Why would someone in my position have an interest in staying at Oheka Castle?Īs stated in the aforementioned paragraphs, I am a book nerd and English instructor. The story behind my Oheka Castle tour review begins with me scrolling on Groupon like…. A signal to “go for it.” My finger hit “purchase.” In a minute or less, I had booked my trip to Oheka Castle. The groupon was my own personal green light on the end of a dock. An overnight stay at Long Island’s only castle-cum-luxury hotel, one of the inspirations for Gatsby’s mansion. My fingers found their way to the dry patches of skin on my lips, as they often do when I’m deep in thought. It was a half hearted endeavor, I scrolled absent-mindedly just knowing I’d settle for some minor off Broadway performance. Something that did not involve a Bacchanalian evening and the torture of wearing black stiletto heels. In my mind, I always assumed the throngs of friends I celebrated with would attend every birthday celebration of mine my whole life.īleary eyed, in the early morning hours sitting at the school where I teach, I scrolled through Groupon looking for a way to celebrate my special day. What was I to care? It wasn’t me who was paying. ![]() I remember the night as an endless barrage of flower bouquets, free drinks, and a $2,000 bill for dinner, which upon its arrival, I didn’t blink an eye at. We danced and imbibed in New York City’s hottest night clubs, transported via a behemoth of a party bus. The place boasts floor to ceiling windows – presumably for those with voyeuristic fetishes in mind – housed in Manhattan’s exclusive meatpacking district. Twenty or more of my friends and I stayed over at the luxurious Standard Hotel. A memory of my 24th birthday in particular stood out. However, I could not help but reflect on every other birthday celebration of my 20’s. I noted that I had my husband, both parents, a son, and a small, core group of friends. In many ways, of course, I was not lonely. “Thirty – the promise of a decade of loneliness” is how Nick Carraway describes the impending development of the big 3-0.Īs I prepared to enter the last year of my 20’s, I meditated on Nick Carraway’s feelings towards turning 30. This would be my final year to secure a foundation in life before turning 30, when the “building” of an “adult” life allegedly begins. ![]() As the ball began to drop and those around me began to count, it dawned on me that as society was ready to welcome the “20’s,” I was days away from preparing to leave my own 20’s behind me. ![]() There is a scene where the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway, forgets about his own birthday. ![]() It had seemed, at least according to my Instagram feed, that Americans were beguiled by the possibility of another “roaring 20’s.” My mind conjured up images from The Great Gatsby, a novel I’ve taught dozens of times as an English teacher.Ĭhampagne, jazz music, flappers, tuxedos, and Gilded Age mansions for housing the aforementioned three. It left me nearly forgetting that New York, and the entire world, would be welcoming a brand new era at the stroke of midnight. I was in a stupor from over indulging in the Russian spread, combined with the inhumane lack of sleep from being a new mom.
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