Times Square is just information overload for me. There is so much going on that it’s hard to comprehend everything being thrown at you all at one time. I like it but would hate to deal with it every day.

It reminded me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I guess every city has it’s “tourist” area. I’d guess that Times Square is the one for NYC. It’s overcrowded, a bit smelly, there is a lot of trash scattered about, and it’s extremely noisy. There are hot dog vendors, street people, shops selling anything you can possibly imagine, and a million people all packed into one tiny place. It’s not something I want to see again anytime soon.

This was my second trip there, the first being the summer before I started law school in 2009. That time, I was there just for one evening, having ridden the train up from Philly with my son and his girlfriend. We were there the night that Michael Jackson died, and we saw the news on the big screen and scrolling ticker tape along with 100,000 other people. Every store we went in was playing one of his songs. I’ll never forget the experience.

This time, we stayed in a hotel just down from the Square. It was the Hotel Edison, an older but decent place with a nice staff. I would recommend it for the traveler who will be out of the hotel a lot, but it was perfect for us since we were. Even being in Times Square on 47th, it was still pretty quiet in the evenings.

I’m glad our kids have had the experience. I’m glad that I could give them that, and I hope by our travels we have given them all some hope for the future.

Your station in life is your own choosing.