One Last Trip

I apologize for not posting in such a long time. I've actually had several topics lately that I've wanted to talk about, but sometimes just finding 5 minutes to sit down can be a challenge. That being said, Becca and I just got back from a great trip this week so I thought I'd let everyone know about our fun in New York.

I hear on a daily basis that once the baby comes our lives are going to change forever. Most people will continue on by saying that for the most part it is a good change, but the regular theme is to be prepared for a completely different way of life. With that in mind, and knowing that we both love to travel, Becca and I decided we wanted to take one last trip with just the two us before June 11. After a lot of discussion on where to go and what to do we decided on our first trip to the Big Apple.

We arrived in the city Wednesday afternoon and after a taxi ride that almost resulted in Becca losing her lunch we got to our hotel. We stayed in the Milford Plaza and for anyone who is thinking about staying in New York I would highly recommend the hotel. It's not fancy at all, but it was safe, clean, had a good bed and shower and it's location was amazing. We were literally a block from Times Square and within walking distance of all the Broadway shows, Rockefeller plaza, NBC studios, hundreds of great restaurants, and so much more. And best of all it was one of the least expensive hotels I found. That first night we walked around Times Square admiring all the lights and billboards and then just wandered around a little bit where we ran into Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, and NBC studios. Pretty good for not having any idea where we were going. We then ate at one of New York's famous delicatessen's where I had a pastrami sandwich with a pound of meat. I could only eat half of it.

On every other trip we've taken Becca and I have pre-planned every last detail. However, this trip came up rather quickly leaving us with no time to plan and no idea what were going to do Thursday morning. We thought we'd give the Today show a shot so we went back to the NBC studios and stood outside with the mob of people waiting to get on camera. Unfortunately our timing was off so even though we did get to see some of the cast of the show, we didn't get on camera. We had been told by several people that the double-decker tour buses were good, so we decided that would be the best way to see the majority of the city in the short amount of time we were there. After a lot of time with me running through all the options we finally decided on a 3-day pass and hopped on the bus going to the downtown part of Manhattan. The buses were nice because you can get off and on at their different stops and we never had to wait long for the next one to come by.

Our first stop was the World Trade Center site. It was kind of hard to see because there's a lot of construction going on and everything is blocked off, but it was still good to go. We then walked through Chinatown and into Little Italy where we had a great authentic Italian lunch. After that we got back on the bus and rode around to Pier 17. It's a neat little area with shops and restaurants along with some old ships docked for a museum and some cool views of the Brooklyn bridge. We got back on the bus and rode back up to our hotel. While on the bus we got to see the United Nations, Empire State Building, Macy's, Waldorf Astoria hotel, and much more.

The bus passes came with a free cruise around Manhattan island, so since we had made it back in time we decided to give it a shot. It was a great trip with a tour guide talking about the history of New York, we got to see the city from a different point of view as well as the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and we even see the skyline at night.

Once we were back to our hotel we were ready for dinner, so we got ready and went to a great New York style pizza place called John's Pizza. From the outside it looked like a hole in the wall, but once we got in the whole place opened up and it was really very nice. The pizza was great. After dinner we decided that the Empire State Building would probably be neat at night, so we went ahead and walked there. I had heard stories about people waiting for hours in line to get into the Empire State Building, but since we went at night there wasn't hardly anybody. We got straight to the top and were knocked back by the view. From the top you could see the lights of the entire city and New Jersey. I've never been on top of the Empire State Building in the day, but I think at night has to be the best way to go. It was breathtaking.

It had now been a very long first day, so we headed back to the hotel and quickly passed out. I'm realizing that this entry is getting very long, so I'm going to stop here and pick up the rest of the trip later. I'd like to say that the remaining days were quite as busy, but I'd be lying. Hope you enjoy!