Redemption for The Big Apple!

New York City will never be a place where I want to live or work, but as far as vacation goes, it "totally redeemed itself" on this trip! ;-)

My fourth and favorite trip to NYC started with our 8-hour drive in from Canada!  (Dad had a solo road trip into Canada and back home from NYC, but Mom and I rode with him for the middle drive from one to the other.  He said that when he crossed the border, he explained that he had so much luggage with him because he was meeting his wife and daughter who were flying in, then she asked why he didn't want to fly, too, and he said "'Cause I'm a chicken!" But I'd say he's pretty brave for being willing to drive in the crazy mass chaos nightmare that is NYC traffic!!)  I actually enjoyed most of our peaceful day of driving, listening to Christian radio, looking at the scenery, contemplating the number of trees, and chatting with Mom and Dad. 

Navigation routed us from Canada to NY to Pennsylvania to New Jersey then back into NYC. (So I can say that my Niagara nails shellac manicure lasted through 5 states and two countries! lol)

I must say I felt my peace and joy disappearing as we finally entered NYC via the Lincoln Tunnel, a crazy long and claustrophobic stretch where I felt hyper-aware that there was wall-to-wall traffic and no way medical help could get to us quickly if we had a wreck, and where Mom mentioned that it would be an obvious good terrorist target. "Welcome to New York," I thought to myself sarcastically, but then I promised myself again that I'd try to have a better attitude and give it another chance this trip! lol

We got there around 5pm and checked into our room on the 24th floor of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Not as nice as our Embassy Suites hotel, but much nicer than places I've stayed on other NY trips!  We met Bill and Jill in the lobby and walked across the street to have dinner at Junior's. YUM! The food, service, and atmosphere were all great, and the restaurant was easy walking distance and didn't feel like a crowded hot mess trying to cram in more people than it could hold (another past NY memory).  

Their mac n' cheese was awesomesauce, and they're famous for their cheesecakes, so we all got some amazing dessert to go! =) Note that I'm wearing my happy Niagara t-shirt!

We walked a tiny bit and took a couple classic Times Square pictures... I'm happy to report far fewer run-ins with angry or aggressive salespeople on the streets this trip. lol

We checked out the hotel gift shop (where I got a cute pink NY t-shirt) then we headed back up to our room for the night (this was around 8:45, but I was super happy with that as NYC can quickly overwhelm me and throw me into "diva-mode.")  I took the rollaway bed which was placed right next to the window. I loved just sitting there and looking out at the view and watching people walk the streets whilst eating my chocolate mousse cheesecake and half-listening as Mom and Dad watched Fox News (nonstop talk about Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement and Kathy Griffin's tasteless joke photo through our whole trip). 

This = the view from our room. (Regular NYC instead of Times Square, and I actually preferred that.)

Wednesday morning, our tour guide, Tom Orzo, picked us up right in front of the hotel at 9am.  I knew I liked him the minute he got out to talk to us and escort us into the Mercedes Coach van. He's a precious older guy who has lived in NY all his life, and his love for it made me like it so much more, as is often the case. He would randomly break into song here and there while talking about Broadway or whatever -- "Give my regards to Broadway..."  -- which was hilarious and awesome. He was super patient with the traffic and so good at navigating through it. At stoplights, he would turn around and chat with us, always pointing out cool things to see. He had worked as a baker for several years before driving the double decker tour bus, and then opening Sterling City Tours, a company to give people private tours of NYC where he tells you interesting facts and shows you pictures that cover the history of it all along the way. He takes you wherever you want to go and let's you stop to take pictures or get out and look around wherever you want!  We covered a lot of ground and drove through Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens that day!!  

Tour Day Selfie! =)

He told us that the chocolate chip cookies at Levain Bakery are famous, so naturally, that was the first place we got out to go buy some. lol  Here's me, surprised that I'm enjoying NY so much, so I had to take a quick selfie!

And now, a group pic with Tom (we took this at the end of our tour day, when he dropped us off near the reflecting pool memorials and Oculus Mall. (We made that the last stop so that we wouldn't feel rushed there.)

We, of course, saw Trump Tower and Fox News for Mom and Dad. :)

We also saw Cafe Lalo (see the pictures below), Zabar's Grocery Store (where we grabbed sandwiches for lunch and where Tom Hanks helped Meg Ryan through the "cash only line,") and the beautiful Riverside Park area where they filmed the ending scene of You've Got Mail... YAY!! Tom (our tour guide) was a big fan of that movie, as well, so he pointed out all the good spots from it. =) There's the cafe and the fence where Tom Hanks freaks out when Dave Chapelle tells him, "She's verrry pretty!" ..."She had to be. She HAD TO BE!!" lol

We stopped to get pictures of the massive Unisphere from the World's Fair in Queens... the largest globe in the world!

We saw so many other great things... the Fearless Girl and the Charging Bull of Wallstreet, the Met Cloisters overlooking the Hudson River, Fire Stations with 9/11 Memorials, the NYC Library, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, the Plaza Hotel, St. Paul's Chapel, Riverside Drive, Trinity Church ("Heere at the Wall... Wallstreet and Broadway" ahh, National Treasure!), Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, Bryant Park, Central Park, beautiful cathedrals, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Seinfeld Restaurant, the American Museum of Natural History (from Night at the Museum movies), the Dakota Apartments, etc. I learned more in that one day about the city's layout and history than the rest of my life combined, and it was all interesting because Tom was so passionate about it. He would show us a little building surrounded by huge skyscrapers, then show us a picture of that building standing alone with nothing around it in the early 1900s. He also told us about his 9/11 experience, how he had watched the WTC towers go up in the 1970s, then watched, sobbing, from the roof of his bakery as they collapsed that day. He had a gentle, joyful energy and a lot of good stories and random facts to share, and he endeared himself to Mom and Dad when he started the tour by saying, "I understand we have some fellow conservatives on board!" :)

Having been to NYC three times before, this was definitely my favorite trip, mostly thanks to this tour!  I really enjoyed seeing the four boroughs and learning so much about the layout and rich history of the city from someone who knows it well.  I felt more present and connected and excited about being there the rest of our trip. I can tell that Tom truly loves what he does and where he lives, and that really helped me appreciate a lot of the great things about NYC that I hadn’t understood or seen before. It also made me want to come back and spend more time in many of the places we saw and heard about along the way. And to try some of the bakeries he recommended. ;-)

It was a wonderful city tour, made all the better by Tom sharing a bit of his own story and memories and favorite things there!!  It made a city that once seemed overly aggressive and intimidating feel much more interesting and friendly and alive and likable. I would recommend that tour to anyone I know planning an NYC trip!  Needless to say, I enjoyed the tour and was a big fan of Tom!!

As we got out near the memorial site, we were trying to decide what to do first, and this guy pictured below stopped to show us where everything was. I took a picture because I thought he was just another random New Yorker being kind, which seemed worthy of documenting. Sadly, turned out he was mostly trying to sell these books about 9/11, which we of course bought and read. lol

We were taking our sweet time, moseying around and snapping photos and chatting, then got in line to see the Memorial Museum. We were there at 6:07 and the line shut down at 6:00. LAMESAUCE.  So we missed that experience this trip. =(  We visited the reflecting pool and then checked out the Oculus Mall, where we stopped for a pizza and lasagna dinner at Eataly, an authentic Italian restaurant by Mario Batali and Oscar Farinetti. We all agreed that we prefer Hideaway's pizza, but the experience and view were still nice! =)

The sorbet was also fantastic! =)

Stupid reflective glass was giving me issues all day... This was our awesome view at the restaurant, and hey, there's my camera and pink shirt and black sweater! lol

Following all that, we decided to hail a cab and go back to the hotel. No cabs were stopping, and then suddenly, a guy driving a black SUV pulls up and says, "You looking for taxi? I take you!" Mom was happy to see an SUV, Dad and Bill started loading the car, and Jill was standing on the curb with her arms folded slowly shaking her head. lol I was just looking back and forth between them and getting really cracked up!  Finally, I noticed that he had the same NYC Taxi and Limousine licence sticker that Tom had, and pointed that out to Jill. He then explained to us that he was a driver for Gett, something like Uber. His name was Shamus, and he was hilarious and very chatty. We know all about his family and his daughter's wedding and his Muslim fast, etc. Sadly, when we told him we were from Oklahoma, he told us his nephew was shot there while working at a gas station. (It was in Midwest City a few months back, and Mom and Dad remembered it from the news.)

...We changed our minds on the way and decided to stop by Central Park that night!!  Mom and Dad sat on one of the benches there while me and Bill and Jill walked around and took a few pretty pictures. We decided to come back the next day to see Bow Bridge and the fountain. This tree (and basically everything else about Central Park) made me happy!

This = a pic from the elevator in our hotel, where we went after our random CP stop. =)  We got Shamus' phone number and he picked us back up and drove us to the hotel. lol  During that trip back, he pulled over and opened his sunroof so Jill could get a pic of Times Square, and Bill was in the tiny backseat saying, "My wife has lost her mind." lolol One of the funniest moments of the trip!

Thursday we took a cab to Chelsea Piers -- Bill and Jill are all about being very punctual, so we were over an hour early here and the airport the next day. Better than being late, I guess. lol  Here's me with our happy cruise boat, and my happy motion sickness pills in my purse! ;-)

The cruise was from 11:00 to 1:00. They had a lunch buffet which was great, and there were gorgeous views of the NY skyline, as well as the closest view of the Statue of Liberty any of us had seen!!

Mom and Dad as we approached Lady Liberty. :)

Our boat flag with the NYC skyline and Freedom Tower in the background! :)

Every table was a window seat, so they had a dance floor in the middle. I was certain that dancing while a boat was swaying was not a solid idea for me, but they played the Cupid Shuffle and Wobble and a few other songs that had me wanting to get out there! =)  I had to text JEM a video of them dancing the Wobble. lol

One of my fav pics of Mom and I from the trip!  (Also, hooray for sunglasses! I'm gonna try to be better about wearing them and having them with me when I need them this summer!)

Pretty windy and a bit rocky. I was nervous any time people were not holding on!

We ran back by the hotel after the cruise, where we packed as much as we could and kept only the bare essentials that would fit in my backpack. Dad left to start his drive a day early, then I met Bill and Jill to go see the Freedom Tower and Central Park. (Mom's walker was in the car with Dad, so she opted to hang out at the hotel and rest and shop a little.)  Here's a pic of Jill working hard to get a great shot of the Freedom Tower! lol

Much as I think they shouldn't charge $40 a person to go see it, the view from the top of the Freedom Tower was awesome! And there was a cool thing in the elevator on the way up to the 102nd floor where the whole thing was a screen and they showed NYC when it began (green bare land) and then moved up through the years showing buildings popping up all around you. (It's in the Flipagram for a couple seconds - I didn't know it was gonna be there or I would've videoed more.)  Bill loved it there and said he could've stayed for hours, but 30 minutes was enough for me and Jill. lol

In spite of all the wonderful things we saw and did, Central Park remains my favorite thing about NYC!!  We got there, and a guy immediately started trying to get us to purchase a ride on this little rickshaw bike thing.  He quoted us a price of $125 to tour us through the park, and Bill said we'd pass and just walk around.  Then he said, "How about I give it to you for $20 a person." lol Umm, deal!!  So we got carted through CP and got to get out and take pictures of Bow Bridge, the Cherry Hill Fountain, the boat house, Central Park Fountain, etc.  He told us a few facts about it, most of which we'd already heard from Tom. But it was nice to not have to walk much... honestly, that's a big part of what made this entire trip nicer. Huzzah for traveling with people who are willing to pay for comfort!!! lol

This was the first time I'd seen it with the fountain working. It was dry and sad when we went in winter 2010.

The lovely bridge by the fountain (near where Talhia got married).

We checked into seeing a play... we'd heard that the TKTS booth sold $50 or less discount tickets for shows with remaining seats on the day of the play. It sounded too good to be true, and indeed it was. Bill had his credit card out and put it right back in his pocket when the guy quoted us a $275 price.  It worked out well, though, because I've seen a couple Broadway plays already, and we were able to meet back up with Mom and go to Junior's for our last NYC meal (appropriate, as it had also been our first meal there).  Here we are at their bakery afterward getting desserts and bagels for the morning! lol

We met at 7:30 that next morning and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare! lol  We grabbed Five Guys burgers and had a mini picnic in the Atlanta Airport -- me on the floor, Mom and the Lemieux's at the little help center table. lol

Yay for "the little cheeseburger." =)

Bill had put his car keys in the suitcase, so that was a mini-drama to find them at the OKC airport. lol  At long last, we made it home around 6:00, and Rach and the kids were not far behind!!  Aww, the reunion of Mamaw and Jaceman. lol

Dad drove till midnight the day before, so he actually made it home a couple hours after we did on Friday!  We ordered pizza and the Parrishes came back over around 8:30 because J&K were anxious to get their gifts! lol  Grandpa didn't get quite the great reception Mamaw did... more like, "Where's our presents!??" lol  ...We got them some t-shirts and these silly noisemaker toys at Niagara... I had to take a pic since the toys accidentally matched the PJs they had on that night! Cuteness. =)

 All in all, it was a fantastic trip on the Niagara and the NY side!! #thankful

Here's a Flipagram of our time in NYC! =)