Happy 15th!

Well, we are back from our trip and we had a blast. It’s good to be home, though, not good to have to do all of the laundry that needs to get done. We have gone to NY many times, but this is the first time that we have ever taken pictures - at least good pictures anyway.

This trip started out with Steve heading off to Florida on Wednesday to leave Jack with his grandparents while we were away. Wednesday was sort of a downer day for me – and I didn’t really want to do anything to get ready to go.

I put off cleaning and packing until late and finally headed to bed just after midnight. There was no sleep for me though, because Henry woke up with a nasty croupy cough and a high fever, and didn’t really go back to sleep until about 5 am. By then it was time for me to get up and get ready to go. How awful I felt leaving him home with my Mom while I ran away to play.

Steve and I met up at the NY Airport on Thursday and headed right for the Pizza place - we were starving. It took us a couple of tries, but we finally found the right Famous Original Ray’s to eat at. Really, I don’t know if it is just because we are always starving when we go here, but It is truly the best pizza I’ve ever had.

We were supposed to go to the top of the Rockefeller Center but the weather wasn’t great, and there was zero visibility up there so we rescheduled for Saturday. You can’t really see it, but the top of the building disappears into the misty sky.

On Friday we decided to walk around downtown. Across the street from Ground Zero was St. Paul’s church and there was a small cemetery in the yard. Apparently this church miraculously survived 9/11. Some of the gravestones are more than 200 years old.

Next stop Grand Central Station for lunch. There is a huge food court downstairs with way to many things to choose from. I went for a chicken sandwich from a place called The Chirping Chicken. My sandwich was not really a sandwich at all – just a flat chicken breast marinated and grilled up, served in a folded pita bread. Topped with lettuce, tomato and a little mayo, it was delicious. Steve and I agreed that you don’t come across pita sandwiches very often, but I will be picking up pita bread next time I head to the store.

Later it was the Yankees vs. the Mets. This was our first visit to the new Yankee Stadium. We were sad that the old one is no longer in use and will be torn down. The new one was very nice though, and we hope to make it back many more times in the future.

I had to throw this pic in, because I enjoy watching Jeter play. This is him warming up before the game. It’s amazing how far these guys can throw the ball.

The Yanks were set to lose the game in the 9th with a score of 7-8. Jeter was on second, Tex was on first and A-Rod was up – pop fly to shallow right field. The Mets second base man was right there and all of the Mets fans in the stadium were on their feet cheering . . . until the guy dropped the ball – oops. The Yankees Win! But it was bittersweet because they really lost.

Our night ended with a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. This is the second time I have been up there, and I have to say that I don’t love it – even at midnight it was way busy and there is not a lot of room. Also, at night there is not too much to see, just the lights of the city. It’s just one of those things that you can say you did.

Saturday morning we headed up to the Top of the Rockefeller Center and had a great view of the Empire State Building.

Also, Central Park. It amazes me how big it is and how it’s just smack dab in the middle of this huge city.

I recommend The Rock over the Empire State Building. The only thing was that we couldn’t really get a good shot of the Chrysler building, For that you need to go to the Empire State Building.

We had lunch at Lombardi’s – the first licensed pizzeria in America. Located in Little Italy. It was pretty good pizza, but the breadsticks were awful. Little Italy and it’s neighbor Chinatown are the place to go for souvenirs at half the price they are elsewhere. I always shop here first – even for scarves and handbags.

Thanks to the hotel concierge, we had dinner reservations at a place called Gallagher's. This was supposed to be our nice anniversary dinner, but it was quite a disappointment. I guess we should have specified that we wanted to go to a nice restaurant. This was possibly the worst steak house we have ever eaten at. With the exception of the Apple Pie, the food was not good and the service was worse. Things got a little brighter as we were walking from the restaurant to the show, a group of about 20 naked cyclists rode down Broadway in some sort of protest – ewww.

Later, the night improved greatly as we thoroughly enjoyed the musical Wicked. We are sitting in front of the set, but you can’t really see it. It was amazing. Please Note: It was humid and windy while we were there, so that no matter how good my hair looked in the room, there was no hope for it when we got outside.

After church on Sunday, we headed to the Park for a lovely stroll. Or so we thought. When we got there, the park was partially blocked off because of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Who knew it would last over 4 hours.

This is Times Square – we try to avoid it at all costs – way too many people in one small area. Makes me so I can’t breathe.