Traveling as Two - Lady Liberty

We had such a busy day today! Can I first just say that both Scout and I are still on Utah time? We were up late and then we had to leave before 9:30 to get to our half-day bus tour.

I know I usually stay away from these, but the heel broke on one of Scout's boots and she ended up with blisters, making it hard for her to walk terribly far.

Honestly though, we had an amazing tour guide and I learned so much about the area! Ok, photo bomb.

The 9/11 Memorials were beautiful and heart-wrenching. Even our guide had a personal story.

Sorry, we were facing the sun in this one.

Then we were on a dinner cruise. The music was so loud! The food was good.

Then they invited us on deck and scout took all these. Such an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty!

Such a great day.

Traveling as Two - Wicked

We had an appointment to visit Top of the Rock or the top of the Rockefeller Center in the morning. The M train was so different from the others. It was clean and well maintained. At our stop, the first thing we noticed was a Duncan Donuts, then a Jamba. There were stores and eating places, all beautifully laid out underground.

The entrance for Top of the Rock was also down there. Clearly, all of this was beneath the Rockefeller. My only regret is that I wish we would have taken time to see the ice rink, but I suppose I have seen it in plenty of movies.

We watched a short film before riding the elevator up 67 floors to the Top. The views were amazing!

I had a couple of quarters, so we put them in the machine and Scout got her first view of the Statue of Liberty.

Scout also spotted a girl with long black hair in a white coat with a Gold Olympic medal around her neck. She tried to sneak a pic of her, but none of them were very good.

Then we decided to go up to the very top floor. They had  beam ride, but Scout had set her heart on the Skylift. They had lowered the price to $15 each. Things were pretty slow and we only had about a dozen people in our group. There were way more workers than that and most of them had very little to do.

But I digress...

They led us to a circular room on a platform about 10 feet across and made out of glass. After locking us in, they raised the room up about 20 feet and then it slowly turned so we could see the whole city.

Even though our hotel is only a few blocks from Central Park, we had not really seen its enormity until we were high above the skyline.

It was time to leave. We stopped at the gift shop and briefly contemplated eating in the cafe, but Scout wanted something a bit more relaxed, so we picked a little place downstairs called Ace's Pizza. No. It wasn't a "New York slice," but the pizza was good and we finally had a place to sit for a few minutes. 

With all the walking, Scout's feet were killing her since her boots had very little support, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a little while and rest before the show.  Unfortunately, we accidentally got on the wrong train and had to walk about 8 blocks back to the hotel. 

New York is not for the old nor the young. I was counting kids while we were out and about. In 3 days, I had seen only 18 kids out with their parents. The only time we really saw older people was last night when we tried to walk past Carnegie Hall after a performance. So many of them were trying to get the attention of taxi drivers. We just weaved through the crowd. It was only about a block away from our hotel and it was the place that oriented me when we were out and I was feeling a little lost.

While Scout was sleeping, I ventured out on my own to the Walgreens next door and I bought some inserts for her. Hopefully, that will help her poor feet.

There was definitely some walking involved to get to the theater tonight for the performance of Wicked. We were a bit surprised to find the theater roughly twice as big as the one from Hamilton. We had great seats and I even had the aisle.

Wicked was every bit as good as Hamilton! Scout said that since it was our shortest drive back to the hotel, instead of the train, we might want to take one of those little bike carriages.

Although it was fun and enjoyable, and less than 10 minutes to the hotel, the driver was not quite honest with me when I tried to pin him down on the cost. We were stunned when our short ride cost $108!!!! I strongly recommend staying away from them unless you simply want the experience. Scout and I split the cost and figured we each would have been ok paying $54 so we let it go. Everything is expensive in New York.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. We have some big plans! I hope Scouts inserts are doing the job.

Traveling as Two - Hamilton

I think I'm getting old. Scout and I both decided we would like to rest, but then we got nervous about getting to Broadway, so we hopped on a train to figure it out.

It was pretty crazy; there were so many people!! To see the theaters, we found ourselves in Times Square. They were filming some sort of movie there, so part of it was blocked off, but we could still see all the blazing neon on the buildings. I was not expecting to see places I knew,  but Olive Garden and Krispee Kreme both held prominent places on the square.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at a New York Bakery. I have heard 100 times that you haven't had decent cannoli until you try it in the Big Apple. Honestly, I'm a hater, so I did not have high hopes, but I couldn't miss this opportunity.

I have NEVER had cannoli like this!!

It was flaky with a hint of cinnamon and the filling was so yummy! Scout got New York cheesecake, but it was not nearly as good as the cannoli.

After a short nap, we got ready for Hamilton. We were expecting great things and we were not disappointed. Scout knew every word to every song, but before the show, they asked us all not to sing.

After the show, we rode the subway back to the hotel, wishing we had lots more show tickets if they are all this much fun.

Traveling as Two - Manhattan

It was hard to say goodbye to the kids, but we would be back on Saturday, so that wasn't long. Teach and Twiz let us drive their Altima into New York. It was a nice drive, but I was glad Scout was behind the wheel.

It wasn't long before we approached the famous Lincoln Tunnel. I had been through it with my sweetie, but Scout had never been.

Now before I tell this story, I want to remind you that we had a rare weather event a few days ago that put 2 feet of snow on the ground, covering signs and other important stuff.

Scout did fine in the tunnel. She wasn't stressed at all.

I was navigating, and when we came out of the tunnel, I knew which way we had to go from the gps. The problem was the temporary barricades and piles of snow. It threw me. So the turn I sent Scout on took us right back through the Tunnel!

You know what that meant...

By our 3rd time through, Scout was definitely a pro. To get in the right lane though, we had to change lanes inside the tunnel.  As it turned out, the other lane with the proper turn, belonged to buses. We were not the only one sneaking over...

Soon we were in the area; I could tell by the tall buildings.

Our hotel was on 57th street, but the snow made it difficult to find parking. We drove a large square around our hotel 3 times before Scout did something typical "New Yorker." She pulled partway into the snow in front of our hotel and she turned on her hazards!

Anyway. 

We finally got parked and we settled in. Scout is taking a much needed break.

At least the room is nice.