OMG... where to start???
For those of you who did not know, Dann & I took a 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to NYC (without kiddies) and if I could quote the great Carrie Bradshaw (Sex & The City),
"IT WAS FABULOUS!!"
There are a ton of photos, in no specific order, so you may need a few "sit downs" to get through them all.
Here we go....
New York City Through Our Eyes!
We focused our trip on the Island of Manhattan, which is 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. Millions of people live on this Island, along with all the tourists like us!
This is a photo of Dann & I before we went on a 2 hour Island Cruise. The boat ride was a great way to see all the beautiful city skylines and to get a history lesson from our tour guide.
At the pier where our boat docked was a U.S. Military Aircraft Carrier. This specific one fought in the 2nd World War and is now docked as a museum.
I wanted to get to the cruise early, so we got a good seat.
Maybe we arrived a little sooner than necessary... lol!
There will be some more photos of the Island tour in a bit (cut me some slack, Dann took over 800 photos, that's a lot to look through when you are trying to blog).
I am striking a pose for Danny!
This amazing structure is the New York City Court House.
I loved all the old buildings
(Western Canada is so young).
Just like all the sky scrapers, which go way up, attempting to accommodate all the people, so do the parking lots. A lot of the parking lots we saw had car lifts in them, so they can stack the cars...
It's an art in itself!
We mastered the subway and felt very comfortable & safe traveling with it.
The subway looks just like it did on all the Seinfeld episodes (minus Jerry, George, Kramer & Elaine)!
Below is an entrance to the subway from the street level.
Finding a bathroom in NYC can sometimes be difficult. Starbucks was always a good choice, but sometimes there just was not one around, which is hard to believe as there are 264 Starbucks on the Island of Manhattan alone... Crazy!
This beauty was in the "Old Navy" where we were shopping at.
It had a pull flush chain and all!
Before we left on our trip I caught a episode of
"Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels". She was promoting all the great places to dine in NYC. I took note and we managed to hit a couple of the places she recommended.
MURRAY'S BAGELS
This place was to die for!
The bagels were out of this world
(A Carbohydrate Rush).
The bagels & cream cheese were so tasty we went back another day for seconds!
I highly recommend this decadent cafe if you ever hit the Big Apple. It was located right on the Boundary between Greenwich Village and Chelsea.
This Fire Station was one of the many in Manhattan.
All the stations we saw had a tribute on the overhead door to the fallen members from 9-11 (from that station).
During our bus tour we past the UN Building.
The UN was sitting at the time of the photo as all the flags were flying (I guess they are only up when the UN sits, according to the tour guide).
Here is one of the coolest wall art displays I have ever seen. Of course it is advertising for Donna Karen New York (DKNY).
The NYC Skyline is painted into DKNY.
Very Cool!
These tiles were painted by elementary students after 9-11. They each painted their thoughts on the tragic event and what it meant to them. The tiles were placed on the school fence and they still remain there.
This is the famous "Flatiron Building".
It has an official name, but it escapes me at the moment.
Everyone refers to it as the Flatiron Building.
Here is the Empire State Building with the sun casting it's light on it.
This is Madison Square Gardens, where all the famous music stars perform, along with many different sporting events.
This is the NYC Post Office.
It is the largest post office in the U.S. an it is open 24/7...
even Christmas Day.
(the building sits on the entire block)
Time Square
More photos to follow of this awesome place.
We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner one night.
The rock memorabilia is incredible.
These are the Beetle's suits...
The ones they wore the first time in the U.S. when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The Toys-R-Us Store in Time Square was huge!
It even had a full size ferris wheel, and each cart represented a type or make of a toy.
Me in Time Square
Dann by a yellow cab in Time Square
We were such "Tourists" there... we might as well had a camera hanging from our neck.
This adopt a baby nursery was located in the famous
FAO Schwarz Toy Store.
There were girls dressed up as nurses and after a little girl picked out her new baby from the nursery, the nurse would bring it over to her in the rocking chair, along with the baby's adoption papers...
What an awesome money maker, as I do not think I could have said no to Emma if she was with us!
I thought this little bundle of joy looked darn real!
The Lego Statues were awesome too!
This piano was the one Tom Hanks played on in the movie "Big".
It was not as easy to play as Tom made it look.
I really had to jump on the keys to make the notes sound.
Here's the Statue of Liberty...
Lady Liberty was incredible to see up close.
(we went past her on the boat cruise)
Dann taking our photo...
How romantic!
This is the Staten Island Ferry.
It is totally free to use (car & passengers are free).
The Brooklyn Bridge and the Skyline.
This fenced pier is a golf driving range.
It was the pier where the Titanic was to dock before it's fatal voyage.
This fabulous restaurant was called
"Daisy May's BBQ"
Rachael Ray said this was the best BBQ in NYC...
it was damn good!
Below were a group of business people having a luncheon.
They ordered the "Half Pig" with all the fixings!
They forgot their camera, so they asked us to take a photo and email it to them
(gotta love technology).
Here we are in Central Park.
It was HUGE and very beautiful!
The Great Lawn - 13 acre oval of green lawn
(where many concerts in the park are held)
This is the famous Dakota Building
(where John Lennon lived and was shot).
Underneath the arch way was where John Lennon was shot, then he staggered into the court yard, through the arch way, where he colapsed.
Me up in the Castle in Central Park.
This Castle is called the "Belvedere Castle" which has been featured in many movies, including Step Mom, starring Julia Roberts.
The views were amazing!
This is the Angel Fountain in Central Park
Dann swears this was John Stossel, from Dateline NBC, so he took his photo while he played beach volleyball in Central Park.
Many trees in Central Park had this funky bark on it.
It looked very cool... very camouflage.
More photos of different spots in Central Park
This is the front of the Dakota Building.
Strawberry Fields, located in Central Park across the street from the Dakota Building. Yoko Ono created it in memory of John Lennon.
In the middle of the circle is the word
"Imagine".
This is a quiet zone in Central Park.
There are signs up to keep talking to a hush and no music etc.
This is one of the Apple Stores, located across the street from Central Park on 5th Avenue.
The whole thing is made of glass and you go down the escalator into the business to view all the merchandise.
This was the Louis Vuitton boutique on 5th Avenue.
The display window was awesome.
All these security cameras are pointing to a display case where a hand bag or something would be on display (like a famous jewel or something).
The display case has been broken into and of course the hand bag is missing.
Who thinks of this kind of stuff??
Some "Fabulous" shoes
The "Popo" gathering for the Polish Parade.
We hit the famous "American Girl Place" featured on Oprah.
The store sells dolls along with outfits. The outfits come in girl's sizes as well, so your little girl can buy her favorite doll and dress just like it.
There was a hair salon and everything. There were ladies doing doll "hair doo's", along with doll ear piercing.
You had to have an appointment for your doll, to get her hair done.
I loved the little doll hair chairs...
yes, another money making scheme that I would have given into if Emma was there. I guess leaving her at home saved us about four hundred dollars in new dollies & accessories!
We took a stroll in Central Park one night with a horse & buggy.
Our horse's name was "Barbie".
It was very relaxing, romantic and so New York!!
We never had wine, but we did have Starbucks!
The weather was great during our visit and as you can see our stroll over the Brooklyn Bridge was beautiful!
This photo is incredible... Dann has an eye for photography!
The Abercrombie & Fitch Store on 5th Avenue had one of their models in the store promoting the new line etc.
Many "young" girls lined up to get a shot of this young buck... he made time for the "almost 40 mom" too!
(that's him behind us in the photo)
While we were strolling back down 5th Avenue, from Central Park, we came across a professional model photo shoot.
Dann thought he was the photographer of the shoot and took "many" photos of this beauty.
I just kept admiring her shoes and handbag. I loved her orange shoes and told Dann how awesome they were. He did not seem to notice the shoes... go figure.
While Dann was snapping photos, I asked one of the people from the shoot, what it was for? He told me that it was a photo shoot for "Jimmy Chew" shoes!
I knew those orange babies were fabulous!!
The closest bridge in this photo is the Brooklyn Bridge, then the Manhattan Bridge and the far back one is the Williamsburg Bridge.
Dann at the top of the Empire State Building.
The sites were spectacular!
(see the Chrysler Building behind Dann?)
Many cars had bumper protectors on them... go figure!
We hit Wall Street at a crappy time, but we still enjoyed the sites.
This is the famous BULL!
It is the most photgraphed thing in NYC...
Really!
The Stock Market had not opened yet when we took these photos, but there was media vans everywhere... just waiting!
(I posted this photo twice... sorry)
We went to the site of the "Twin Towers" in the financial district.
Below is Ladder/Engine Co. #10.
It is located directly across the street from where the Twin Towers stood. Of course the firefighters in that house were the first to respond to the tragedy.
There was a memorial wall along the side of that firehouse. It was a tribute to all the firefighters who lost their lives in 9-11.
I believe it was made out of copper and it was a picture of the firefighters going into the Twin Towers, while the towers were on fire and about to come down.
I cannot believe I saw the site with my own eyes, and I still cannot believe those towers came down... and all of the devastation that followed.
Very sad!
This memory plaque was on the fence where they have started constructing the new "Freedom Tower".
It listed all the people who lost their lives (in the plane crashes, Washington & New York).
The construction site - Freedom Tower 2013
Another angle
And another...
The Twin Towers would have been between these buildings.
Okay... something more happy!
Rockefeller Plaza and the famous ice rink.
A hotdog stand... these are everywhere.
We toured Harlem by bus and saw the Apollo Theatre.
Here's the famous "Deli" Dave Letterman always talks about and here we are standing with Rupert!
We got tickets to "Letterman" and the show Rocked!
It was fun to be a part of the audience and to experience the hype.
The Ed Sullivan Theater was excellent too!
Before the show, people & paparazzi show up to get a glimpse of whom is going to be on the show that night. Most stars will stop & pose for photos and sign autographs.
This little old lady has boxes of star's photos signed outside of Letterman.
She comes every afternoon... I guess it is her daily outing!
We saw Dennis Quaid, he shook Dann's hand and everything!
This gal is from Scrubs... I forget her name.
The night we were there, Jeremy Piven & Elizabeth Banks were on. Piven was promoting his Broadway debut in
"Speed-the-Plow"
This is a creepy photo!
While I was site seeing on the double decker bus, I got to watch a NYC cabbie urinate in a bottle and then dump it out on the street while waiting for the green light... Nice!
(I watched him tuck "it" back into his drawers too).
We went to the "Today Show" and saw
Maredith Vieira...
She was very friendly and greeted everyone individually who stood outside in the square.
This was a "to-die-for" chocolate store!
Radio City Music Hall
Rockefeller Centre
This is where the big Christmas Tree is every season.
Grande Central Station
It was very cool... just like on TV.
The Chrysler Building
An old wooden escalator in Macy's
Me doing a little shopping (dreaming) @ Macy's
The Macy's store takes up a whole city block.
Views from the Empire State Building
Me in front of the New York Public Library
(where Carrie & Big were to be married).
The building was amazing...
words or photos do not do it justice!
Well that brings you to the end of our "Dream Trip"
I know it was a lot to go through, but I hope you enjoyed it... we did!
