NYC - Day 1

The first day in NYC I woke up ready to go. The MET was the first stop on my agenda. I checked the website for what time they opened to find they were CLOSED on Monday’s. Oh dear. Plan B.  Hmmm...there really wasn’t a Plan B. How did Mrs. Planner go to NYC without a daily itinerary - something I still regret! What.was.I.thinking? 

So, I googled NYC attractions. And boy, did I get overwhelmed! I almost talked myself out of going out alone....but I knew I would forever regret spending a day in that hotel room when I was in the Big Apple! I headed down to the Concierge desk to ask where the subway was. She told me to take the R train to 49th Street. I told her I had noticed a subway station, but I wasn’t sure where to catch a train. She giggled and explained a train and a subway was all the same to a New Yorker. She sold me a bus tour which I thought could be a mistake but ended up being GREAT. I would highly recommend a hop on-hop off bus tour if you visit NYC for the first time. The one I took was only $35. It was great to get an idea of where things were and get to take LOTS of pictures from a double decker bus. It was also great to have free transportation throughout the city for 2 days!

I hopped off and on a few times - lunch in LIttle Italy one day, 9/11 Memorial and St. Paul’s Church, Wall Street, Rockefeller Center, the Stanton Ferry (I could see the Statue of LIberty from there). We drove by the Empire State Building, Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Central Park and Times Square. I also met some nice tourists from all over the world. It’s amazing that I heard as much English as I heard of other languages while I was there. A few times, people were in conversations all around me but no one was speaking English! 

Sorry for the overwhelming amount of pictures. It was my first day in NYC and I was snapping away at everything!

Cookie Monster!

Times Square

FOX NEWS :)

30 Rock...

Central Park...

A Trump building...

Lots of police...everywhere...I always felt safe!

The New Years ball...

I had a chocolate covered strawberry at the Godiva on 5th Avenue...only $5, just like in Baton Rouge!

Soho...

Chinatown...

Times Square

Times Square....WOW!

It absolutely takes your breath away. Again, it’s frustrating to post pics because even as I took them I would look at the camera and think, “That is not what I’m seeing!”. But anyway, here goes!

I caught a glimpse of Times Square on my bus tour but that did not compare to seeing it at night. On Monday after Charlie got off of work he wanted to do some site seeing. I knew we HAD to see Times Square at night. We took the subway from Brooklyn to Times Square. After riding on a crummy subway, you get off and walk up the steps and BAM! It’s Times Square. In your face. It’s indescribable. We walked around taking pictures and marveling at the sites. We explained to a few guys why we wouldn’t buy tickets to their comedy show....and then again to another man who claimed to be from Louisiana. We had supper at Hard Rock right in the middle of Times Square and it was fantastic. The food was REALLY good and the service was excellent. Charlie and I both enjoyed being in a place that we see almost daily on the news channels and every New Year when the ball drops. What a phenomenal city!

A few other things we saw that night... Radio City Music Hall

We totally stalked Fox News! We could see Lou Dobbs filming through a window and interviewing a pretty, young lady and what looked to be Dick Cheney. We got into the building and stood there hoping to see Bill O'Reilly leave after he taped at 8. Nicole Nikpour, the pretty lady that Lou was interviewing came out and we started talking to her. She was so nice and down to earth. She's from Little Rock..I guess us Southerners just know how to act! She let us know that Bill films at 5 so we wouldn't be seeing him in that building that late! We went back to the hotel and turned on Hannity. Guess who was on - Nicole Nikpour! Now why didn't I ask to take a picture with here!?! Oh, she also let us know that it was not Dick Cheney who we saw w/ Lou Dobbs.

Wall Street

Ok y'all, I just sorted the 700 pictures I took in NYC and divided some of those between about 20 blog posts. Yes, y'all will be SICK of NYC stories, but it is a trip I never want to forget! A dream come true for me, so here.we.go!

Wall Street was different than expected. It was all blocked off for protestors, but there were only a few policeman there. The protestors must've been at Battery Park during that time. Businessmen stood outside the NY Stock Exchange and chatted quietly. There were a few statues around and a sign about the reason I was there - a man named JP Morgan! I was glad the protestors didn't get in my way of seeing the greatest financial district in the world - WALL STREET!

I found the protestors! I was on the bus tour and we passed them singing some crazy, hippie song in the park!

I only caught the tail end of the bull! Passing by on the bus...

Today

Today I am happy to be resting next to Avery Grace while she naps. But I must say I'm also missing the bright lights of the big city. This week has been rough, to say the least. After being away from work for 6 business days, it was nothing short of overwhelming. I dont think I've ever taken that much time off at once without working remotely!

As far as the house goes, we were greeted with raccoons in (yes IN) the roof. And an enormous tree limb in the yard. Did I mention it took a power line down with it and the power surge knocked out the heating and AC unit? And the ceiling fan? Yes, more than once this week I've found myself missing NYC!

But there is really no place like home. Which for us, is still Vidalia. So, here we are again today. Forgetting the worries of the week and spending time in the place we love the most with the people we love the most.

And if life returns to normal next week at some point I will write a post or 2 with some of the 400 pics from our trip!