new york, new york

Well I'm back from New York (Robbie gets back tomorrow) & it was amazing! Here's a breakdown of our trip...

Thursday 9/4

• Got up at 3am.
• Got to the Sacramento Airport at 4:45am.
• Boarded airplane at 5:50am.
• Sat on the airplane until almost 8am because there was some mechanical problem & they had to fix it.
• Missed our connecting flight in Chicago; re-booked & left Chicago at 3:30pm (1:30pm CA time).
• Arrived in NY at 6:30pm (3:30pm CA time).
• Got to the hotel at about 7:30pm - missed our bus tour of the city :( $70 down the drain...
• Emptied our suitcases, because it was raining in Chicago, and all our stuff (especially Robbie's) got soaked!
  

Overall, not a great travel day. Probably the worst I've EVER had.

Friday 9/5

• Walked down 6th Avenue to Rockefeller Plaza.
• Went to the Top of the Rock (top of the GE Building that most of the NBC shows are filmed in/near). There were amazing views of the city - especially Central Park & the Empire State Building, & we met a really nice photographer that worked there who gave us a discount on the pics he took of us. He liked us because we were 1)from CA, & 2)talked sports with him.
• Went on the NBC Studio Tour. We got to see the studios for NBC Nightly News and MSNBC (we saw a lady getting ready to do a broadcast, & then actually do it), the SNL studio (small, but awesome...and we missed the season premiere by only 1 week!), and a couple other cool things. We then spent like 2 hours in the NBC Experience Store, and bought a ton of stuff.
• Went to the Empire State Building. It wasn't as nice as Top of the Rock...long lines & very crowded, but really nice views.
• Went back to the hotel, showered, changed, & went to see "Spamalot" on Broadway. We walked through Times Square on the way (our hotel was just a few streets over), & had some sensory overload. "Spamalot" was very funny - Drew Lachey & the dad from "7th Heaven" were in the current cast - and we enjoyed it. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Hard Rock Cafe & bought some stuff.

Saturday, 9/6

• Went on a 3 hour boat tour of the entire island of Manhattan. We decided to walk to the pier, because it wasn't raining yet, and it was a looooong walk. We were really hot by the time we got there! The boat tour was cool, though...we took lots of great pictures of the city, Statue of Liberty, Yankee Stadium, Brooklyn Bridge, etc.
• As our boat was pulling back into the pier, it started raining. If you didn't hear, Tropical Storm Hanna passed through NYC on Saturday. It was pouring down rain, and Robbie & I couldn't get a taxi until about 2 blocks from our hotel, so we got pretty soaked - even with a raincoat & umbrella. We had to cancel our dinner plans that night for the Russian Tea Room, because there were flash flood warnings & wind advisories.

Sunday, 9/7

• Got up realllly early, & walked down Fifth Avenue to Central Park. It was a beautiful day, & made me really sad to be leaving NYC so soon. I can't wait to go back someday!
• Went to La Guardia Airport at around 11am...my flight left at 1pm (10am CA time). I made my connecting flight in Chicago, and flew home in a middle seat between two fat guys...one of whom was old, one of whom was sick. I feel like crap now, but am back at work. At least I didn't suffer from any jet lag the whole trip!

I would definitely recommend that everyone go to New York at least once in their lives, for at least five full days. It was so great - I was expecting to feel overwhelmed & unsafe, but instead felt just the opposite. Like I said - I can't wait to return!