In recent anticipation of this trip, I couldn't decide whether it was coming at a horrible time (with my moms passing) or an optimal one. But the reservations were made, the fees were paid, and one way or another it looked like it would be happening. I'm glad it did. It was a welcome distraction from the heaviness of the last month and sent me home stronger, better prepared to face the future.
We left the SLC airport at midnight, hoping to sleep on the plane before hitting the ground running at 6:20am in New York City, but the sleeping part didn't come very easily for any of us. My travel companions on this trip were Ryan (of course), Shantele, Josh, Tami and Richard. Chloe got to stay with her grandpa and with her aunt/uncle/cousins on a rotating schedule. NYC isn't the ideal place for a busy, roaming toddler, we decided...particularly when considering the pace we anticipated keeping this trip. She was in excellent hands but still, I missed her terribly. From here on out, I may need to reevaluate the types of vacations we take so that she can come along. :)
I was the designated tour guide as I was the only person to have visited NYC before. I was surprised at the changes made from my last visit, or at least my memory of them. Our first stop (not counting McDonalds) after dropping off our luggage at Marriott was the Rockefeller Center, and more specifically, the Top of the Rock Observation Deck.
I had never been up there before and have to say that I enjoyed the view from its skyscraper more than that of the empire state building. There is glass instead of a chain-link fence so you get more unobstructed pictures; it is less crowded; has a neater elevator; and overlooks the empire state bldg which is a grand icon of the city...why wouldn't you want it in the picture?!
We ran into so many dutch visitors, all dressed in traditional attire, and even saw a beautiful bride and groom getting pictures up there.
I think being up there excited everyone for what they would be experiencing over the coming week! Note to self for next time: that building has lots of mouth-watering restaurants inside. I should check one out next time. We then dropped down to the main floor, saw their Christmas Tree's crowning ornament, the crystal star on display in a fancy jewelry store...
...and came out of the building right in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. I couldn't have planned that any better because I really had no idea which exit we were coming out from.
We took pictures then went inside the cathedral. Man, that church is epicly large and breathtaking. We sat in the pughs for a while, resting and looking about.
Shale lit a candle and then we were on our way to ride some bikes...but not before taking a second to explore Rockefeller square and the legostore. They also had a fancy chocolate store ($30+ a chocolate...gag) that actually gave me some ideas for future visit-teaching gifts.
I had never been up there before and have to say that I enjoyed the view from its skyscraper more than that of the empire state building. There is glass instead of a chain-link fence so you get more unobstructed pictures; it is less crowded; has a neater elevator; and overlooks the empire state bldg which is a grand icon of the city...why wouldn't you want it in the picture?!
We ran into so many dutch visitors, all dressed in traditional attire, and even saw a beautiful bride and groom getting pictures up there.
I think being up there excited everyone for what they would be experiencing over the coming week! Note to self for next time: that building has lots of mouth-watering restaurants inside. I should check one out next time. We then dropped down to the main floor, saw their Christmas Tree's crowning ornament, the crystal star on display in a fancy jewelry store...
...and came out of the building right in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. I couldn't have planned that any better because I really had no idea which exit we were coming out from.
We took pictures then went inside the cathedral. Man, that church is epicly large and breathtaking. We sat in the pughs for a while, resting and looking about.
Shale lit a candle and then we were on our way to ride some bikes...but not before taking a second to explore Rockefeller square and the legostore. They also had a fancy chocolate store ($30+ a chocolate...gag) that actually gave me some ideas for future visit-teaching gifts.
We rode our bikes through Central Park, which I had hoped would be a relaxing experience. The people at the bike shop thought two hours would be sufficient to see all the well-known sites at the park. They were wrong. There is soooo much more there that I want to explore, but I guess that allows for another visit! Nevertheless, we petaled as fast as we could to see what we could. Another thing we didn't know before reaching the park is that there is very little road you can actually petal your bikes through. They have so much more "walking only" trails than biking trails. The bikes could really only travel a big ONE WAY (gag me) loop, with maybe a couple cross overs. Ryan and I ultimately pressed our luck by pedaling the wrong way on the wide one way street to ensure we saw the most important things on our list. Our group didn't dare follow after being yelled at by a few strangers, so we had to separate, but he and I soldiered on until we saw a police officer and HAD to pull off onto a walking trail, walking our bikes. We carried them up stairs and rough walkways to a castle we wanted to visit...which we ended up revisiting another day as it turns out...but we didn't know that was going to happen, haha. It was fun being a little rebellious. In a pant, we got our bikes back within minutes of our deadline, and we were all super exhausted.
