New York
New York was an awesome trip! We really enjoyed it. And it was very special that we were able to go during the holidays so the city was dressed in its holiday finery.
The trip started when I went to Connecticut to visit a client. That was fun. I traveled the back roads of Connecticut and saw some old houses, cemeteries and city halls. The clients were great, so it was a good experience. I then flew to New York and took a taxi (yuck) to the hotel on Manhattan. The hotel was on 54th St., I think. I walked around Manhattan and got my “city legs” waiting for the hotel room to be available. I’ll admit, it was a little overwhelming at first. Then, I got lost on the subway on my way to meet some people at a law firm (who we hope to work with) at Union Square. After that meeting, I returned via subway to northern Manhattan and met up with Mike at a…brew pub (of course). He flew in that day and had already been to the hotel room. It was so amazing to be able to share the experience of being in New York the first time together. Really, being there together for the first time was, by far, the best part of the trip.
That evening, I went to a social event associated with a DRI conference, and Mike explored part of the city. The next day, Mike really explored. He visited Times Square, Central Park, and went to the top of the Empire States Building. I was sitting in a hotel conference room attending the conference, getting pictures from him of the city view. I was jealous. My conference continued until Friday early afternoon but I also made another appointment to have lunch with the same law firm folks on Friday. Mike and I snuck some time together but we weren’t able to really explore together until Friday later afternoon.
The weather was cold – it was December in New York – so we had to bundle up. We stayed until Monday morning. From Friday afternoon through Sunday we: spent a lot of time at Central Park (we both loved it!), visited Rockefeller Square with the ice skating rink and Christmas tree, saw the Macy’s and I forget the other store’s name famous window displays, saw the lit-up exterior of Radio City Music Hall and the bigger than life Christmas ornaments on the streets, walked Broadway, maneuvered through the crowds at Times Square (wall-to-wall people), visited the 9-11 museum and memorial, and walked at night to the sex museum. After we walked to the 9-11 museum, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, saw the Statue of Liberty from the bridge, had lunch at brew pub in Brooklyn where we had Manhattan clam chowder, walked back across the bridge, walked up Broadway and saw the exterior of Casey Neistat’s office (a You-Tube media guy that Mike very much respects), avoided the Asian people trying to sell us “watches, handbags, and purses,” and took the subway back to the hotel. We toured Manhattan’s brewpub scene (it was OK), did some really amazing people watching (including two separate couples we determined were both on first dates and where one couple was likely going home alone), and loved, loved the vibe and feel of walking the Manhattan streets. And, it snowed on our last evening so we walked the streets of Manhattan at night in a cold December snow.
I think we will be back to New York as soon as we can.
