New York Trip, part 1

Ok, so it may be a little late, but we're finally posting about our trip to the city. This was Audrey's first time, so we did a lot of the touristy stuff, but also had a good mix of neat things which we did with family and friends who live in the city that were a bit off the normal beaten path.

I'm going to take the first portion of the trip, then make Audrey log in and finish it off.

We flew in on Wednesday, September 2 to LaGuardia and took a cab into the city. As this was Audrey's first NYC cab ride, she spent most of the time nervously watching the road as the cabbie sped in and out of traffic, rather than checking out the sights. We went right to our hotel, Flatotel, which was at a great location right at the North side of Times Square.

We started off with a quick walk to Times Square and lunch at a nearby deli. As we were walking around, a couple right in front of us turned around and asked if we wanted their tickets for one of the (unabashedly touristy) double decker tour buses for $20. Considering the tickets are normally $55 each, we jumped on the bus, which took us all around Manhattan. That is a great way to get a quick overview of the main attractions of the city.

Wednesday evening we met up with my cousin Corinne for a great Italian dinner and then her boyfriend Cameron joined us for drinks afterwards at a local bar. We also stopped by their apartment because we found it very interesting to see how people actually live in the city.

Moving on to Thursday, we did a boat harbor tour that was actually included in the tickets that we got for the buses the day before (thus, included in that whopping $20 price tag), which took us right up to the Statue of Liberty and had some great views of the skyline.

Next, we made our way to the Ed Sullivan theater for a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. When picking up our tickets, we were pulled aside, and told that we got "special audience upgrade" tickets. I was freaked out that we might be on TV, but it really just meant we got into the front two rows of the theater, which were great seats. The guest was Billy Crystal with music by John Fogerty. We had a really good time, but Audrey was of course chilly in the theater, which Dave likes to keep at about 60 degrees.

After that, we met up with Audrey's friend from college, Matt Kane. We took a subway to Brooklyn - and were lucky to make it, considering Audrey couldn't remember if Matt said to take the F, V, or B line. We ate at Grimaldi's pizza, and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Absolutely delicious, and it was right by the water and Brooklyn Bridge, so views were great. We walked back over the bridge, which was the first time I'd done that and helped to burn off some of the pizza grease :-)

Friday we spent the early portion of the day doing something I've always wanted to do.... we just relaxed and spent time in Central Park. I've never really gone into the park more than right around the edges, but we went through and saw most of the major sights (Sheep Meadow, Bethesda Fountain, turtle pond - of course, for Audrey, Belvedere Castle, etc), and just relaxed on a few park benches and people watched. It was amazing how quickly the city sounds disappear once you get into the park, and is a nice break from the busy streets of the city.

Ok, now I sign off for Audrey to pick up the remainder of Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Stay tuned...