Start Spreadin' the News...

So, I've returned. From New York. I flew out on July 5th and got back July 9, so a nice 5-day trip. I had never been to New York, so the plan was to pretty much hit all the major tourist spots in the city. There were lots of little things that people told us to do, that I might enjoy someday, but really, I just had to get in the major stuff on this trip- Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, etc. Now, my mom and I planned this trip figuring that if we went over the weekend of the 4th, we could save me some PTO. Of course, we could have flown out on the 4th and saved me another day off of work, but I don't like flying. Actually, I pretty much hate flying. I am completely paranoid to the point that I clutch a St. Christopher medal in my hand during the entire duration of any flight that I am on. I even held it in one hand, while I ate my Midwest chocolate chip cookies with the other. I am convinced on each and every flight that I take that something horrible is going to happen. This fear was present prior to 9/11, however I'm pretty sure it's gotten worse since then. Now, not only am I afraid of engine trouble, or turbulance, or the brakes or landing gear not working properly, I'm also afraid of hijackings, bombs, and various other methods that someone might use to harm the plane. I will fully admit to rather intense scrutiny of all my fellow passengers prior to boarding, and once the flight is in progress, if you should move towards the front of the cabin, I'm watching you like a hawk until you take your seat again. Like I said, I'm paranoid. So, flying on the fourth wasn't happening, as I didn't want to fly into New York on this huge holiday, even though everyone tells me that dates like that actually don't mean so much to the terrorists.

Anyway, we get in to New York safely on saturday and of course there is a light rain, but not too bad, so after dropping off our luggage, we set off. Now prior to the trip, we sat down one day and planned out each day. What we wanted to see and based on where they were located, roughly the order we would go in to hit all our spots on a given day. Day one was to first head over to the UN building which was pretty out-of-the-way from most other place we were going, so we threw it in on saturday. When we left the hotel, it was drizzling. By the time we got a few blocks, the drizzle had turned into a downpour. Mom and I both had on raincoats and umbrellas and were still soaked by the time we reached the UN. As a result in all pictures from saturday afternoon, I look something like a drowned rat. It was kind of cool to see the UN, and once we finished up there, we were off to the Empire State Building. We had purchased our tickets ahead of time online to save us time waiting in the ticket line. Many people had said that the wait at the Empire State Building could be up to 3 hours. So, we figured on saturday we didn't have any shows or anything to get to, so we could just wait as long as we needed. At the ground level they had a sign out that said the observation level currently had zero visibility. We weren't quite sure what that meant, but again, everything was planned out for each day, so skipping the building on saturday meant that we would have to figure out when to squeeze it into our packed schedule. So, we went up. At least we would be able to say we were at the Empire State Building. Well, we get to the top after only a half hour of waiting and it really wasn't too bad. We could see probably four or five miles. Actually, by the time we got back down, they had switched the sign to read "limited visibility". So, it was cool to see all that and since we didn't have to wait very long, we were way ahead of schedule. We stopped at Macy's, just to see what the building looked like- since we have a Macy's here, there was no real need to shop there. By that time, we figured our hotel room should be ready and headed back in that direction, as both of us desperately needed at least dry socks. The rain had pretty much stopped, so it was looking like it would be a pretty nice night. We checked into our hotel, The Belvedere (and yes, the fact that it had the same name as a classic '80s sitcom did somewhat sway my decision to stay there). It was a really nice place, and we were getting complimentary full breakfasts each morning- in other words, non of that continental crap, we're talking eggs, bacon, french toast, etc. So, after checking in and putting on dry socks and blow drying my hair a bit, we were off again. This time our destination was much closer, Times Square. We were actually only a couple of blocks from there, so it was a quick walk. We spent the next couple of hours wandering around, stopping in some stores, checking out where the shows we were seeing were located and just taking it all in. A stop at the Times Square visitor's center earned us a map, which pointed out a section just west of the Times Square area called restaurant row. We headed over there for dinner, hoping to find a little pub or something as we weren't dressed for a fancy saturday night dinner. Found a great little Irish pub that had this awesome Granny Smith's Cider. Good food, too. This time we headed towards 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza. The Plaza looks pretty cool at night and we saw several stores that we wanted to check out the next day when they were open. Now, several friends had told me prior to this trip that I had to check out the awesome designer knock-offs that they sell out in New York. I had been looking at these little carts on the sidewalks all afternoon, and they didn't look all that great as far as knockoffs were concerned. I mean, the "Coach" purses had a G on the them instead of the signature C motif. So, I was a little confused until it got dark. As we were walking down 5th Avenue, I saw these guys with like shopping-type carts and inside them, they had a large sheet that obviously had something inside it. Well, they would ask people if they wanted to see purses, and if someone said yes, they would lay out the sheet and all these purses were inside it. Now, these were the good knockoffs. "Coach" purses that had the C motif, Louis Vuitton's with the VL pattern. So, I finally decided that I had to stop and check some out. I saw this really cute "Coach" purse that had white straps and the design was a pink, purple and red C pattern. Very cute. I wound up paying $50 for my "Coach". After I bought the purse and started walking away, another guy comes up with sunglasses and necklaces in his hand. He asks if I want to see something else. He has these really cute "Chanel" sunglasses, but when I ask him how much, he says, $40. After explaining to him that I had perfectly good sunglasses- that were actually on my head at the time- and threatening to walk away, I paid $20 for my new sunglasses. We were both pretty spent by this time, so after a little more wandering, we called it a slightly early night and went back to the hotel.

Sunday morning was an early one by my standards, but we had to both get ready, eat breakfast and get over to St. Patricks in time for 9am mass. We got over there in plenty of time and even had some time to wander a bit around Rockefeller Plaza and saw the Today show getting ready to film a segment out in the plaza. Must have been some sort of fitness thing as there was a woman sitting on a exercise ball out there. There was a decent crowd to see what was going on, but nothing like what I'm guessing you see on the weekdays. Mass at St. Patrick's was really nice and then we wandered down to Central Park. After walking around in there for an hour or so, we made our way to Tavern on the Green for brunch. The food was excellent and it's such a nice place. After brunch we walked back over to 5th Avenue for a little shopping. Our first stop was FAO Schwartz- which my mother kept calling by the wrong name, those darned initials got her every time, first it was AJ, then FSO, the FOA- it was a day or so before she finally spit out FAO. Anyway, my purchase there does not anywhere state that it came from FAO (unlike the teddy bear mom got), but they were so fun looking, I couldn't resist. They are called carpet sliders. You put them on your feet and you can slide across carpet. (This made unpacking much more fun than in the past- the trip from the bedroom to bathroom was way more exciting when you slide between the two) The next store was the one I had been waiting to shop in for years. Tiffany's. I have walked through the Tiffany's in Chicago, but there is a whole different feeling when you walk into Tiffany's knowing that you are going to buy something. It makes looking at those glass cases so much more exciting. While we looked at quite a few of the cases, I had done a little pre-shopping research at home and had my eye on a couple of necklaces. So, once I found those, I asked to try them on. It was hard to tell online what the difference between the two was, other than the clasp. As it turns out, one was a choker and one was a necklace. The choker was a little tight, but the necklace looked awesome. It has a thick, chunky silver chain and a heart charm on it that says, "Return to Tiffany & Co." The charm doesn't hang too far, it hits right about at the base of my collar bone. And then of course, they put it in that pretty blue box with white ribbon and then into the pretty blue bag. Of note- the Tiffany's purchase was mostly a gift for my birthday- mom and dad told me they would pay $200 towards anything I wanted- I did have to supplement with a little of my own money, but it was well worth it. Now that we had stopped in the store I really wanted to shop in, it was time for mom's favorite store- The Disney Store. The one on 5th Ave. really impressed mom- it was three stories of Disney merchandise. They sell shirts similar to the I heart NY ones that you see everywhere (and that we had already bought the day before in Times Square), but these ones replace the heart with the Mickey icon. Right up mom's alley. Once the shopping bug was satisfied, we made our way over to the Museum of Modern Art. I'm not a huge modern art fan- most of it seems pretty weird to me. And the first couple of floors did nothing to change my opinion. It's just strange. At least the last couple of floors had some more of your standard art, which included some of the impressionists, which is my favorite period of art. After MOMA, we headed back to the hotel to rest a little and change before the evenings Broadway show. Sunday night was Mary Poppins. I have been a fan of the movie since I was a little kid. I would alternate between that and the Sound of Music whenever it was my turn to choose a movie. So, I was pretty excited to see this on stage. I had heard that there were some changes made to some of the lyrics and a few changes to the plot of the story, so I was prepared for this not to be exactly the movie brought to life on stage. First of all, we had incredible seats. The first row of the mezzanine, center section. The show was incredible. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed all the changes they made along with the staging. The way they figured out how to show that house and the nursery and the rooftop scenes was just wonderful. And at the end, when Mary Poppins flys off over the audience and into the rafters, she flew almost in front of us. So cool. We hit a little Italian place for dinner after the show and then back to the hotel.

By day three, I was tired, but we were heading into a different part of the city today. Down to lower Manhatten. We were taking the Subway down to Battery Park where we would catch the Ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. We pre-bought tickets again, as only a certain number of people are allowed in the base of the statue each day, and we wanted to make sure we got in there. The subway ride went smoothly and we got down near the ferry. Of course, here is where mom and I have different temperaments. She is a little more laid-back when it comes to time and as a result, is frequently late for things. I am not. I am type-A all the way, and do not, under any circumstances, like to be late. Now, our tickets stated that we were to be at security by 9am, but they didnt' say if that was security to get on the ferry, or security on Liberty Island. So, I wanted to be early, just in case. As we're walking over to the line, we came to this area, where we could either go up these stairs and cut across this garden-y area, or turn a little and go around it. Mom made a move like she was going around it, so I turned also and we walked smack into each other. I'm fairly certain I took the brunt of the hit, as she's taller than me and I smacked my jaw on her shoulder. However, I was a little tense and instead of apologizing as I should have, especially with everyone in line looking at us, I rather loudly exclaimed, "Jesus! What are you doing!". Yeah, great, go me. (I did later apologize for my overall behavior that morning) Well, we made it on the ferry and over to the island ok- thanks in no small part to the wonderful workings of dramamine. Seeing the Statue of Liberty up close was very cool. We walked around the island a bit and then took the ferry over to Ellis Island. We walked around a bit and grabbed some food, then headed back to the mainland. Once we got back, we walked into downtown. Our first stop would be the Stock Exchange. I checked the map to see how to get there, and we were off. Of course, this prompted the following exchange:
Me- we're going to turn on Broadway up here
Mom- is the stock exchange on Broadway?
Me- (looking at mom like she has two heads) Nooooo. Mom, it's on Wall street.
Mom- no, it's Wells street
Me- (now looking at mom like she has grown another two heads) Uh, it's definitely Wall street.
Mom- the map said it's on Wells street
Me- (rather out of shocked looks) I don't care what the map says, I can assure you that the New York Stock Exchange resides on Wall Street.
Once we arrived at the Stock Exchange- on Wall street- she admitted her mistake. (and then asked that I not tell anyone that story:)
Then we stopped at the Federal Reserve building and finally walked over to Ground Zero. It still has a weird sort of feel to it, but there is lots of construction there these days, so it's not quite as reverant an atmostphere as I imagine it was in those first couple of years. Although, I don't think I have ever seen a construction site that had an American flag flying in the middle of it. Kind of cool to see that. From there we hopped back on the subway and got back to the hotel to rest up and clean up before the show that night. We changed and stopped at a sushi place just down the street from our hotel. It looked a little sketchy from the outside, which made me kind of nervous, but once we walked in, it was a very nice place. Linen tablecloths, candles, etc. The show that night was Phantom of the Opera. I had wanted to see one classic broadway show on broadway. It was also great. Our seats were in the orchestra section this time. A little off to the side, but not all the way over. Plus, since these tickets are easier to come by, I waited a bit and managed to get them at a discounted rate a couple of weeks ago.

On Tuesday, I wanted to head up to the Bronx to see Yankee Stadium. We weren't going to a game, or even on a tour, but I at least wanted to see it once before it was torn down. Plus, we got to see the new stadium being built across the street. The stadium store wasn't open yet, so we had to wait a bit. Mom wasn't thrilled about being in the Bronx, but we made it just fine. Picked up an All-Star game tank top for myself and All-Star t-shirts for my dad and brother. Then we took the Subway down to upper Manhatten. We started probably our longest walk of the trip. We walked by the Guggenheim museum and the Metropolitan Art Museum. Walked across Central Park and stopped in the Museum of Natural History. Then we headed over to see the Metropolitan Opera House which is right next to the Lincoln Center and finally saw Carnegie Hall and then back to the hotel. Now that means we walked from 86th and Lexington, up to 88th and 5th, down to 79th where we cut across the park to ~8th Ave. Then down to 62nd, where we cut further west to ~10th, back to 8th and down to 57th and 7th, and finally back to our hotel on 48th and 8th. We were both hurting by that point. So, a nice little rest was in order for about an hour, and then we walked up the block from the hotel to this little Mexican place that we had walked by every day. We stopped in there and had some chips and salsa and a pitcher of sangria. Then got back to the hotel in time to change and walk over for dinner at Cafe Un Deux Trois. It's in the Times Square area and had been recommended on several sites for pre-theater dinner. We had a really great Prix-Fixe meal there and headed to our final show, The Little Mermaid. The show was supposed to start at 8pm, but by 8:15, it still hadn't started, the announcer came over the PA to inform us that they had technical difficulties and would be starting shortly. About 10 minutes later, they came on again to tell us to please be patient that they were working on it. A few more minutes and the stage manager actually came out to tell us it was a problem with the set and that they were working on it. He would be back out to let us know if they would be able to put on the show that night. Wow. I was already bummed. I really had been looking foward to seeing that show as it is so new and I had heard really good things about it. Now, I was also concerned, because as you can imagine, there were a lot of children in the audience. It would be a bummer for me to not get to see the show should they have to cancel, but I didn't want to see a theater full of children be told that they wouldn't get to see the Little Mermaid that night. Thankfully a few minutes later, the stage manager reappeared to tell us that the problem had been resolved and the show would start in a few minutes. I have not heard such loud applause at the beginning of a show when the orchestra started playing finally. That show was magical. It was so fun. It really felt like you had been transported into the movie. They did a great job of maintaining the movie appearance and everything. So great. And a great ending to the trip.

The next morning, it was breakfast, a little walking around Times Square and back to get our bags and get to the hotel. Another nerve-wracking flight, pretty much only for me, as mom commented on how smooth a ride it was. And we were back. I would have to say that in the rankings of all my vacations, this one solidly ranks by itself in third place behind the first place tie of the road trip of '04 and the Ireland trip of '06. Just a great time. Everyone was nice, none of the rudeness that some people warned me about. I didn't think it was as dirty as people had said either. Plus, we saw everything we had wanted to and walked a ton. I definitely got my exercise. Now, back to real life.