I LOVE NY
There are a lot of firsts when you’re a teenager, some more formative than others. One such moment was when Patricia and I were presented with a grade eleven art trip to New York City…
“Hey Mum and Dad, the school wants to fill a bus with teenagers, takes us all to NYC and set us free, can you sign the permission form, yep, just right there.”
I have been back to New York many times since, and every time is as amazing as the next, but there’s something about discovering it for the first time.
It’s pure magic.
I think there’s something extra special about America to Canadians as well — part of my heart lives in California — and I admittedly follow American politics more than my own these days but, this was the nineties, 1995 to be exact, when things were seemingly easier because we were kids on the adventure of a lifetime, so let’s go back, shall we?
Welcome to Grace and Patricia’s adventures of Canadian teenagers in NYC!
Patricia and I were lucky in that many of our friends were in the art program with us, and we were joined by a few students from another nearby school. I don’t remember them all but I do remember a few boys… okay well one specific boy but please refer back to “First Kiss Optics” for my weakness on foreign conquests. Mashed together on a bus for 11 hours, safe to say we were all friends by the end of our journey.
Once arrived in the big apple we went right for the stereo types — bagels and cream cheese for breakfast (yeah, we had those in Canada, but these are NEW YORK BAGELS), exploring all the museums (it was an “art trip”) and scoring beer and low-proof wine from a real NYC bodega (because our art teacher chaperon disappeared to visit a “friend” in Brooklyn — a caveat I’m pretty sure wasn’t on the parent permission form.)
And the hits kept coming:
The Hard Rock Café. We sat at a table for 12, were joined by a drunk wall street dude named Jim Speigel — whose name Patricia and I still remember 25 years later — and tipped the confused waitress in loonies. (“Is this gold?”)
Broadway. We saw John Secada as Danny Zuko in Grease and almost got kicked out because my friend Carrie kept taking pictures with her flash on. (For the kids out there John Secada is your Ricky Martin… no? Okay Ricky Martin is today’s… um? Nope, no idea.)
The Ricki Lake Show. We stood in line and went to a live afternoon taping. I cannot for the life of me remember the topic of the show, but at the time she was the most prolific “celebrity” any of us had seen. (Until John Secada that is!)
The Statue of Liberty. We climbed the 393 steps to the crown — it was narrow and tight — and amazing. Ah, teenage leg endurance.
Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular. Now this was an off the hook experience. But was quickly over shadowed by the most stereo typical and insane NYC cab ride I have ever had then and since. That scene in Home Alone 2? Yeah, like that…
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. That is all.
There were many other amazing moments — the most affecting Guggenheim art exhibit I have ever experienced to this day, Times Square shenanigans, watching movies filmed in New York IN New York (not a common occurrence in our suburban town) — and learning about a world outside of our own.
That trip sparked a life long habit for me — to overcome homesickness and comfort (that is the gift and curse of an amazing family and fortunate childhood) — to seek change and growth outside of the world I knew. The push and pull is real…
And ever since then I have learned to embrace that intuition — that teenager who followed her gut to run towards adventure — despite other opportunities that made her want to stay close to home, to the familiar, to the known.
I can’t imagine my life without the experience that was this trip, it not only taught me FAO Schwarz is as fun as it looks in Big, but stemmed a life long instinct to get out of the comfort zone and explore!
The bottom line is, it may not always easy to follow your gut… but when it leads you to NYC, it is never wrong.
Love,
Grace
