Liberty Island Ferry - Ansco Folding Buster Brown No. 2A, 120mm Kodak Ektar 100

In the last few years I’ve made it a point to travel. I set my sights on big locations, all very different not just from each other but from the lifestyle and speed to which I’m accustomed: India, Thailand, Russia, Ireland, Italy. The next destination I decided on was the biggest of them all, number one on my list - Jordan. Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to see Petra. I did my research, found the best places to go/stay and how to get there, even bought the Jordan Pass (a really good deal which includes a visa + entry into tourist attractions). But unfortunately, I had to pull the plug at the last second.

There I was with a week off (the week of Thanksgiving), nowhere to go and money to spare. Well, that is, after exchanging my dinar back to dollars (seriously, that exchange rate is not pleasant). The most logical solution was staring me in the face: be a tourist in my own town.

Living and working in New York is like being run through a coffee grinder and put in a pressure cooker on high. It doesn’t take long to become jaded. Most New Yorkers don’t do all the touristy things (personally, I avoid Times Square like the plague). But there’s a long list of places to see in this city that I either have never thought about doing or have always wanted to do but never made room in my “busy” schedule to go. I intended to get through as many places on that list as possible in under a week.

DAY 1 - Decompress

Originally, I was supposed to land in Amman at 2:30PM and then take a 3-hour drive down to Petra. My plan was to relax and settle in once I arrived. So, that’s exactly what I did on the first day. I slept in, decompressed my brain, and made a plan for the week. I also got a Groupon for 50% off a stress relief massage at the Organic Elements Spa in Midtown Manhattan. That definitely put me in the right frame of mind for the rest of the week. I also went to Three Kings East Village and made an appointment for a tattoo with Janda Farley; she has a great eye for detail.

DAY 2 - Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty

One can argue this is probably the most touristy thing to do in New York, short of going to Times Square and seeing a Broadway show. That said, it’s a main attraction for a reason. It may not be the same as seeing the Lost City of Petra, but the Statue of Liberty is breathtaking in its own way. And while Ellis Island may not look like much from far away, there’s so much to do and see you can get lost there for a day and still not see everything.

I booked an 11:30AM Hard Hat Tour through the old hospital wings on the southern side of the island. The ticket said to arrive an hour early, so I figured I’d get to the ferry at 10:00AM. That seems fair, right? Was I wrong. I got to the ferry around 9:45AM; I didn’t get to Ellis Island until 11:15AM. Luckily that 10:30AM arrival time was extremely precautionary and I didn’t miss out on the tour. If you plan on going to Ellis Island first, give yourself two hours (from the Battery Park ferry). The lines plus the airport style security means it could be up to a half hour before you even step foot on a ferry. Then it’s fifteen to twenty minutes to Liberty Island, which is a twenty minute stop (ten minutes for arriving passengers, ten minutes for departing passengers). Then another fifteen to twenty to Ellis Island.

Once you get to Ellis Island, it’s well worth the exasperating trip. Walking through the front doors in a chaotic crowd of disoriented passengers figuring out where to go - it was probably about as close as we’d get to feeling like the millions of immigrants who walked through the same doors hoping to build a better life for themselves, their children and their children’s children.

I followed the signs for the Hard Hat tour and made it with fifteen minutes to spare. I took that time to head to the bathroom. If you ever plan to go on the Hard Hat tour, I suggest you do the same. It’s a 90 minute walking tour and there are no facilities on the southern side of the island.

Our tour guide, Tiffany, was a volunteer with Save Ellis Island. Their goal is to continue to preserve Ellis Island as it stands and keep part of American history alive for generations to come. They keep the southern side of the island in, what she described as, a state of arrested decay. Basically that means they don’t restore any of the buildings. They make it safe and prevent it from aging, keeping its appearance exactly as they found it. It’s as equally terrifying and creepy as it is eye opening and educational. If you have the time and extra money to take the tour, I strongly recommend doing so.

Afterward, I spent some time on the museum’s well curated self-guided tours and then made my way toward the passenger search area. It’s $7.00 for a half hour session (which also then allows you to use your account at home for free) to search for passenger information. I spent an hour looking for my relatives, frantically texting and calling my brother, father and mother. Luckily, I found two family members in the database and ordered copies of the ship manifests documenting their arrival in the United States. It felt very apropos, given the current state of immigration relations/laws.

I realized then that it was 3:30PM and I had almost no time to get to the Statue of Liberty before it closed. I caught the next ferry over to Liberty Island, walked the island super quick, looked up at the Lady Liberty’s stoic face and ran back to the next ferry departing for Battery Park.

Originally, I planned to head to Federal Hall on my way home, but I didn’t get back to Manhattan until almost 5:00PM and I’m okay with that. I wouldn’t change a thing. Federal Hall just had to wait until the next day.

DAY 3 - The Day of 20,000 Steps

I’ve passed Federal Hall countless times over the years and never took the time to go in. It’s been an itch I didn’t scratch. Now that I have, I can honestly say it was, well, okay.

Located right on Wall Street across from the Stock Exchange, Federal Hall was where the United States as we know it began. Before Washington D.C. was built, New York City was the capital of the United States and Federal Hall was its epicenter. It was the location of the first Congress, the first Supreme Court and the office of the Executive Branch, it’s where the Constitution was signed and where Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America. It is a stunningly beautiful building rich in history. The museum itself? Pretty lame.

As part of the National Park Service, it’s free to enter and that alone is pretty appealing (museums in New York can get pretty pricey). But to see the lack of effort put into a location as important as Federal Hall is fairly disappointing. I spent a little under an hour wandering the museum and admiring the building itself. After that, I braved the cold and headed uptown to the Guggenheim.

Somehow, I’ve managed to go 30 years without hitting up the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. All the other big museums in Manhattan - MoMA, Museum of Natural History, The Met, etc. - I think I visit at least once a year. Needless to say I was actually pretty excited about this one. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building alone is worth the trip. Aside from the unique architecture, the winding levels allows for some pretty great people watching (as seen above). The special exhibit on view right now is Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future. Basically it looks like someone condensed Kubrick and Pink Floyd into paint and put it on canvas, and I loved every second of it. Klint was a Swedish born painter whose work is reminiscent of Kandinsky and Mondrian, except Klint did it first. She was decades ahead of her time and her peers, but unfortunately her name isn’t listed among the halls of great painters. This exhibit aims to change that. It is currently on view until April 2019.

Next, I walked across Central Park and uptown to Grant’s Tomb - another free museum courtesy of the National Park Service. The largest mausoleum in North America which can be described in a single word as peaceful (it is a mausoleum after all), the General Grant National Memorial is the resting place of General Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United State, and his wife Julia. A word of advice, the mausoleum does not keep what one would call “normal hours.” The tomb is open Wednesday to Sunday with a rather odd interval of openings: 10:00AM - 11:00AM, 12:00PM - 1:00PM, 2:00PM - 3:00PM, and 4:00PM - 5:00PM. Still, it’s worth visiting, if not for the fact that it’s free. More than anything it’s a great spot for a quiet moment in a city which has truly earned its reputation as the city that never sleeps.

As I made my way downtown, I was at a loss for where to go next. Was my jaunt around the city really coming to an end? No way I was running out of steam already, right? As the thought crossed my mind, my train pulled into Herald Square. I jumped out just in time and realized the biggest attraction - sorry, second biggest attraction - in New York was only a block away. The one and only Empire State Building.

Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it’s cliche. Yes, it’s pricey. Yes, the lines are long and obnoxious. Is it worth it? Yes (for the most part). A general ticket will get you up to the 86th floor observation deck, a view of New York second only to the top of 30 Rock, but I paid the extra fee to go to the 105th floor. Why? Because I’m a sucker, that’s why. Still it was cool. But be forewarned, don’t get your tickets through a third party site. While you may think you’re getting a good deal, I overhead an argument between some tourists and an attendant - those third party tickets won’t get you past the 86th floor.

Behind the iconic mystique and the capitalistic pushes to keep up with the times (the ceiling of the elevator is an LED monitor which takes you through the construction of the building as the elevator takes you up to the 86th floor), the Empire State Building is ultimately an architectural marvel. If you’re in New York, go.

DAY 4 - Thanksgiving

Now I need to get up on my soapbox for a minute. I think Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are ridiculous holidays. They celebrate a version of history re-written by the conquerers fueled by “manifest destiny” and ignore the millions of lives destroyed in the process. With that in mind, I tried my best to volunteer in my community to at least turn the day into something positive. Unfortunately, I got to it a little bit late and everywhere I tried to volunteer already had an overflow of help. While that’s definitely not a bad thing, it got me thinking: What about the rest of the year? Sure, it’s great to volunteer on Thanksgiving, but all of those organizations need help the other 364 days of the year.

I set off to find an organization where I could do the most good and put my abilities to use. And by set off, I mean on the web. I didn’t roam around my neighborhood screaming, “Does anyone need help from a weird camera nerd?” Although, I guess that may work too. Who knows. Long story short, I’ve been searching and applying to volunteer positions on Volunteer Match and eventually I’ll find the right organization.

But back to the story…that left me with nothing to do on Thanksgiving. I ended up spending the day visiting my grandfather in Pennsylvania. It was quiet and fairly low key. He passed on another camera to me, a Voigtlander Vito B. It needs a little TLC, but overall it’s in good condition. Next, he asked if it was possible to restore a photo of my great-great-grandmother. Rather than take it to a lab, I figured I’d take a crack at it first. The before and after are below. I think it’s a halfway decent job, considering I’ve never done it before and my only tools were an Epson V550 and Adobe Photoshop.

DAY 5 - Winter Arrives, Tenements, and Frankenstein

Ah yes, Black Friday. One of the most absurd and American days of the year. Rather than take part in what everyone wants to believe are the best sales of the year (they’re not), I decided to continue my adventure across New York with a trip to The Tenement Museum.

Anyone who is anti-immigration should go to Ellis Island. And then head over to The Tenement Museum (to be clear, I am pro-immigration). Located on the Lower East Side at Orchard and Delancey Street, the Tenement Museum is designed to give visitors a taste of what it was like for immigrants fighting and clawing to make their way in New York.

The Tenement Museum is incredibly well curated and incredibly popular. For those reasons, don’t make the same mistake I made: buy your tickets ahead of time. When I arrived (only an hour after the museum opened mind you), there were only three tours available; all of the others had sold out. I decided to go for timing and bought tickets for the next available tour, Shop Life, which takes visitors through the history and life of the various shops that were once housed by 97 Orchard Street. On this day, of course, winter arrived early. It was windy and below freezing. I had an hour to kill, so I went around the corner to Erin McKenna’s Bakery, and got myself a gluten-free biscuit with a cup of tea.

The Shop Life tour wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it was still well worth the money. You go on a journey through time starting in 19th century New York and see the ever-changing face of New York. From a German saloon to a butcher shop to an undergarment store, this particular shop front is indicative of the essence of America. One thing to keep in mind, many of the tours are at least partially outdoors (Shop Life in particular is mostly indoors, which was a blessing). If you go in the winter months, bundle up. If you’re looking for a place to get out of the sun in the summer months, the Tenement Museum may not be the best choice.

Before heading to the next stop on my tour, I had lunch in Rose Hill at The Little Beet Table, a wonderful little restaurant that is 100% gluten-free. It’s not easy finding a good gluten-free burger, not just in New York, but anywhere. The Little Beet is one of those places.

After chugging a pint of gluten-free beer, I met my brother at The Morgan Library and Museum, on Madison Ave (between E 36th and E 37th). Founded by Pierpont Morgan - as in JP Morgan Chase - the library began as JP Morgan’s private collection, eventually becoming a public institution thanks to his son, JP “Jack” Morgan, Jr. Since 1924, The Morgan has continued to acquire rare and important artifacts of the Arts, History, Science and Literature.

I’d never been to The Morgan before and I was kicking myself for not changing that earlier. It’s a truly fascinating location. Personally, I was going full-on Belle in the main library. What really drew me to The Morgan is its current exhibit It’s Alive!, an exhibition celebrating the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein, one of my favorite novels of all time. If you have even the slightest interest, go. It’s one of the best exhibits I’ve seen in a while with everything from Shelley’s gothic-era inspirations to the metamorphosis of the icon we know today. It is a nearly flawless execution in documenting a cultural phenomenon.

After nerding out for a few hours, we headed back to Brooklyn and stuffed our faces at Arepera Guacuco. If you’ve never eaten an arepa, change that now. If you have eaten an arepa and you’ve never been to Arepera Guacuco, change that now.

DAY 6 - Holy Sh*t I’m 30

And so came the day most people dread: the death of their twenties. If welcoming my thirties means I’m a freak of nature, I think I can live with that. A lot of people equate turning thirty to the end of the line; the end of the adventure.

“It’s all down hill from here,” many people told me. I’m not sure I buy that. I had some pretty low valleys in my twenties and some pretty high peaks, but it’s only the beginning. If it really is down hill from here, then that means I’ll pick up more momentum as I find more adventures. The first adventure though? Axe throwing and alcohol.

My fiancé was a bit excited about finally hitting the target.

If you’re a millennial living in New York, chances are you’ve heard of Kick Axe. For those of you who haven’t heard of Kick Axe, strap in. It’s a wonderful place in Park Slope near the Union Street R-station where you can have a few drinks and throw axes at a target. Small groups, large groups, singles, take your pick. As long as you sign the waiver and don’t act like an idiot, you’re good to go. Thirty-five bucks gets you seventy-five minutes on a range in a group of eight. You play three different games whilst learning proper throwing and range etiquette. I wouldn’t say I’m about to go all-pro, but I did pretty okay. And most of all, it was fun.

Afterward, we headed to Blueprint a few blocks away and dove into some pretty tasty appetizers with dangerously good cocktails (those fancy drinks sneak up on you real quick).

DAY 7 - So What Now?

This photo makes me look way more badass than I actually am.

As I lay in bed, realizing with each passing second that hangovers will only suck more and more, I reflected on the week and my first thirty years. No matter what number is associated with my age, I will never stop exploring and looking for the next adventure. I’ve only been to three continents so far, which means I have four to go. I’ve swam in three oceans, which means I have two to go. The path I’ve been on has led me to some great places, but I had a pretty great adventure in my own town. Of course I’m lucky to live in New York where there’s a never ending list of things to do, but everywhere has its own hidden adventures. Wherever you are, go out and explore your own neighborhood. You don’t need to fly halfway across the world to have an adventure and explore…though it certainly doesn’t hurt to do that either.