Monday

We left the house at 5:30 and stopped off at Whataburger for coffee and taquitos. Got to the Park N Fly at 6:20 am and only waited about three minutes for a shuttle to get us to the terminal. Dad had faxed us some security passes that enabled us to skip the VERY long line at the ticket counter and walk straight to security. There was no wait in that line, which is surprising, and we were sitting at the gate by 7:00 am. Dad had gotten up at 1:10 to list us on the flight, but since we are D3's (there are several levels of standby passes: D1 - pilots and flight attendants, D2 - dependents of employees, then there's the bottom of the barrel D3's) we get bumped down on the list. We didn't get on the first flight but made the next one to DFW. We didn't get to sit together. I actually had to suffer in first class while Jody sat back in coach. Then we got on the next flight to New York and did sit together with a seat inbetween us in coach.

    We got into New York at 4:00-ish and called the hotel shuttle. We checked into the hotel, changed clothes and headed for the subway. The subway was interesting. Saw some interesting people. I will say we stuck out just a bit...khaki shorts, nice polo shirts.... We might as well have worn "I Love NY" t-shirts, worn fanny packs, hats, and a camera around our necks holding maps. It was a very working class crowd, but it was very convenient and cheap to travel that way. We had intended on going to the South Street Seaport where there is a ticket booth that sells half-price Broadway tickets but I called my friend Tammy Shields who has been to New York twice and she said they close at 6:00 pm or when they sell out of tickets (which would be much earlier than 6:00). It was 5:30 at this point and we knew we wouldn't make it. So, we decided to go to Times Square and walk around. We got out of the subway and just started walking really fast (like everyone else) pretending like we knew where we were going and what we were doing. We finally found our way to 42nd and Broadway and was able to go to the Toys R Us (the largest toy store in the world) and then to the ESPN Zone for a few minutes. There were hotdog vendors everywhere, so we had one with saurkraut and spicy mustard . It was SO good. I don't know if it was because we were starving or what, but it really was good - and cheap. $2.00 a dog. We walked down 42nd and saw Bryant Park and ALL the people sitting in the park waiting for a film to show on a really big screen. Grand Central Station was down the street and was a block from the New York Public Library. We went into Grand Central just to see it and how busy it was - it was very interesting. Down in the subway area it's like a city in itself! Trains going every which way. After seeing Grand Central, we talked to a police officer and asked if the Empire State Building was close. It was about 7 blocks away, so we walked to it. We thought we'd go ahead and go up in it that night instead of during the day where the wait could be as long as 5 hours. It only took us 2 hours from start to finish: buying tickets, waiting in line to get to the elevators, waiting in line to get to the next set of elevators, then waiting in line to get out onto the observation deck. There was more waiting just to get a spot by the fence to see anything. I got some good pictures and it was nice to do once . If we go back, we won't go up in it again.

    After the Empire State building trip, we headed back to the subway and to the hotel. The hotel was four blocks from the subway station, so we ended up having to walk through a neighborhood at 10:30 at night . We weren't too thrilled with that but we made it. We decided we'd scout out a better route the next morning for the trip back at night. We stopped off at the hotel restaurant to have some chicken wings and then we fell into bed at midnight or so. We were so TIRED from all the walking. We surely walked 15 or more miles that night!

 

Tuesday

I got up at 6:30 and went down to the fitness center in the hotel. My legs were so dead from all the walking, but I forced myself to do 15 minutes on a bicycle and then lifted a few arm weights. The total workout lasted 30 minutes. Nothing to write home about...but I guess I just did.

    Jody got up at 7:30 and we had some coffee in the hotel room and then headed for the subway again. We were able to get 1-Day Fun Passes for $7.00 each. This enabled us to ride the subway anytime that day. That was very convenient. It would have been $2.00 each ride and we rode it a lot. Our first stop was to get tickets to the Hop on Hop off tour buses. We waited in line for about 20 minutes to get those and then 30 minutes to actually get on a bus. We took the downtown tour because one of the stops was at the South Street Seaport. We wanted to get the tickets to the show and decided to get matinee tickets for the next day (Wednesday) since it was supposed to rain. We didn't want to waste good weather sitting in the theater. On the way down to the seaport, we saw the Empire State Building again, Macy's, the Federal building, Wall Street , a few taxi's , Ground Zero , and several beautifully constructed buildings. We walked the seaport for a little while and then found the ticket booth. We got our matinee tickets for $56.00 each. When I looked at Ticketmaster online before we left, the seats were $210 a person. It was very worth it to me to stand in line for 10 minutes and get tickets that cheap.

    Our next mission was to eat at Lombardi's - the restaurant recommended by Ken Hoffman . The pizza was tremendous and the little place was so cute and quaint . After lunch we went back to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked over to Brooklyn. It only took 30 minutes. When we got over into Brooklyn, we caught the last tour bus and saw the sites in Brooklyn. The bus then took us back to Times Square where we walked up to see the M&M store . It was three levels and was so interesting. They had all colors of M&M's . There was also a Hershey's Chocolate store. I could have spent the rest of the day in there sampling, but refrained. After some shopping, we caught the subway down to Katz's Deli and had pastrami on rye with spicy mustard . It was the best sandwich I have EVER eaten in my ENTIRE life. I can't even describe how good it was. Jody had a reuben that was just as good. We sat at a table that Meg Ryan sat at in the movie When Harry Met Sally . After the big, fat sandwiches, we walked up about five blocks to an old pastry shop called Viniero's . We had cheesecake and coffee to end the day. It was also VERY good. We talked to an elderly couple who was sitting in the pastry shop who were born and raised in New York. The man was 90 years old and said he and the lady had been together for 50 years. He said they weren't married - they were still trying to decide. He was funny.

    So, we ate everywhere I had wanted to eat that day. I figured if you go to New York you have to have pizza, sandwiches from a deli, and New York cheesecake. Mission accomplished! ha I absolutely refused to eat at McDonald's or any place we could eat here. We took the train back to the hotel and walked our different, safer route back to the hotel. We stayed closer to some busy streets rather than walk through the neighborhood.

 

Wednesday

We got up and were ready to leave at 8:30. It had been raining quite a bit but stopped long enough for us to get on the subway. The problem with taking it this day was that it was commuter time AND since it had been raining so much, a few of the other trains were closed because of flooding. That meant we were packed in like sardines going into Manhattan. I honestly thought there was no way another person could fit in that subway car and THREE more would squeeze in! It was that way at every stop! I was wondering if we were going to be able to get off where we wanted to, but we did. We stopped at Grand Central station to take another train down to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty . We made it down there and when we got off the train the rain had stopped again for us. It stopped just long enough for us to get to Clinton Fort and then stopped after about 15 minutes for us to see the Statue of Liberty. We didn't ride the ferry out to it because we didn't want to use up all that time and the water was really choppy.

    After the brief look at the Statue of Liberty, we got back on the subway and rode up to Central Park. On our way to the park we stopped in FAO Schwartz which is a big toy store . I took some pictures of a lego city for Scott and some large Star Wars characters made out of legos. Jody let the kids watch Star Wars and now they are both infatuated with all the characters. We walked over to Central Park and walked just a small portion of it . We could easily spend all day in Central Park, but wanted to at least see some of it. We decided that although we saw quite a bit of New York we would have to come back again. This was more or less a scouting trip and we'll go back and spend more time in one area next time. Central Park was really pretty and it was amazing to me that it is in the middle of the city. At 12:30 we decided to head back towards downtown so we'd be close to the theater for the 2:00 show. We took the subway down and then ate at a deli pretty close to the theater. We were seated at 1:45. The show was outstanding! I just couldn't get over the voices - very exceptional . And, rightly so since it is broadway!

    Right after the show we caught the first subway up to the Bronx to see the Yankees game . We got there in time to get a Yankees hat - it was the give-away that night so they were free . Then, we saw Roger Clemens pitch. We didn't know who would be pitching, so it was just a bonus that we got to see him! While at the game, there was a steam explosion down on 42nd street which was exactly where we had just come from to get to the game. It killed one person, injured 20 and blew a hole in the street. We didn't realize the seriousness of it until we got back to the hotel. During the game, there was a notice on the big screen that said there was a steam explosion and there would be delays getting into Manhattan after the game. Fortunately, we had already decided to take a cab home. We didn't want to add an extra hour and a half trying to get home on the subway and it would have been a LOT longer had we tried after the explosion. So, we did take a cab home. Cost us $50, but it was worth it. The first guy we asked was going to charge us $90! That's just crazy! We made it back and got to bed at about 11:00 pm.

 

Thursday

We had set four alarms to make sure we were up, dressed, packed and ready to go to the airport at 4:20 am. That meant we got up at 3:30 am EST which is, as you know, 2:30 CST! That right there is EARLY. I'm not even calling it morning because 2:30 is the middle of the night! We caught the shuttle and had to stand in line for security when we got there. We got to bypass the ticket counter again which would have been at least an hour wait. Once through security we got to the gate and realized we probably weren't going to get on any flights any time soon. All were overbooked because of the bad weather the day before. Not only that, but there were people who were on the stand-by list who had to spend the night in the airport so they were on the list before us. In addition, there were 8-10 employees trying to get out to go to work, so we were bumped down even more. We were 28 and 29 on the list! So, we waited and didn't get on until 11:40. I actually was VERY pleased with that because on paper it was looking like we wouldn't even make it out that day much less before noon. But, God had just blessed us all through the trip that He finished what He started! We didn't get to sit together but we were okay with that! I was just glad we were on the plane. We got to Dallas at 2:00 and we were going to try to get on the 2:40 flight. It said on the monitor that it had been delayed until 3:40 because of weather here in Houston, so were were very relieved we could go somewhere and sit down to eat. The only thing they served on the flight was one drink. It was an 11:40 flight and lasted three hours. You'd think they'd be serving SOME kind of snack. So, we were starving when we got to Dallas. As we were just sitting down to enjoy our nutritious Taco Bell, my dad called and said he saw they had reinstated the flight to depart at 2:40!! So, I grabbed my half-eaten taco and shoved it in the bag and we took off. We weren't even in the same terminal as our flight which meant we had to catch the shuttle/train and get over to the gate ASAP. Fortunately the majority of people on the flight were in the same boat we were and although we made it there at 2:35, we didn't actually leave the terminal until 3:40 as originally scheduled. It was okay because we both got first class seats and had something to drink while we waited for take-off. We certainly weren't suffering in the cushy seats!

    Once we got to Houston, we caught the Park N Fly shuttle within about five minutes after walking out of the terminal and were in the truck heading home at 5:00 or so. The only drawback with that is that we hit some traffic. It wasn't that big of a deal though. Again, I was glad we weren't still sitting in New York! We got home a little after 6:00 and were very glad to see our babies. Mother and Dad had brought them to the house for us while Mother did her weekly shopping.

We are looking forward to going again next summer!