ny trip - day one

I'm writing from my hotel room in the beautiful state of New York. A couple families in our church blessed the entire church staff by sending us all to the "Rekindle the Flame" conference at Nyack College in Nyack, NY.

But the conference isn't until Tuesday. So until then, we be tourists.

Here are my thoughts from our first day in New York.

1. Spend the money and rent the GPS. I'm pretty darn good with directions but this place is nuts. There is no North, south, east or west here. It's a black hole for instinct and "This looks familiar".

2. You could eat all night in New York City. We walked around looking for a place to sit down and eat dinner. We passed bar after cafe after grill after diner...and our problem was not that there was a shortage of places, but the exact opposite. Don't worry about dinner. The restaurant will find you.

3. Don't stare at Times Square too long. The gi-normous tv screens that stretch from concrete to sky light up the streets like it's day time. I found myself overstimulated and wanting to find a dark corner to suck my thumb. My eyes hurt like they do when you watch too much TV and you can't blink. That kinda hurt.

4. Bring the ones you love with you to New York. My wife and kids couldn't be with me on this trip since it's staff only. And I miss them. Like a fat kid misses cake.

Day 2 is tomorrow.

Bring it on.