NYC

Wow! What an exhausting weekend! Brooke, Mom, Christina, Shirley, Kacie, Jodi and I all drove up to New York on Friday. It took us 11 hours to get there thanks to the road construction and a wreck. UGH! What a trip! WE picked up Julie at the JFK airport. It worked out nicely that her plane was delayed due to fog...so she didn't end up having to wait long for us to pick her up.

My GPS sent us right through downtown Manhatten on the way there! Let's just say that I was a bit nervous. The taxis were the worst. Nobody drives in their lane...everyone is always squeezing and HONKING! I have driven in a lot of big cities but NYC was quite a new experience! My palms were a little sweaty but we made it through the city without a scratch! We had not intended to drive in the city! Our plan was to use the subway and bus system and keep the van parked at the hotel! Boy was I surprised when the GPS landed us right there smack dab in the middle of it all!

We made a wrong turn so got a little off the beaten path. I think we ended up going by a garbage recycling center or something. It was a bit FREAKY! Luckily we had that lovely GPS....we gotta name her...we played with names all weekend but none of them really seemed to fit her! She helped us get back on the right path to the airport to pick up Julie!

Once we picked up Julie at JFK we realized there was no seat in the van for her! OOPS! Hadn't thought about that little detail since we were only planning to use subways! She sat on the cooler between mom and Shirley. It worked out fine except when I had to slam on the breaks or take off quickly. Her feet would fly up in the air as she tipped backwards! LOL

We arrive at our hotel, The Comfort Inn which is in Jamaica, NY. We shared two rooms. We were all pretty tired when we arrived at the hotel at 1am so went quickly to bed. The next morning we got ready quickly and headed down to the continental breakfast. Julie got yelled at both mornings by the breakfast attendant. She thought Julie wasn't old enough to operate the waffle maker! hehe! She kept telling her to read the signs (which said must be 16 to operate)

By 7:30 am we were off to the subway station which was a two block walk from the hotel. The New York Subway system is not nearly as tourist friendly as the Washington DC metro! I wasn't expecting no maps in the subway stations! It was quite confusing but we managed! The trick we learned was talking to locals and getting advice. We were blessed to have had some very nice fellow passengers aboard most of our trips!

Our first stop was Times Square. AWESOME! Just undescribable really! Pictures just do not do it justice!

Just a block down the street they were filming a chinese movie! Cameras all around the streets. It was kinda neat! I am sure we were crowd extras cause one scene was filmed while we were walking down the road! LOL

We walked around enjoying the sites then caught a bus to Battery Park so we could see the Statue Of Liberty! On the bus we passed by Ground Zero which basically just looks like a big whole in the ground with a fence and lots of building equipment all around. My photo didn't come out of Ground Zero but basically there was nothing to see anymore. They are ready to build. We didn't find Freedom Park...kinda bummed about that....but maybe next time!

We took the Statten Island ferry over to the island and got some great photos of the statue of Liberty. It was a little foggy but still an amazing site! The ferry to the statue and ellis island was way backed up because of a fog delay. The line was miles long. I am NOT exagerating! Next NYC trip we will plan to go up in the statue...but this time we were content with just seeing it from the ferry!

After the statue of liberty we headed to The Brooklyn Bridge. It was incredible! Being totally afraid of heights, I was sure I would freak out upon walking across the bridge but to my surprise I was just fine! no anxious scared feeling arose! WOOHOOO!! We got some great photos from the Brooklyn Bridge view!

My Aunt and cousins were so excited to go shopping in China town. I hated it! Did not feel one bit safe. Everywhere you went there were people coming up asking if you wanted to look at purses, handbags and wallets. Well not knowing we walked into one little teeny store and they took us down to a basement where they had this little tiny room stuffed with purses. Coach, Channel, Louey. It was psycho. they locked us in that little room. My aunt and cousins continued to go into these crazy places to find just the right purse. I did not like it one bit and did not feel safe at all. Obviously the purses are stolen or something...since they are hidden away in these little rooms. Later that night there were tons of people selling off blankets along 5th ave. Then all a sudden they would pack up and run. CRAZY! I am happy to report that I did NOT buy a black market purse! Just not my thing! I can't believe how insane that whole purse thing is there!

Finally, after we got them to stop purse shopping we continued on to Little Italy and had a yummy italian dinner! It was so nice and very wonderful to sit down for a little while! Then more dreaded purse shopping.

Next, we headed to Central Park looking for Belvedere Castle which was suppose to have a spectacular view. I wasn't real impressed with the view really but the park was amazing! So neat to be there and just see people laying around, reading, playing ball, relaxing at the park!

We were trying to get to the Flat Iron building on 23rd and 5th but somehow missed that too. We ended up heading back up to the Rockefeller Center. We went to the huge St Patricks Cathedral. We aren't catholic but it was an amazing site!

We took a stroll down 5th avenue and then I talked everyone into going into the TSKS booth to get Broadway tickets! We ended up with tickets to the Fantastics. We had 5 minutes to get down 4 blocks to the theater! We ran on our already exhausted legs...and were so happy to get there and be able to sit down! We were a little disappointed that the theater was like super small with a very small stage. We expected it to be huge and New York extravagance! But the performance was awesome, and I really enjoyed it! The Fantastics is one of the longest running broadway shows and is in the 17th year! It was GOOD!!!

After the show we went shopping a little more and then headed to the Empire State Building. We were all so so tired! After that we went to he subway to go home to the hotel! The subway seemed to take forever because it stopped at all stations on the way back since it was after hours. I could barely keep my eyes open!

Sunday we started out a little later. Our first stop was suppose to be NYC Botanical Gardens but halfway through the Bronx on our way to the gardens we found out that our plan had been changed. So we had to get on the train taking us back to downtown. The Bronx is just like it looks on TV. Kinda creepy to be standing there in it! We didn't have any problems though! Thank the Lord!:)

We headed to the Flat Iron building and then lunch at a New York Pizza place! I had yummy stromboli! Then shopping in NYC! My daughter had been going nuts wanting to go do some real shopping! Then it was time to take my sis back to the JFK airport!

Then off we went to start our 9 hour trip back home. We had to cross Statten Island to get on our route back home. I had a nervous breakdown driving across that bridge! We were on the lower level and my fear of heights got the best of me. I was freaking out! My hands were sweating so bad, then my whole entire body was sweating and I felt so strange...like I was gonna pass out...and I WAS DRIVING! What is it with that fear of heights thing? So crazy. I just don't understand it. I try so hard to not be afraid but it just creeps up on me!