Vacation Recap - Part I

Vacation already seems like years ago! How is it that time works this way? 

You know, I think the best part about my trip to NYC is the continued reminder that usually everything works out in the end.  The trip definitely didn't go quite as planned -- but I had a blast! I left that Thursday early in the morning to make my 7:30 a.m. flight -- like I had to get up a 4.  I admit I was feeling a bit blue that morning when I left and even while I was en route to NYC.  I just wasn't sure what was going to happen and I felt a bit like a loser having to scramble to make other plans and not burden Little A with my social limbo for Saturday and Sunday.  

A few things -- the weather was great! We really only had one really cold day and even that was pretty bearable. I don't know why I worried about outfits because I spent most of my time wandering around in my boots, scarf, and purple coat.  We spent our first few nights at The Alex which I believe is pretty much in midtown right below Times Square/Broadway.  Little A used the Jetsetter website to book the reservation and I ended up grabbing a room off Jetsetter at the last minute for Saturday night, too.   The Alex was nice because we had a suite which meant we had plenty of room for all three of us.  I slept on the couch which was not super comfy but I was so exhausted I fell right to sleep every night and didn't even blink until morning.  The pictures made it look a little nicer than it was but the location and square footage of the room made up for it in the long run.  

We spent a lot of Thursday just walking around and looking at the shop windows on 5th Avenue/Madison Ave/etc for Christmas decorations.  We walked through Times Square and through Rockefeller Center and then hopped over to China Town on the subway.  We used this great app called Hop Stop  you can download on your phone and it tells you step by step directions from your subway ride and even down to street directions to a place once you get off the subway.  It actually works for other transit systems too, not just New York.  We finished off the night with a nice long dinner at the pub next door called The Perfect Pint and then went back to Rockefeller Center to see the light show on the side of Saks Fifth Avenue and to see the tree at night. 

Christmas at Rockefeller Center

Thursday we met up with our good friend Mackenzie who lives in Brooklyn and we went to The World Trade Center Memorial and a broadway show.   I highly recommend the memorial.  You just make a donation and go through super tight security and then you can just walk around.  The pools are insanely large and beautiful and were actually designed by an architect from Georgia Tech who won the submission contest they had when they were designing the area.  I wish I could describe how it feels to go in -- but I really can't.   

North Pool at the World Trade Center Memorial

After that we went and stood in line at TKTS in Times Square so we could get our Broadway tickets.  It took a while.  The line opens at 3:00 p.m. and the put up shows on the board that are discounted for that day.  It's sort of a pain but it's totally worth it to get up to 50% off your ticket price because it ain't cheap to see Broadway in NY.  We opted to see Mary Poppins (I really wanted to see Newsies but the tickets were only 20% off regular price and that was just too expensive for me) and it was fabulous!  Mary Poppins flew around on wires and Bert tap danced on the freaking ceiling.  

*not my photo*

Side note-- my Sperry boots get rave reviews. I only wore them once before my NY trip which was pretty risky considering I could have had crazy blisters the entire time.  The were awesome.  I walked all day everyday in them.  They were super warm and super comfortable.  Everyone run out and get some. 

Things got considerably more interesting as far as Saturday went...that's for Part 2.

Love you. Mean it.

~the single gal~