Josh & I visited the 9|11 Memorial on our first trip to NYC | read the full post here I'm not sure if I've ever posted about where I was on September 11, 2001. It's hard to write about such tragedy when five years later I delivered the most beautiful baby girl. The tragedy of the day is tempered a bit by that addition to our family on the five year anniversary. I woke up that morning in my parents' home. I was living at home for my senior year of college, preparing for graduation and a summer wedding. My dad and I were having coffee before I left for class when the phone rang. My aunt was calling to tell us she wasn't on the plane in NYC (at the time she was living in DC and traveled regularly to New York). We didn't even know what she was talking about until we turned on the news. ...
NYC
Insanity
So remember how I said yesterday that February was interesting? Well, maybe insane would be a better word to describe it. It's not that many things happened this month which were crazy, just that the few things that DID happen, were absolutely preposterous. And really? It wasn't so much of a crazy month, but a crazy three days. If you are friends with me (or my husband) on Facebook, then you've already gotten the Cliff's Notes version. If not, here you go. Last Friday, I posted our day in the life post because Josh was scheduled to fly home from NYC and I could finally mention that we'd delivered him to the airport the Monday before. I don't know why I knew it, but when I typed that it was like there was a sense of uneasiness, like something wasn't quite going to work out the way it ...
the real story.
Lest you think NYC was all fun and games, I thought I'd share a few behind the scenes details, including my favorite picture of the hubs all week. THIS is Josh - silly and goofy with a huge smile on his face. We make fun of each other constantly and laugh a lot - this moment was no different. We are sitting on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan outside of Duane Reade. This was about thirty minutes after we visited the 9|11 Memorial and it was 36* outside. Josh has no shoe on because he HAD to have an ace bandage stat. Among other notable details to mention (some via SD's many colorful Facebook statuses)... Thursday, 4:30 p.m. The plan was that he would meet me at Grand Central Station after taking the TRAIN from Tuckahoe. After some unforeseen work-related issues, he found himself DRIVING ...
Farewell
On Sunday, we knew we were flying home, but we tried to squeeze as many things in our short day as we possibly could. That included packing our bags for the airport, checking out of our hotel, taking the train to the city, getting some Christmas shopping done and visiting the 9|11 Memorial in lower Manhattan. This was probably the coldest day we spent in NYC -- the high was 38 degrees. We bundled up as best we could, but it was windy and the city is still in the shadows at 9 o'clock, so we were freezing! Part of the reason the memorial requires tickets is because the Trade Center is still under construction. In addition to the museum, several office buildings are still in progress, as well as other parts of the business center. The pools themselves are gorgeous. Even knowing what ...
The Best Day | Part 2
After seeing the islands Saturday morning, we boarded the subway and headed for Madison Square Park. Josh really wanted to see the Flatiron Building (sorry for the weird lighting)... and I really wanted to each a late lunch at the Shake Shake. Y'all! I am NOT kidding when I tell you this is the best cheeseburger and fries I have ever had. They had the first fountain DP we had seen all week, the hamburgers were cooked to order and the cheese on those fries was melty, cheddar-jack goodness. I'm serious. I'm still dreaming about it and Josh has already told me he's definitely taking the hour commute to eat there next time he's in town for work! It's hard to tell from this picture, but next to the tree is a man we lovingly referred to as Coach. He had his hair in a top knot and was ...
The Best Day | Part 1
Alternately titled: the one with all the pictures. We took so many pictures this day that I'm going to have to split it up into two posts! I knew that seeing the Statue of Liberty would be cool, but I had no idea that I would love it as much as I did. We took a ferry cruise from Battery Park at 9 o'clock on Saturday morning. After standing in line and clearing security, we were statue bound. It a gorgeous day, cold and crisp, not a cloud in the sky. The water was choppy and I prayed the whole way there that I wouldn't throw up. When I stepped out onto the deck of the boat and saw her, I was amazed. I told Josh I was a little emotional. Knowing that throngs of immigrants sailed into the harbor, unsure of their future, greeted by such a magnificent creature was hard to wrap my mind ...
Trains, Parks, Lights, and Pizza
As much as I would have loved for us to stay in the city, Josh was working a short 30 minute train-ride away and we decided to keep the rental car and hotel room and commute each day. Although we didn't have the luxury of dropping off shopping bags or catching an afternoon nap, it was significantly less expensive and we didn't have to deal with the hassle of packing up our room or returning the car mid-week. We started off our mornings, bright and early, in the heated waiting booths of the train station. It was just across the street from Josh's office (where we could park the car) in the cute little town of Tuckahoe. It cost us around $18 round trip (per person) each day to travel and the train was a fun experience. There were 8 to 10 stops between us and Grand Central, depending on ...
31 Years Ago
For as long as I can remember, I've been a Beatles fan. More specifically, a Lennon fan. My dad and I used to listen to their music together when I was a girl. I have the albums on disk and on vinyl. For my sixteenth birthday, my mom won tickets to a Beatles tribute band concert and I could not have been happier. I visited London (would still like to visit Liverpool) when I was 14 and loved seeing the memorabilia everywhere and walking where they walked. And I've always wanted to visit the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park and see the Dakota, where Lennon lived in NYC until his death in 1980. Even though Josh isn't really a Beatles fan (gasp), he knew I really wanted to go and we'd planned to spend Saturday in Central Park and the Upper West Side. It was a little more than a week ...