At least I can say I saw it

I love Law and Order. I’ve loved it for years; it’s a ridiculous obsession that I have since passed on to Amy. We enjoy taking in an episode every once in a while – it’s good bonding time for us. Because what says mother-daughter bonding like watching the police uncover a murder and the DA prosecute the bad guy? Ah, good times.

But this obsession of mine caused a bit of a headache for the whole family last week. See, we went to New York City to see the sights and take in a few shows. Since we were in the city, I wanted to see the bridge that’s in the opening credits of Law and Order. So on our way out of town after a fabulous few days in the big city, we drove over the George Washington Bridge.

The master plan was to drive over the bridge, head south down the west side of the island, then cross through the Holland Tunnel and wave goodbye to NYC.

Best laid plans…

Y’all, I’ve seen my fair share of busy roads. Atlanta traffic is no walk in the park; I’ve puttered along for an hour in Atlanta’s rush hour just to go a few miles. But I have never seen such horrible traffic as I did in NYC. Holy cow – we sat and sat and sat.

Our handy flip-map that screams, "Tourist!"

And it wasn't just the mass of cars - it was that the people driving them drive by a completely different set of rules than the rest of the country. Green definitley means go, but yellow is a non-event. Nothing happens until the light turns red. But red does not mean stop. Red means pull into the middle of the intersection so you'll have a chance to cross when the light turns green. Oh all those other cars trying to cross going the other way? Stinks to be them! They'll go... never. But everyone will blast their horns for whatever reason they see fit.

When we were walking in the city the previous two days, I couldn't understand why everyone was so heavy on the horn. But after sitting in that traffic, I understood. The horn has to be like some kind of steam valve for drivers in that city. You can only take so much before you blow.

We gave up on the Holland Tunnel and made it off the island the way Buddy the Elf made it on, by way of the Lincoln Tunnel.

Now I can say I've seen the bridge. I've seen lots of the places shown on Law and Order. And from now on, I'll just see them from the comfort of my living room, thank you very much.

Want to see the bridge in the credits? Here you go - and now that I've watched it, I'm not even sure it's the bridge we drove over! Don't tell Sean..