Moving sucks. It always has and it always will. I decided to move from where I was about a year ago (when my son, Tom, said he wanted to move to NYC). Lots of things helped solidify that with my old apartment, so I decided to move. May blog about the moving experience, because it was the exact opposite of pleasant, at some point. But I'd rather blog about my new neighborhood.
I moved to Harlem. Throw a dart at a map of Harlem, and I am dead center. I moved to Adam Clayton Powell Avenue (7th Avenue) between 131st and 132nd street. I am now in a 3BR apartment (with 2 king-sized bedrooms and a full bedroom that will be used as an office) with a large kitchen and lots of room. I didn't move my cats (subject for another blog, I think I'll have lots of blogs about moving...).
My son, Tom, came out this weekend. I think he came to rest, but we got a little bit of work done here in the apartment. Which was very good, but I think his primary reason was to introduce me to people. We tried to stay in the neighborhood for the most part (despite going to the office on Friday and to an old haunt on Saturday for brunch).
We ate at Harlem BBQ on Saturday night and brought a bunch of food home (which is good, I'll still need to eat) and came home to chill for a bit. Which we did, then Tom decided it was time to go out and grab a drink. What am I going to say?
We ended up at a french bistro up the street a block and half away and we started talking to some of the folks there. I heard this phrase, "you belong to us now" a couple of times from more than one person. So what did we do?
Well, we went over to Sylvia's for brunch (where Tom had the best fried chicken he'd ever had in his life) and came back and chilled for a bit then went back to that bistro. We had a couple of beers and the bartender continued to introduce me to people from the neighborhood. Every single person was engaging and interested, and every single one said "you belong to us now".
Yes, I do. And I've never felt more welcome in a neighborhood. I belong to you as much as you belong to me, and I am ecstatic to live here!
