Trip to New York City 2008

Our trip started early on Friday morning by leaving for the airport at 4:30am. The plane left at 7:00am. and we had a nice flight. I slept most of the way. We arrived at La Guardia airport around 11:30am. TF and I walked across the street to our hotel. We freshened up and decided to head into town on the 33 bus line into Jackson Heights and on the 7 train into town. We emerged from the subway at Times Square and into the bright sunlight and the Heat! It seems that they were having a heat wave and the temperatures were in the mid 90’s…Sounds like Houston to me…lol

The first thing we did was buy us a pair of NY Yankee hats to wear to the game the next day. We found a Ruby Tuesday nearby and stopped in for lunch…The air conditioning felt great. After lunch we walked around and found the famous Madame Tussauds wax museum and decided to go in and see what they had. I’d purchased an Entertainment book for NYC before we left and it was already coming in handy. We saved a pretty penny for the museum fees, enough to justify the cost of the book. It was so much fun seeing the likes of Whoopie Goldberg, Julia Roberts, Al Roker and Matt Lauer, Lucy Ricardo, Samuel L. Jackson, famous sports figures, famous leaders of the past and many more. We took lots of pictures and had a great time.

We left the museum and walked some more. On the way back to Times Square we saw lots of people clamoring to see someone. I asked a few people who it was and finely a lady said it was Milley Cirus and the Jones brothers. I didn’t see them but I saw plenty of cameras flashing and young girls screaming. We made our way around all of the commotion and headed home on the 7 train, transferring at Queensboro station to an N train out to Astoria and then on the M60 bus back to our hotel across from the airport. By the time we got back we were starving but it was late and my feet were hurting.

TF went down to the front desk and asked if there was a place close that we could eat. They suggested that we order pizza and have it delivered right up to our room. That sounded like a plan so we order a “Small” pizza called the Airport special and waited for it to come. About 45 minutes later, we heard a knock on our door and there it was. All I can say is, that it was the best pizza that I have EVER eaten. I’m not kidding folks, it was out of this world. Their idea of a small pizza is huge…. We could only eat half of it and we were starving….I peaked my head out the door and saw three ladies coming down the hall. You could tell that they had just arrived and that they were tired. I offered them the rest of the pizza and wished them well. Quiet time and then to bed.

Saturday morning we slept in till 9:00am showered, got dressed and went down stairs for a continental breakfast. Out the door by 10:00 o’clock and off to Yankee Stadium. We followed the bus and train map and got there sometime around 11:30am. I stepped off the train and could see Yankee Stadium on the left and the NEW Yankee Stadium on the right, what a sight to see. More pictures were taken and off we headed to find our seats.

As we walked into the stadium, it was apparent to me that the structure was showing some age; you could tell that it had been there a long time. We found our seats in the Loge section, under the overhand of the deck above. We were sitting between home and first base and had a great view of the field. (Did I tell you that we got our seats from a fellow blogger? Well we did and we can’t thank him enough for his generosity.) It was a sunny day and the temps again were in the mid 90’s. HOT! We watched batting practice and drank lemonade. The game started at 1:00pm and went for 12 long innings….The Yankees won in the bottom of the 12th, with the bases loaded and then a hit batsman…Now is that any way to end a game? Oh well, they won and that is what counts.

We left the stadium, along with the rest of the crowd, and started our way back to the train. At the last minute we took a little detour to a real New York deli and picked up some chips and cold bottled water. I was starting to get dizzy and we need to eat some real food. The snacks held us over till we could get into town and to Grand Central Station, where we ate dinner in a beautiful seafood restaurant on the main level of the station. We had a great time eating, relaxing and just enjoy the views. We headed back to the hotel again on the same route as the night before…. Once again, my feet were killing me and I need to get off of them. It didn’t help that I twisted my right foot only a week before we left. I took some Aleve and hopped into bed. A little TV, quiet time together, and then bed.

Sunday morning we slept in again….We showered, dressed and decided that we wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, out on Long Island. We went our usual route to Jackson Heights, had a light snack at Burger King and went on our way to the train station in Woodside where we had to get to the next level down to transfer to the Long Island Railroad. TF asked the ticket agent what he recommended and he suggested Long Beach so we bought tickets and waited for our train….The trip out was great and we met some really nice people on the way. As we got off the train, I could feel a strong breeze, boy did it feel good. (Remember the heat wave?)

We walked a few blocks to the beach and found a seat on the boardwalk….Some really cute guys and a girl were getting ready to go down to the volleyball courts to play. There were nets set up as far as the eye could see for people to play volleyball and almost every net was occupied. The beach had so many people on it that it looked like an invasion of ants. The water was slightly rough because of the wind but it looked great to swim in. TF and I were not prepared to go swimming so we sat down on a bench, put our feet up on the railing and just watched the people. After a while we decided to walk around and find a place to eat a late lunch. We found a nice seafood place and had dinner before we headed back to the beach for one more look.

The train that we wanted to ride on was to leave Long Beach at 5:05pm so we headed back to the train station and found some good seats on the train. You guessed it, my right foot was aching and I needed to rest. I think I slept most of the way back into NYC. We got back to our hotel on our usual route and crashed into bed. A short nap later, we ordered pizza again and got the same, but smaller (Mini) pizza. Again, it was awesome. This time we were able to eat all of it. Did I mention that we purchased some sodas, our first day there, to keep in our room? Well we enjoyed soda with our pizza…So good! Quiet time and then bed….I have never slept so sound…

Monday was our going home day, but we weren’t going to leave till 7:00pm so we decided that we wanted to go to Little Italy for lunch. More buses and trains and we were there. I have never seen so many Italian restaurants in one place, how were we to pick? We did pick and had a great lunch. I ate eggplant parmesan and TF had spaghetti…Yummm...We still needed to find some goodies to take home to our kids and grandkids so we found T-shirts and ball type caps at a sidewalk store along the way. We walked and before we knew it we were in China town.

TF had wanted to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge so we asked directions from a lady police officer and started our walk to the bridge. We got on the walk way to the bridge and then realized that we were on the Manhattan bridge. It was too late to turn around so we walked, and walked and walked. We must have walked five city blocks before we saw water…..My feet were killing me and the heat was beginning to get to me….We kept walking.

I took several pictures of the city and the Brooklyn Bridge, which was right next to the one we were on. I have to admit that it was beautiful but the heat was trying to get the best of me, so was my attitude. About half way across the bridge, TF asked me if I was alright and I glared at him and said, “What good what it do if I weren’t?”….We are miles from either side, “Just Shut up and keep walking.” I still can’t believe that those words came out of my mouth. I have never talked to TF in that kind of tone….I think he was in shock because he didn’t say another word to me for a while…poor guy.

We took more pictures and finally got to the other side. I saw a bench and headed straight for it. I cooled down a little and we asked where the next train station was. More walking, but we made it to our train and back into the city. We ended up right were we got off in Little Italy. After drinking a chocolate shake, I cooled down and found my happier attitude. On the way back to the hotel, to pick up our luggage, we found a deli and ate some good sandwiches. We made it to our plane and were home, in Houston, by 10:00pm and thru our front door by 11:00pm. I was so happy to see my own bed.

All in all, I loved our trip. Not only did we see Yankee Stadium, but we celebrated our 37th anniversary. I have known this man since we were 16 yrs old. I feel like I have lived with him my whole life. We have shared many experiences together and I can’t imagine not having him in my life. Yes, I’d marry him again, if the choice were before me. I’ve been blessed…

PS: I’m still having to pamper my right foot…Have a great week everyone!