About three months ago I had a message on Facebook from an old high school friend. She was planning a girls' trip to NYC, and she wanted to know if I would be interested in going. Typically, I am not one to go on vacations without my family, but I decided to step into some uncharted territory and be adventurous. I am so glad I did!
My friends and I left Florence, SC last Wednesday evening at 11PM on an Amtrak train bound for Penn Station NYC. We debated flying, but the convenience and cost advantages of riding by train won out in the end. The train ride getting there was actually not bad at all. Our seats on the train reclined enough to be able to sleep, and when we awoke in the morning we only had a few short hours of riding in daylight before we arrived in NYC. There were many good laughs on the train about the "old days" and the hilarious stuff that had already happened while we had been together.
After arriving in NYC we gathered our luggage and headed out to find the apartment that we had rented through VRBO. It was awesome! We had an incredible view of Times Square and we could easily walk to many of the places we wanted to visit. While we were there we did lots of sightseeing and shopping. The Christmas decorations were amazing. We went on a Holiday Lights Tour that took us all over the city and down 5th avenue to see the store Christmas displays and Rockefeller Tree. It was absolutely enchanting. We even had time to go to Central Park and take a stroll through an artisan holiday market. The memories that I have from this trip are precious, and I feel blessed to have been able to spend time with some great gals in the Big Apple.
