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Student of the Quarter at Crestwood chosen

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Wyoming Area Kiwanis continues growth

<p>Stories of my first-ever experience in Wilkes-Barre usually get a chuckle out of people.</p><p>I remember trekking across Public Square to Dunkin&#8217; Donuts for a cup of coffee. It was an especially busy morning as cars passed by, and I couldn&#8217;t help but notice how tall the buildings seemed.</p><p>&#8220;Man, I&#8217;m in the big city now,&#8221; I thought as I crossed the street.</p><p>People laugh at the idea of Wilkes-Barre being a big city.</p><p>So you can imagine how I felt when I made my first trip to New York City this past weekend.</p><p>For what it&#8217;s worth, I made trips to Chicago and Detroit in high school, but I never really got a chance to explore them.</p><p>I was initially going to brave the Big Apple alone, but my friend George graciously offered to show me the city.</p><p>After a two-hour drive to Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, I met up with George and we had lunch at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. If you&#8217;re a fan of good barbecue and ever find yourself in Newark, I highly recommend it.</p><p>George and I then hopped on a train that led us to Penn Station underneath Madison Square Garden. I caught a glimpse of the city skyline every now and again but, from a distance, it still seemed so small.</p><p>When I stepped into the street in front of Madison Square Garden, I was in awe.</p><p>The buildings towered above me with billboards and screens scattered throughout. People wandered the streets and, while some were clearly tourists as overwhelmed I was, others were residents just going about their business.</p><p>That&#8217;s something that always fascinated me as a kid &#8212; if I were ever on a road trip or far away from home, it amazed me to think that each person I saw had a life as complex as my own. I&#8217;d always find myself wondering where people were going, what kind of lives they had or what kind of people they were.</p><p>The proper term for that is &#8220;sonder&#8221; and boy, that feeling came surging back as I made my way through the streets.</p><p>George and I, along with our friend Sarah, spent the day exploring the city. I probably made a poor travel companion at first, because I was so silent as my eyes went from one thing to the next. I gazed in awe at buildings like the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center towered over me.</p><p>I&#8217;m not sure why I believed them, but George and Sarah convinced me there were no coffee shops in New York City, which was a travesty for a coffee-lover like me.</p><p>For the record, there are countless coffee shops in New York City.</p><p>I come from very humble beginnings in Western Pennsylvania, from a very small borough called Barkeyville in Venango County. It&#8217;s a tiny little borough off Interstate 80 that primarily consists of a handful of truck stops and restaurants.</p><p>Chances are, if you ever drove on I-80 heading west to Pittsburgh, you passed my hometown.</p><p>For fun, my buds and I would hit the trails with our ATVs, shoot targets with guns, walk to the gas station at 3 a.m. for a soda or play knock-knock-ditch on our not-so-unsuspecting neighbors.</p><p>I spent a day and a half in New York City, and it baffles me to think I saw probably only a tenth of a percent of what that city has to offer. I&#8217;m already planning another trip in the next few months to dig into some of the museums, shows and other unique places it has to offer.</p><p>I spent the night in a city hotel and made the journey home alone Sunday. I found myself a hot cup of coffee from one of the countless coffee shops scattered throughout the city, and made my way back to Times Square for souvenirs before I left.</p><p>Ironically, much like my first walk in downtown Wilkes-Barre, I sat in awe as the crowds began to grow again.</p><p>&#8220;Now I&#8217;m in the big city,&#8221; I thought, smiling as I made my way to Penn Station to catch the next train to Newark.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Travis Kellar takes a selfie in Times Square during his trip to New York City. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_Times-Square-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Travis Kellar takes a selfie in Times Square during his trip to New York City. </caption0><photoCredit0>Travis Kellar | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Experiencing the Big Apple for the very first time