How well do you know your city? Most of us will say that we know the areas that we live in quite well. Some of us will say we know the best place to get an inexpensive meal or the best place to hang out without paying a single dollar. Others will freely admit that they probably don't know about anyway besides where they live and how to get to and from places that they visit daily.
Recently I've realized that I don't know my city as well as I'd thought I did. I mean, who am I kidding? I'm never in favor of exploring until I'm actually doing the exploring and that's the best way to miss out on all your city has to offer. The worse thing to experience is having a friend from out of state say, "Hey, can you take me around and show me all the cool sights?" and having to tell them that sadly you know nothing about the place where you supposedly reside. That's just sad.
My goal for this summer is to educate myself about the place where I live. Of course, we've all taken that history class where we learned that New York was named in honor of the Duke of York, but how do historical facts like that help you get around the city today? That's right, they don't. This is a difficult goal to accomplish because no one can really say that they know all of New York unless they've literally been to every place in New York.
If you don't have your schedule packed for the summer yet and you're worried you won't have enough to do: make it a goal to learn about the place where you live. It can be so much fun! When you have that friend visiting from out of state or a family member from out of the country, you want to be able to give them the best time so they can leave with good memories. Although I don't like getting ready for an adventure I love to go on adventures and take as many pictures as I can while at it. Whoever said a picture was worth a thousand words must've done a lot of exploration of their own.
Since starting my goal of getting to know my city better, I've traveled from New Jersey back to New York with friends to show them sights that they'd only heard of. The feeling you get when you finally get to the World Trade Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art or even just Central Park and you see their faces light up: it's a one-of-a-kind feeling. Here's how I know I've come a long way in getting to know New York since the start of summer:
1. I've actually walked through Central Park.
Central Park is huge (1.3 miles) so of course I haven't walked the entirety of the park, but I can say that I've actually set foot in there and not just passed by. I've lived in New York for nine years. I've walked in Central Park once. That's definitely an improvement for me.
2. I now know what the High Line is and, most importantly, where it is.
Before, when I had no idea what the High Line was, I thought it was an extravagant place where everyone who was anyone went. I thought all the tourists were dying to see this place that I had never heard of in my life. In all honesty, the High Line wasn't as mind-blowing as people made it out to be, but it was kind of awesome. In getting to know my city, I've come to learn that tourists blow the excitement of going to the city all out of proportions. I do have to say, though, that the High Line was a sort of peaceful beauty in the midst of the loud and always-busy city.
3. I've visited the World Trade Center for the first time.
When I say for the first time, I mean the first time since I was born. Yeah, I know. This was one of my best experiences this summer. My friends from out of state and I took the PATH train from NJ, which was an experience in itself, and got off at the World Trade Center stop. The inside of the train was beautiful, the stop where we got off was even more beautiful, and the amount of people visiting the World Trade Center was astounding. This is definitely one of the pros of exploring and getting to know your city with friends: it's a mind-boggling experience.
4. Get to know your city. I dare you.
There's almost nothing to lose from getting to know the place where you live. You might lose the time you usually spend stuck in the house, or $2.75 for your MetroCard ride, and your feet might be sore at the end, but so what? You'll be so glad that you went out and did something. I'm still getting to know my city. I haven't even made a dent yet. Get started on your adventure and learn about where you live.
Happy Summer!
