Wednesday:
Left home at 4:30 a.m. Yeah, that's right. A.M. Flight leaves Cedar Rapids at 8 a.m.
Arrive at Newark at 3:30
Cab ride to hotel seems very overwhelming
Arrive at hotel at 5:00
Eat at pub across the street from hotel called Social (I had hamburger and fries--the fries were awesome!)
Walk around Times Square (Mom bought black I heart NY t-shirts for Tara and me)
Thursday:
Breakfast at Euro Diner (I had French toast and chocolate milk). Took lots of pictures in diner. Brennan forgot his camera and while he and Dad went back to get it, Mom complained about how cold it was. Tara said, "Would you like me to just kill you?" Mom said, "I wish you would and put me out of my misery." And so begins the overreaction to everything.
Walked to Pier 84 of the New York Harbor to go on Circle Line Bus Tour (no sighting of Michelle Pfeiffer or George Clooney). Bought water from a very amusing street vendor who said, "You have made the best decision you will make all day: the decision to hydrate."
Tour took two hours and was very cool. I was very affected by the sight of Lady Liberty, becoming choked up--didn't know that was going to happen.
After the tour, we rode the subway to the Empire State Building. Kinda tricky to figure out the train lines at first, but went very smoothly all vacation. Stood in line at Empire State Building for about an hour. Very amusing little girl ahead of us who was much like Tara. She and her dad were on the elevator with us. When it hit floor 40, he said, "40. That's how old I am." (Blatant lie--he was obviously much closer to 50). The girl goes very loudly, "Nuh-uh! You're--" "Shh!!" he said, and everyone laughed. When the elevator hit 50, she goes, "That's how old you are!" and he said, good-naturedly, "Thank you very much." Very cute! I got cool New York City magnets for $17 at the top.
After Empire State, we ate at the Olive Garden which was awesome. I had thirds of salad and breaksticks. Yum, yum, yum!! Our waiter was funny but also kind of a tool.
After dinner was Curtains. It. Was. AWESOME. When David Hyde Pierce entered I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. The entire cast, music, and story was excellent, and when DHP won the Tony on Sunday, it was even more meaningful. Got pics of him and other cast members afterward. Very exciting for my first Broadway show (and I couldn't believe it was the original cast!)
Walked around Times Square afterward. Brennan tripped over a pothole in the middle of the street and spend the REST OF THE VACATION limping around. He was such a good sport!!
Friday:
Ate at Art Cafe for breakfast. I had a kick-ass omelette and diet Coke. Yum!!! Took pics of Tara and me.
Rode the subway to Central Park. Dad bought hats for Tara and me because it was very sunny and very hot and humid! Gross!! Mine is pink and says NYC on it. Stopped by Strawberry Fields and the John Lennon memorial. Very solemn and respectful. Very cool!
We continued on and took a bunch of pictures under this bridge and then saw lots of schoolkids and dogwalkers. When we emerged from the park we were at the Museum of Natural History where we spent the afternoon. Some of that stuff was a little boring but the planetarium show was really cool. Plus, by that time, my feet were hurting like a bitch, so it was nice to sit. I even took my shoes off while we were in the dark. Aaah!!
After the museum, we ate hot dogs from a vendor across from the museum, and then walked (except for Brennan, who limped) back to the subway. When we got back to Times Square, we split from Tara who went to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee while the remaining four of us went to the Yankees game which ROCKED my socks off. We took the subway and it was packed and then had to buy tickets but it was so worth it.
Brennan taught me the names of all the players: (Miguel Cairo #41(?) 1st baseman, Robinson Canu #24 2nd baseman, Derek Jeter #2 shortstop, Alex Rodriguez #13 3rd baseman, Jorge Pasada catcher (can't remember number), Andy Petiette pitcher (can't remember number), Bobby Abreu #53 right fielder, Melky Cabrera #28 center fielder, Matsui #55 left fielder (can't remember first name), Mariano Rivera #42(?) pitcher, Johnny Damon designated hitter. Wow! I remembered more of that than I thought I would. Hope I didn't mess up too much. They played the Pittsburg Pirates. It was an extremely exciting game--went into extra innings, before Derek Jeter finally won the game for them, 4-3.
After we got back to Manhattan we ran into Tara and all got ice cream at McDonald's.
Saturday:
Got up and met at nine. We went to the Art Cafe again to eat lunch. Another kick-ass omelette and a super cute waiter!! After that we did some shopping. I got a green Wicked fitted tee that says "Defying Gravity" on it: Then we went to the Times Square Visitors Center and got tickets for the Lion King at 2 p.m.
After that we took the subway to Grand Central Station. Took lots of pictures and then split up to do some window shopping. Tara and I got drinks and sat and talked in the food court to rest our feet.
Lunch? Can't remember where.
Went to the Lion King at two. It was probably the most amazing theatre experience I've ever had, beating out The Phantom of the Opera which I saw in high school. If you get the chance to see this, RUN, don't walk to it. Totally worth the $111!!
After The Lion King, we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner. I had pizza and it was disgusting. Brennan had the ribs and ate 9 of them.
After dinner, we did some shopping. I got some postcards and a hot pink zip-up sweatshirt that says New York in paler pink ($12). Then, after stopping back at the hotel, we went to Spamalot at the Schubert Theatre. As we were standing in line looking at the Spamalot poster, we got the surprise of a lifetime. Guess who was starring in Spamalot (besides Marin Mazzie as the Lady of the Lake)? CHRISTOPHER SIEBER!!! CHRISTOPHER SIEBER!!! AKA DENNIS GALAHAD!!! And he was the best!!! The other hilarious thing that happened was the scene between Hubert and Lancelot. So funny I cannot even explain it. Maybe the funniest thing I've seen. In my life. Like, ever.
Saw Christopher Sieber after the show and took some pics. Then went into some Broadway shop that had cool stuff but was ridiculously overpriced. I got a Mary Poppins navy blue shirt with silver sparkles over it for $22.
Sunday:
Started off as a weird day. Mom and Dad overslept, Brennan opted to stay at the hotel because of his sore ankle, so Tara and I went to the Times Square Visitors Center to find more tickets to Broadway shows. Then we went to the TKTS booth where Tara (again) and Mom got tickets for Spelling Bee. While Tara was waiting in line, Dad, Mom, and I went to Junior's to have breakfast. I had French toast and we had another very cute waiter!
We parted ways after breakfast for Mom and Tara to go to the show while Dad, Brennan, and I rode to the subway to lower Manhattan. We had to wait in line for tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for about half an hour, but it felt much faster! Seeing Lady Liberty was very fulfilling and I'm very glad we went since we almost weren't going to.
After seeing it and waiting for the ferry back to lower Manhattan and riding the subway back to Times Square it was about 4:00. I split from Dad and Brennan then. They were going to Rosie O'Grady's so Dad could have a drink. I did some shopping and found lots of great stuff!! I got two pairs of sunglasses, two purses for $5 each, and a shot glass.
Sunday evening we had dinner at the Social again. This time I had Nachos Supreme or something like that. Very good. Then, that night we went to a comedy club where Chelsey Handler performed. Part of her act was to tell stories about all the assholes she knows. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie.
After that, we had ice cream and then headed back to the hotel. Tara, Brennan, and I watched Shrek and then an episode or two of Frasier on TV before going to sleep.
Monday:
Our last full day. We had breakfast at the Art Cafe again. My omelette wasn't as good today. I guess I was due. Then we walked to Rockefeller Center: We passed Radio City Music Hall on the way.
It was pretty cool to see Rockefeller Center since it was so recognizable from 30 Rock. We looked through the NBC gift shop which was really fun. Lots of cool The Office and SNL stuff. After that, Dad and Tara and I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral which was overwhelming and amazing. They had a statue of St. Elizabeth Seton, my confirmation saint. I lit a candle while there. The coolest thing to see/hear were all the different ethnicities and languages at the church:
After St. Pat's; Mom, Tara, and I went shopping. We went into Saks and stopped at a few street vendors on Fifth Avenue before heading back to Broadway to do more street vendor shopping. Tara left to get tickets for Avenue Q, and I got a hot dog. Then we headed back to the hotel discussing whether or not the four of us (minus Tara who was going to Avenue Q) wanted to go see this off-Broadway play called Perfect Crime. We decided we did which was a huge mistake because it sucked.
Before the plays, we all went to Applebee's where we all discussed our favorite parts of the trip. I had the fish and it was delicious!! I've been craving it ever since. It started raining while we were in there, so we had to run to the theatre (actually we killed time in a pharmacy until it was time).
The play was a complete joke. It made no sense and was stupid and not funny. I could say more about it and what the critics think, but I'm trying to forget I spent my last night in New York at this.
After this, Mom and I stopped to get ice cream for everyone and headed back to the hotel. After discussing how bad it was, we headed back to our room, watched Frasier, and stayed up way too late because the shuttle was there at 5:20 the next morning to take us to JFK for our flight home.
Hands down, the best vacation I've ever been on.
