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Writer's pictureJessie Carl

Concrete Jungle, Baby!

Updated: Jul 20

That's right! New York City!

We brought the NUTmobile to Hoboken, Manhattan, and Long Island in an incredible week in New Jersey and New York - let's recap!


I know you're wondering so I'll answer right away. YES we drove the NUTmobile through Midtown, NYC and YES we drove it through Times Square. NO, I was not the one driving, that was all on Honey Roasted Ryan, Long Island Native.


Our week started at a hotel right on the water in Hoboken, NJ. We were one ferry ride across the Hudson from Midtown which felt incredibly luxe (even though each ride only cost $9.25) and I highly recommend staying in Hoboken for your future NYC trips!



We basically threw down our stuff and immediately rode the ferry to Manhattan so we could meet Ryan's family. His sister Erin was having a surprise birthday party and we were all invited! We ended up at this rooftop club in the Lower East Side and the vibes were NUTTY to say the least. Ryan's family was so kind and it was fun to meet them all right away! Once Erin was successfully surprised, Katie and I decided to head out and give Ryan some time with his family without having to worry about his fellow nuts. And I got to show Katie Midtown for the first time! Katie had never been to New York and she was like a kid in a candy store. Hanging out with her all weekend was such a blast and we had an awesome time.

I wanted to show Katie what Times Square looked like at night, and we got some great pictures under all the lights. Then we headed to the Statue of Liberty... in Margaritaville. I wanted to give Katie the authentic NYC experience. (If you can't hear my sarcasm, know that I'm joking. But what I will say is that Margaritaville is the most ridiculous and fun place to eat in Times Square and we had a fantastic time and the bang-bang shrimp was incredible!)



We settled back into our hotel for the evening and got some good nights sleep for the next day ahead of us, a complete day off in NYC!


 

Another ferry ride over and I already knew exactly what I needed to do on my first day off in New York City - SEE MY FRIEND OSCAR ON BROADWAY. The incredible thing about knowing so many talented people is that sometimes your friends end up on Broadway and then also sometimes you find yourself in New York City buying a ticket to see them in that Broadway show. Oscar is from my graduating musical theatre class from University of Northern Colorado and he is currently understudying in Hell's Kitchen: The Alicia Keys Musical on Broadway. I bought my ticket as soon as I knew I'd be coming in to town and then just cross my fingers that Oscar would be called in to do the show I had a ticket to see.


20 minutes before we met up for lunch, he got a text that he was going on as 'Riq! The show was fantastic, and I of course sobbed during Oscar's bow. Something about seeing a friend succeed - not to mention, one of the kindest, most talented and hard working friends - feels SO good. He was so in his element and I just felt inspired! After the show, I got to meet up with Oscar backstage (I felt very fancy, my name was put on a list and everything) and I got see to see the view from a Broadway stage for the first time. Literally such an incredible day! If you're reading this Oscar, you are a star and I'm so proud of you! Thank you!!!!



 

The next day we had work, and this was the day to drive the NUT thru Manhattan. We picked up Max Zavidow (NYC social media content creator) for an influencer ride and had a blast driving around Midtown, seeing all the sights and shooting content. The whole time Max had the intercom in hand and was complimenting people on the street as we drove by. Imagine you're walking through Midtown and a giant peanut on wheels gives you a compliment.

At one point, Max shouted at 2 guys through the intercom and called them out BY NAME - which we all quickly realized were friends/collaborators of his and so of course we had to invite them in to ride with us. We also had a skateboader hitch a ride on the back of us through Times Square.

Ryan handled the driving incredibly and I am so grateful I did not have to do it. After that, we made the trek to Manhasset, Long Island where we'd be staying for the next week!



 

Oh, you thought we weren't coming back to New York City? Silly you. We had our second off day of the week once we arrived in Manhasset and we would be fools to not take the train into town!

Katie and I rode in together, and we were able to meet up with my lovely friend Vi for lunch. Vi also an incredibly talented person who I'm honored to know, and works as a photographer for Playbill! I feel so lucky to have friends like Vi - we haven't seen each other in person since 2022 and don't even talk that much virtually - and yet every single time I meet up with them, it's like we haven't missed a beat. I saw someone describe it as "The friendships where you don't see each other for years, but when you finally reunite, it just feels like one of you got back from going to the bathroom."




Vi and I have always had 1,000,000 things talk about and we ended up gabbing with each other for 6 hours (!!!). We strolled through Central Park like true NYC girlies and collaborated on a water color painting until I was scheduled to meet up with another "back from the bathroom friend", Kyle!

Kyle and I have known each other since we were little ones in Summer Music Theatre. We auditioned for musical theatre colleges together and finally worked together at Cranbrook Theatre School before Kyle went off to become a producer, educator, and overal incredible performer in NYC. And as previously implied, every time we get together it is like no time has passed at all. Love you, my Virgo KING!




Seriously, how did I get so lucky? I felt so incredibly full of love during my time in NYC. It is bittersweet to have so many incredible friends spread out across the country - but the fact that I'm also able to pick up with them so quickly and enjoy rich quality time makes it (almost) worth it. This NYC trip made me feel VERY fortunate to have my job.

Because of my job, I got to visit New York without worrying about expenses like hotel and food. I got to buy a same-day ticket to a Broadway show because my job pays me a salary! I WAS IN NYC BECAUSE I DRIVE A PEANUT! I just feel very very very lucky. And my voice is very very tired from talking for 10 hours straight.



Alright this blog post is long enough. Recap of our time on Long Island will be in the next one!

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