New York, New York (revised)

Kevin and I went to New York City to celebrate our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I can’t believe we’ve been married for five years.
“Phantom of the Opera”
I have wanted to see Phantom of the Opera since I was a little girl. At the end of the show I was balling like a baby.

After the show we went to the hotel with the plan of going back out to enjoy New York City night life. We were both exhausted, changed into our PJs and went to bed.
We stayed at a European style hotel, which meant we shared a bathroom with six other rooms. It was like camping without the tent and the campfire.
The next day we packed up our stuff and took a taxi over to Kevin’s boss’s hotel. She is living in New York City during the week for some type of educational program and she offered her place to us for the weekend. What a blessing that was, we were so grateful. We felt so welcome in her place, she left us notes and told Kevin he wasn’t allowed to work. The view from her apartment was amazing.
Grand Central Station
We started out on what would be the most exhausting 48 hours of my life! We walked to Grand Central Station. It was so beautiful.

Subway
The subway wasn’t as bad as everyone said it would be.
Statue of Liberty
We admired Lady Liberty from the shore. We hear she is going to open to the public for tours again. I wouldn’t mine going up to the top of the statue when they reopen it.

Trinity Church
I wanted to see Trinity Church because it's in National Treasure. It was pretty cool and pretty dang old. Kevin and I sat in mass for about 2 minutes, that was enough for us.
Trinity Church Cemetery
It looked like the Haunted Mansion (I think I go to Disneyland too much!) with the standing head rests. These were from people who died in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Besides the La Brea Tar Pits, we don’t have stuff that old in LA.

New York Stock Exchange
Kevin wanted to see the New York Stock Exchange, since it was right there we decided, why not? We don’t have any kids with us!

First Capital of the USA
Across the street from the NYSE is our Nation’s first capital. George Washington took his presidential oath on the stairs of this building.

Ground Zero
After walking down Wall Street and headed to Ground Zero. Everyone is right when they say it is underwhelming. I think it will be a lot better to visit when the World Trade Towers are rebuilt by 2012; along with the monument remembering those who lost their lives that day.

Yankee Stadium
This was Kevin’s night to do what he wanted. He really wanted to go to a game in Yankee Stadium, especially since this is the last season they will play there. The Yankees are building an amazing, new, state of the art stadium across the street. We didn’t have enough time to see Monument Park so we headed to the team store. Kevin was amazed at Yankee stadium, he even caught a ball!

At Dodger Stadium, you eat a... Dodger Dog. At Yankee Stadium, you eat a Nathan's Dog.

Some guy walked past us to get to his seat and totally ate crap falling down about 3 rows. I felt bad for the guy, but it was so funny.
Here's the new Yankee Stadium.

After the Yankee game we joined the mass of people heading to the subway.

ESPN ZONE
How lucky is Kevin that his wife lets him eat at the ESPN Zone? Yes, the Yankee game was followed with dinner at the ESPN Zone in Time Square. I might as well be there by myself; Kevin is so enthralled with all the TVs around him. He said, “I want a room like this in my house one day.” I didn’t understand what he meant by that, but to clarify; he wants a room with a bunch of TVs so he can watch multiple games at the same time.
Time Square
We walked around Time Square after dinner, and headed back to the room. I walked straight into bed. I don’t know how Kevin could stay up to watch the Top 10 on ESPN.
Pfizer Headquarters
Saturday morning started a little more slowly. I did not want to put on my tennis shoes or walk at all… but we were in New York City! We walked to Pfizer’s world headquarters. It’s a whole building. Since it was Saturday we could not go in, but they have an amazing mural depicting medicine through out time.

United Nations


What an amazing place. There were many displays talking about some major problems in our world. From the destruction of the rain forests to the refugee camps of Darfur, it is amazing how much of an impact and influence the U.N. has for the world. It made me feel so good to know that there is an organization working on the problems of the world.

The U.N. goals are:
1. End Poverty & Hunger
2. Education for All
3. Equality for Women
4. Save Children's Lives
5. Make Motherhood Safe
6. Stop HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Protect the Environment
8. Build a Global Partnership for Development

5th Ave.
Kevin was in heaven! All of his favorite stores in one place! Cole Hahn, Faconnable, Brooks Brothers, etc… yea, can you say champagne taste on a beer budget? We kept shopping, so we had to focus back to our list of things we wanted to do that day.

Central Park
We walked to Central Park and rested, we were exhausted; Kevin wanted to take a bicycle taxi, I said, “No, lets walk through the park!” Words I would regret later. I didn’t realize how BIG Central Park was.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
We walked all the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Ancient Egyptian art is so cool because it’s sooo old, same as the Asian art pieces; I don’t really get excited about modern photography. My favorite painting was the “Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David.

230 Fifth
Our last night in New York City we decided to check out the night life. We had dinner at this quaint little Mexican food restaurant, it was so good. We went to a night club called 230 5th. It was awesome. It was a roof top night club.

From the roof we could see the whole city, and had an amazing view of the Empire State Building.

On our way home we stopped at a couple of bars, Joshua Tree, an 80's bar... awesome, I love 80's music. Then a sports bar... they were playing Bob Marley... perfect for Kevin. We got home and CRASHED!

Madison Square Garden
Kevin wanted to see Madison Square Garden, so we walked all the way there. Oh how I hated walking.

On our way back we ate.... PIZZA!!! We just couldn't get enough pizza.

Flight Drama
We took a cab to JFK together. Since Kevin's flight left before mine, I got there quite a bit early. It turned out to be a blessing because my flight was canceled AGAIN! The airline people were telling everyone to come back tomorrow morning. Whatever! I want to go home. I buttered up my guy a lot. I said, "Let's work your magic! Are you a genius?" Then I asked the other girls if he was a genius. I tell you, he looked for a good 15 minutes to find a flight for me... meanwhile, everyone else was told to come back tomorrow. He did it!!! He found another flight. The problem was it was out of Laguardia and it left in 1 1/2 hours. I asked 3 other people if they wanted to share a cab. What an exhilarating cab ride to the airport. I asked the cab driver what his record time was from JFK to Laguardia, I had him all pumped up to beat it, turned out to be pretty scary. The cab driver was driving in the shoulder and almost got in 50 accidents. Amazing we made it there in one piece to find out our flight was delayed 1 hour... then 2 hours... then 3 hours... I thought I would never get home... Finally, our plane arrived. Everyone boarded and we all waited another hour to take off. By the time I got back to Cleveland I zombie walked straight to be since it was 11:30. At least I didn't have to wait with 2 kids! I enjoyed being by myself. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!