Visiting the Big Apple

On Wednesday Kyle, Mara, Kristin, Natalie, and myself drove up to New York City to spend the entire day. Kristin and Natalie had only been in "The City" once before, which was earlier this year. I took some pictures of their trip, and they can been seen here: http://gallery.mac.com/ljluttrell#100026

For Kyle and Mara, this was the first time to see the city.

It took us about 1:45 to get from our house to Manhattan, and 30 minutes to drive from the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel to our parking garage near the Empire State Building. For those that have never driven in NYC, you should add it to your "must do in your lifetime" list, as I can assure you, it is definitely an experience you will NEVER forget.

Once we got our car parked (which involves handing over your car keys to an attendant who's main goal is to squeeze as many cars into an underground garage as possible. I don't think that they could have fit anymore cars in the lot, it was unbelievable!), it was time to get bundled up for the winter weather.

One of my customers gave us what looks like a sleeping bag for your stroller as a "welcome to the Northeast" gift. At the time he gave it to us, we still had our A/C on full blast in Houston, never imagining the day we would actually use it. Well, that day was yesterday, and it turned out to be one of the most useful gifts we have ever received. Here is a picture of Natalie in it (I was jealous of our little burrito a few times yesterday).

We ate at a little restaurant in the basement of Macy's, and then went up to the 8th floor to see Santa Land (yes, Macy's has over 8 floors). I was secretly hoping that we would find Will Farell at the North Pole, but he wasn't there (for those that are challenged in the pop culture arena, this was a joke about Elf, a movie staring Will Farell, who worked at the Christmas display at Macy's, and...never mind, watch the movie).

Here are a few pictures I took at Santa Land:

The next stop on our trip was to the Empire State Building. For those that have never been to NYC, the Empire State Building is a few blocks down from Macy's on 34th Street (you know, Miracle on 34th Street?...I know, I am torturing those that have no pop culture knowledge, but if you don't know what Miracle on 34th Street is, you need to stop reading this blog right now, and google "how to get a life" or go to Barnes and Noble and buy "Earth, Yes, You Life on It for Dummies").

You pay about $16 to take 3 separate elevators to get to the top of the building. Between the 3 elevator rides, you walk through rope guided lines similar to a theme park. Strategically placed along the way are souvenir shops trying to sell you anything that has the word "New York" or "Empire State Building" on it. What they don't tell you is that you can buy the same thing on the street outside for 3 times less.

We finally got to the top, just in time for Natalie's good behavior and patience to run out. So we took turns taking care of her inside the gift shop at the top (go figure, another one). We got some really cool pictures of the city. To see all the pictures we took at the top, as well as the rest of the pictures from the trip, check out this link: http://gallery.mac.com/ljluttrell#100059

The next stop on our trip was Rockefeller Center, home of New York City Christmas Tree, NBC Studios, and the ice skating rink that you always see on TV. Here is a picture of the tree:

As we started walking away from the tree, we saw an area adjacent to the tree, full of millions of pennies. Come to find out, it is actually 100 million pennies, and for those of you that are a little slow with math, that is one million dollars!! (I really hope that no one who is reading this both lacks math skills and pop culture, because I would really feel bad). I asked one of the attendants what the pennies were for, and she explained that the kids of NYC have been collecting pennies through their school for the past month, and that they raised 1 million dollars, which will be redistributed back to their schools after Christmas. The kids at the various schools will then decide which charity they would like to donate their portion to. I thought it was a neat display of giving this Holiday season, and truly shows you how something as little as a penny, can add up to something significant when it is all put together. As a side note, it was very tempting for Natalie to try and play in the sea of pennies.

Next on our trip was the world famous toy store, FAO Schwartz. I don't think that I need to explain, but Natalie had a blast! The keyboard that Tom Hanks (a.k.a. Josh Baskin / David Moscow) played on in "Big" is still setup on the second floor, and they let kids play on it, and they even put on a show every hour or so. Here is Natalie playing the piano:

Once we got done at FAO Schwartz, it was time to start heading back to the car. While we were looking at toys, it started to rain outside. It was that perfect temperature that was too high for snow, but just cold enough to see your breath and be cold and wet. Trying to keep Natalie dry and in the stroller, we tried to catch a cab, along with half of New York. I don't think that I have ever seen so many cabs with their "off duty" light lit up. We needed to catch a cab or take the subway because our car was parked over 20 blocks away. I have been to NY numerous times, but I am not a subway expert, and it was during rush hour, and Natalie was in the stroller...so it wasn't the best time to learn. We weren't able to get a cab, so we started walking back in the rain. Halfway back to our garage we found a place to eat, and it was the perfect place....a fresh soup and coffee restaurant. We had our fill, and then finished the trek back to the car.

The last thing that we did was drive through Time Square (sorry, no pictures, I was driving), and it was a zoo on the streets. I think that I was the only non cab on the road as we dissected the city on Broadway. We drove all the way down to the financial district (area of ground zero), and got into the Holland Tunnel and under the Hudson river, which puts you back into New Jersey.

I drove home to the sound of dueling snoring...or maybe it was the three snorers....actually they made a quartet, so I am going to go with The Barbershop Snorers. In any case, everyone was exhausted!!

I hope you enjoyed my long, LONG, citation of the day. I enjoyed living it, and reliving it while writing this.

Landon