big plans

my lovely cousin, mackenzie, will be coming to visit new york in a week. she has been here a few times before and has seen all the 'big things' (ie. time square, ground zero, central park, coney island, etc.) so, we want to do something different and exciting this time. we are also poor college students so what we do needs to be low cost. the other day i was sitting on my stoop and the perfect plan popped into my head: we will walk the island of manhattan (and a little of brooklyn too) in four days. in those four days, we will cover as much ground as possible and see as much as possible (including the 'big things' as those are just unavoidable.)

living in new york is a wonderful, but it is super easy to get caught up in your own little world which can be a very small box indeed. for me, anything above 20th street seems far up town, below canal is just too far for anything other than a special occasion, and brooklyn is just out of the question. in all actuality, these places are not far from me at all and offer so much to be explored. since i'm not sure where i'll be headed after graduation next year so i want to make sure i get all i can and give all i can to this wonderful city.

anyway, here is a map of our plans. each 'pin' indicates the starting or ending point of a day:

(note: putting together two parts of a map is surprisingly difficult, 
especially when you are on a shaky chinatown bus. i also apologize 
that my map making skills are lacking.. i can only learn how to do so many 
things on the computer at once! map making will definitely 
be added to the list though.)

if you really break it down, it is not too major of a task. we can totally make it happen. it should be taken into account, though, that we will be doing a lot of snaking around and i have to pick the little one up from daycare at 4pm everyday so we must be to our end point by that time.

woohoo! i am so excited and praying for no rain. not that rain will stop our adventures, of course, it will just make it difficult to take a multitude of photos. 

before i go, here's a little background on me and mackenzie:

mackenzie is only six weeks younger than me so from the beginning we have been very close. growing up we often went to summer camps together (performing at every talent show or concert.) we also graced every family gathering with a production or two. because mackenzie lived several hours away, we were forced to practice our duets over the phone. let's just say our parents were not thrilled at how high the phone bills were getting (ah, back in the days of long distance charges.) half way through our seventh grade year, mackenzie's family moved to my town. from then on we inseparable, until we went to college, that is. she is studying opera at baylor back in texas while i'm in new york studying musical theatre. we still put on productions. although, it is usually just for who ever happens to be walking by or riding in the subway car with us or in the same restaurant as us. basically, we never stop singing when we are together and i can't wait for her to get up here!