New York New York

Disclaimer: I apologize for the lengthiness of this post... however since this is my new journal I wanted to have everything on paper so to speak, so that someday I can look back and remember all the details. So please feel free to glance over the pictures or if you find something interesting feel free to read about it.

Ok.... so I have no idea how to compile all that we did, saw, and experienced in our time in one of the biggest cities in the world. We have never packed in so much, experienced so many new things, or tasted so many new foods in one week. So I will try my best to sum it all up and make it enjoyable to read rather than just a travel log....so here we go.

We left early Wednesday August 20th (thanks for the early ride to the airport Dave) we had one layover in Atlanta. We wish would have been longer so we would have been able to see some of Johnny's family. However we were shortly on our way to New York. This was the BEST city Johnny and I had ever flown into. There was no way we could have been prepared for the aerial view we had of the statue of liberty, New York skyline and all of the five boroughs of New York City.

We took a shuttle to our hotel (scariest ride of my entire life) I literally thought to myself, I'm so glad I came all this way just to die without getting to see anything. We stayed at the brand new Holiday Inn in the middle of Manhattan, it was absolutely perfect, the staff was impeccable the room was exactly what we needed and it was in a perfect location. I would recommend it to anyone and we probably should get a free nights stay for the plug I just gave them. But we loved our home away from home. We got in at about 5pm so we walked around town getting our bearings and then got to Houston's for our 7 o'clock reservation. Johnny's family went there for graduations in Georgia and so he wanted to show me the restaurant since we don't have one in Utah. It was fabulous I had steak and Johnny had ribs our favorite though was the brownie sundae (our favorite dessert period) but this one was sooo tasty!

Thursday August 21
We headed to Central Park where we had breakfast at the Boathouse Restaurant and then spent the entire day walking around central park. We still didn't even scratch the surface you could spend days there and not cover the same territory. We saw the reservoir, the lake with the incredible fountain, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the mall (the walkway that goes from the front to the middle of the park) it was gorgeous and more our element.

We then headed back to the hotel to dawn our Braves apparel. We headed to Shea stadium where we waited outside for any players coming for batting practice. We were lucky enough to get Unel Escobar's autograph.

We then watched batting practice and then headed to our seats. The game was going really well until the bottom of the 9th when Carlos Delgado hit a 2 run home run to end the game. Bummer. We only got hassled a little bit which I was glad for. It was really neat getting to see Shea Stadium before they tear it down however after being there and seeing the condition of the stadium and sitting in the seats they really could use a new stadium.

Friday August 22

We got up really early and caught a train downtown to catch our ferry that would take us out to the Statue of Liberty. You have to go through security both to get on the ferry and to go up into the statue. They said they had started that since 9/11. Which was sad but also made me feel safe. Coming around the bend to see the statue was something out of a movie. It was so much larger than we had anticipated or had envisioned from the airplane. We walked all the way around Liberty Island and saw the statue from the outside. It's base was once a fort they used for several years before it became the pedestal for the statue. We then went through our second security line that took over an hour and headed into the base of the statue. There is an incredible museum there with the original plans, all of the history of the making and building.

We then headed to Ellis Island. It was neat seeing where some of our ancestors came through and all they went through to get here. They are putting a lot of work into it to make it more of a tourist attraction. Right now they just have the great hall and the main floor open and the upper floors are being redone to show a dormitory, and other rooms of what people brought over and stuff like that.

We took the ferry back to Manhattan where we caught our 3 hour tour boat that went the entire way around Manhattan via the Hudson and east river. We saw all of the bridges and the entire New York skyline. After the cruise we went to Carmine's for an Italian family feast. Way too much food but it was delicious. After that we got black and white cookies. We ate at least one once a day.

Saturday August 23

We got in a taxi (our first of the trip) to head to Tavern on the Green for brunch. We were 3 blocks from our hotel when a fruit truck slammed into the back of our taxi. We got out and grabbed another taxi and made it to brunch on time. Tavern on the Green is beyond words. It is a restaurant that has many themed rooms and overpriced food. But it was an experience we wanted to try and I'm glad we did. It was beautiful. After that we had time to kill before our first Broadway show Wicked. So we decided to take a carriage ride around Central Park. There is a story with that as well. Essentially we got a free carriage ride and our driver ended up getting a ticket for getting caught overcharging us. After all of our transportation mishaps that day we decided to walk to the theatre.

Wicked was INCREDIBLE. We didn't know what to expect and never could have prepared ourselves for the show we saw. In fact Johnny leaned over during intermission and said that he wanted to go see as many Broadway shows as we could. So after enjoying the show (it comes here in April and I highly recommend seeing it) we headed to the next theatre and got more tickets.

New York is known for their thin crust pizza so we went to this place called the brick oven and had a little taste of heaven. It was so good.

Sunday August 24,

Shopping day... we went to Chinatown (a story in itself, lets just say I'm glad we were not kidnapped and shipped away) in the morning and did a little faux purse and watch shopping. We think we made out with some real stuff because when we took our watches to get sized the jeweler asked where we got these and if they were hot?!?! So who knows maybe some of it was real. We then headed to little Italy for some great Italian. What I did love about this place was that everything is relatively close to each other and there are sooo many great places to eat and so much culture so easily available and accessible.

We then headed back uptown and headed for Rockefeller plaza. We went to Top of the Rock or top of the Rockefeller building. I liked this observation point the best because while it isn't the tallest building it gives you the best view of the new york skyline with the empire state building in it.

We then headed back to our hotel to get ready for Spamalot. Which was hilarious! Johnny was laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants. He didn't so we were able to go to dinner afterwards at this place across from the theatre with a name I can't remember and couldn't pronounce. But it was delicious french food.

Monday August 25

In the morning we went to the 12th street Pier, mainly a tourist trap of shopping that we could do anywhere once we found that out we headed to Century 21 (not the real estate company) for some shopping that we couldn't do back home. This is a place that has all of the designers in one place for discount prices. It was fun to just see all the clothes I didn't know who made what or what is "in" but I liked the prices.

We then headed to ground zero. Which is currently a construction site. They are building two monument buildings to the twin towers and all those that lost their lives on 9/11. It was very humbling to be there. It is still a very busy and work related place but there is a very evident hole where the towers once stood.

After that we headed up to the Empire State building. We wanted to get there in the evening so we could get both day and night shots. After waiting in the line and going through security we got sunset and night shots. But it was still incredible. I'm glad we did Top of the rock in the day to see all the buildings and then got to see all of New York lit up at night from Empire. It was so beautiful! Johnny and I even snuck a kiss up on top (just for the sleepless in Seattle fans).

Times Square is the main hub that we saw at least once a day. Plus that is where one of the bakery's was that we got our black and white cookies at. So I know I haven't mentioned it yet but we definitely saw Times Square and all of its 100's of t.v. screens.

Tuesday August 26

We started out early heading up to the Bronx to catch our tour of Yankee Stadium. This was one of the most incredible things we did or saw. The reason we originally planned our trip was to see Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium as this is their last year and they are both getting new stadiums. We wanted to see these places for their history and all that they have contributed to baseball and to making it what it is today. The greatest game, an American game. I'll let the pictures do the talking because there are no words to express what we saw...





After that we went back to Manhattan for some great Mexican food where they made guacamole at your table. It was delish. Then headed back for the game. As we arrived 4 hours early for the game we couldn't believe how many people there were! We both said to each other we had never been to a game THIS big with this kind of magnitude. We have seen many MLB games but this one was so immense. It may have been because this was a Yankees vs. Red Sox game but I have a feeling that the Yankee pride we saw that day has been ingrained for many years through many generations and now it is just a way of life.

We got to meet Melissa and Taylor there. Two of our friends who were there for the US Open. It was fun to finally see people we new when we had gone a whole week with seeing millions of people we didn't know. Boston ended up winning (yeah). While we were there to see Yankee stadium we are NOT yankee fans. So of course we cheered for the RedSox. Johnny only got one beer thrown on him so I guess we made out ok.

Wenesday August 27

Our trip came to an end. We took another shuttle back to the airport (much better ride this time) . We throughouly enjoyed our trip. We got to see everything we wanted to and then some. We learned about the history of our country, baseball and New York City. We got to eat foods we have never tried, some we liked and some we won't try again. Overall it was a great trip. We loved it. We survived the Big Apple and lived to tell about it!!!