You may not have known, but last week Jonny and I took a spontaneous trip to New York! And by spontaneous, I mean we decided Tuesday morning to book a flight and hotel and leave that day! It was exhilarating and stressful all at the same time. I was so excited to get out of town, but finding a place last minute was crazy. I would decide on a hotel to book and all of a sudden it was gone. I found the exact flights that I wanted, but as soon as I hit purchase, they were gone. It was maddening, honestly. However, I survived and a few hours later we hit the road to the airport. Side note: if you ever want a breeze experience with TSA in Jacksonville, fly out on a Tuesday afternoon. It. Was. Awesome.

While packing, I found myself faced with a very important question. Do I take my camera or not? I went back and forth with it for a few minutes, but then decided to not bring it. Wait, what?! You may be wondering why a photographer would not take their camera to one of the greatest cities. There were a couple of factors that led me to this decision. First, I knew that we only had two days there and I didn’t want to haul it around all day. Second and more importantly, I wanted to live in the moment and make memories. I wanted to be present in this time with my husband and not focused on getting just the right shot of this building or that tree in the park. So, I became an iPhone photographer and it was great. Honestly, I still didn’t take that many pictures. There were places that we went that required more of my soul than having a camera in my hand. Had I been worried with taking pictures, I wouldn’t have seen things the way they were intended to be viewed.

We packed in a good bit in our short time. We visited the American Museum of Natural History and the Intrepid Museum. We walked from one side of Central Park to the other. We rode the Subway a good bit, and only ended up on the Express train once. Whoops. We walked through Battery Park and made new friends at a couple of local watering holes. We ate delicious Pizza and I took Jonny to Jacob’s Pickles which is definitely some of the best Southern Food that you may find. Yes, I really did just say that. But honestly, what impacted me the most was our time at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. It was a very quiet couple of hours for me. Walking through the Memorial – completely choked up and tear filled eyes. There were lots of people, but the majority fell silent. It was nothing like I have ever seen, and I cannot recommend visiting enough. Don’t worry if you forget your tissues because they have tissues placed throughout. Had I been worried with taking pictures (though a lot of the museum doesn’t allow it), I don’t know if I would’ve been quite as impacted. It was tough, but it was done beautifully. But honestly, be ready.

So, we crammed in a lot and had a great time. I’m so glad that I just focused on making memories rather than being a little disconnected. Sometimes you just need to be an iPhone photographer, and this was a time for me. I’ll post some below, nothing special – but just a few memories.

xoxo,

Holly