Looking back at my blog entries I realized I never posted about New York Trip 2014…which is a complete travesty since it was so much fun; and so much of an adventure. I don’t want to take too much time because I have all of December from this past year to blog, but here’s a brief sketch:
Tiffany H and Lindsay H were my buddies on this trip. I could go anywhere with them! We flew out red-eye the last Wednesday of March. It’s kinda hard to do, because you lose a couple hours going over, plus who can really sleep well on a plane? Anyway- we did get to watch the beginning of the sunrise coming in to the east, and see all the lights of New York just before that. We stopped at a café in the train/tram station and got a little breakfast before making our way to the apartment we’d be staying in. It was really cold…and wet…
After securing our belongings in our apartment we got right to work. First stop was the Museum of Natural History. I have to admit, this was not near the experience it was when I went with Lyd and Sav. Probably because we were so tired. In fact, at one point we stopped to sit on a bench (I was about 18 weeks pregnant and had been sick all the week before…but anyway). We stopped to sit for a minute inside the museum…and woke up half an hour later. HAHAHAHA!!!! I can just imagine what the people walking by us were thinking-“why are there three adult women sleeping sitting up on a bench???”. haha! Needless to say, we didn’t stick around for long. We did get a few pictures though. We decided afterwards that perhaps we should take a real nap…in beds…so back to the apartment we went for a nice, long refresher.
Upon awakening from the beauty sleep, we three princesses went exploring. We found a big, plastic wall that had an apple on it. Once we reached the clear wall we saw stairs descending mysteriously into the ground. I noticed right away there were two kinds of people down there; those in blue shirts…and the rest of us. 
haha! It was fun going to the apple store. Above ground, and adjacent to said underground store was FOA Schwartz. I had always wanted to go to a big toy store, so that is where we went. An extremely friendly soldier greeted us at the door. After realizing I couldn’t actually afford any of the fun things in the store, we found our way down to the busy part of town- TIMES SQUARE! Got ourselves some Olive Garden, and then Tiffany and I had an immensely grand time watching our tall friend Lindsay get asked by every other person she walked by if she was a model, or pro baller, and if they could get pictures with her. It was awesome! I reveled in her glory. I love Times Square though; it is truly a metaphorical melting pot of people!
Friday was a BLAST! The very first thing we did was run into a giant candy store. I had never seen such wonders!!! And they were passing out free samples of hot chocolate with popcorn or something floating in it. I was literally and figuratively as happy as a fat kid eating candy…or is it cake? Anyway- the place is called Dylans’; there is candy in the floors, on the walls, in bins every which way you turn; you can’t escape it! It is a little bit of paradise. We then walked across the street to Bloomingdales. As with Times Square; Lindsay grabbed attention. I don’t know if it was her height, her perfect posture and rhythm when walking or what, but we got asked by a lot of people if we wanted to try things. So we got some free perfume and free make-overs! I loved it. We then headed upstairs to the fancy dresses and tried on a few each. I felt like a princess! And I’m really ticked because I can’t find the good picture of all three of us…it’s on facebook though. You can find it there. Anyway- we were there for quite a while.
We went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral next. They were in the middle of remodeling. It was very interesting; there were absolutely beautiful and intricate carvings and rockwork and wood work everywhere you looked; but the Spirit was not there.
After that was a little venture in to Sach’s on 5th Ave. We may have been a little immature…because we could not stop from giggling at the audacity of the prices on some of those purses…well, and everything in the store. I mean $2600 for a clutch?! HAHAHAHA!!! We hit up Radio City and then all the expensive places that night; Trump towers, more expensive stores whose names elude me right at this moment; a Ray ban store where I accidentally knocked over a pair of $200 sunglasses and subsequently had to run for my life. You know, those kind of places. It was quite the eye opener to see these stores where (I’m sure mostly tourists) throw away so much money. But to each his own 
At this point in the vacation I had a bit of a rough spell. I tend to be quite swollen while I am pregnant; and this third time was no exception. Problem is, on top of that I had walked literally ALL DAY, and upon retrospect realized I had decided to replenish myself solely with Diet Coke; because heaven forbid I drink any water. I was awake all night Friday night and in to Saturday morning with sore, swollen…arms; not legs- arms. I can’t really describe the pain, but it was unbearable. Tylenol did nothing for it. Around 2:00am I got up and went to the bathroom and filled up the half-sized tub. (No really, it was only like two-thirds of a tub. ) I somehow squished myself in to it and sat there submerged in water because it was the only thing that gave any kind of relief (I was also drinking water). We were supposed to be hopping on a boat first thing the next morning to go see Lady Liberty, but when Tiff and LIndsay woke up I broke down in tears. They were calm and nice…and told me that they had only seen me drink diet coke the day before. It was then I started chugging water like there was no tomorrow. I finally started feeling better about 30 minutes and 64 oz later… yes I am a dumb, dumb poopy-head.
So anyway- we went down to Battery Park, caught a ferry, and headed over to the Statue of Liberty. It was one bitterly cold, wet, rainy day, but she was still beautiful to see. We were able to climb up to the base and look around inside. I really enjoyed it. We caught some lunch and then waited in line for a very long time to get on another ferry to go to Ellis Island. It was rainy and windy and there was this little family with little, tiny kids just getting soaked to the bone. Being the kind people that they are, Lindsay went and stood with the family so they could use her umbrella, and Tiffany shared with me. They were smart and bought umbrellas for $5 in battery park. Not me. I can spend over a hundred on a Broadway ticket, but $5 on an umbrella? No way Hurricane Sandy had beaten up Ellis Island quite badly, and it was not all up and going still. We got to read and listen to several stories about those who came over. It’s interesting…we think of America as this grand place people came to for freedom; but many of the people who came here were indentured servants or slaves or oppressed in other ways. I had learned this in history…kinda…but it was definitely an eye opener to be there and read all the personal accounts. It was quite sobering.
By the time we got back on the ferry to go back to Manhattan it wasn’t raining anymore. We decided to take a walk down to Rockefeller Center. It was awesome! It was so fun to see the ice rink and the building I had seen so often on tv. There was a lego place…with a lot of cool lego buildings; and a great big lego dragon! We wanted to go on an NBC tour, but they were renovating and not doing them at the time. That didn’t mean we couldn’t spend a nice chunk of day looking at NBC merchandise though; like The Office t-shirts with famous Dwight quotes on it. haha!
That night we made it to Broadway! BROADWAY! YAY!!!! We saw Newsies. It. Was. AWESOME!!! I love the music and the dancing and the story. All three of us had perma-grins the entire show. And…I hate to admit this…but we stood around afterwards with a bunch of teenage girls so I could get my playbook signed. haha! Yes. Yes I am a nerd. We took a taxi back to the apartment that night. It was a ride I’ll always remember… No but seriously; it was just like what you would see on a movie. We had a foreign driver with a thick accent. He told us not to worry because he was the best driver/very good driver. It was pouring rain and he would take off like a shot from a standstill and zip around the corners. We were getting a little thrown around in the back but laughing our heads off. It was awesome.
Sunday was a really nice day. We went to church…at the temple…where everybody in attendance was a law student, or attending Julliard or some other brilliant bloke (my self-esteem would never survive in that ward). We ran in to the niece of a friend from back in Roy which was kinda fun.
After church we went to Ground Zero. I had a lot of emotions while there; sadness for what happened; gratitude for those who came in and helped; pride for American not sinking; but also a little bit of regret for what some Americans have become…and some of the directions it has taken. The pools/fountains were beautiful though. I loved watching the water sink lower and lower to where the buildings stood. I think my very favorite part of the place though was the Survivor Tree. Almost thirteen years later in the early spring it was still blooming…like America it does not take a fall. But anyway-moving on…
At some point during the day we were the only ones on the subway…so we did some pole dancing and took lots of pictures. heh heh- jk.
We did something naughty next…we went to Madison Square Gardens and watched an NCAA playoff game; Michigan St vs UConn!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!! It was seriously SO MUCH FUN!!! It was fun to feel all the energy in the room from the fans of both teams. We ended up with the UConn fans and made instant friends. It was fun to be in that atmosphere again. Some of my favorite times and memories come from being in the Spectrum at USU cheering for our basketball team. The place was packed and it was an intense game…and it’s a lot of fun watching and cheering for the team that would become the future champs.
That night we stayed in and watch Pirates of the Caribbean and other shows on TV. It was relaxing and a great end to a great day.
And now we come to Monday (are you all breathing a sigh of relief?). I always feel a sort of downer when it’s the last day of a vacation. Like there’s a little black rain cloud hanging over me. First order of business was going to China town. I got my butt handed to me by those guys; not a good negotiator. Tiffany though? Tiffany is good…
We went to the Brooklyn Bridge. It is beautiful. It is covered in locks much like the Pont des Arts and other bridges in Paris and Russia. A cute idea for the romantic in me; kinda silly for the cheap-skate in me; and not a good one for the engineer that’s in me through osmosis from my husband. Also, I realized that in the Bull picture below I am wearing the clothes I was wearing Sunday, so we must have visited Wall St on Sunday…not Monday. Upon coming back across the bridge we saw a bunch of street performers. I would post a video, but that just takes way too dang long on my computer. The last thing we did before parting ways (Linds had a different flight home than Tiff and I) was to eat lunch at one of the little Metro Café s…which is the first place I had lunch with my sisters the year before when I went with them.
It was a FANTASTIC trip!!! Tiffany and Lindsay are so easy and fun to travel with. I kept saying that after I went on this last trip I would not need to go to NYC again…but that was a lie. I will still need to go many times; to see Broadway; to actually see Central Park because I’ve been to Manhattan twice now and still haven’t really been in to the park; to actually see Wall St in action on a week day; see where the Yankees play; and so I can take my mom. So long New York! I <3 NY
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