A snappy tune would be blasting in the background and the bright lights of Times Square would twinkle like stars.
Maybe at one point all the traffic would stop and allow me to get out and spin around like I'm Carrie Bradshaw, throwing my 'this season' hat into the air. It happened ever-so-slightly differently, of course, when Tim and I were introduced to the Big Apple by arriving at manic Penn Station.
We were holding our huge backpacks and about 47 other bags we'd acquired along the way and I was trying to dodge millions of people like Pacman avoiding ghosts.
Then I noticed a woman was talking to me - muttering to be precise. She was very obviously homeless and very possibly crazy and she was saying: 'You should be ashamed of yourself'.
What? Me? Why? What had I done wrong? It was as if I was Scarlett Johansson and this lady had just seen 'The Nanny Diaries'. Tim and I moved as quickly as we possibly could with our extra kilos of luggage and fought our way to the street to hail a cab.
Even this iconic New York activity was a bit of a disappointment as there was a man in a waistcoat waiting to do it for us. But we were thankful and excited to be spending the next seven days in New York City.Then, you wouldn't believe it: The cab pulled out into traffic, background music appeared from nowhere, my grotty backpacker's hair turned to a golden sheen and Times Square appeared ahead of me, just waiting for my best Sarah Jessica Parker pirouette.
It was going to be one hell of a week.
Next stop: The view from up there - the Rockefeller Center.
Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.
Find out about New York.
Read more of Kelly's blogs.
