New York has always been one of my biggest dreams and two years ago I got to visit New York with my family during our annual summer trip. We stayed in New Jersey for one night and drove 30 minutes to New York. We got to New York, and I merely wanted to go see where the Twin Towers used to stand. The feeling when I got there was overpowering to think about all the lives lost and what this area used to look like seeing the names of all the people that died. There was a man on the other side where the south tower used to stand; he was crying I assume over a lost one in the tower because he was by one name and he was laying a rose across their name. His sadness overpowered every other sense I had. The overbearing heat that day, of the terrible smell of New York in general, and lastly the hundreds of other travelers like me just seeing the tragedy for the first time in their lives.

Shopping in New York is a given; everyone does it and my family and I also followed that path. There were not even real stores, but there were men on the side of the roads walking with their fake designer purses ready to sell to anyone wanting to make a deal. My mom and I were wondering how low we could get him to go on a fake Luis Vitton crossbody, so we made a deal on 30 dollars which were half of what he originally wanted. After we paid, the man pulled a string making the little blanket with all the purses wrap up into a sack, and he just walked away in peace, trying to hide his illegal side business from the cops. 

Central Park was at the end of the day, It would be a nice end to the day after a long day of walking with little water and grease food. We entered the park. There were many people getting drawn by the men and women in the park. My sisters wanted to do this so bad and my mom agreed. We found a man willing to do it for a reasonable price. The amount of time it took to draw us so well was short but perfect. Afterward, we continued to walk, enjoying nature and stopping to let my younger sisters play on the rocks and make new friends with the boys playing with a frisbee. 

Altogether this was an experience I will never want to forget. I will gladly be going back in a few years to relive this experience and hopefully stay in the city longer and get a hotel there.