New York, Old Me

I was seventeen years old the first time I ever got on a plane.

It was one of the first times I’d ever left the State of Minnesota, other than brief trips to Wisconsin – and speaking as a Minnesotan, those trips didn’t truly count.

My first big trip took me to the Big Apple, and walking through the city, it felt like the world opened up for me.

While I dreamed of once again enjoying a fresh bagel from Russ & Daughters, it took me ten whole years before I visited New York again.

New York has been called the greatest city on earth, but it has never once been called the greatest smelling city on earth, which still rang true on this trip. Frankly, it didn’t bother me at all, but I did have an interesting moment when I first arrived. I took an Uber from the airport to my hotel, and at one point, the Uber driver rolled down his window, releasing a gust of New York City air into the car – and in a flash, I was seventeen years old again, seeing the city for the first time.

It was crazy how familiar it felt, and how many memories it brought back. And honestly, it’s the last time I remember being truly aware of the smell of the city. It all seemed to melt into part of the experience.

After checking into my hotel, I prepared myself for “Fall” “weather” on the “East” “Coast.” I included the quotation marks because I’m an overdramatic person to my core. Expecting a cool gust of air to dramatically brush my hair along every street corner, I changed into a turtleneck and fleece-lined leather pants to keep me warm.

As it turns out, it was 70 degrees in the city, and I was sweating for most of the day as I walked around Manhattan.

In typical Ana-fashion, I crammed a lot of activities into one day in New York. Let’s begin.

First, I started by manifesting my dreams by standing outside the Penguin Random House office building and imaging a (slightly) older me walking in, on my way to a meeting to discuss my future novel on its road to publication.

You will notice that today’s recurring themes are books and Marvel.

During my first trip to New York, I wanted to visit the Marvel offices, just to see them and be in the vicinity of Stan Lee. I had an amazing experience there – the building was unmarked, and so we went in to ask the man at the front desk if it was the right building. He put on the persona of a SHIELD agent and very mysteriously told us that Marvel HQ was somewhere in that building. I wanted to walk past in the interest of nostalgia, but the building currently listed online was different than the building I visited many years ago.

While I didn’t quite check that one off the list, I did discover the Charles Schribner building, which is where F. Scott Fitzgerald would have potentially visited while publishing his novels.

It’s really a beautiful building. But now it’s a Club Monaco.

From here, I decided to head to the New York Public Library, but I came across a few noticeable sights on my walk.

First, there were lots of little outdoor seating options for restaurants that were very adorable.

I’d assume that these are a product of the pandemic, but they seemed like great ways to get outside and enjoy the (crisp and lovely smelling) New York air, while adding additional seating options for the restaurants.

I also passed Radio City, which struck me as being very beautiful. I don’t remember seeing it the last time I was in New York, but it seemed like I saw it every day of this trip, which I didn’t mind.

I also passed St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is where F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre were married. It was on my list to go inside, but I had it on the itinerary for a different day of my trip, so I kept on trekking to my destination.

Buuuuuut I didn’t make it very far before I hit Rockefeller Center, and in the theme of my Marvel-day, I stopped at the Rink, which is of course famous for the battle between Hawkeye, Kate, and the Tracksuit Mafia. Of course.

It was on my list to come back later, so I snapped a few photos to send to my father, who is an even bigger fan of Marvel than I am, and then hustled on my way to the New York Public Library.

As it turns out, the New York Public Library also had a Marvel theme going.

Reading does give you superpowers.

They had two large banners along the sides of the entrance, as well as some displays in a separate library building.

I snapped a few photos outside, enjoying how beautiful the building is.

But honestly, the exterior has nothing on the interior.

Let’s get a close up.

We love a good candelabra moment.

The ceilings were incredibly ornate, the arches were aesthetically pleasing, the lanterns were lit, and the staircases were beautiful.

Aside from the books, what more could a girl want from a library?

Did someone say gilded ceilings?

Because they also had that. Just casually down their hallways.

I took the second floor to some of their reading and studying rooms, and was again struck by the beauty of the architecture.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I was surprised by a Gutenberg Bible!

I wasn’t expecting to see one, but there it was, behind glass on the second floor, just to the left of the stairs.

The main hallway was stunning. We’re talking frescoes, folks.

I’m not sure if these were technically frescoes, but they were very lovely.

They wouldn’t let me into the rooms, as they were dedicated to quiet studying during that time, and I was clearly not there to study. I peered into the rooms, however, and they were beautiful. Definitely a place I would love to study.

I crossed the street and explored their secondary, modern building, and then headed toward my next location: The Morgan Library and Museum.

I’d read about the Morgan Library prior to visiting, and was extremely excited to see the space I’d read about in real life.

The Morgan Library was once the personal library of J.P. Morgan, built in 1902. Eleven years after J.P. Morgan’s death, in 1924 his son made the library a public institution.

A modern addition was built in 2006, which forms a new visitor’s center, cafe, reading room, exhibition hall, and more. This space links to the historic Morgan Library. Let’s start with Mr. Morgan’s office.

I knew this library was going to be grand, but my jaw dropped when I saw this office, and to be honest, it drew nearer to the floor with each room I walked into.

I really think I would get a lot of work done if this was my office, too.

There were many books shelved in this space, but there was also a cool rare books VAULT at the back.

This entire room is lined with solid steel and seals with a combination-locked steel door. The man wasn’t joking around about his books.

Let’s move on to the rotunda.

The building was designed by Charles McKim, and is considered to be his masterpiece.

I’ll admit that I stood in the center of the rotunda with my head facing the ceiling for far too long. How can you not when this is above you?

Before heading into the library, we have one more very important space to check out.

Belle da Costa Greene’s office.

The entrance to which was lovely.

Belle da Costa Greene was an incredible woman. At age 26, she became the private librarian to the Morgan Library, which was extremely impressive for a woman, especially a black woman during the year 1905. Belle not only managed and documented the library, but she built relationships nationally and internationally to build the library’s collection of rare books. She worked for the library for 43 years – as its first librarian, and later as its first director. She was an incredible woman that broke into spaces that did not welcome her, and established herself despite societal norms. The library would not be what it is without her, and she paved the way for future women.

And yet, when you walk into her office, there is nothing about her.

Not one word.

When I visited, I had actually high-tailed it to the library first, and then made my way to Belle’s office. I was extremely excited to see what kind of display they had about her, and was disappointed that there was not one thing. I think it’s important that you see her office and understand who she was to the library before seeing the space itself.

Knowing who brought the books to those walls makes it all the more significant.

I did take a moment to appreciate some of the details of the space she worked in – including again, the ceiling.

And the woodworking.

With that, let’s step into Belle da Costa Green’s library.

I’d say words do not exist to describe its beauty, but those words likely exist in the books on its shelves.

From the woodworking, the layout of the room, the elaborate paintings on the ceiling – it was a magnificently warm, inviting, and utterly impressive space.

There was a large fireplace in the center, which I would have loved to see crackling.

I spent a long time just looking up at the ceiling and the rows and rows of beautiful antique books around me.

Look at how GORGEOUS that ceiling is. Good God! Great Scott! Leaping Lizards! Other proclamations of astonishment!

Ok, come closer and look at the beautiful books with me. I’ll show you some of my favorites.

I loved this set of green leather books. The colors along the spine were stunning, and they were in immaculate shape.

I noticed that many of the books were from Paris.

Paris 1856. Damn. It made me happy to see these beautiful books in such great condition, and it also made me miss France.

There were also a handful of sets of books like the white set above, which were leather-bound, but almost looked as if they were made of marble. I’d never seen anything like it before, but I thought they were stunning.

They also had a variety of books on display, including this copy of Augustine’s City of God, which was created in 1475.

1475. And it looks like this!

I walked around the library’s shelves, examining the beautiful books and imagining Belle on her voyages across the ocean, searching for wonderful new books to acquire for the library.

After lingering for far too long, I decided to leave the main library and check out the rest of the museum.

As I was leaving the room, I noticed something I hadn’t while walking in – the original front door.

Here is where Belle da Costa Greene would have entered the library each morning, heading to her office directly ahead, or to the library just to her right. So cool!

I left the original library building, back to the more modern portion of the museum, where they had other exhibits on display.

While I was still disappointed by the lack of information on Belle da Costa Greene, I was super excited to see that the exhibit on display was about the world’s first known author, who also happened to be woman, and a high priestess of the moon (can you imagine a better combination) named Enheduanna. She was a Mesopotamian princess who wrote poetry about sex and war, and her work was so impactful that it was copied in scribal schools long after her death.

Here is one of her pieces.

How insanely amazing to see a piece of writing from the world’s first known author in person? Full body chills.

While this is not Enheduanna herself, they had plaque fragment that depicted another high priestess of the moon.

They also had a funerary ensemble from a Sumerian Queen, Puabi, on display at the center of the room.

I had a blast walking through the exhibit. I had no idea that the world’s first known author was a woman, but I wasn’t surprised that history had held that information back from being publicly-known. Women’s accomplishments are often held in the darkness of history, but I was pleased to see Enheduanna brought to the light.

Satisfied with my adventures for the day, I made a final stop at a really cute coffee shop called Felix Roasting Co.