For the past year or so Scott and I have wanted to go vacationing to New
York. Neither of us had been there before and we've always wanted to
visit. We had originally wanted to road trip it and to hit all the
church sights on the way there and then swing into Canada for our trip
back. We figured to take a trip like this though we'd have to take at
least 2 weeks off from work and spend lots and lots of mula. So we
settled for just flying if the chance ever came up. Well that chance
came up in October when we found tickets for $200 dollars round trip!
Who passes up a trip to New York for 400 dollars? So we got the tickets
of course and scheduled our trip for the end of January so that we could
have a few months to save up.
We both have friends in New York and Washington D.C. so we decided
while we were there we might as well hit both places. Now I can't
possibly go into great detail without this being the longest post in
history. So I'm just going to hit the highlights (and it will still prob
be the longest post in history):
Day 1
Our plane left at 9:30 am with a layover in Denver then
onto New York. Let me tell you, that first flight was the worst flight
of my whole life. I didn't take anything and man was I sick! I don't
know how I made it without throwing up all over the place. I was real
close. Let's just say the Lord answers prayers. Once we landed we went
straight for some dramamine! The second flight was much much more
bearable.
We arrived in New York at 5:30 and our good friend Carlos was
there to great us! Carlos and his wife Heather were very generous to let
us stay in their awesome one bedroom apartment while in New york! Thank
you again! It was so fun to stay with you!
Day 2
Carlos and Heather both had to work so Scott and I head out
into the big city on our own with nothing but money and a map! It was
fun to get to experience New York for the first day with just the two of
us. I was glad we got a chance to explore the city on our own just for a
day!
The awesome bike set up in Carlos and Heather's apartment!
Our first New York experience, a walk around Riverbank Park!
Our first look at New York in the light!
We started our Subway experience perfectly by getting onto the Subway on the
wrong side. There went our first 5 dollars! I was really excited to ride on a Subway because I'd never done it before!
After fixing our mistake
our first stop was the Seinfeld Diner for lunch!
New York
Temple. We really wanted to do a session but we just didn't have enough
time. The temple was really unique and cool though.
We spent the rest of
the day at the Museum of Natural History.
That night we hit up Town
Square and went to the Broadway Phantom of the Opera. I've always wanted
to see it and I'm so glad we did! It was really good!
I thought time square was a lot like Vegas... Just a lot cleaner!
Phantom of the Opera!
After the Broadway we went to the Hard Rock for dessert.
Day 3
Carlos and Heather didn't work so they would both get to
show us the ropes of New York! We took the water taxi to take us to the sound end of the island (Which was still
powerless from Sandi). This isn't the water taxi by the way... It's the Intrepid. We wanted to take a tour on it but ran out of time.
Walking to Ground Zero
Ground Zero Memorial
The new World Trade center buildings are amazing!
Last surviving tree from ground zero
Stroll down Wall Street.
A lot of abandoned streets from Sandi.
Brooklyn Bridge
New York
Statue of Liberty
The Island is still closed from Sandi so this is as good at it got.
That night Carlos and Heather took us to
Little Italy in the Bronx and we ate at the most amazing Italian
restaurant ever! This was both of our favorite restaurants we ate at our
whole trip! And we ate at a lot of different restaurants.
Day 4
We would be taking the bus down to D.C. later in the day so
we started out by dropping off our luggage at a luggage storage place
by the bus stop. It seemed a little sketch and we really hoped it would
still be there when we came back for it. Nothing says breakfast in New
York like eating at a authentic Mexican restaurant for taco's! It was really tasty... But I don't think my morning sickness was allowing me to enjoy it to the fullest.
We
went to Central Park and got our first New York Geocach!!
Random photo shoot. I felt bad for her because it was really cold!
Empire State Building!
The view was so cool! But it was so extremely windy up there!
Heather and Carlos our gracious New York hosts!
Our last restaurant in
New York was a French restaurant. Scott's main goal of going to New York
was to find a French restaurant. Well it was the most we have EVER paid
for any food anywhere. And neither of us thought it was that great. The
thing I hate about nice restaurants is it seems the more you pay the
less food they give you. We had a 3 course meal and when I left I felt
like I still could have eaten more. The Italian restaurant was half the
price, twice the food and tasted 50 times better! We know were we will
spend our money on food in the future.
I do have to say the dressed up the plates really nice though!
We were running a little late
after that so we had to run to the luggage storage place and then to the
bus so we didn't miss it! I was glad our luggage was still there and
the bus ended up being a half hour late so all the running wasn't
necessary. It was crazy but we went through like 7 states on the 4 hour
bus ride to D.C. All the states are so close over there!
Day 5
I think today is the day I lost all my energy. Every day
for the past 4 days had been go go go go. And it hit me. In D.C. we
stayed with my good friend and old roommate Mich! It was so fun to see
her and spend time with her! We also met up with our friend Tara and
Scott's cousin Shalayne! It was a party in D.C. for sure! We started off
by going to the Space and Air Museum:
Moon Rock!
Tour of State Capital Building:
Me and Mich!
Touching the center of D.C.
Archive Building to see the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution:
Washington Memorial
Scott, me, Mich and Tara
World War 2 Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Tara, Scott, me and Mich!
Vietnam Memorial
White House
Day 6
The last sight seeing day of our trip we got up early so
that we could fit everything in!
Arlington Cemetery got there just
in time to see the changing of the guard:
JFK family burial site and Arlington House in the background
Just subway waiting..... Mich is the most awesomest photographer ever...
One of her great works!
Another Great work. :)
Museum of American History:
Just a cute 23 week baby belly pic of me :)
The Holocaust Museum was our last stop. I was glad we got to
spend a couple days in D.C. Our checkbook was glad too! New York is
soooo expensive! We spent almost all of our vacation money the first 3
days we were there! Everything in D.C. was free so we hardly spent
anything! It was a nice change. We caught the bus back late that night
and I think I slept 3 1/2 hours of the 4 hour ride. (I blame it on the
dramamine) After arriving back in New York we bought ourselves a hot dog
off the street because everyone told us we had to do it. Well that was
the most nasty tasting hot dog I have ever eaten in my life! I'm
surprised I didn't catch a disease from eating it!
One last night shot of Empire State Building
Day 7
The final day of our trip! I'm going to speak in Idaho time
zone. We woke up at 1:30 so Carlos could take us to the airport. We
wanted to get there early so that we could check in... But I guess that
early in the morning there isn't a lot of people because by 2:30 we were
in our terminal waiting for the plane that was scheduled to leave at
4:15. Because of weather in Chicago our plane ended up being delayed an
hour. So our 1 hour layover in Chicago ended up being hurry run to our
next flight because everyone is already loaded and your going to miss
your plane! Because of all the delays though we ended up actually taking
off about an hour late as well. Because of the dramamine I slept for a
good 2 1/2 hours of the first 3 hour flight and prob 3 hours of the
second 4 hour flight. The people I sat next to probably thought I was
some crazy prego women that couldn't keep her eyes open except to shove
snacks in her mouth and then dose off again! But between the motion
sickness of the flight and the morning sickness of not having a meal to
eat for 10 hours (because we had planned on getting something to eat in
Chicago but ended up not being able to because of the delays), I was
feeling pretty crappy. So I was glad I couldn't keep my eyes open! When
we landed it was around noon and I was beyond starving! and feeling
pretty sick. We stopped in Ogden on our way home to have lunch with
Melanie. She is so cute with her cute little baby bump! I wish we would
have thought to take prego pictures standing next to each other but I
didn't even think of it... On our drive back to Idaho, again I proceeded
to sleep for most of the ride. I felt bad for Scott but I really just
couldn't even keep my eyes open if I tried!
All in all the whole trip was a blast! We both loved it! New York is
so different then anything I have ever experienced. And so much
walking! Scott and I had sore feet the whole week from walking so much.
It got pretty painful by the end of the week. But we still had so much
fun. It was also so fun to see so many of our friends! Thank you all for
hanging out with us and letting us crash with you while we visited the
east! It was so fun to see everyone. Now I really did have a blast, but I
don't think I will ever take a trip like this again while pregnant. It
just would have been even more enjoyable if I didn't have to deal with
morning sickness the whole trip and not have to find a restroom every
hour! Anything I rode on made me sick, and we rode on a lot of different
things. Planes, subways, buses, boats, elevators. And I felt like a had
to pee ALL the time. Like I said before though. It was still so much
fun! And I loved going! Now we feel like we need a vacation from our
vacation!
