small town. Jersey City is certainly not small but the downtown feel was a real breath of fresh air (The low cloud cover we had over the weekend kept the wafting pleasant odor of Elizabeth at bay). As I keep looking for some measure of balance in my life, it’s been refreshing to see that life outside the Big Apple has appeal (see what I did there? See?).
I have a pending trip to San Francisco coming this month, a short trip to New Orleans in June and a Vermont vacation in July. So, for the first time in years, I’ll be leaving New York. Absence has always made my heart grow fonder, though, and I expect that the charms of each of my vacation spots will only serve to highlight what’s so fantastic about NYC. I have one last vacation break to plan, though, and would love to hear any of your thoughts about great places to flee New York for a battery recharging.
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For some serious decompression I highly recommend Tanque Verde Ranch in Tuscon, AZ. You can’t beat the change of pace, the environment, people and activities.
My wife and two adult children went a couple of years ago and it was one of the best vacations I have taken.
Bryce Canyon, UT. If you can get past the fact that it’s nothing but white people and they play Fox News at the airport, Bryce and nearby Zion National Park are fucking incredible. We went in ‘05 and can’t wait to go back.
Nice. Typical arrogant Manhattan-centric self-love. Hinterlands? You came to Grove Street and thought it was the hinterlands? Congratulations from leaving your little 1 mile by 4 mile island.
I just came back from a biz trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Great pork chops. Just a tad bit more rural, even in the downtown.
My park with dog run is one block away, but you’re right. My grocery is two blocks away, and my post office a whopping three! Wow, it’s pretty much a suburb, huh?
Come to Long Beach (L.A)….it’s nice here in the Fall!…the first round’s on me!.
I came to America from Sicily when I was 4 and my parents made a home in Jersey City. From that time until now I have relized that the city that i knew, grew and matured in (even Hoboken) have changed to the point where you can not live or thrive without a big paycheck or a yuppie lifestyle. As a teacher in the district, I see the decline of the city that was once personable and friendly to live in. I took a trip to Seattle two weeks ago only to find that people there do not want to come to New York or the east coast. As of now, I am in total agreement with them.