Over Thanksgiving break I visited New York City. I’d seen the movies where the streets are happy, I’d heard the songs that hundreds of people wrote and sung about how special New York was, and for the past couple months I’d been prepped for how different New York was. When asked to comment on New York, my parents’ response was usually “It’s like no other place in the world.” Was this a place where dreams would be fulfilled, hopes would be realized and the sun would shine brighter? Unfortunately, the answer was no.

After circulating the block a couple of times, trying to ask for help from non-responsive city workers, we found a parking area. We walked the two blocks to our hotel (I thought it was pretty cool how close everything was) and then settled in. Needless to say, for the next couple of days sightseeing was important. We traveled the subway (I’ve always loved it, don’t know why) and went to all the touristy sites. I went to the Statue of Liberty , which was another major disappointment. Call me unpatriotic, but standing in line for security, first for 10 minutes, then another time for 45 minutes, then not being able to go to the top of the Statue, wasn’t my idea of fun. Another sad thing was walking the streets. Everywhere you went, there were people begging, old ladies struggling, and careless pedestrians. Where was the community spirit, where was the brotherly love? I know this is the year 2009, but isn’t there some love for the needy out there?

Despite all this, there were major highs on the trip. The first was the Macy’s Day Parade. Although my parents had to get up early to get a decent place, and we had to wait for hours, seeing the smiles and excitement of everyone, and the people having fun was worth it. Every time a security official would walk by, the three men of our family would scream and cheer for the security guard. More often than not they gave us dirty looks, but sometimes the smiles that lit their mouths and eyes were priceless. The floats were superb, and the bands were cool. Just think, the performers were my age and a little bit older, and were marching in front of thousands. The second thing that made it all worthwhile was Broadway. The acting was fabulous, the special effects rivaled Hollywood and the comedy and jokes were classic. This was my area of enjoyment, my second or third home, where the actors spent all day and all night, living life. I had an idea how much a show takes out of you, but to do one every day, some two, was extremely impressive. I would trade 10 Statue of Liberty experiences for two Broadway shows.

So all in all, maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. True, some of the monuments and the streets weren’t happy places, and didn’t inspire my American dream, but there was the parade and then Broadway. New York wasn’t perfect (is there anywhere on this Earth that is?) but it’s easy to see where its reputation comes from. There truly is an underlying magic in the City that Never Sleeps.