Leaving camp in a word...sucked! It was far tougher than I could have ever imagined. I'm usually pretty good with the whole separating thing, but this place really got a hold on me and although it's been such a short period of time Mah-Kee-Nac builds such a close knit family environment and I'm going to miss looking after these kids; the little nutcases they are. And I was doing so well right up to the part where Coach and I said our goodbyes. It put a lump in my throat, there's so much to learn from Coach, someone I could rely on, look up to at times and had a wicked time being the biggest kids on camp, eating 20 Popsicles a piece on July 4th when the kids only got one each. Acting like total madmen at a kid's camp and Maine trip was mental, laughing the entire time, but being able to switch the serious on in an instant to ref basketball and american football games, wouldn't have been the same. Oh and the clean cut rule...haha defying the system and seeing how much of a beard I could grow before Coach would chase me down to get rid of it, haha.
Bags packed, everything ready to go, I'm supposed to be heading to Manhattan, NY at 3pm but I've managed to score a ride on the Livingston, NJ bus at 10am. It was a long couple of hours on the road contemplating the reality of what was ahead of me in comparison to what could have been. A month travelling and surfing through California and Hawaii, seeing the family in Illinois then on to Long Beach, NYC for the NY Quiksilver ASP World Tour surf competition...all replaced with a 1.5 day wait to go home to get exams done. Oh well, a man has to do what he has to do to keep going on. Cali and Hawaii will always be there, university waits for no-one.
The last of the kids are picked up by their eagerly awaiting parents, Alex has been cruising behind the coach in his truck the entire time, bags are transferred and we hit the road again, dropping Ali C. off at his old home in South Orange, NJ and on to Best Western Newark, which no lie was an epic room, especially for $30 for the night.
Saying see ya to Alex was no doubt the toughest part of summer, but I gave him this insane knife we found on the Maine trip, inscribed on the handle "MKN '11 - Safe Journeys" on one side and "To: Alex - From: Seb" on the other. He's going off the grid for a while so figured if I can't physically have his back to whoop a leopard or bear's ass if needs be, I've just given him the means to open a can of whoopass himself. =)
I meet up with some of the Danbee girls who are staying in the hotel with me, change, and catch the train from Newark Penn station to New York Penn station, which if you remember way back to the beginning of this summer journey, spits you out in the middle of Manhattan, NY through the gates of Madison Square Garden.
Cue an awesome day in the New York hustle. 5th Avenue's logged in the SebSeb and with Georgia, Annie and Miss Bonvonni in tow, we make a B-line for one of the greatest shopping districts in the world. This is probably the best time to tell you Camp's given me the remainder of my wages in cold hard cash. A pocket full of Benjamin Franklins and the Big Apple knocking on my door...one word...ridiculous =D
We went to the Empire State Building and made it to the 2nd floor, the viewing auditorium wasn't a possibility on this day, but we saw the lobby nevertheless.
When the sun went down Times Square was as amazing as I remember it from years gone by. The stores have changed a bit and it looks a bit different, but it still has that buzz, that fantasy, that "I'm in a movie" puts a smile on your face factor.
Strolling arm in arm with my friend Annie as the light rain began to fall was a pretty cool moment, definitely a place to take someone special and should be on everyone's to do list. Dinner in Hard Rock Cafe was a novelty, the food took ages and in my infinite experience of the step-father get bills cut, food came on the cheap. That's my second hard rock cafe and probably my last, it's all a gimmick! I recommend TGI's in Times Square. Always a winner!
Speaking of Times Square, it enjoyed my pocket full of Benji's more than most, Quiksilver hoovering up the jackpot when I bought allegedly the second to last GoPro HD Hero video camera in the city, which after visiting every store that would sell one and every single one concluding in there are none in the city, I felt pretty stoked. I sense the start of a film making frenzy on the horizon. Buying every accessory and attachment made for the thing probably verifies my prediction.
Getting back to the hotel was a comical ride, Georgia's giddy on Captain Morgans and I've been sipping on Long Island Ice Teas and we have no idea how the train system works, so with that "knowledgeable wing-it" nature I speak of we jump on the first train that pulls in and would you know it, Newark Penn Station gets called over the speakers.
Day 2 in New York was spent running around to get those last little bits and pieces. Visited Macy's, which recalling on memories I've found to be surprisingly difficult to navigate. B&H, which is a high-end electronics store, is something from a multi-million dollar budget sci-fi movie. There are human attendants but when a item is in the process of being purchased it gets all robotic, the item gets sent up chutes and whizzed across electronic rollers and all sorts. A geeks paradise!
Back at the hotel I'm chucking my stuff in to bags, jumping on the duffel to get it to close, launching everything in the back of a van and heading to newark airport where I pick up a taxi to JFK and once again, in classic Seb fashion, get to the gate with minutes to spare! The last few moments before I boarded the plane I made a few phone calls to hear the voices I'll miss most, said my goodbyes and see ya laters to an absolutely incredible summer that I'll never forget, is entombed in this collection of memories and headed home!
USA / MKN Summer '11 - Safe Journeys - on to the next Season of Nature's Perfection.
