Trip #6: Part 1 NYC

Okay so I went out of order and put pictures of Minocqua up first and took the vacation out of order, so sue me! I will tell more Minocqua stories in Part 4 of Trip #6.

But back to NYC.....

First we picked up Andrew at 1:00 AM Tuesday morning (7/29/08) at the airport from Bolivia, popped him in bed and got up and did laundry and repacked so that we could head out Wednesday for NYC. Here are a few of my favorites pics from Bolivia including a picture of the machete hilt he brought home with real teeth (nasty).

We headed off Wednesday arriving at JFK at around midnight. Can I tell you how much I hate JFK. It is the dirtiest, most disorganized, rudest airport I have ever been in!!! By the time we got our luggage and had our long, nerve racking ride with Super Shuttle, we finally arrived at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South at about 2AM. Exhausted we fell gratefully asleep. Thursday we were up and running (literally).

First we headed to the Natural History Museum (I was curious after seeing "Night at the Museum"). This place is amazing!! Andrew just kept telling me that it was his childhood all there in one place. He loved dinosaurs, whales, big game animals, etc. as a child. He had more animal books than any kid I knew. At one time (i'm not sure it they are still), the Africa big game specimans were hunted by my great uncle and given to the museum. Yea I know, but back in the day that's what they did.

After spending all day there, we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and then we were off to see "Legally Blonde, the Musical" We got to see the winner of MTV's "Search for Elle Woods" perform. We sat in the second row. It was a fun musical. Our favorite was Paulette. She was very funny. We were starving by the time the play got out so we headed to our favorite after show eatery, Juniors!! The most important thing to remember about Juniors is to save room for cheesecake. It is the BEST!!!!

Friday morning we were up and running again. Today was the day for the MET! Andrew had been there before and loved it, but now he had taken AP Art History and wanted to see it again with new eyes. I truly is an amazing place, but a word of advice - don't try to see it all in 1 day. My FEET ARE KILLING ME!!

The first picture is of the Equestrian Court. These men most have been so strong to wear all this heavy armor and then fight while wearing it. It boggles the mind. The Egyptian Temple of Dendur display is so cool. I've always been in love with the time of pharaohs. This last picture is probably my favorite painting. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. The eyes are so engaging. You feel you can really see into the soul of the troubled young man. The Greek sculpture court is also fantastic. I could go on and on, but it is just a must see place!! Love IT!!

Back to my feet that are killing me - remember!! Yea, so Andrew thought we should be like real New Yorker's and walk everywhere. It was 20 blocks to the Natural History Museum and 22 blocks to the MET each way. Then about 13 blocks to Times Square each night. I have to confess that there were a few times I just put my sore foot down and said "We're taking a cab"!

I did love walking through Central Park (multiple times). It's hard to believe you're in the middle of Manhattan while strolling through it.

Back to the hotel from the MET and off to A Chorus Line starring Mario Lopez. They were all very good dancers not so great singers. And lets just say that Mario Lopez loves Marios Lopez.

Saturday was our shopping day. As we headed out of the hotel on a beautiful NYC day, checked out the cool Apple store that's underground, and headed uptown it suddenly started pouring rain. Not just a little, but a real downpour. Soaking wet we sloshed into a local McDonalds and had an early lunch to wait out the storm. As it was letting up we continued on our way to Barnes & Noble to pick up "Breaking Dawn" and as usual a few more books too. As we were about to leave it started raining again!! So we headed to the little cafe in the bookstore and had cookies and hot chocolate and waited out the rain again. Luckily for my stomach the rest of the day was rain free.

At 2PM we headed to the Richard Rogers Theatre to see "In the Heights", winner of the 2008 Tony for Best Musical!! It was so good!! Love the music, love the storyline, love the acting, loved the Salsa dancing, LOVED IT ALL!!

After the show we went for a quick dinner because we were off to go see "Hairspray"!

I really was not looking forward to seeing this because I just love the movie, but this was Andrew's choice. I'm so glad he made us go because it was really fun!! George Wendt from "Cheers" played Edna hysterically, Ashley Parker Angel (from "Making the Band") played Link, and we had the understudy for Tracy, Annie Funke, who did a fantastic job. It was just a fun play.

Sunday, our last day in NYC, we head to the Musuem of Modern Art (MoMA). To our surpise the whole 6th floor was dedicated to the art of Salvador Dali. Andrew is obsessed with Dali and was thrilled beyond words!! My last picture is of a painting the Dennis loves, so of course I had to take a picture of it for him.

We then waited for our Super Shuttle to take us back to JFK (again I HATE JFK) to get our rental car so we could head upstate to Syracuse. Look for more on Trip #6, Part 2!