Travels of the Unchaperoned White Girl

Never fear - I did make it home unscathed from both NYC and Davis, WV!

I went to NYC with an undetermined timeline. One of the nice things about being unemployed is that you literally do not have an elsewhere to be. I have never drank so much tequila in my entire life. I don't even think I like tequila? It was an amazing week. The last few times I have been to NYC (because I have gone every month since July in a series of strange opportunities), I have just been there Friday night to Sunday afternoon/evening. Not a ton of time to do sightseeing or wandering.

Made a bar friend this night! Which night? Not sure.

Pictured: said prosecco

The official reason for my trip was my 31st (eek!) birthday. We did the usual getting rowdy, going crazy, etc. Saturday afternoon, we went to a lovely brunch celebrated with prosecco. I definitely drink differently when in NYC - I had a few beers during the Steelers game, but that was basically all my beer consumption.

Sombero AND tequila. Totes necessary.

Somehow, we ended up at a nice Mexican place during and after the game that had $3 shots of tequila! That was definitely necessary to my weekend existence. We did a lot of tequila shots. Happy 31st to me!!!!

Once we got done with the constant partying, there were two days that I spent sightseeing - Monday and Tuesday.

Hamilton exhibit at the library

I started my Monday by walking in the direction of Rockefeller Center. On the way, I stopped at the Public Library at Bryant Park. I highly recommend going here if you are in NYC. It's free to go in, so there is no excuse not to! They usually have two exhibits; I only saw one this time: Alexander Hamilton (hey...I said I was a white girl. Is there anything more white girl than the current obsession with all things Alexander Hamilton?!). The other positive of going there is that they bathrooms. Super clutch in any situation. They have amazing architecture as well. Always a high point. I rented a Citibike and used it more than once! A total of 6 times. En route back from the Rockefeller Center area, I chose to bike down 7th Ave. Never mind that all the roads around it have bike lines, I felt that biking during rush hour on a road with no bike lines was 100% the right choice. I almost got his by a car, a bus, and a cab! Quintessential NYC experience.

Hamilton's grave at Trinity Church

Tuesday, I went over to Chelsea Pier. I decided that I should hop on the Citibike and keep going until I ran out of bike trail. This turned out to be the whole way in Battery Park. Not a bad thing, just a lot further than I thought I was going to go. I found the National Museum of the American Indian (also free!). It isn't my usual genre of museum, but it was definitely worth the time (plus more bathrooms). I had no idea what else was down there, but I had a ton of time until I needed to go to happy hour (back to our new fav Mexican place!). I looked at the v helpful signs and ended up wandering down to Trinity Church. I was walking around, looking at the gravestones, when I came across Angelica Schuyler Church. I'm standing like a weirdo staring and then all of a sudden, I remember the lyric from Hamilton "...she is buried in Trinity Church near you." Oh...I'm at the place where Hamilton is buried. Duh. Like I haven't listened to that soundtrack enough to know that line. The church itself is gorgeous! I bought their 25 cent guide so I could figure out where the hell Hamilton actually was. I did find him (you could tell the pamphlet hadn't been updated since Hamilton took over the white girl world because it didn't have enough about him in it). Eliza's grave is next to his (not pictured). I didn't realize that no one knows where Philip is really buried, so there is a plaque to the right of Alexander with a note. After that, I decided that going to the 9/11 Memorial was a good idea. It is beautiful and depressing. I didn't go into the museum (see my prior reference to a happy hour coming up), but I heard it is both awesome and depressing. I finished up my trip to NYC by going to a debate party which turned into a Beyonce party. One of the highlights of this weekend was getting carded - the 10th anniversary of my 21st and I got carded!

I was back from NYC for about 15 hours before I set off on my next adventure. This is a lot longer than I anticipated, so I am going to update on Davis, WV later!

The UnchaperonedWhiteGirl Origin Story

Recently, I was asked where the "unchaperonedwhitegirl" hashtag came from. It originated a bit over a year ago when I was flying out to San Diego. It was my second time flying alone before (and truly didn't fly that often then).

I used #unchaperonedwhitegirl the first time on a view from my hotel room in San Diego. I had an entire day entirely on my own and zero plans. I am not 100% sure how the words all came together. I know the unchaperoned part started as how I just keep getting drinks at airports when I am alone. I think white girl was because stereotypes exist for a reason.

The San Diego trip truly cemented for me that I can travel on my own. And that I like it. I can get myself to an airport and board a plane. This wasnt a direct flight like my Seattle flight was! I can find things to do when I have an entire day by myself. I used to be incredibly self conscious about going places alone - I felt very odd. Unchaperonedwhitegirl almost became my alter ego - she goes places, sees sights, and doesn't care that she is a weirdo taking a selfie of herself at a Pilot rest stop. She is more daring than I thought I could be.

I flew to Hawaii alone.  Pre-unchaperonedwhitegirl Blair never would have done that. I am currently on a Megabus alone to NYC - no way would I have done that before. I would have waited until someone else could travel with me.

The hashtag is more to me than just a funny set of words that make fun of what I am doing. It symbolizes the point in time where I realized that I am capable of doing what I want to do.

Old Friends, Taco Beer, and Endless Shrimp

I made many poor food choices yesterday. Namely, a beer that tasted like tacos and endless shrimp at Red Lobster.

The taco beer was very tasty, but it was very acidic. How can a beer even contain beef?! There was a note in the menu to let everyone know it contains beef. North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock needs to reveal their secrets. I can't imagine eating it with anything other than a burrito. I had a veggie burrito paired with a beef beer. Lovely start.

It was my first time to Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster. I don't even know the last time I was at a Red Lobster - let alone guzzling shrimp. I had 76. How does RL even make money off that? 76 shrimp when the cost was $17.99 is insane. I didn't even win the shrimp battle!

Pictured: poor life choices and great friend choices

Why did I make these kinds of life choices? I saw a lot of old friends.

Two people I hadn't seen in a very long time came into town. I have had the same base group of friends since freshman year at college. We all met at Duquesne in the Honors College basically the first week of school. Duquesne has a very serious freshman orientation - while most college I have heard of have a day or so of orientation, Duquesne goes from Wednesday to Sunday. Their message is you will make friends and you will like it.

I wasn't sure if I was going to sign up for the Honors College when I got the information for it from Duquesne. I barely made it in honestly. One of the criteria was a 1300 on your SAT - luckily for me, they took the top two scores from math and reading (or whatever the old SAT was...seemed so important at the time and now I can't even remember). I wondered if I was really going to get a "college" experience - whatever the hell that is - if I was in an Honors dorm. I am not 100% sure what I pictured, but it definitely didn't turn out that way.

The people I met in the Honors College are people that I would call on in a crisis even if we haven't talked in a while (and definitely have done that). They're people who know so much about me that if I ever run for office I would be in trouble. Or have a hell of a team. Six of us went on a vacation to Vegas in January, and we are planning to do another vacation next year. I am taking some of my funemployment time to go to NYC for no reason other than hanging out.

I didn't love Duquesne itself. I'm dubious of the degree that I put myself into so much debt for. I don't for a single second regret the friendships I made there.

They are people I drink taco beer and eat Endless Shrimp for.

Note: both of the above were 100% my choice. I only mostly regret both of them.

Places I Hadn't Been Before - Homewood Cemetery

One of the many advantages of being funemployed is that you have a lot of time to do things. Yesterday, I went to breakfast at Square Cafe (where my first world problem was that they were out of ciabatta and I had to have my breakfast sandwich on wheat).

When I was walking back to Shadyside, I realized that I had never been in the Homewood Cemetery before. I drive past it all the time. I've seen those gates more times than I can count. But I never went inside. I took a break from my busy Pokemon catching schedule and walked in the gates on Forbes.

It is so serene in there. I know - it's a cemetery so it isn't bustling. There is something about being in the city limits and being in a place where you don't see or hear anyone for at least half an hour at a time that is amazing. I always take for granted that there will always be someone near me. I live in a condo building with neighbors. I walk around Shadyside with other pedestrians and cars. There are very few moments when I am totally alone. Walking around the cemetery was one of those times.

 The city's cemeteries are a fascinating way to look into the past. Although we have many monuments and signs about our city's history in other places, the cemetery is one place you can also find the traces of those who weren't the super rich (the rich are definitely there too - Frick's grave is a Pokestop!). You can see the change in style of gravestones to the ones we usually see today (the super smooth layer that makes it so you can read it years later)

 

 There are small, deteriorated graves that belonged to children and their parents. I saw headstones of men who died when they were my age back in the mid 1990s that had fresh flowers on the graves. There are monuments to families that must have been important but are lost to casual history. I found two headstones that aren't in English.


It was a beautiful place, and I am glad I visited it. The most important lesson I learned was if you go buy a mausoleum with a slightly open door, take a quick pic, and keep walking! It's October...let's not forget what horror movies have taught us!

Election, sexism, and zombies

Is anyone else rooting for a zombie apocalypse? Serious question.

In case this isn't totally clear, I am 100% liberal. Never voted for a Republican in my life. I do vote for each person individually (not just the straight Democratic ticket), but I have never even been tempted to vote for a Republican. I registered as a Democrat when I turned 18 and have never looked back.

I like Hillary. I liked her in 2008. She's strong. Can you imagine having people say the things about you that they say about Hillary? The way the media and the Republicans pick on what she wears, how her hair is, and literally everything about her as a person? She hasn't fought back on the same level - more of that "living well is the best revenge" stuff. It would be incredibly easy to attack Donald on the level he does to her.

But that isn't the kind of person who should be running the country. The "tells it likes it is" insanity of Donald is terrible for someone actually in charge of anything. It's like if I ran for President - horrible idea. Sometimes I talk first and think later. That isn't great for diplomacy. Donald has found his niche as a racist, sexist, homophobic demagogue who is trying to destroy American. His version of making America great again is making it great for white, Christian, heterosexual males. Not for anyone else.

The only positive out of all the sexism is that it is making other people realize sexism still exists. I worked in insurance, I'm wildly familiar with sexism. When it's institutional, it can be hard to explain. I have definitely found it hard to explain. Men often think that I'm reading too much into something or attributing things to sexism when that's not the case. Until a lot of men heard how Donald talks about and treats Hillary, they thought this kind of sexism was a thing of the past. The era of Mad Men is not over.

No matter how this turns out, American is screwed up. If Donald wins, I don't know if we will ever have another election. That hypothetical "what would you have done if you were in Germany when Hitler was coming to power" is what we are dealing with now. We are watching a dangerous man blame our country's problems on a specific group of people. If Hillary wins, we will be treated to at least 4 (hopefully 8!) years of the most blatant sexism we can imagine. The racism will probably die down a little bit (yay?), but it isn't going to be pretty. The Donald supporters will still live in America - we will know that a huge chunk of the population thinks that he right.


Zombies anyone?