On a whim, I took a long weekend away in NYC. Flights on American Airlines were . . . $144 round trip. I'm fairly certain you can't fly to StL from Chicago for that cost round trip. Add in a ridiculous 'name your price' on Priceline and I spent the weekend at the Waldorf Astoria. Although, I messed up dearly and drank the water from the mini bar and $8.71 later I was still thirsty.

New York as a whole has a buzz about it, no question. I had 2.5 days to get in years worth of anticipation of places I wanted to visit and street vendor pretzels I wanted to eat. My plan was to have no plan, except to spend chunks of time in specific neighborhoods. I did the tourist things: MoMA, 30 Rock, Katz's Deli, Carrie Bradshaw's House, etc, but I wanted to spend time just watching, observing, immersing.

I love street photography for that reason. If I travel with my camera, I aim at capturing what I see, versus what the landmark photos should be. Street photography to me captures a visual image that takes me back to the afternoon in the park, the stroll in the early evening, the smells of a city. I want to remember a place the way I saw it the first time. With wide eyes and with many layers.

And NYC, boy does it have many layers.