NYC

Late in April Tom and I had an opportunity to take a trip to the BIG APPLE! I have always wanted to visit the big city so I wasn't about to miss it. Tom was scheduled to take his oral boards test on Thursday April 23. We left the 6 kids and 2 dogs with my more-than-able parents and hopped on a plane Wednesday April 22. Upon arriving in NYC at 4pm we found our way to the ground transportation area. There we met a large sweaty man in a black suit who sent us "down street you catch bus" in a not so friendly tone. We thought maybe he was a member of the mob and could possibly be packing a weapon, so we caught the bus! What a trip! Rush hour in NYC on a smelly bus traveling at crazy speeds and missing pedestrians by mere centimeters. I almost lost my lunch! But thankfully after almost 2hours we arrived at Grand Central Station.


There we were quickly ushered off the bus, given our bags, and once again told by another man in a black suit "Wait here. Bus come to take you to hotel". What could we do? We waited. Now had we had a map we would have known that our hotel was about 5 blocks away. As it was we waited over an hour for the bus to arrive to drive us the 5 minutes to the front of our hotel. Tourists! We had no trouble checking in. We dropped our bags in the room and went in search of FOOD! This was the view on the street when we stepped foot outside the door of our hotel. Incredible!


Needless to say, we stayed right in Times Square. I would have been content just sitting on a bench watching the people pass me by. I just loved the busyness, the sounds, and all of the different types of people who make up that town.

On Thursday we spent the morning walking around Times Square. We really didn't shop too much. Just walked. Most of the shops are VERY expensive. But we did find the American Girl Store that was 8 stories tall! We bought Isabelle an "I 'heart' New York" shirt for her and one for her doll. How could we resist? The rest of the time we spent getting our bearings on the area. We went back to the hotel for Tom's test around 11am. While Tom took the test, I headed over to 5th Avenue. I just had to step in to Saks. And wow, was I under dressed! I sure felt out of place, but didn't let that stop me from checking out every level. The shoes were my favorite. I almost splurged on a pair of patent peek-a-boo flats, but at over $300 I just couldn't do it. I am hoping to find a nice look-a-like at Wally World. I did, however, let the cosmetics gal talk me into a couple of eye shadows and a lip gloss all for the low low price of $75. Yes, I am crazy, but hey, I was in NY!

Tom finished his test up around 2:30 and then we caught a cab to take us to our scheduled couples massage. We had a one hour sweedish followed by a foot massage and then topped off with a scalp massage. We left feeling very relaxed. Tom actually felt a little dizzy and faint, probably from not eating. We quickly found Carnegie Deli, a very well-known NYC restaurant.


We had heard that the portions here were insane. We heard right! Tom ordered the hot pastrami. The thing was bigger than his head with over 3 pounds of meat between two very thin slices of rye.


Tom tried to take a bite, but ended up using a fork. It sure was fun to watch him try!

The guy next to us, literally inches away (table space is a high commodity in NYC), ordered the triple decker. I didn't get a picture of it, but it stood at least a foot high. Our waiter told us, "three kinds of meat, three times as high". At least we felt like we got our money's worth; the sandwich alone was $14.95. Our waiter said that the deli uses about 3000lbs of pastrami a day!

That night we went to see a show--"The Toxic Avenger". He’s New Jersey‘s first Superhero and he takes to the stage in this rock ‘n roll monster of a comedy. Thrown into a vat of toxic goo by two bullies, a mild-mannered science student named Melvin Ferd the Third is reborn as a one-of-a-kind environmental crusader, The Toxic Avenger! Armed with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark, he’s out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest, blindest librarian in town. He’ll leave you laughing in the aisles as he rocks the house and saves the earth for all of mankind. It was a good show, but we learned one thing SEE A SHOW THAT IS ACTUALLY ON BROADWAY! Good thing we got the tickets at the TKS store in Times Square for only $35 each.

Friday morning we got up early and headed down the street to NBC studios. We stood outside the Today show trying to get our 5 seconds of fame and give a big hello to our babies at home. We didn't end up getting on screen but had a great time meeting people from all over the country. And I did get a chance to shake Merideth's hand.



After that we walked by Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It was incredibly large and absolutely gorgeous. We didn't think it was appropriate to take pictures inside. I was feeling quite guilty about my big purchase at Saks the day before, so I made Tom take it back for me. What a guy! He said they were very nice and didn't mind at all that I was returning the make-up. They even gave him back the samples they had given me. Classy.

By now it was 10am Friday afternoon. We wanted to see the Natural History Museum. It was a ways away (30 blocks or so) but it was such a beautiful day that we decided to walk. The $12 cab ride (not including tip) 5 blocks away to our massage the day before may have had some influence over that decision too. Hey, we're cheap! It was a LONG LONG LONG walk. But it was enjoyable. We walked down Broadway and found the Time Warner building, Columbus Circle, and Central Park--an oasis within the city. We finally made it to the museum. I was surprised to see a statue of Teddy Roosevelt at the entrance. Who knew he was the father of conservation? Yea Roughriders!!


Here is Tom inside the first floor of the museum. These dinosaurs are the ones they used for the filming of Jurrasic Park. The real authentic skeletons are found on the third floor. After our long walk, the last thing we wanted to do was WALK around the museum. We did spend some time there, but left after about 1.5 hours in A CAB back to the hotel. There goes another 20 bucks!



We decided to see another show that night. So we stood in line for over an hour at the TKS booth and got tickets to see "Rock of Ages". In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small town girl met a big city rocker and in LA’s most famous rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the 80s. It’s ROCK OF AGES, an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of JOURNEY, NIGHT RANGER, STYX, REO SPEEDWAGON, PAT BENATAR, TWISTED SISTER, POISON, ASIA, WHITESNAKE and many more. Don’t miss this awesomely good time about dreaming big, playing loud and partying on!



It was a bit too sexy for our liking but the music was fantastic! Did you recognize Constantine from American Idol fame? He was one of the stars of the show. It was a great way to end our time in NYC. I can't wait to get back to the big city again!