Dear Skimmers, I Know What You’re Thinking: “Dang, Dan! You Really Made Me Work My Arse Off On This One.”

If you think the title of this article is long, you’re right, it’s a long title but I’m pretty sure it’s nothing compared to the body of this one. I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, what do you mean by pretty sure?” I say pretty sure because, well, I haven’t written it yet, in fact, you and I are reading this for the first time together—this opening paragraph is merely the starting point. However, considering I have nearly 40 pictures to share with you that were taken over a two week #travel period that spans three countries and, I still need to somehow tie it all together, it’s safe to say “pretty sure” is a safe bet. On that note—get your thumbs out, skimmers, I’m about to put’em to work! 👍🏿

Welcome to my #blog. Pura and I couldn’t get out of Playas Del Coco, Costa Rica, fast enough. Our last day there was the weekend of June 23rd—the same weekend as their annual iron man event attracting spectators from across the country causing road closures alongside our apartment the Sunday our plane was scheduled to depart. We ended up checking out a day two weeks and one day early to avoid missing our flight. We stayed at a Hilton conveniently located next to the airport where we were only ripped off one time, that we’re aware of, by the young tica working the gift shop who charged us twice for the same bottle of water thinking we were tourists. Unfortunately for her, we’d been there for six months at that point and knew we had to keep an eye out for that ish everywhere we breathed. We called her on it and, to her dismay, she had to give us our money back—typical Costa Rican etiquette.

As I enjoyed my final cup of coffee at the apartment that last Saturday morning while closing the book on Costa Rica, I couldn’t help but notice this giant set of wings outside the kitchen window:

I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, what in the heck is that flying thing?! Is it a moth or a butterfly or what?” That, my friends, is a moth, code name: Mothra. But I’m not certain who the prey is in this next picture—Mothra or the gecko. 🤔

The seven hour flight to JFK flew by—literally. This is what New York City looks like from a few thousand feet in the air—we ain’t in Kansas Costa Rica anymore, toto #PALNet.

#Funny fact (I wrote this part down so I wouldn’t forget to tell you): As @puravidaville and I exited the plane and followed suit toward the cab line, we were directly behind two little boys around age 10, most likely brothers, accompanied by their mother. The younger boy said to the older, “if we get in a smart car and I fart in it, does that make my fart a smart fart?” Yeah, he said that... I laughed out loud.

It was pretty late by the time we grabbed an authentic NYC falafel wrap from a street vendor and got checked into our hotel room. We knew we had a busy couple of days ahead of us in the city, acquiring some needed western conveniences, before flying out to London and we needed a good nights sleep—mission accomplished. I’m not sure which view I enjoyed more, the one from the airplane or this one from the hotel room: 🤔

I know what you’re thinking (still), “Dan, what’s up with that chem-trail flying across the center of the sky?” To that I say, trails shmails, welcome to America! The land where acquiring some pre-rolls, hybrid grams, rice crispy treats and brownies is even easier than those falafel wraps I was telling you about.

I know what you’re thinking (again), “hey Dan, those food weed trucks sell pipes, too?” Negative, they don’t. For pieces, papers, rollers, grinders, pens and pretty much everything except for the all-naturally grown flower itself, just walk into your nearest convenience store.

Speaking of western conveniences—three things you don’t realize you miss until you can’t have them are Clear Eyes (maybe it’s just me), Burts Bees chapstick (definitely not just me) and Starbucks (maybe it’s just Pura):

As soon as we walked into Starbucks, we were greeted by a Bose surround sound playing Mista Dobalina by Del The Funky Homosapein—it was nice to be back in the states. As we grabbed our coffees and headed out the door, the track changed to Tennessee by Arrested Development. #Fun fact: Tennessee just happens to be my favorite state in the whole country—true #story. I said to Pura, “it’s a sign.”

Another convenience I didn’t realize I’d miss until I was away from the states for six months is a good pair of shoes—welcome to the New Balance store in the middle of Times Square.

I know what you’re thinking, “Dan wears black socks so he’s probably going to get a black pair of New Balance—the ones with grey soles.”

To that I’d say nice assumption—good guess! But apparently I’ve never told you my favorite color:

Fact—even my phone case is pink. And not all of my socks are black, either, I have a few pink pairs, pink gym towel, pink beanie, etc. Eh, by the way, am I the only one who thinks it’s weird I never ran into Method Man while venturing the streets of New York? Really, I kept expecting to see him but I never did. It’s just me again, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s probably just me, fair enough.

By this time it was pretty late and we were both exhausted from loading up on our western consumerism conveniences—iheart Best Buy! We journeyed back through Times Square, picked up another two-pack of falafel wraps, and headed to our hotel room. Tomorrow is a day for sight seeing and we needed some rest—g’night!

Good morning, #steem blockchain! Sight seeing in New York City—I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, did you see the Empire State Building? What about World Trade Center and the Memorial at Ground Zero?” Yes, yes and yes. Our first camera activity of the day was Madison Square Garden, home to the New York Knicks, on the corner of 33rd and 7th:

Continuing east on 33rd toward 5th Street is the 102 story Empire State Building standing at a grand total of 1,454 feet (443 meters) tall:

I know what you’re thinking, “but, Dan, you were right down the street from it, why didn’t you get a closer #photo for me?” Don’t worry, I did. I just thought you’d enjoy taking a walk with me through Midtown Manhattan for a close-up of what was, for nearly 40 years, the tallest building in the world:

Next stop: Lady Liberty. Our plane to London didn’t depart until 11pm so we caught an Uber down to Battery Park in Manhattan for a view of the Statue of Liberty.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, it’s too far away, I can barely see it.” I know, we could barely see it, too. But have you ever seen the Statue of Liberty from a distance at the same time a floating billboard passes by that says...

Still isn’t close enough, right? I agree. To our surprise, we found this sailboat docked in the New York harbor that does an hour long cruise out and around Lady Liberty every other hour. The next sailing tour takes off in 30 minutes—we put our names on the list.

While we waited, we spent some time honoring the 4,601 American servicemen who died at sea during World War 2 at East Coast Memorial. The monument was striking—it consists of eight 19-foot tall granite pylons in the shape of tombstones, two rows of four, with all 4,601 names, rank and title, listed in alphabetical order facing the Statue of Liberty. Separating the two rows of tombstones is this hand-sculpted eagle made entirely of bronze.

The eagle stands on a pedestal made of black granite, dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on May 23rd, 1963—exactly six months prior to his assassination. The pedestal reads:

30 minutes was quite a bit of time to take it all in—a memory that will last a lifetime. Should you find yourself in New York, I recommend making a trip down to Battery Park to see the monument through your own eyes, it’s about three blocks away from World Trade Center.

Now let’s get on that boat and see what the New York skyline and Statue of Liberty look like from the New York Harbor. This first shot is a look over the bow of the boat at Jersey City, New Jersey.

I know what you’re thinking, “hey, Dan, did you get a shot of Jersey City without the boat obstructing the view?” Good question! Yes, actually, I did—Jersey City, New Jersey:

Lower Manhattan skyline where One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere is located at 285 Fulton Street. One World Trade Center, also known as One WTC or, Freedom Tower, stands at 1,792 feet (546.2 meters) opened in November, 2014 following the September 11th attacks in 2001.

Statue of Liberty—Lady Liberty or, “Liberty Enlightening The World,” is a gift from France dedicated to the United States on October 28th, 1886. The statue is designed by French sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and constructed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. Eiffel is most famous for proving his theory that triangles are the strongest form of construction and proved his theory by building the highly criticised Eiffel Tower in 1889—the now most visited monument in the world followed closely by the copper sculpture, Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island, previously used as a smallpox quarantine station in the 18th century (to this day, all structures from race cars to skyscrapers are designed and built with angled, triangular support).

I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, that’s a really nice shot but did the sailboat get you closer to the statue?” Another good question—I’m glad you asked. Yes, this is the view from the sailboat as we approached the statue and circled back toward Manhattan:

As the sailboat cruise came to an end, I grabbed one last shot of the Lower Manhattan skyline—the first image I’m about to show you. The second #photo is looking to the east of Manhattan at Brooklyn, New York. I also wrote down the playlist during our cruise—I’ll attach individual links to the soundtrack we listened to as we sailed across New York Harbor after the Brooklyn picture which, in my opinion, the #music is equally as important as the images.

Everyday People. Released by Sly & The Family Stone in 1968 and covered by Arrested Development in 1992 kicked off to our sailing tour.
Higher Ground. Released by Stevie Wonder in 1973 and covered by Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1990.
Hard To Handle. Otis Redding, released by Atco Music in 1968 following the sudden death of Otis in 1967 and covered by The Black Crowes in 1990.
I Can See Clearly Now. Released by Johnny Nash in 1972 and covered by Jimmy Cliff in 1993.
America The Beautiful. Released by Ray Charles in 1976, originally written by Kathy Lee Bates in 1895 is the song we listened to as we circled Statue of Liberty.
(The following six songs played as we sailed back to the docks)
Welcome To New York. Released by Taylor Swift in 2014.
Young Americans. Released by David Bowie in 1975.
Man On The Moon. Released by R.E.M. in 1992.
Grace is Gone. Released by Dave Matthews Band in 2002.
Wagon Wheel. Released by Darius Rucker in 2013.
Gin & Juice. (The last song—it played as the crew mates docked the boat and we exited the tour) Released by Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks in 2002—a cover song originally performed by Snoop Doggy Dog in 1994.

See what I mean about the playlist being equally as important as the photos in the sailing tour? I know what you’re thinking, “Dan, I’m glad you wrote those songs down—thank you!” Me too, you’re welcome. 👍🏿

The final stop on our sight seeing tour before boarding our flight to London was National September 11 Memorial & Museum. It’s located at 180 Greenwich Street, New York, NY and commemorates the 2001 September 11 attacks that killed 2,997 people from all walks of #life. It’s a 208 X 208 foot water feature—the exact same dimensions as each tower. The massive flow of water whose construction was completed in 2014 falls toward an infinite-looking hole in the earth—each innocent victims name is inscribed in granite along the water features edge:

Thanks a lot for following along with me—I haven’t had a lot of time to be as active on the platform as I usually am. Between touring, traveling, tending to some personal business and this beautiful life each of us are blessed to enjoy, Pura and I haven’t had much time for blogging. Keep an eye out for the next part of our #adventure where I’ll be guiding you through an up close and personal tour of our current location: