An Upstate New Yorker's First Time Going To New York City | The Odyssey Online
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An Upstate New Yorker's First Time Going To New York City

NYC is a lot different from Upstate, I can tell you that.

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An Upstate New Yorker's First Time Going To New York City
Macy Lambert

On December 3rd, I had the pleasure of going to New York City for the very first time. I was by myself, so I had a mix of emotions. I was excited, nervous, and was wondering if this was even a good idea to be in a huge city by myself. I'm from upstate New York, so I had no idea what to expect.

When we were almost at the Lincoln Tunnel, I looked out of the bus window and was in awe. I could not believe that the City was actually that...big.

This made my heart race a little more. I didn't even want to think about the possibility of taking a subway and getting lost, so I planned to just walk everywhere. Pulling up a map on my phone and hoping that it would be reliable enough, I decided to attempt to locate Times Square when I got off the bus.

It was pretty dope.

I basically just walked around a lot, and let the fact that this was such a big change sink in. There were more street vendors than I could count, but I was too excited to eat. I noticed a lot of street performers, and it reminded me of a small city that I live very close to. Definitely one of the highlights of Times Square, in my opinion, is the Forever 21 store. I thought that the one in Crossgates was big... boy, was I wrong. This one had four floors! I felt like I was in heaven. However, I had to keep in mind how much money I was spending, so I only bought a coat. I obviously wanted the whole store however.

I noticed the amount of people who wanted to hand me flyers, get me to come to their events, etc. While I ignored most of them, one of them goes:

"Hey you dropped something"

I stop and look at the ground.

"My heart"

It did make me chuckle, not going to lie, but I didn't have time to make it to the event he was advertising to me.

After stopping in more stores, I decided to make my way over to the Rockefeller Center and look at the tree.

There's just something about the city that makes an experience more festive.

I remember one of my friends was talking about this huge candy shop called Dylan's Candy Bar. I knew I had to make a stop there.

As I was on my way to Dylan's Candy Bar, I saw Trump Tower. I wanted to go inside (just to say that I did), but the security guard seemed like he was having a rough day (make sense since he was in close proximity to something related to Donald Trump), so I decided to pass.


My excitement (and hunger) was real.

As soon as I walked in, I honestly didn't know it was possible for that much candy to exist. I grabbed a bag and immediately started filling it up.

Literally every candy and every flavor you could possibly imagine was in this place. Seriously, why don't they have one of these upstate?!

And that's just the first floor. The other floor had a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.

This floor had fudge and pre-made chocolaty treats like truffles, cake pops, and cookies. It had even MORE candy you could put in your bag. Is this place even real? I also saw a place where you can get customized gifts, which added a nice touch.

I then decided that I wanted to walk to Central Park. Again, I was shocked at how big it was, and decided it would take up too much time to try and locate the zoo. Central Park really is a beautiful place. You see people taking pictures on the rocks, there was a place to ice skate, and if I remember correctly, a place to play chess as well. It definitely didn't feel like just a park to me. There were also people showcasing their beautiful artwork, horses walking through, and even MORE street vendors. How is it possible to go hungry here?

Speaking of food, I was in the mood for some pizza. I went and stopped at the pizza place, and scrolled through Instagram. I saw someone's post of them on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. It was already starting to get dark, but I knew I had to check it out. So, I bought my ticket on my phone and got VIP tickets so I could cut the line.

I knew I made a good decision when I saw that the line was wrapped around the block. I immediately got to the front of the line and witnessed something fairly entertaining: a lady tried to push her empty stroller through the door as the security guard stopped her and said she had to fold it. She didn't seem too happy about that and proceeded to start swearing at the guard and calling her names. I was starting to run out of time so I got a bit annoyed, but it was still funny to watch considering I don't see something like this happen that often.

The amount I had to walk was overwhelming. From the moment I walked into the door, I want to say it took close to 30-45 minutes to actually get inside the elevator to go up. However, what I saw was breathtaking.

This is from the 80th floor. I was taking pictures through a window so there's an obvious reflection but when I got to the 86th floor I was actually outside.

Very gorgeous, and I want to go back to the Empire State Building during the day.

Overall, I have to say that New York City was quite the experience. I didn't have time to get through everything that I wanted to do, but I was actually upset when I had to leave. I was super glad that I got to experience a day all to myself in the greatest city in the world.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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