NYC-DC/A-OK

Just got home from a trip.  Those are words I haven't written in over a year!

When I occasionally announced to friends in early January that we were planning a 10-day spring trip to New York City and Washington DC, one friend expressed shock; others' silence indicated an inner judgment was percolating but unspoken.  I was unsure myself.  But we went ahead and booked it, knowing we'd be fully vaccinated by then and that a lot could happen between January and April -- either things would be looking up and all would be well, or we'd cancel the trip, which we were fully prepared to do.  We were diligent in following Covid news, talking to people we know in NYC, and monitoring our own comfort level.  (After January 6, I ended up being more concerned about domestic terrorism than the virus!)

Turns out....no cause for worry.  (Disclaimer: I am 10 days out of NYC and only 5 days home from DC, so I guess some sneaky variant could still be lurking, yet to reveal itself, but all indications are that the vaccines are handing it all effectively, so I feel confident.  Today.)  

Besides, it's not like we went to Arizona or anything, as Son Two did in mid April to attend a buddy's wedding.  He said it was a culture shock; Arizonans seemed to have missed the masking recommendation as well as the physical distancing idea.  Neither were in evidence anywhere.  In spite of being fully vaccinated, he felt so uncomfortable when his old college pals went out to a crowded bar, that he refused to go inside, sipped one beer in the beer garden, and retired early to his B&B.

Things on the East Coast couldn't have been more different.  Masking was a given -- indoors and out -- and we rarely saw anyone unmasked on the streets of New York or DC, ever. We wore our masks all day, every day...much more than at home, since we are literally at home most of the time, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do.  Signs everywhere reminded people to mask, distance, and sanitize; hand sanitizing stations were in every lobby, store, restaurant, take-out window, and tourist site.  Physical distancing was easy since there were no crowds anywhere.  Sure, these are big cities so there were people about, but never at any point did I feel the crush of a crowd or the inability to keep as much distance as I wanted.  We had subway cars to ourselves in Manhattan!  We were two of four people on the tour tram at Arlington National Cemetery!

If we were the types who go to fancy (or any) restaurants, wanted to see Broadway shows, visit every museum in both cities, or went in for an exciting "nightlife", we'd have been disappointed.  Much was closed.  But we've done that on previous visits.  This time the intention was to do lots of outdoor sightseeing, walking, eating from take-out menus in parks and in our hotel suite -- back from our daily excursions by 6:00 most of the time and ready to settle in for the evening.  That was exactly what we did.  And we had a blast!  

We walked and walked, putting in 82 miles in 10 days on foot.  Occasionally we'd take a subway to a neighborhood, then walk back to our hotel from there after we finished exploring.  Or sometimes we'd do the whole trip on foot.  Both Manhattan and downtown DC are easily and safely walkable with so much to see that the walking felt almost effortless.

As being a tourist goes, it was a gift to be in these two of my favorite cities before everything opens up again.  I did, however, miss the fun of what I call "New York Fast Walking".  I love to surf my way through the crowded Midtown sidewalks dodging and weaving and moving like a flowing stream around the "boulders" of those going more slowly.  This time, there were so few people I didn't get to do that.  But a more leisurely pace was lovely too.  

It was a memorable Covid Times trip.  I'll have more on-the-ground observations in a future post, such as the strange, sad, hysterical grave marker we saw at Arlington.  

At least, that's the view from here...©

Photo: View from our hotel room