Going to the Big Apple and Bethlehem

My travel saga continues. Last weekend I had the fortunate opportunity to travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with Jack in order to visit his dad and attend the Celtic Classic festival happening in the town. 

 

We flew in on Thursday evening, and since the festival didn’t start until Friday night, we decided to waste no time and took a day trip to New York City on Friday. It was about an hour and a half drive from Bethlehem, but it was worth it and beautiful in my opinion. 

 

I remember that I was quite small the last time I was in the city, although of course I can’t remember what age. So I was very excited to venture around the Big Apple this time and soak up the sights I knew I would remember. 

 

The first thing we did was go to The Edge, which had an observation deck with a glass floor 100 stories in the air. The views were indeed amazing, and I took a lot of pictures for my digital scrapbook (my iPhone photos album). Next, we walked along the river down to the Intrepid Museum, a military and maritime history museum located on the 1943 aircraft carrier, the USS Intrepid. Jack’s father had wanted to go to see the space shuttle they had, but I was entranced by all the small rooms, walkways, and stairs in the ship where Navy members did their work from 1943 to 1974. 

 

Trying to picture myself as a part of the Navy, working on the ship, was fun. Would I man one of the data machines? Would I be a communicator or scribe of some sort? Maybe even a chef? But the main question to ponder was whether or not I would even like it. Who knows? However, since my journey in life has taken a completely different route, I was grateful for the chance to appreciate and respect the hard work of everyone who was stationed on the ship and served our country. 

 

We then meandered our way to Times Square of course. It was cool, but not as awe inspiring for me as it was to pass the New York Times building. We stopped for lunch, went to Rockefeller Square where the Ryder Cup was being projected, stepped into St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Lego store and called it a day. We had to get back in time for the start of the Celtic Classic, so we went as fast as New York City traffic would allow. 

 

We made it to the Classic in time for the caber toss competition, where very large men test their strength by throwing a very long log into the air to see if they can make it flip over. It was quite fun to see and the six or so men in kilts performed odd feats of strength all weekend, vying to see who was the strongest of them all. 

 

We joined in as much of the fun and revelry as we could. Dressed in matching kilts and regalia ourselves on Saturday, we attended the parade, watched the men and pipe bands compete, ate great food, and listened to Irish, Scottish, and Celtic musicians play all the songs important to their culture. It was an amazing time. I learned drinking songs I wish I had known in college, raunchy songs to make you laugh and ones that could make you cry. I learned Irish handcuffs are when you’re holding a beer in each hand. I learned people really like corn and that an enthusiastic fiddle player can really dance around in a kilt.  

 

Being able to appreciate culture is an experience I don’t know how to put into words. People walked around in matching clan shirts and kilts. Pride regarding who they are and what families they belong to showed on their faces, warming my heart. I may be mostly German with a wee bit o’ Irish in me, but seeing people celebrate and appreciate their Celtic heritage while keeping the history alive is a memory I will never forget. 

 

My Determination: “Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.” – Neil Gaiman, Good Omens