I'm warning you now this will be a long post... so much to share!!
First off we had a total blast! We saw so much, we ate so much and we did so much.... WALKING!!! It was great; we walked almost everywhere which at the end of the trip probably equalled 20+ miles. What kind of vacation is this?? ;-) For me the absolute highlight was going to the taping of the Letterman show. Michael J. Fox was the guest with musical group The Fray (who are now my new favs). Letterman really is hilarious and his side-kick Paul Schafer really is a tiny little man - to me he looked a lot like the actor/comedian Martin Short.
Here are some other highlights
1. Probably the worst picture ever taken of the Statue of Liberty, but it was one of the things that Scott really wanted to see on this trip. It was pretty anti-climatic,though as we thought it would be a lot grander than it was. If we had done the ferry tour and Ellis Island trip it probably would have been better. But now Scott can cross this off his bucket list ;-)
2. We didn't go to any shows or plays on this trip, but we did see all the theaters.
3. The one meal we splurged on was dinner at Serendipity - a super adorable restaurant/dessert parlor - and it was fantastic. They are famous for their frozen hot chocolate and it was worth the trip. My mouth is watering just thinking of it!!
4. In the 20+ miles we covered in Manhattan we walked passed this yummy bakery in Chelsea and they had these huge fresh baked cookies in the window so I had to take a pic. And then Scott said back up and look at the name of the place... it was called Big Booty Bakery Co. and there was this cartoon image of a man with a huge booty... too funny!
5. There were so many things that we did and see that we kept saying, 'OK, that just made the trip worth it'... well this pic is of one of those places. It's B&H Photo Video and it's really the BEST source for all things photography. I knew this company was in NY, but I had no idea where and didn't even set out to find them... we were literally walking around, turned a corner and there it was... celestial beams of heavenly rays of light with angels singing and beckoning for me to come inside. Let's just say it was a good thing that Scott was holding all the money and credit cards that day because it could have been ugly :-)
6. In Grand Central Station there was the really neat display for the new BMW Z4 Roadster. Go here to see... it's really fun!
7. Scott and I quickly realized that the NYC diet consists of cigarettes and coffee... There are literally Starbucks Coffee shops one right on top of the other. We stuck with the real hard stuff...hot chocolate!
8. A really neat historical landmark in NYC is the Chelsea Hotel. A lot of famous people have lived and stayed there.
9. Have you seen a bigger McD's marquee... seriously??!! It's 3x the size as the cabs below!!
10. When I look at this picture it reminds me of something you might see in the urban version of Where's Waldo.
11. And finally just a pic of one of our many hearty breakfasts consisting of a bagel or croissant and hot chocolate.
These are of the morning we went to Rockafeller Plaza and watched the Today show. That's Keith Urban the country music superstar... I'm not into country so I didn't bother to get his autograph, but he was really nice when a lady shoved a cell phone in his face and asked him to wish so-and-so a happy birthday. He then sang (beautifully) into the phone the first couple of lines of the birthday song... how cool is that!!?? And then Meredith Viera walked around and shook hands with everyone and took pictures with anyone who wanted. Scott got the picture at the bottom of me pointing to Meredith and just as we were cracking up over the photo she walks over to us and says to Scott 'I know this one, she's up to no good, she's my kind of gal'... super funny!!
These are just some pics of our eating excursions... The before and after pic is of some of the best Indian curry that I have ever had. We had just had dinner by our hotel and then started out for our long night adventure down to the financial district (site of the WTC construction). It was going to be a long walk so we knew at some point we would have to catch a cab but we decided to walk for as long as we could. We got about 15 blocks from our hotel and just as we turned another corner we came to this place called 'Curry in a Hurry'. By this time it had only been about 45 mins after we just ate and I was about to convince Scott that we needed a 2nd dinner when I noticed on the door that they were open until midnight. PERFECT!!! We did our sight seeing around Wall St and Battery Park and then made it back to Curry in a Hurry by 11:15. It was the best midnight snack I have ever had!! Don't judge... all that walking gives you a hearty appetite!!
Here are some other random pictures from our trip. The top pictures were taken at H&M, my new fav clothing store. Super cute stuff for super cheap... I think AZ is getting an H&M soon... can't wait! I love the bottom pic of Scott... he was hilarious pretending like he was walking into the peep show. And last but not least the photo of our airline boarding passes may seem like a weird pic, but you don't know how happy we were to be holding ACTUAL BOARDING PASSES to get on a plane heading home. It wasn't that we were sick of NYC, it wasn't that we were anxious to go home it was just that were were flying stand-by on some buddy passes given to us by some very dear friends and because of this we were in JFK on Saturday from 3:30 am to about 6:30 pm trying to fly home. Every flight (either direct or with stops) to Phoenix was completely overbooked which means absolutely no stand-by can fly. After crying, pleading, begging and yelling for someone to please help us get on a plane - and I didn't care where that plane was going, just as long as it was headed in the direction of the West coast - we were told by a very rude gate agent that it could be up to 4-5 days before we could get out of NYC. What the &*%$!! Suffice to say that I lost it right then and there. So, after I'm able to compose myself I'm on the phone with my good friend trying to find a flight, any flight that we could have a good chance to get on and head home. Then came the good news/bad news. There was a flight out at 6:30am on Sunday (the next day) that only had 58 seats sold out of 140 so our chances were better than excellent that we would get on that flight. The bad news... the plane departed out of Boston. So, here it is almost 7pm on Saturday and we have to go back to NYC Times Square to get on a Greyhound bus that departs at 10:30pm and arrives in Boston at 3:30am and then grab a cab and get to the airport to check in as early as possible to ensure that we get on that plane. It was the craziest travel experience we have ever had! Good times!!
So, that's our trip... I told you it would be a long post!!
For some other photos of our trip, go here to see the one's I posted on my biz blog.
First off we had a total blast! We saw so much, we ate so much and we did so much.... WALKING!!! It was great; we walked almost everywhere which at the end of the trip probably equalled 20+ miles. What kind of vacation is this?? ;-) For me the absolute highlight was going to the taping of the Letterman show. Michael J. Fox was the guest with musical group The Fray (who are now my new favs). Letterman really is hilarious and his side-kick Paul Schafer really is a tiny little man - to me he looked a lot like the actor/comedian Martin Short.
Here are some other highlights
1. Probably the worst picture ever taken of the Statue of Liberty, but it was one of the things that Scott really wanted to see on this trip. It was pretty anti-climatic,though as we thought it would be a lot grander than it was. If we had done the ferry tour and Ellis Island trip it probably would have been better. But now Scott can cross this off his bucket list ;-)
2. We didn't go to any shows or plays on this trip, but we did see all the theaters.
3. The one meal we splurged on was dinner at Serendipity - a super adorable restaurant/dessert parlor - and it was fantastic. They are famous for their frozen hot chocolate and it was worth the trip. My mouth is watering just thinking of it!!
4. In the 20+ miles we covered in Manhattan we walked passed this yummy bakery in Chelsea and they had these huge fresh baked cookies in the window so I had to take a pic. And then Scott said back up and look at the name of the place... it was called Big Booty Bakery Co. and there was this cartoon image of a man with a huge booty... too funny!
5. There were so many things that we did and see that we kept saying, 'OK, that just made the trip worth it'... well this pic is of one of those places. It's B&H Photo Video and it's really the BEST source for all things photography. I knew this company was in NY, but I had no idea where and didn't even set out to find them... we were literally walking around, turned a corner and there it was... celestial beams of heavenly rays of light with angels singing and beckoning for me to come inside. Let's just say it was a good thing that Scott was holding all the money and credit cards that day because it could have been ugly :-)
6. In Grand Central Station there was the really neat display for the new BMW Z4 Roadster. Go here to see... it's really fun!
7. Scott and I quickly realized that the NYC diet consists of cigarettes and coffee... There are literally Starbucks Coffee shops one right on top of the other. We stuck with the real hard stuff...hot chocolate!
8. A really neat historical landmark in NYC is the Chelsea Hotel. A lot of famous people have lived and stayed there.
9. Have you seen a bigger McD's marquee... seriously??!! It's 3x the size as the cabs below!!
10. When I look at this picture it reminds me of something you might see in the urban version of Where's Waldo.
11. And finally just a pic of one of our many hearty breakfasts consisting of a bagel or croissant and hot chocolate.
These are of the morning we went to Rockafeller Plaza and watched the Today show. That's Keith Urban the country music superstar... I'm not into country so I didn't bother to get his autograph, but he was really nice when a lady shoved a cell phone in his face and asked him to wish so-and-so a happy birthday. He then sang (beautifully) into the phone the first couple of lines of the birthday song... how cool is that!!?? And then Meredith Viera walked around and shook hands with everyone and took pictures with anyone who wanted. Scott got the picture at the bottom of me pointing to Meredith and just as we were cracking up over the photo she walks over to us and says to Scott 'I know this one, she's up to no good, she's my kind of gal'... super funny!!
These are just some pics of our eating excursions... The before and after pic is of some of the best Indian curry that I have ever had. We had just had dinner by our hotel and then started out for our long night adventure down to the financial district (site of the WTC construction). It was going to be a long walk so we knew at some point we would have to catch a cab but we decided to walk for as long as we could. We got about 15 blocks from our hotel and just as we turned another corner we came to this place called 'Curry in a Hurry'. By this time it had only been about 45 mins after we just ate and I was about to convince Scott that we needed a 2nd dinner when I noticed on the door that they were open until midnight. PERFECT!!! We did our sight seeing around Wall St and Battery Park and then made it back to Curry in a Hurry by 11:15. It was the best midnight snack I have ever had!! Don't judge... all that walking gives you a hearty appetite!!
Here are some other random pictures from our trip. The top pictures were taken at H&M, my new fav clothing store. Super cute stuff for super cheap... I think AZ is getting an H&M soon... can't wait! I love the bottom pic of Scott... he was hilarious pretending like he was walking into the peep show. And last but not least the photo of our airline boarding passes may seem like a weird pic, but you don't know how happy we were to be holding ACTUAL BOARDING PASSES to get on a plane heading home. It wasn't that we were sick of NYC, it wasn't that we were anxious to go home it was just that were were flying stand-by on some buddy passes given to us by some very dear friends and because of this we were in JFK on Saturday from 3:30 am to about 6:30 pm trying to fly home. Every flight (either direct or with stops) to Phoenix was completely overbooked which means absolutely no stand-by can fly. After crying, pleading, begging and yelling for someone to please help us get on a plane - and I didn't care where that plane was going, just as long as it was headed in the direction of the West coast - we were told by a very rude gate agent that it could be up to 4-5 days before we could get out of NYC. What the &*%$!! Suffice to say that I lost it right then and there. So, after I'm able to compose myself I'm on the phone with my good friend trying to find a flight, any flight that we could have a good chance to get on and head home. Then came the good news/bad news. There was a flight out at 6:30am on Sunday (the next day) that only had 58 seats sold out of 140 so our chances were better than excellent that we would get on that flight. The bad news... the plane departed out of Boston. So, here it is almost 7pm on Saturday and we have to go back to NYC Times Square to get on a Greyhound bus that departs at 10:30pm and arrives in Boston at 3:30am and then grab a cab and get to the airport to check in as early as possible to ensure that we get on that plane. It was the craziest travel experience we have ever had! Good times!!
So, that's our trip... I told you it would be a long post!!
For some other photos of our trip, go here to see the one's I posted on my biz blog.