NYC was AWESOME!
So, I'm in New Jersey right now. We went to NYC Sunday morning and did the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Tons of FUN! There was much more to do there than I had expected. I assumed we would get there that morning and leave by lunch, but we were there until around 3 I think. Then we went and saw Ground Zero. Having never seen in before, it is hard to imagine the true feeling of what is missing. Right now it looks like a huge construction site. There is a big fence all the way around it and there are a couple time lines with very general information about what happened. I went to the OKC Memorial back in the spring and it was just heart breaking. I knew that there wasn't going to be that big of a display or memorial at Ground Zero, but I was definitely expecting a more reverent place of rememberance. I'm glad I went though. We met up with Jessica after that. The subway stations in that part of the city are still out of commision, so it was a little confusing how to get to Queens. But we figured it out! I feel like a subway professional now! Jessica's place was pretty cool. She failed to mention in all this planning that she has roomates. It was slightly awkward, but well worth it since it was free! We ordered in pizza (it was great!) and went to bed early. Amy and I shared the futon. I slept great, Amy didn't sleep much at all. We got up at 4am and left at 5am so we could make it to Good Morning America on time. Ohh... time to go.... I'll add more next time I get a chance!
EDIT:
Picking up where I left off.... We got to GMA on time. There were only about 15 people in line in front of us. We waited there for about 30 minutes until someone came out and informed us that they would not be having a studio audience because of Hurricane Katrina coverage. We were VERY bummed. You'd think they would have sent us an email or something, but they didn't. So basically, we got up at the butt-crack of dawn for nothing. Since we were already up and not supposed to meet up with Jessica until after 10, we decided to go to the today show. It wasn't all that exciting. We stood outside of Rockefeller Center in the big crowd and watched the show on little bitty monitors. The stand-in weather guy came out once and Matt Lauer and the stand in female anchor came out once. I don't think we even made it onto TV. Oh well. At least I can say I've done it! Then we went to St. Patrick's cathedral, which was absolutely gorgeous. I'm not Catholic, so I don't really understand the symbolism in a lot of the things that are there, but I really enjoyed seeing it. We grabbed breakfast at a little bakery (I felt like a "real" new yorker) and headed back to Broadway to get tickets for Phantom of the Opera. We had intended to get in the typically LONG line for discount tickets, but it didn't open until 3, so we went to a visitors' center to get a city map, etc. There was a broadway booth there, so we decided to just see what seats were still available. We were very excited for discover that there are $20 seats on Mondays only, so we bought them there on the spot. We figured we were going to have to buy the standing-room-only tickets, so this was a wonderful realization for us! The seats were on the next to last row, in the corner, in the balcony. Talk about the nose-bleed section. But we were SOOOO tired by the time we got there that we were just happy to sit. Neither of us were wearing good shoes and were definitely regretty our choice to go cute of comfy. My shoes were actually very comfy, except that they rubbed blisters. Let's see... other things we did in the city.... Oh.. Jess took us to her office, which is on the 23rd floor directly south of Central Park and had a great view! Then we went to the Museum of Natural History, which was awesome, but our feet were hurting and we got hungry... so we only stayed a few hours. We ate lunch at a little chinese place, which was pretty good. Amy LOVES egg rolls, so of course we got some... but their egg rolls are unlike anything I've ever seen. They are pink on the inside with these little crumbles of something unidentifiable in them. I was a trooper and ate mine, but I still have NO idea what I ate. I'm telling myself it was tofu. That at least sounds safe to eat. After that, we walked through Central Park. I wish that I could spend an entire day there. It is so beautiful and serene. Jess has a friend who is a building contractor. As we walked through some of the neighborhoods with endless amounts of townhouses, Amy and I had mentioned we wanted to see inside one, so Jess called up her friend Cliff. He was cleaning up his latest project, which was a $50million renovation to a townhouse. Yes, I typed the amount correctly. $50 million. It was AMAZING. We wore hospital booties around the house. There were no square doors in the house. They were all rounded at the top, made of heavy woods, and imported from France. There was a climate controlled Wine cellar as big as the bathroom at my house. I think Cliff said his wine collection was worth millions. AND, the whole house is on a computer system, so he can check and alter the temperature of his wine cellar or dim the lights from anywhere in the world. There was a glass catwalk, tons of art on the walls that I LOVE!!!!!, a powder room that cost $12,000. That is correct... $12,000 for a small closet with a toilet and sink in it. And it wasn't even all that spectacular. Several of the bathrooms had solid white onyx countertops and washbasins, all custom designed for the room. I have never seen anything so wastefully extravagant. I could have a decent used car for what he dropped in the damn powder room. GEEZ! It was very awesome to see it though! We road the bus around and saw a little more of the city (I honestly don't remember everything we saw) did a little shopping on the streets, then went to Subway and got the 2 for 1 deal for dinner! We were running a little low on cash, so that was nice. Then we just sat there for a long time because our feet hurt! Oh... time to go again! More Later!
EDIT:
Picking up where I left off.... We got to GMA on time. There were only about 15 people in line in front of us. We waited there for about 30 minutes until someone came out and informed us that they would not be having a studio audience because of Hurricane Katrina coverage. We were VERY bummed. You'd think they would have sent us an email or something, but they didn't. So basically, we got up at the butt-crack of dawn for nothing. Since we were already up and not supposed to meet up with Jessica until after 10, we decided to go to the today show. It wasn't all that exciting. We stood outside of Rockefeller Center in the big crowd and watched the show on little bitty monitors. The stand-in weather guy came out once and Matt Lauer and the stand in female anchor came out once. I don't think we even made it onto TV. Oh well. At least I can say I've done it! Then we went to St. Patrick's cathedral, which was absolutely gorgeous. I'm not Catholic, so I don't really understand the symbolism in a lot of the things that are there, but I really enjoyed seeing it. We grabbed breakfast at a little bakery (I felt like a "real" new yorker) and headed back to Broadway to get tickets for Phantom of the Opera. We had intended to get in the typically LONG line for discount tickets, but it didn't open until 3, so we went to a visitors' center to get a city map, etc. There was a broadway booth there, so we decided to just see what seats were still available. We were very excited for discover that there are $20 seats on Mondays only, so we bought them there on the spot. We figured we were going to have to buy the standing-room-only tickets, so this was a wonderful realization for us! The seats were on the next to last row, in the corner, in the balcony. Talk about the nose-bleed section. But we were SOOOO tired by the time we got there that we were just happy to sit. Neither of us were wearing good shoes and were definitely regretty our choice to go cute of comfy. My shoes were actually very comfy, except that they rubbed blisters. Let's see... other things we did in the city.... Oh.. Jess took us to her office, which is on the 23rd floor directly south of Central Park and had a great view! Then we went to the Museum of Natural History, which was awesome, but our feet were hurting and we got hungry... so we only stayed a few hours. We ate lunch at a little chinese place, which was pretty good. Amy LOVES egg rolls, so of course we got some... but their egg rolls are unlike anything I've ever seen. They are pink on the inside with these little crumbles of something unidentifiable in them. I was a trooper and ate mine, but I still have NO idea what I ate. I'm telling myself it was tofu. That at least sounds safe to eat. After that, we walked through Central Park. I wish that I could spend an entire day there. It is so beautiful and serene. Jess has a friend who is a building contractor. As we walked through some of the neighborhoods with endless amounts of townhouses, Amy and I had mentioned we wanted to see inside one, so Jess called up her friend Cliff. He was cleaning up his latest project, which was a $50million renovation to a townhouse. Yes, I typed the amount correctly. $50 million. It was AMAZING. We wore hospital booties around the house. There were no square doors in the house. They were all rounded at the top, made of heavy woods, and imported from France. There was a climate controlled Wine cellar as big as the bathroom at my house. I think Cliff said his wine collection was worth millions. AND, the whole house is on a computer system, so he can check and alter the temperature of his wine cellar or dim the lights from anywhere in the world. There was a glass catwalk, tons of art on the walls that I LOVE!!!!!, a powder room that cost $12,000. That is correct... $12,000 for a small closet with a toilet and sink in it. And it wasn't even all that spectacular. Several of the bathrooms had solid white onyx countertops and washbasins, all custom designed for the room. I have never seen anything so wastefully extravagant. I could have a decent used car for what he dropped in the damn powder room. GEEZ! It was very awesome to see it though! We road the bus around and saw a little more of the city (I honestly don't remember everything we saw) did a little shopping on the streets, then went to Subway and got the 2 for 1 deal for dinner! We were running a little low on cash, so that was nice. Then we just sat there for a long time because our feet hurt! Oh... time to go again! More Later!