NYC Trip Day 6

Friday was our last full day in New York and it was a freezing 24 degrees all day with very strong wind! We took the subway to Chinatown where they had cute hats and scarfs for sale - good quality and inexpensive (my kinda shopping). Justin had a harder time. They tried really hard to sell him a cheap watch and cheap perfume but some things you just don't skimp on right? We ate lunch at Pecking Duck and it was really good.
Little Italy is right next to Chinatown and they didn't have many stores, mainly restaurants and bakeries.
Soho is a trendy area near here with lots of shopping boutiques. In fact, at many stores there was a line of people waiting just to get into the store! We wanted to go to the Brooklyn Bridge was it was a long walk from here and we were tired of being outside.

We took the subway to the Empire State Building and the lobby was absolutely beautiful.
We went up to the 86th floor observatory where you can step outside and see the views. We purchased the audio tour (highly recommend) and it was so interesting learning how the building was built. It was the tallest building in Manhattan at the time and it took only 13 months to build? Typically one death per floor is expected when constructing a building but only 5 people died during construction. The total height including the lightening rod is 1,454 feet.
Also, with the audio tour you can stand at a certain point and it will tell you about the area and buildings you are looking at.

It was so windy and cold we couldn't stay outside for very long. When we went back inside they were selling tickets to go up to the 102nd floor observatory. We decided to go up there and we were glad we did because guess who we saw up there? Celine Dion! She was touring the building and had two big body guards with her. The bellhop in the elevator said that she had not notified them that she was coming so we didn't want to bother her or gawk at her. However, we saw her again later down in the lobby and we tried to get a picture of her but of course someone would walk in front of the camera so sorry no pics.
View of the financial district and the statue of liberty on the right from the 102nd floor
Then we walked up 5th Avenue back toward our hotel and peeked at some more stores, We stumbled into this massive beautiful building not knowing that it was the New York Public Library until we were leaving. It had old maps of the city which were interesting.

Neat window displays at Lord & TaylorIt was our last night in the city so we decided to pick a nice Italian restaurant to eat at. So we arrived at La Riviera Restoriante and then realized we needed reservations - oops! Well they were kind enough to seat us anyway and what a treat the food was so good!
Then we decided to see at movie in Times Square. A movie ticket was $12.50 - the cheapest entertainment of the week!
It was a really fun trip and we will remember it always! (thanks to the invention of blogging haha!)

NYC Trip Day 5

Thursday morning's temp was in the low 30's. We had a fancy breakfast at Daniela Trattoria. Then we walked to Central Park. There was a neat outdoor marketplace at the southern entrance to the Park where people were selling hand-made Christmas decorations, candy and hot chocolate. Central Park was very pretty even without leaves on the trees and no snow. It was also very a peaceful break from the city. Our favorite part was listening to Christmas music being played by the random saxophone players scattered throughout the park. It was so romantic!
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was right by Central Park so we went in and that place is huge! I am certainly not know for my appreciation of art but many of the sculptures and paintings were pretty impressive. There was art work from all over the world from French paintings to wooden carvings from Papua New Guinea.

Lunch at Serendipity was next on the list. I haven't seen the movie since I was in high school but I definitely remember the scene when they share the frozen hot chocolate. There was an hour wait to get in but it was worth it. The place was extravagantly decorated with colored lights and ornaments, silver and gold garlands and a bright pink Christmas tree! The frozen hot chocolate was everything I thought it would be! We bought packets of the mix to take home and I think I can try to make a copy-cat recipe.


Then we walked over to Bloomingdale's. I have never seen so humongous of a store in my life. Bloomingdale's is 9 stories high! The women's department covered like 3 floors! There is even a huge section where you can buy stuff for your pets. One of the floors had a chocolate store where they make these elaborate truffles by hand. One truffle is $6 so it better be good!

I wish that I had worn a pedometer this day so I could see how many miles we walked because I was convinced it was at least 20 miles haha. My legs were so tired so we took the subway sucessfully back to the hotel.

That night we saw the best Broadway show ever called In the Heights.

"In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in Manhattan's Washington Heights – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind."

The singing and dancing was amazing and we were entertained every second of the show - I didn't want it to end!

NYC Trip Day 4

On Wednesday, it was in the upper 40's and it rained all morning. Of course we didn't bring an umbrella so we had to buy one from a street vendor. We decided it was a good time to pick out souvenirs. We got a couple of Christmas ornaments for our tree, t-shirts and magnets for family and key chains and pens for coworkers.

We went to a Levi's store where I came really close to buying my first pair of skinny jeans but I just couldn't do it. Everyone in NYC was wearing skinny jeans with their boots or Uggs over the jeans and I was seriously the only girl wearing regular jeans and tennis shoes. I almost bought some slouch boots too so I could start the trend in southeast tx. I normally start to like a trend as soon as it starts going out of style.

Lunch was at the Tuscany Cafe - a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria where they sell NY style pizza by the slice - very yummy. Of course I had to order a Pepsi because Dr. Pepper is usually non-existent in restaurants outside of Texas. Yes, I went into major DP withdraws.

Then we went to see a play by Alfred Hitchcock called The 39 Steps - Broadways longest-running comedy thriller. It was a 4-person cast that played all the characters and the actors were amazingly good and funny.

That evening we met up with Michelle Skinner (Justin's friend's sister) and her boyfriend Devon. They showed us around a trendy place in East Village where a lot of NYU college kids like to hang out. Michelle and Devon are lawyers in NYC and they say its too expensive for them to live here. One of her friends pays $2300 a month for a loft apartment in this area! We had a fun time with them.

playing skiball!We played girls vs. guys and we totally whooped up on the guys!

NYC Trip Day 3

Today's temperature was in the upper 30's - low 40's. We ate omlets at the Gourmet NY Marketplace - so yummy and I felt healthier just being in there. We walked down to Rockefeller Center, saw the big Christmas tree and watched the ice skaters. If you want to be in the Christmas spirit this is the place to be, there were huge decorations everywhere and the Salvation Army Santa's were singing and dancing.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree!

We saw where they broadcast Good Morning America and went into the NBC store. The NBC store is attached to a candy store so the logo I am leaning on is filled with skittles or something.
I had to peek inside the American Girl store because I loved the American Girl books and read every one as a kid - Felicity, Samantha, Addy, Kirsten, and Molly. Samantha was my favorite.
We popped into the Saks to gawk at the ridiculously high prices of stuff like a $300 Burberry scarf. I'll take the $10 knockoff from a street vendor thank you! One lady working at the makeup counter grabbed me and sat me down rambling about the wrinkles around my eyes and my dry yet oily complexion. So I preceded to let her give me a makeover yet refused to buy any of the products ($40 for facial cleanser!? she was a good salesperson but not THAT good). But hey, I got a free makeover!

Inside SaksThe finished product

Then we decided today was a good day to visit a hotdog stand! Normally, Justin does not eat hotdogs because he got severe food poisoning once from eating a hot dog and nearly died or something. But he decided the risk was worth it and guess what? He decided it was the best hot dog he had ever eaten! I can't say the same - it was good but not plump enough for my taste.


Justin had to take a picture of this specific Wachovia bank for his manager. Justin went inside and talked to this guy who worked there about banking stuff and the future transition to Wells Fargo for a really long time. I was so bored :)

That night we went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (since 1933) at the Radio City Music Hall and let me just say that the show was spectacular - just like it said! I was on drill team in high school so I loved getting to see the Rockettes perform. They don't seem to kick very high though. We used to have to practically slam our face with our leg and some girls would have lipstick on their shins. Rockettes keep it at a nice 45 degree angle which looks better in my opinion. They did a lot of tap dancing and they all sang!We were 3 rows from the stage!As if our day wasn't exciting enough, we had to go back to the Rockefeller Iceskating Rink to do some iceskating! Can you believe Justin had never been iceskating before? What a deprived child! I was prepared to laugh at him during his first fall but of course he was so good at it! He is really good at rollerbladding so I should have known he would be a natural at iceskating. I actually took iceskating lessons one summer long ago and I am still really bad at it. The rink was so beautiful and romantic at night - this was probably my favorite part of the trip.

Justin showing off by flipping around and skating backwards

We had supper at the Celtic Pub in Times Square where I ate the best NY style cheesecake I have ever tasted.

NYC Trip Day 2

Today's temperature was in the low 30's. Monday ended up being dubbed "museum day" as you will soon see why. We started the day at Starbucks and there is seriously a one on every street corner in Manhattan. This morning was our first attempt at taking the subway which is called the "train" by the locals and we arrived at Battery Park without much trouble (although we witnessed argument with racist comments that we thought might turn violent but fortunately did not).

At Battery Park we caught a ferry headed toward the Statue of Liberty! It was freezing!

From the ground to the top of the torch is 305 ft.

France built and gave the Statue to America as a gift representing the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution. The statue was built to face Europe in an attempt to "enlighten the world" and served as a friendly "welcome" to immigrants. Our end of the deal was to build the pedestal on which Lady Liberty stands. We went inside the Monument where there is a museum telling how the Statue was made. Can you believe that women were not invited to the dedication ceremony for the Statue of Liberty even though the statues was female and represented liberty?


Tickets to go up to the crown had been sold out since it reopened in July, but we were able to go to the top of the pedestal. Getting to the crown is a chore anyways - no elevator, you would have to climb a million steps so we were not too disappointed.

Then the ferry took us over to Ellis Island where the Immigrants first landed and were checked for contagious diseases. When they got off the ship, they had to leave their luggage and men & women were separated and with thousands of people they didn't know if they would be able to find their family and personal belongings again. We got the audio tour and it was so sad hearing stories of people who had to be deported due to something silly such as a cut received during the journey. However, between 1880 and 1930 over 20 million immigrants came through Ellis Island and they only turned away around 100,000.

Immigration Museum
Big room where the Immigrants were housed while being registered

For many women, marriage was their ticket to America. Recent male immigrants were lonely and could send a letter to be delivered to a random woman in his home country. The woman would meet the man they were supposed to marry as soon as they got off the ship and got married right then and there! Now that's brave!

We then walked over to Ground Zero and peaked through the gate but couldn't really see much. The Ground Zero museum was very interesting and sad of course. It displayed quotes, stories and charred artifacts recovered from the wreckage. One item that stood out was a firefighter's uniform that was ripped and burned and the helmet was melted and warped. You can only imagine what that person must have went through if they uniform was so damaged. The saddest thing that made me cry was an entire wall covered in missing person fliers.

After walking around the financial district we hopped on the subway headed back to Times Square but it was traveling the opposite way we wanted to go and we ended up in Brooklyn! By this time it was dark and I was so exhausted and just wanted to get back to the hotel. Fortunately, a very nice man with a real thick New Yorker accent pointed us in the right direction and said "May God be with you on your journey." Awww! That made my day.
We ended the night at Bella Vita Italian Restaurant which has really really tasty brick oven pizza.

NYC Trip Day 1

Justin and I have been planning a trip to New York City for as long as we have been married. Justin has been to NY once before when he went with the Texas A&M Financial Management Association, but this was my first trip and I really wanted to go when everything would be decorated for Christmas. We stayed a full week at the Milford Plaza Hotel a block from Times Square in the theater district. Unfortunately, it never snowed but it did get very cold. It was a very memorable trip and very expensive but worth every penny!

In the lobby of the Milford Plaza Hotel

So our big naive experience happened when we first landed in New York. We were approached in the baggage claim and asked if we needed a taxi ride. We said yes and were led to a black sedan which had no mileage meter in it but we're thinking that people probably drive people around as a side business for extra money and we didn't think much of it. Well apparently this is illegal because these guys will charge you whatever they feel like and we ended up having to pay an outrageous amount for a thirty minute ride to our hotel. We will never make that mistake again! These guys are everywhere though - we saw several people throughout the week trying to catch a cab and these guys would drive by constantly trying to rip people off. The cops used to crack down on it more but their attention is now focused on preventing acts of terrorism.

The first thing we did was walk around Times Square and boy was it crazy and crowded! People were visiting from other countries so we heard several languages being spoken all around us at once. We went into several stores: a 3-story M&M store, Hershey store, huge comic book store (which Justin loved), Toys R' us that has a huge ferris wheel in the middle of the store. We walked down to 34th street to see Macy's, Victoria Secret, and H&M.

Now this is my kinda store!World's largest Hershey bar

The decorations in Macy's were unbelievable!

That night we ate seafood at Bubba Gump's in Times Square. New York City has passed a law requiring any restaurant with at least 15 locations nationwide to post the calories next to every item on the menu. I ordered tilapia in a cream sauce with mashed potatoes and sauted spinach and the damage was 1,040 calories! And that doesn't include the garlic bread we ordered for an appetizer... good thing I didn't eat it all!
A lot of people in Times Square were selling tickets to various events so we caught a comedy show which was pretty good at a place called Dangerfield's. A good start to a great week.