NY Trip Part 1

Thursday was an early morning. Up at 4:50, out the door at 5:50, our flight was at 7:45 and we barely had time to catch a bite for breakfast before they were boarding. The flight was just under two hours, and we got in around the same time as my Grandma and Aunt. I guess I get spoiled by the Atlanta Airport, because LAGuardia was boring. And kinda dirty. But they’re not the most traveled airport in the world, so…

We took a town car to our hotel, but not quickly. Goddaaaammn there was a lot of traffic. I knew there would be, but it took about an hour. Our driver, whose name was either Jeffe or Effe, not sure which, was absolutely hysterical. He was not modest, and very funny, spouting all kinds of beliefs and stuff in our ears. We get to the hotel and drop our stuff because our rooms aren’t ready yet. IT was a little after noon and we were all starving, so we walked around until we found the Carnegie Deli. It was packed, but we sat right down. Apparently, all the sandwiches were massive. And when I say massive, I literally mean the size-of-your-head massive. I’m scanning the menu, and I see the “Famous Woody Allen” sandwich, which was like roast beef and corned beef and swiss cheese, and nothing else. I thought, hell yes, I love meat and cheese, so I ordered it. Plus, I have an arguably weird crush on an eighty-something year old genius, and I felt I must honor him.

The sandwiches come out, and here’s the before:

And here’s the after:

It was absolutely insane. I really should have shared it with someone but I don’t think the rest of the ladies in my family like meat and cheese as much as I do, so I was on my own.

We then decided to walk the sandwiches off. Found the subway and took it to SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, and all those little areas. Oh, the shopping. Thursday I bought a New York SoHo t-shirt and a cute dress. That took willpower! Only two items! We walked all over, window shopping mostly. Found a place called Daffy’s (that the driver made me remember because he quacked, “like the duck!”), and shopped, and shopped, and shopped some more. Walked around and saw lots of pretty places that I can’t afford.

Came back to the hotel and got dressed, put on my new dress and we met up with one of my cousins for dinner. She lives there and showed us around a little. We went to a little Italian place that was pretty good.

That was pretty much it for Thursday.

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And Friday:

Mom and I woke up early to walk down to Rockefeller Square to see Bruce Springsteen on the Today Show. He didn’t start playing until 8:30, and we walked down about 7:00am and still had to stand in the very back. It wasn’t too bad, there was certainly good people-watching all around. He was promoting a new album, so he played all new songs.

Here’s how far back we were…

We came back to the hotel after a few songs and got ready for the rest of the day. We were planning to take the Staten Island ferry so we could see more sights.

Here’s one of the pictures from the ferry:

Got off the Ferry, and my grandma mentioned taking a helicopter tour. Soo, we did. We decided that since she was the lady with the plan, to let her decide how long we wanted, and ended up taking the 20 minute tour around Manhattan. It showed us all of downtown, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Ground Zero, Yankee Stadium, The Empire State Building, and all the other things in the city worth seeing.

I think this was arguably my favorite part, because I know not everyone gets to see the city like that. I was definitely very appreciative.

We did a little more walking around.

Found The Late Show…

and then came back to get ready for our first show, The Color Purple. We stopped by a diner named Lindy’s and then headed across the street to the show.

…Which was absolutely amazing. I haven’t seen many plays, nor have I seen many musicals, but this one was absolutely fantastic. I love the story, even as sad as it is, and the movie was great too, but the show was perfectly cast. And hot damn those people can sing! Everything Oprah touches really does turn to gold!

Came home and was actually pretty wiped. I had a day full of shopping, The Boss, a ferry ride, a helicopter ride, and a show.

Stay tuned for the rest…