A Whirlwind Day in New York City

One Day, $100 in Our Pockets, and 20 Miles of Manhattan

Jeff Scott and I once took on New York City in a single day, with maybe a hundred bucks each in our pockets and a whole lot of ambition. We left late at night and drove straight through, rolling into the area early the next morning. We parked at the North Bergen Park and Ride over in New Jersey and made our way into the city, ready to pack as much of New York as we possibly could into one unforgettable day.

Our plan started simple enough: get in line for tickets to Conan outside Rockefeller Center. But New York had other ideas. While we were waiting, a couple of interns approached us and, before we knew it, we'd been whisked away by limo to a taping of Sally Jessy Raphael. It was the kind of only-in-New-York moment you couldn't plan if you tried, and it set the tone for a day that just kept getting better.

From there we managed to get into a taping of TRL, MTV's Total Request Live, with none other than Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 serving as guest host. Riding that momentum, we set out on foot and strolled through just about every neighborhood we could, working our way all the way south to the Financial District. By the end of it we figured we'd walked at least twenty miles, soaking up the energy of the city block by block.

Exhausted and happy, we crashed for the night at an Econo Lodge in Secaucus before making the drive back the next day. For a trip that started with barely a hundred dollars and a tank of gas, we somehow crammed in limos, TV tapings, and miles of Manhattan streets. It remains one of the most spontaneous, lucky, and downright fun adventures I've ever had.