New York City

We are back from vacation. I still have a couple of days until I return to work. I'll be sharing my recaps here and there as I have a lot to share.

Our first few hours in New York City was slightly intimidating and a bit overwhelming. It is a culture shock for sure. We booked a car service to take us from the airport to the hotel. We followed the instructions and were told to look for a black Toyota Avalon. Every single car was black so I started to panic a bit if I could actually make it in this big city. Thankfully we made it to the hotel in once piece, NYC drivers are crazy scary. We set out on foot to a nearby pizza place called Little Italy Pizza, which was just three minutes away. Somehow, we got lost! But, we eventually found it and since we were starved, it tasted extra yummy.

Our hotel is close to the Empire State Building so I suggested waking by there on our way home so I could take a photo in the evening lighting. After going a few blocks we stumbled across our hotel and decided we had better count that as a win and go back inside. The 14th floor rooftop bar has a great view of the Empire State Building. Sadly, it was raining so we only popped out to take a quick look.

We stayed at LaQuinta in Manhattan. It was a bit underwhelming for the premium price. For a 14-story building, our room was on the 2nd floor AND our view was of the fire escape and apartment building next door. The elevator takes forever to get you anywhere so I took the stairs. It was three floors down for coffee/tea/water and two floors up for ice. I managed to get some extra activity in that way.

Our first full day in NYC went better than the day before. We both didn't sleep well so we got a late start. The breakfast at the hotel wasn't that stellar so we ventured out for a bite to eat at this place called Speedy's.

Everything in NYC is so fast paced so I was again feeling really out of place and doubtful. I had spent some time looking at the maps when I was awake throughout the early morning hours (switching from graves to days is hard on the sleep cycle) so I felt a little better prepared. We decided to book a two-day pass on the hop on/hop off bus service called Big Bus Tours. It was also recommended to ride the whole route first and then decide from there where to get off the bus. We easily found the bus stop, the Red Line: Uptown Route and boarded for the 150 minute tour. Kenyon had to sit on the bottom deck of the bus because there was only one seat left on top. After about five stops, he was able to join me upstairs. It was great and I enjoyed being able to see NYC without having to kill my feet walking or feel anxious about navigating public transit. We ended up getting off the bus at the stop for Rockefeller Center because I knew I wanted to take closer photos. I also was in dyer need of a bathroom and Starbucks stop! We found a restaurant that looked good so we stopped in for a bite of lunch at Bill's Bar & Burger.

We walked around a little more snapping some photos (and searching for another bathroom...the downside to large cities) before walking to Time Square so we could catch the Blue Line: Downtown Route. We needed to catch the Purple Line: Midtown Route to get back to our hotel and thankfully we were able to catch the last bus tour, which left from Time Square.

Our second full day in NYC was just as eventful. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a nearby Wendy's and then boarded the Purple Line: Midtown Route again so we could catch a ride to the pier for our included water tour with a company called Circle Line Boat Tours. The boat/harbor tour wasn't until 4:30pm so we started our day at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum. It was New York Fashion week so a section of the museum wasn't going to be available. It took me a moment to realize why we saw so many people in such elaborate outfits. Then, I remembered fashion week. It made for some fun people watching. The museum houses the Intrepid Space Shuttle, which never went into orbit as it was a ground test flight. If you ever get a chance to see a space shuttle in a museum you must go.

We walked all around the large naval ship and also down into the growler submarine, which once carried a cruise missile. It is very tiny quarters and always amazing me how the men/women live like that daily.

There wasn't much for food choices in the area of the pier so we had to make do with the food court at Intrepid. It was not that great (cold hot dogs) and over priced. We still had a bit of time to kill before our Circle Line tour and almost got another hot dog from the vender stand but decided to wait until we boarded the boat tour to see what their options had. It ended up their nachos were a great deal as you got a lot for $8.75. We really enjoyed the harbor tour and met/chatted with a couple from Oklahoma and New Zealand. We knew this tour would give us the best chance at seeing Lady Liberty as we were pretty sure the side of the ship we were going to be on would not see the Statute of Liberty on our trek out of NYC, at least from our balcony (and that was indeed the case). It was so neat to see this iconic landmark.

We rode the Purple Line back to our hotel and set out on foot to see the 911 Monument. Kenyon navigated us through the subway system and we were there in about eight stops (our hotel was located in Herald Square). It was already getting dark so we were able to see the names on the monument glowing. It was really pretty. Since the 16th anniversary was approaching (I didn't realize that when I booked our cruise dates) we noticed there was a lot of police presence around the city. There was flags and white roses tucked along the names. We had heard the towers might be lit due to the upcoming anniversary, but sadly they were not. That would have been amazing to see.

We safely navigated the subway back to our hotel and had one last bite of New York pizza once again at Little Italy Pizza. It was so good.

Since we had done all we wanted to do and saw all we wanted to see, I slept in and made it a lazy morning before we boarded the cruise. I ended up realizing I was running low on eyeliner so we ventured out to Saphoria at a nearby mall. I also had some beloved Starbucks. We hailed a cab and headed to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. We realized on this trip we used planes, trains, and automobiles (plus boats and buses). We got a good rundown of the public transportation system in NYC and all are equally terrifying. I have no idea how people drive in that. Yikes!

More to come...