Finally Spring Break has arrived, just in time to save my sleep-deprived school self. And what better fun way to spend a few days of spring break than in NYC with a good friend? A great, cheap way to get up to New York is Megabus, with tickets from $1-26 for one direction to or from NYC! A lot of students from McDaniel have used Megabus to get to and from this lovely city, and this was the second time I have used it in the US. I grabbed an extremely early bus (5:30am anyone?) from Whitemarsh, Baltimore and spent three hours sleeping and watching the sunrise before arriving in New York.
My wonderful friend Kelsey came to meet me right after I stepped off the bus, and we made our way through the subway to her flat. Kelsey goes to Pace University, which is right in the middle of New York City, and a very different setting from McDaniel’s rural Carroll County. I always enjoy living in a big city for a bit because it makes such a change from where I normally am at McDaniel or at home, but I do prefer McDaniel’s beautiful green campus to Pace’s skyscraper buildings and extensive security measures. My favorite thing about cities though? There’s always something to do! I’m leaving today and we have done everything from visiting the lovely Metropolitan Museum of Art to the High Line Park (a former railway above the city converted into a garden walk), and visiting every café we came into contact with. One of my favorite things that we did was last night though…
It was to be a classy evening. This required appropriate attire first and foremost, because feeling classy is an essential first step to a successful night! In a black dress with silver jewelry, I walked outside…into a lovely mixture of snow and slush pouring from the skies and coating the sidewalks. Ah well, you can’t have everything. We took the subway to our destination: Columbus Circle, Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club for an evening of jazz. Though running late, we our reservations let us get in just fine and we were led into a beautiful room lit with blue and red lights, small tables and chairs spaced throughout and a bar on one end, and the stage in front. Our table? Right next to the stage. I think we might have had the closest table in the whole place, and felt like we were in the saxophone and trombone player’s faces…
Our classy evening of jazz featured the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Classic, and they were fantastic! As long as you search out opportunities, there are plenty of amazing things to do. The musicians ranged from ages 12 to 22, though most were on the older scale of things. It was a 17-piece band with everything you need for jazz: piano, guitar, trumpets, saxophones and trombones. Kelsey and I even treated ourself to a fancy dessert of apple beignets with this amazing chocolate mousse-like dipping sauce. The evening was amazing: great music and musicians, the classy atmosphere we were looking for (that can’t quite be found in Carroll County), and delicious food.
Besides that lovely evening, I also had a great time frequenting all the cafés strung throughout the city that I’ve so missed from Europe. Now back to Maryland for the rest of spring break!
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