Start Spreading The News (If Only More People Were Like New Yorkers)...

       There aren't sufficient superlatives to describe our recent trip to New York City. From the time we left the plane (Cathay Pacific was great) until we made our way back home, every New Yorker that we came across made us feel welcome. From the people working in customs and the hotel, to the servers, bartenders and street vendors, vendors at the Yankees game, Starbucks employees, New York's finest, cabbies, hansom cab drivers and people in the street- every New Yorker I met was friendly, polite, accommodating, helpful and genuine. They seemed to actually embrace you and make you feel glad you were there. The city runs like a well coached team and each individual is working towards a common goal- that one hand knows exactly what the other is doing. Strangers would approach you if you looked a little lost and ask you if you needed help finding something. Everyone understands the meaning of "customer service" and treats it like the profession it is, not some stop gap to something else. I'm not cheap but I was a little concerned when I first found out an 18% gratuity was automatically added to the bill on groups of 6 or more (grown too used to Vancouver "service")  but we were never disappointed and usually left more.

       The city shines. I found it to be a very clean and safe place regardless of what part of town we were in. I never once had that apprehensive gut feeling of, "I'm not so sure I should be here right now." I hardly saw any homeless people and the ones I did see were not like the plethora of bums, zombies and drug addicts we have here, they were obviously mentally ill.(As a sidebar Vancouver would be well served to find out what New York did to clean it's streets up before our  2010 Olympics. After seeing that city it makes our downtown core even more disgusting and appalling. Our hansom cab driver said it best (he was working on his masters in city planning), "I was in Vancouver two years ago and you don't have a homeless problem there, you have a bunch of young bums who don't want to work.")...but I digress...

  


     The 13 that made the pilgrimage had a certain chemistry and camaraderie considering none of us new each other really well. As far as I could tell we all got along great and enjoyed each others company. Many thanks again to John Hartwick  for all the work he did in organizing the trip. Without his efforts it wouldn't have been possible. From the sightseeing, the Yankees game to the boat cruise and the dinner at Tavern on the Green- he must have channeled some New Yorker from another time because he seemed to know his way around the city like he'd lived there before- either that or he really did his homework.

        Sorry for the love-fest but I had an absolute blast and I haven't been able to say that for a long time. You haven't lived until you've experienced a New York City cab ride, a Reuben at Carnegies Deli and a slice of Ray's pepperoni and chicken pizza at 3:00 AM after 5 Cosmopolitans, a gasoline fueled Appletini and a half dozen beer...  

     Also thanks to B. Diederich. I felt encouraged on one of my rather depressing blogs a few weeks ago when she asked me if I'd been on any cool trips or was planning any-something like that. Well now I can definitely say I have...