New York, NY

Mom called me about a month ago telling me she was heading to NY for business and asked if I would like to tag along, I just needed to buy a plane ticket as the hotel was paid for by her company including transportation to and from the airport.  I quickly jumped on Kayak and saw the flight Mom had was only $157 non-stop!  After a quick discussion with Jamie we decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to go since I had never been and Jamie has no desire to ever go. 

We flew into La Guardia and I was told to try to get a window seat on the left side of the plane.  I was able to and saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Manhattan skyline and the Met’s stadium.

That night we met up with Mom’s cousin Judy.  She has lived in New York for at least 30 years and all over Manhattan.  She now lives in the West Village with a lovely patio and about a block from Hugh Jackman, Jim Carrey and a couple blocks from Sarah Jessica Parker among others.  We strolled around a bit and ate dinner at an Irish restaurant called Dublin.  It was great and I really enjoyed meeting another member of the family.

Since Mom was actually working while we were there I booked myself on a 6-hour walking tour of New York.  While I was excited for the tour, I was a bit nervous getting to the tour by riding the subway alone from Grand Central to Wall Street.  I asked 5 people along the way to make sure I was headed the right way.  I made it there on time, but it was still a bit nerve racking. 

We started on Wall St & Broad Street in front of the George Washington statue.   The tour took us to the major sites of NY including the Stock Exchange building, Battery Park, building of the Freedom tower, City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo, West Village, Times Square, Empire State Building, New York Library, Grand Central, Chrysler Building, The Waldorf=Astoria, St. Patrick’s Church & Rockefeller plaza.  

That night Mom and I had dinner at the hotel and then walked to Broadway to see “Chicago” starring Christie Brinkley as Roxie Hart.  While I thought I show was amazing, I was a bit disappointed in Christie Brinkley’s singing.  She wasn’t off key or bad, her voice just wasn’t as powerful as the other actors.  But we had awesome seats, first row in the first balcony. 

The next morning I headed back to Rockefeller plaza to see the taping of the Today Show.  I was able to get a picture of Matt Lauer from far away, but Ann Curry came right up to where I was and said hi to a little girl near me.

 

I then continued on my way to Central Park where I bought a banana from a street vendor.  I didn’t make it in very far into the park, but I was able to see a little and relax on a bench.  An Asian woman was taking pictures of the park and then I noticed she turned her camera to take a picture of me eating my banana.  I hope she didn’t think I was a local!

The rest of my morning was spent walking around inside FAO Schwarz (they still sell the big piano from the movie BIG) and Tiffany’s where I picked up a few items and then put them back. 

Before we left for the airport we had lunch at a diner down the street.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip to New York.