New York, New York

My flight was at 1 in the afternoon, but I left quite early to get to the airport as I had to take a bus and a train. Smooth journey to the airport, so not much to report there. Although, as a relatively small person, I did have a bit of trouble lugging around my suitcase (which was heavier than I thought it would be) and my backpack, which was loaded with God knows what.

I mentioned in the post announcing that I was going to New York that the flying part of travelling is exciting.

It was a bit weird for me because it was the first time I’d ever been to the airport by myself and travelled on a plane by myself, but once I dropped off my bags and everything, I got to relax and it wasn’t so bad. I decided to get a New York Hotdog from Shake-A-Hula, just to set the mood of my trip and watched the last episode of Gotham (no spoilers, but it was SO good). They also make a niiiice Oreo milkshake.

I flew with IcelandAir, whom I’ve never flown with before, but I quite like the fact that the plane I was on was named Krafla, after Iceland’s most active volcano. The flight was good, with a stopover in Reykjavik for just over an hour where I was delighted with the free wifi (Gatwick – you need to step up your game) and then straight on to JFK.

FYI, I discovered this show called Stalker, which I absolutely loved. It kind of scared the sh*t of me, but I really need to finish the series. Apparently there’s only one season because CBS cancelled it, and it ended on a cliffhanger. I must prepare myself emotionally for this.

JFK’s passport control scared me. They asked me so many questions like where I’m coming from, who I’m staying with, where I work, where the person I’m staying with works. Like for real, grill much? I know security has to be tight, but when you’re being faced with a stern-faced man then interrogation can be a bit nerve-wracking. Nevertheless, I got through with no problems and the US government now have my fingerprints on file. Lovely.

My cousin picked me up, and luckily my auntie doesn’t live too far from the airport in Brooklyn. Where I stayed was in the suburbs, so during my trip, I had to take a bus and train to get into the city, so that was quite a journey. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to explore once I arrived because I had to be up early the next morning to catch my bus to Baltimore.

The morning of my bus journey, I got to drop my stuff off at my uncle’s office and go and explore Lower Manhattan for a bit. This included witnessing Empire State building for the first time (not that great, if I’m going, to be honest), going through Times Square and being accosted by street performers and walking a helluva lot.

Note: There is a sign in Times Square that says tipping is optional for street performers. It isn’t. Well, I mean it is but it isn’t if you get what I mean. I got roped into it because I guess I was by myself (one Spiderman grabbed my hand to try and get me to take a picture with him), but I did get a good picture. However, you should avoid them because most of the characters look dodgy as hell.

I also got to walk around the Toys R Us in Times Square, which made me feel like a little kid again. Loved it in there!

If you follow me on Twitter, then you might have seen Mutay and I’s exchange about my journey to Baltimore. I won’t bore you with the whole palava, but after several hours on a MegaBus I finally made it to Mutay’s cousin’s apartment. Her apartment is somewhere I dream of renting when I have the money. We were only there for a bit, but it was long enough for Mutay and I to grab some soul food from Carolina Kitchen Bar & Grill. I enjoyed fried chicken, mashed potato and gravy, mac ‘n’ cheese and corn. Gorgeous. Absolutely delicious and I just. Ungh.

We then had the longest car journey ever to get to Brittland Manor where the wedding was to take place. Along the way we went over the Bay Bridge, which is a ridiculous bridge balanced on stilts. It went on forever, as well.

The manor itself is beautiful, and if it weren’t for the stupid amount of bugs and humidity, it would have been a contender for places to hold my future wedding. The room Mutay and I stayed was really nice, but there was the possibility that it was haunted, which didn’t help matters. It is a massive house and it creaked a lot. 

The next morning, the day of the wedding, everyone was running around preparing themselves for the wedding and taking pictures and such. Of course, Mutay and I being ourselves escaped and took a ride on a golf cart we found sitting outside the manor. We drove all the way down to the lake house, which was absolutely amazing.

Cue sexy photos in pyjamas and flower headbands, haha. I won’t post it here, but there is a hilarious video of Mutay driving the gold cart as well. Ah, fun times. We also feasted on Dunkin’ Donuts and copious amounts of coffee and orange juice. Everybody was looking to flush out their system to look good in their dress. #weddingproblems

The wedding itself was beautiful. I love weddings – seeing the look on the groom’s face when he saw his bride nearly made me break down. I can’t wait to see my future husband’s face when he sees me in my wedding dress for the first time.

I won’t go into too much details of the wedding, but I will say that despite the rain that graced us during the reception, it was so much fun. Also, with an open bar, I did get very drunk… Be warned, kids, if you think vodka shots are a good idea… they’re not. I was absolutely shattered when I finally crawled into bed.

The next day was spent tidying up and driving back and forth between Mutay’s cousin’s home and the manor. Extremely exhausting and it was extremely humid, but on the plus side we ordered Domino’s pizza and chicken wings in the evening.

The next morning was a nightmare because the cab that we ordered to take me to the station to get my bus back to NY never came and we had to rush to get my bus, which we unfortunately missed. Luckily, I managed to squeeze onto the next one because there were like 3 spaces left. Even though I had to pay $25 extra, I was glad that I was actually making it back to NY.

I think this post has been long enough, that I will save the rest for next time. I’ll be writing about Pies ‘n’ Thighs and meeting Joy for the first time! Until next time… x