9/11 memorial
Back for nap
Wall st
Late show w David letterman
Sushi, pizza, nuts
Times sq., Bom on broadway
Change in flight plans, staying an extra day
Duane reade for some treats
pics to come.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
NYC - Day 4: Times Square and Empire St. Bldg
Squires Diner for Breakfast
Got ready, changed rooms for view. Awesome!
Times square
Madison Sq Garden
Saw Hugh Jackman outside of his show on closing night
5 napkin burger for dinner, cupcakes treat
Chrysler bldg, Empire St. Bldg
Pics to come. :)
Got ready, changed rooms for view. Awesome!
Times square
Madison Sq Garden
Saw Hugh Jackman outside of his show on closing night
5 napkin burger for dinner, cupcakes treat
Chrysler bldg, Empire St. Bldg
Pics to come. :)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
NYC - Day 3: New Year's Eve
Manhattan NY Temple
Got up relatively early to get to the temple before it closed early for the holiday.
Lunch at Katz Deli
Took the subway there and got there about 2pm. There were 2 huge lines outside headed down each side of the street; one for dine in that was super long and one for take out that was a lot shorter. We opted for take out and actually didn't wait too long. We got a hot dog, pastrami on Rye, and pastrami reuben. Delicious! We ate our sandwiches down the street at Roosevelt park and watched some street basketball. Loved this. Took the bus home to change and rest for the late new year festivities to come!
Went back, super crazy about a block away from the ball. Left about 1130pm to go to hotel to watch countdown and see fireworks near bridge.
Pics to come.
Got up relatively early to get to the temple before it closed early for the holiday.
Lunch at Katz Deli
Took the subway there and got there about 2pm. There were 2 huge lines outside headed down each side of the street; one for dine in that was super long and one for take out that was a lot shorter. We opted for take out and actually didn't wait too long. We got a hot dog, pastrami on Rye, and pastrami reuben. Delicious! We ate our sandwiches down the street at Roosevelt park and watched some street basketball. Loved this. Took the bus home to change and rest for the late new year festivities to come!
Went back, super crazy about a block away from the ball. Left about 1130pm to go to hotel to watch countdown and see fireworks near bridge.
Pics to come.
Friday, December 30, 2011
NYC - Day 2: Harlem
We planned on getting up early to go to the 9/11 memorial but ended sleeping in until 11am. We finally got out about 1pm to go to Amy Ruth's restaurant in Harlem for some chicken and waffles. Before getting on the subway we stopped at a restaurant called CRISPY and got a falafel burger, yum! Getting off the subway we were feeling a little nervous. People were looking at us like we were crazy to be there. We definitely stuck out. It was interesting to be the minority! The chicken and waffles were yummy! We got cornbread and Rodd was eating it with his hands... people were looking at him like he was an animal and he realized everyone else was eating it with a knife and fork... haha. Lesson learned! :)
All the Dominican restaurants in NYC are all in Harlem so we headed to one about as far north as you can get before crossing over into the Bronx called Harlen Dominican Food. We called first to make sure they were open and got there just as the sun was setting. It was fun to shoot the breeze Dominican style and enjoy some sancocho, la bandera, and tostones con salami. We headed out about 6pm to head back to Manhattan to get to our showing of WICKED on Broadway.
Trying to get back up to the subway, got directions from a local... He could tell we were a little lost and told us where NOT to go! We were very grateful. On our way back to the subway we walked by Rucker Park to watch some basketball and Yankee Stadium and took some pictures.
We had some time before the show so we stopped by Times Square to take a peak. It's just a fun place, we can't wait to come back tomorrow!Wicked was awesome and we both enjoyed it more than we thought we would and are glad we bought the cd before the show. :) GREAT story.
Stopped to get some ice cream and microwave popcorn at the Duane Reade (Walgreens) because everything else was closed. Its just fun to relax and not really have a schedule.
All the Dominican restaurants in NYC are all in Harlem so we headed to one about as far north as you can get before crossing over into the Bronx called Harlen Dominican Food. We called first to make sure they were open and got there just as the sun was setting. It was fun to shoot the breeze Dominican style and enjoy some sancocho, la bandera, and tostones con salami. We headed out about 6pm to head back to Manhattan to get to our showing of WICKED on Broadway.
Trying to get back up to the subway, got directions from a local... He could tell we were a little lost and told us where NOT to go! We were very grateful. On our way back to the subway we walked by Rucker Park to watch some basketball and Yankee Stadium and took some pictures.
We had some time before the show so we stopped by Times Square to take a peak. It's just a fun place, we can't wait to come back tomorrow!Wicked was awesome and we both enjoyed it more than we thought we would and are glad we bought the cd before the show. :) GREAT story.
Stopped to get some ice cream and microwave popcorn at the Duane Reade (Walgreens) because everything else was closed. Its just fun to relax and not really have a schedule.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
NYC - Day 1: Planes, trains, and airport shuttles
So, our flight ended up leaving about 3 hours earlier than we had previously anticipated, as mentioned previously... So I left a little early from work to pack and get out by 5pm to run some quick errands and make our 8pm flight. It was a little close, with security and everything, but we made it. Our seats had already been assigned. We were not sitting together and it could not be changed ( the flight was only 90 mins). As I took my middle seat between 2 women, the girl sitting by the window looked at me with a big smile and said "Hi!". The pilot then announced that we would be arriving in Phoenix in about 90 minutes and she says, "I'm 90 minutes from home! Where is home for you?" I said "Here" and the flood gates opened. In about a minute I knew her whole life story.
Our first flight to Phoenix was about 30 minutes late. We only had 45 minutes between flights, so had our gates not been relatively close, we would have missed our next flight! So we walked off one plane and right onto another for a 5 hour flight to JFK.
We arrived at JFK at 5am and , between getting luggage and shuttle to the hotel, we arrived at the hotel about 7:30am. The shuttle to the hotel was about an hour and a half, with 4 other groups being shuttled to various hotels, and of course we were last to be dropped off. At first I was a little bugged, but it was dawn and we got a beautiful little tour of the city! Our check in was not supposed to be until about 4pm but our room was available so they let us check in early (thank heavens! We were so tired...). We napped until 11am then headed out to adventure!
We first found a hot dog stand because I have been seriously craving a NY hotdog for WEEKS. It was good. On the next block we stopped at Lisa's Pizza and each grabbed a delicious slice of crispy thin crust pizza. (*Rodd is blogging in detail about our food and restaurant encounters, so visit his blog for more info about the food.) We continued up Fulton Street until we reached St. Paul's Chapel and the World Trade Center Site. There was a beautiful musical tribute at St. Paul's. It was great and very humbling to see the support that that support that they offered to those working and volunteering at the World Trade Centers. We realized that you must first obtain tickets to be able to see the actual site so we walked a block down to the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site (basically a miniature museum) and found out that they would not give out tickets again until later that day. We decided not to stick around but plan to go back tomorrow to get tickets to see it.
We then decided to head down to the Staten Island Ferry as I heard that it was a free, good view of the Statue of Liberty and city. We purchased a 7-day public transportation pass and took the subway to the pier. We love to use the local public transportation when we travel. It's always so much cheaper than renting a car and we love to get a taste of how the locals live. It usually takes a day or two to get familiar with the system, but it's so fun! We got some hot cocoa and took the ferry to Staten Island and back. It did provide a great view of Lady Liberty, but Rodd wants to look into actually going to the island. That is likely to end up on our agenda again as well.
Our first flight to Phoenix was about 30 minutes late. We only had 45 minutes between flights, so had our gates not been relatively close, we would have missed our next flight! So we walked off one plane and right onto another for a 5 hour flight to JFK.
We arrived at JFK at 5am and , between getting luggage and shuttle to the hotel, we arrived at the hotel about 7:30am. The shuttle to the hotel was about an hour and a half, with 4 other groups being shuttled to various hotels, and of course we were last to be dropped off. At first I was a little bugged, but it was dawn and we got a beautiful little tour of the city! Our check in was not supposed to be until about 4pm but our room was available so they let us check in early (thank heavens! We were so tired...). We napped until 11am then headed out to adventure!
We first found a hot dog stand because I have been seriously craving a NY hotdog for WEEKS. It was good. On the next block we stopped at Lisa's Pizza and each grabbed a delicious slice of crispy thin crust pizza. (*Rodd is blogging in detail about our food and restaurant encounters, so visit his blog for more info about the food.) We continued up Fulton Street until we reached St. Paul's Chapel and the World Trade Center Site. There was a beautiful musical tribute at St. Paul's. It was great and very humbling to see the support that that support that they offered to those working and volunteering at the World Trade Centers. We realized that you must first obtain tickets to be able to see the actual site so we walked a block down to the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site (basically a miniature museum) and found out that they would not give out tickets again until later that day. We decided not to stick around but plan to go back tomorrow to get tickets to see it.
We then decided to head down to the Staten Island Ferry as I heard that it was a free, good view of the Statue of Liberty and city. We purchased a 7-day public transportation pass and took the subway to the pier. We love to use the local public transportation when we travel. It's always so much cheaper than renting a car and we love to get a taste of how the locals live. It usually takes a day or two to get familiar with the system, but it's so fun! We got some hot cocoa and took the ferry to Staten Island and back. It did provide a great view of Lady Liberty, but Rodd wants to look into actually going to the island. That is likely to end up on our agenda again as well.
Rodd chose an Indian restaurant across town for dinner (big surprise, he LOVES Indian food!). It was good, but was left loving our local favorite: India Palace! We made it an early night and headed back to the hotel early to plan tomorrow and get caught up on some sleep. Between figuring out the subway and losing our map somewhere along the way... (before the ferry, we think) it was quite an adventure! Thank heavens for smart phones and GPS! :)
Just blocks away from our hotel a blind man with a seeing-eye dog approached us asking, "Is Frankfort Avenue close by?" I told him yes and he asked if there was a bus stop there. I told him,"Yes, we'll walk with you because I can't tell if it's the one you're looking for. I don't have very good eyes, I can't see that far..." I realize that what I said was a little ironic. He laughed and said, "Well, neither do I". I read the bus route numbers to him and he confirmed that was the one he was looking for and asked where the actual bus stop was. Rodd then pointed to the stop and said, "Over there". He pauses for a second and says, "over there to the right or the left?". Haha! We realized we must have seemed very naive and dysfunctional and could not stop laughing the rest of the way to the hotel.
Another hot cocoa before bed to help us thaw and planning our day for tomorrow! It is cold here, which I expected, but I will need to dress much warmer tomorrow. Watching the news tonight the 9/11 memorial reached 1 million visitors today... We tried to go today but did not want to wait and waste a part of our day standing around. Rodd was bummed we weren't there to be interviewed for the news (he's cute).
Great day, so glad to be here. :)
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Trip to NY - The adventure begins...
So... We were hoping to make this trip as inexpensive as possible... (I know, good luck). We figured we could swing it because I have about a week of vacation time saved up at work, hotel rewards earned from all of Rodd's recent work travel, and a sister that works at Jet Blue and so graciously offered us Buddy Passes. Even with all of this it will not be a cheap trip, but we will be saving a ton... or so we hoped.
24 hours from departure: I get a text from my sister-in-law. Upon check in she realizes that we are likely not going to make it on our flight, and probably not for the next few days. So here I am up in the middle of the night looking for one way tickets to NYC... check.
Now... Our flight leaves about 3 hours earlier than planned and we are both working full days tomorrow. We have not packed, and we need to drop off our beloved felines at my mother's house who (without hesitation) has offered to watch over them while we are gone. Thanks Mom!
*sigh*
We'll get there... then have lots of happy things to write about. :)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Rodd's New Blog - Cleanzed Palate
So... as I mentioned before, Rodd has also started a blog of his own. We love to try new restaurants and he will be writing about the various places that we try. I have obtained official permission to share this with everyone. :)
His blog is:
He's just getting started and is looking forward to sharing our foodie adventures with everyone. Check it out!
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