In October Luke and I traveled to NYC for a wedding! It was
AMAZING to say the least. I absolutely love city life, and no Springfield, Missouri is not even on the same scale. If I did not have three kids, I would live there in a heartbeat. We or I definitely want to go back and experience more. Yet, we were still able to squeeze a great deal of sights into the little amount of time we had . Which in turn meant
ALOT of walking and by
ALOT, I mean by the end of the first full day I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to move for days!
Our first experience in a New York cab was unforgettable and without a doubt terrifying. Christina and I laughed the entire time, because it was either that or cry! Our hotel was less than 3 miles from the airport and that was enough for me to know I do
NOT like NYC cabs. The cab fare was close to $20.00. The funny part is that it took forever to actually get to our hotel, we could see it but the driver could not figure out how to get us there (luckily he turned off the meter for that). Once we settled in ,we ventured out to the steakhouse down the road ,for some drinks and dinner. The drinks that we ordered were the strongest mixed drinks I have ever had. I strongly believe that their menu should have had a warning... Or maybe Missouri’s “Bible- belt” drinks are just extremely weak. Either way after one drink I was feeling “it” as was Luke and Christina. Shortly after that we called it a night. I slept just like a baby!
Saturday, we were up and out of our room by 7 am (6 am MO TIME)! We first, had to catch a bus to the subway and then take the subway from Queens into the city. Our first destination was Ground Zero. It was almost surreal for me to be there. I remember September 11th, 2001 like it was yesterday, as I am sure many of us do. To be there 9 years later was indescribable . I cannot even imagine being in NYC on that tragic day, what a horrific event to have to experience. The museum was heart breaking, but amazing at the same time. I would highly recommend going to anyone.
Next, on our agenda was Battery Park. Oh, how city parks are different from the parks we are used to back in the Midwest. The children’s play area was modern and fantastic. The boys would have loved it! The dog park was surprising too. We were able to see the Statue of Liberty, but chose not to go out to see it. There was no way I was going to stand in the massive line, for the ferry and waste what little time we had. But, it is definitely on my to-do list for next time. Also on that list is to go on the Brooklyn Bridge. None the less, I am satisfied we got to see it.
We ate lunch and did a little shopping at the South Street Seaport. Following lunch we headed to Wall Street, to see the bull. Along the way we saw Tiffany’s , The New York Stock Exchange, and the Trinity Chapel just to name a few. Our next mission was Rockefeller Center . Christina and I soon got sidetracked with some street shopping and we drug Luke along. Street shopping was the best, I could have stayed there for days!! After that, we saw the ice rink, where the Today show is shot and where the famous Christmas tree goes at Christmas time. With the sunset quickly approaching we headed for the Empire State Building!
Our original game plan was to get to the observation deck of the Empire State Building right before sunset. However, once inside and in line waiting to go up we soon realized that there was
NO way that; that was going to happen. We were in line for almost three hours and no I am not exaggerating. Despite the long wait the views and experience was unbelievable. Leaving there around 9:30 pm, we headed to Time Square to eat.
Once we were at Time Square, we got some authentic New York pizza. The pizza was delicious, two thumbs up! Once our bellies were full and a short lived “second wind“, we did some more shopping and took a ton of pictures. By this time, we were all so exhausted, we decided to call it a night. We got back on the subway and headed back to Queens. The subway was quick, because we got lucky and caught an express train. Unfortunately, the bus was a whole different story. We waited for almost an hour for that dumb bus! We
FINALLY made it back to the hotel at about 12 am! I was so tired I was delirious! You know when you’re so tired you can’t sleep?? Well that was me. Needless to say, once I was able to fall asleep, I was dead to the world.
