New York

Brian and I just got back from New York and we thought we would share some of the pictures from our quick trip. We skipped some standard stops, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center. We did those back a few years ago. This time, we just did other touristy stuff.

Our flight to NY was delayed by three hours. So we drank and drank. Then on the plane we drank some more. We were on vacation!

Our row had three seats and this lovely young Carrie Underwood lookalike sat next to us! While the rest of the plane was very quiet and peaceful, our row, was having a good time. Ria was taking her first trip to New York to visit her friend, Heather, and so we shared our stash of vodka with Ria and by the end of the plane ride, we had a new friend!

Almost there!


We stayed at the Marriott Renaissance in Times Square. I highly recommend it. Our room was beautiful and overlooked the neon lights of Broadway!


Since I am a dedicated employee of Thomson Reuters, I had to take a picture outside their jumbo tron.

One of first stops was Serendipty 3. This is a quaint little ice cream shop/restaurant that was featured in the movie Serendipty and also a trendy hang out for celebrities and their kids. They are known for their Frozen Hot Chocolate.

We couldn't decide between the frozen hot chocolate or the peanut butter frozen hot chocolate, so we ordered both. Let's just say there was nothing left of either one of them. Deeeelicious.

Mmmm. These are just way too good!

Just down the street from Serendipty is a store called Dylans Candy Bar. It is owned by Dylan Lauren, the daughter of Ralph Lauren. She was inspired by the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Three stories tall....and filled with all the candy you could ever want. Too bad I went there after pigging out at Serendipity.

Ok...so the next day we came back because during our first trip, I was too full to get any candy! They have an ice cream shop upstairs, they sell fudge, cupcakes, chocolate, and even clothes.

Located directly across from the World Trade Center site, this is St. Pauls Chapel. This was home to an eight month voluntary relief effort after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.

Fire Station 10- Ground Zero. Located Directly Across the street from the World Trade Center site.

Brian standing in front of the WTC visitor center.

Although this looks like nothing, when Brian and I were in New York in November of 2000, we

were standing in front of the two trade towers looking up in awe of the entire site. We stood a little beyond where you now see a fence blocking the hole where the towers once stood.

When Brian and I were standing outside the trade towers back in 2000, I remember looking across the street and seeing the Millinium Hotel ...we sat there that day for quite a long time, eating donuts in the WTC plaza watching the traffic come and go in front of this hotel. If you were to look to the right side of this taxi cab, you would see the fences blocking the hole of where we once stood.

We spent a good portion of our day walking around the ground zero site taking in what we could. They are starting to rebuild a new building, it will be even taller than the buildings before it. If you ever had a chance to see the WTC before it fell, you know a what fixture of the city it was. To return now and see how empty it seems..... it's really hard to describe.

On the side of Fire Station 10 is a mural that looks like it's made from copper. The mural is very long and I couldn't capture the entire thing, so I tried to capture the burning towers. It was an amazing tribute.

This is a picture of what is going on behind the gates. The rebuilding has begun.

Brian overlooking the construction zone at the WTC site.

This is a view of the trade towers being rebuilt.

More construction.

We couldn't be all doom and gloom. We spent one day touring Canal street and doing some fun shopping. We took the subway for most of our trip and we did really good. Everyone in New York was actually very helpful and friendly. Even when we hopped on the wrong train and were heading toward the Bronx! Everyone told us how to get back to Times Square with all of the fun stuff we scored. It's interesting..... Canal street.... if you want to see the "good stuff" you have to follow people with walkie talkies and were lead into secret rooms in basements and vans with newspaper covering the windows..... a total adventure.... we loved every minute of it! We also ate at a fantastic italian restaurant off of Broadway called "Basilica" and another night we took the subway to Tribeca and took a long walk in the snow to a restaurant called Dylans Steakhouse (no relation to Dylan Lauren). ha.

After the steakhouse we headed to a small piano bar in the theater district called "Don't tell Mama". All the waiters and waitresses, bartenders, are aspiring broadway actors/actresses or have already been on Broadway in some way shape or form. The piano man plays every song imaginable and anyone is welcome to put in a request and can also sing a song, but after hearing all the staff sing..... we pretty much just decided to let them do the singing and just enjoyed the most amazing show........ Although it was a short trip...it was a great trip. I can't to do it again, although I might wait until they fix the bird/goose problem at Laguardia.