Summer Vacation 2009: New York, Part 1

We left Utah on June 26th and drove part of the way to WA. We stopped in Oregon, had a restful evening, and got up the next morning to finish our drive to WA. We were so glad to be out of the car by the time we got to WA!! The girls were definitely enjoying their freedom from the car.

We spent a couple of days there, helping the girls feel comfortable at my parents house before Jeff and I left for our first trip away from the girls. We went to NY because Jeff had been accepted to present at a conference there, and decided that we would add on a couple of days and make it a little bit of an anniversary trip for us too. The evening of the 29th Jeff and I took a red eye flight to New York City. We got in early on the 30th, and were pretty tired. We were able to rest some on the plane, but not much. The flight went surprisingly fast! Once we got in we took the bus and the subway to our hotel, and dropped off our luggage since our room wasn't ready. We then went and enjoyed the city and got Jeff checked into the conference.

At Rockefeller Center.

Central Park. I was amazed when we got there how beautiful it was in the middle of the city. It really was breathtaking. I wish we could have spent more time here.



When we got back to our hotel, our room was ready, and we were exhausted. We took a nap, and then went out on the town for the evening. It was amazing how busy the city was so late at night!


This is the city at 10pm. Even close to midnight it was packed! (I also couldn't believe the number of strollers I saw at that late hour.)
M&M's
I am my parent's "M&M child." (My initials for my maiden name are MMM.) I have been to M&M world in Vegas and now NY. Last place to go is in Orlando. :)
This 5 lb bar is $40. No, we did not buy it, but it definitely made for a fun picture!

The next day we got to sleep in, which was so fun!! Jeff went to some of the conference, while I went around the city. It was nice to have some time to myself. I don't get that very often.

This is the sign in Macy's showing when the Santa will return!
The library. I went in, and then realized that I would be meeting Jeff soon, so I walked out. I shouldn't have. Jeff didn't call for a while, and then the next time I went the library was closed (due to the day off for July 4th). Oh well, next time...
I thought it was amazing to see a street that was almost completely clear!! I am not sure why, but there was a motorcade of police cars with their sirens going. It was actually pretty cool!
After Jeff attended the conference meetings he wanted to, we went and walked the Brooklyn Bridge.
I am going to be a little vain, but I love my hair in this picture!! Sometimes wind can be beneficial. :)

It was really windy as we crossed the bridge, but it felt wonderful! It was amazing to see how well this bridge is holding up for how old it is.
I really thought this is a neat plaque. Not many people dedicate the structure they just built in memory of their spouse.
After we walked across, we ate dinner at Grimaldi's. As we left there was quite the line outside waiting to get in!

We took the subway back to Manhattan, and accidently started going the wrong way. Fortunately we didn't go too far before we figured it out! We walked back to our hotel walking through Chinatown and Little Italy. It was fun to be able to walk and talk and actually listen to what the other person was saying. We were missing our girls and talking to them daily, but it was so nice to be together.

There are the first 2 days of our time in NY. The last 2 days of our trip to come in the next post!