New York is a beautiful city—no doubt about it.

But just like in any other city, some parts aren’t so pretty. New York is way bigger and more populated than any other city in the United States. Which equals more money for everything.

Food, parking, hotels, museums, and trinkets to take home are the essentials to going on a trip. New York is the most my family has had to pay for any of these things.

We spent around 300$ just on the three times we had to pay for parking. Around 335$ on food which was mainly fast food, and about 600$ between the two exhibits/museums we went to.

Driving in New York is like driving with a bunch of kids who are just now learning to drive.

There are cars all over the place in between lanes, there’s no straight line of cars like there is in Fort Wayne. Nobody cares about the stop signs or lights, or if people are walking they do whatever they want.

Every street is very cramped together and there are no spaces between buildings. Since there’s no space, people have to leave their trash bags on the sidewalk and there are bags lining the street. The trash people come more than once a week to pick it up and it’s very loud.

While walking in the streets of New York you’re going to see many interesting things and people. And many people will try talking to you to get money. There are also people who wear things that are a very weird sight to see. It’s basically a way more advanced version of our downtown in Fort Wayne.

Another thing about New York is that it’s freezing right now just like Fort Wayne but sometimes colder. And it was also very rainy and wet and extremely windy so the weather wasn’t much different than what we were used to.

Even with these little things it doesn’t mean anything once you see the sights of New York and the beautiful buildings. Driving on bridges and being in a tall building looking out your windows are the best sights to see.

Times Square is so fun to see and look at the big screens that are everywhere. There are many different shops and restaurants there that we don’t have here. When it’s dark it is best to see the big screens because they shine bright and light up the streets.

In New York, there are many u.s staples but the ones I saw were the Statue of Liberty and the Twin Towers which I think are the most important and interesting in my opinion.

The ocean in New York is beautiful and very clean. Because of the cold and windy weather, there were some waves going on but it was peaceful to watch. There are many different tours or sites for the Statue of liberty but the one we went on was on a boat called the liberty cruise.

The liberty cruise is a boat with an open top to look at the Statue of liberty and take pictures and there’s also an underneath part where there’s snacks and drinks and more seats to look out the windows and watch. When I went most people stayed under to keep warm.

There was a director on an intercom telling us fun facts about New York City and the statue. We drove around the ocean to the statue and circled around it so both sides got an equal view.  After the boat ride, we went on a tour bus that drove us all around the city.

My favorite part about this trip was being able to learn more about the Twin Towers and see more about what happened on 9/11, in the 9/11 memorial/ museum. In this museum, I was able to see all of the faces of the people who had died on that tragic day.

The museum also had pieces of the buildings, planes, cars, clothes, and other vehicles that were found in the aftermath of the event. There were many different videos and audio of calls made on the day of people saying goodbye to their loved ones.

There was so much I learned in this museum and I found it really interesting to see everything they had. I wish I was able to get more pictures but most areas were a “no camera” zone to show respect.

After the museum, we went outside to see where the towers used to be and saw one of the water fountains on. It was a very beautiful view and we were able to see all of the names carved into the stone of the waterfalls.

Even with the lows of this trip the highs definitely took over.

I would want to go again when I’m older and during the summer so there’s more to do. I really enjoyed this experience and would honestly recommend it to people, just be prepared to spend money and be cramped in order to see the beauties of New York City.