| you're old enough to get married, but not old enough to come to NYC? How old are you anyway? I grew up in SMALL TOWN Iowa, and I moved here at the age of 23. Unless you're 17 or something, You won't get THAT lost, and us NYers will be glad to help some kids from Arkansas figure out they're going the wrong way. Heck, we even volunteer assistance to people who haven't even asked yet; they just look confused and have a subway map in their hands. It's not a big, bad, dangerous city (esp. not before 1am, and not if you're sober--the last two horror stories happened to people who were stumbling drunk and alone). Crime is down, way down. And it's not that easy to get lost, either, actually. The island of Manhattan is only 13 square miles, and the streets are numbered, mostly. All the streets are labeled; the subways are labeled. I like the Michelin Green Guide; it has great info about the city's history, and neat "walking tours" that help you see neighborhoods on a smaller scale (and maps of those smaller streets). I always keep a current copy in my home, for if visitors come. How long will you have? Figure you'll only really get to see 2 big things each day, and then make a list of what it is you most want to see. What would you be bummed to miss? Everybody has something different on that list (for my Mom is was the Plaza Hotel; for me, the House on East 88th Street where Lyle the crocodile lived; for many people it's the classics like Empire State Bldg, etc.) What might set your dad at ease is if you had the phone number of someone you could call if you DID get lost. In that regard, staying at a hotel w/ a 24-hour concierge might set his mind at ease; you could call and say, "which direction should I go?" or "would you send a cab to pick us up?" The thing is, here is the only dangerous way you could get lost: if you get on the wrong subway train going the wrong direction, and don't realize it in time, and end up way out in the Bronx or Brooklyn. But honestly, I've seen this happen time and time again--some NYer will say, "where are you trying to go?" (and if this does happen to you, don't leave the subway system; ask someone for directions how to catch a train going back the opposite direction)
And, my advice to ANYONE, advice I follow myself (after ending up way out in a part of Bklyn I didn't want to go to), never rush to get on a train. Be sure you know exactly which train it is, and that you're both together. There will be another train, they come quite frequently; let this one go, and catch the next one. Come to NYC--honest, you'll be safe. And "lost" isn't always bad. | 
