Between the pandemic and life in general, I am finally headed to NYC to visit my son and daughter-in-law. It’s been 3+ years in the making and I can’t wait to hit the Big Apple!

Now that I’ve mentioned the Big Apple… Do you know how it came to be the nickname for NYC? There are several theories. One theory relates to the large apple orchards on the outskirts of the city, another that during the Great Depression families were forced to sell their apples on the streets of the city. And one more… there was a woman named Eve who ran a brothel and was referred to by her girls as “Big Apples”.

But perhaps a more realistic account is the sports journalist John J Fitzgerald who had a column titled “Around the Big Apple” in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald wrote about horse racing and in his column, the prize money was referred to as “winning the big apple”. Later in the 1930’s jazz musicians started writing about the “Big Apple” and their songs were heard beyond the city. An old saying in show business during that time was “There are many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple. ” The Big Apple is truly NYC.

Back to my story… The last time I spent any time in NY was with Tracie on her 50th birthday. That was 13 years ago between Christmas and New Years Day, and it was cold! When we were here, we had plenty of coal-fired pizza, took a food tour, shopped, walked Central Park, Times Square, and froze our butts off! This trip, although it’s still winter, it’s going to be a warmer version as it is the end of winter instead of smack in the coldest part. I’m ok with that!

Brian asked what I wanted to do while visiting and I honestly had not looked – which is unusual for me. I was so excited just to be here and see his place and spend time with him and Francesca, and I had not made any plans.

So I did my research, sent him a list noting that there were some things on that list that I didn’t need to do this trip but they were to be noted… Like go to Coney Island and ride the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building. Things I do want to do this trip include walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, find a market, a museum, and any park (Prospect or Central would be great), find a good bagel, maybe a cannoli, and lots of wandering.

I’ll have a few things under my belt soon enough and will report back!

#IloveNY #brooklynNY