New York City

For all of you who thought our 1st anniversary celebration of leftovers and errands wasn't romantic, don't worry, we all but made up for it with our weekend trip to NYC!!! Since Monday was holiday from work and school, we decided to get away for a weekend. I've been to New York before, but this was Caleb's first trip. We had SO SO SO SO SO much fun. We really didn't want to come back. I warn you this blog post will be long- we crammed SO much fun in 3 days.

As you are probably thinking, flights to New York are expensive. So, we took the bus! For $15, you too can ride a double decker bus with free wi-fi to New York City. Unfortunately our bus was late leaving on Friday and overbooked so we got to watch some angry New Yorkers get left behind and didn't even get to the city until about 8pm. Once we got there, we went out for a nice anniversary dinner

And then we walked around time square!

We turned in early because we had tickets to take a boat out to the Statue of Liberty first thing the next morning. Let me start by saying that DC is cold, New York is FRIGID! We are talking single digits/teens with windchills even colder. So, first thing Saturday morning standing in a line next to the water/riding on a boat was MISERABLE. Luckily, while we waited in line, we met an Aggie family. They were entertaining their kids with a trivia game- Caleb and I secretly played along. Of course there were also a set of British men who found it "ridiculous" and "ludicrous" that they were being shuffled around "like cattle." Caleb found them incredibly entertaining.

When we finally got to the island, we dashed for the indoor line. Luckily we reserved tickets in advance and got to go all the way up to the crown! First you go through a museum where you get to see the original torch

Then started the fun part. First there are about 150 regular staircase steps to remind you how out of shape you are. Then starts the winding staircase- another 200+ steps that are so steep and narrow they make you wonder if you've made a mistake going up them...

But right about the time you think you might freak out, you make it to the top. Here we are in the crown of the statue of liberty!!!

The problem is that once you get to the top, you get to walk all the way back down. My legs were like jello the rest of the time. When we got to the bottom and started figuring out the rest of our day, we realized we needed to grab food on the island and eat it fast. We got a burgers and fries and started speed walking towards the boat. We were almost there when something hit me in the face and grabbed my hand. IT WAS A SEAGULL! A BRAZEN seagull the dared to flap me in the face and attempt to grab my burger out of my hand... as I was raising it to my mouth! I was furious and kind of freaked out. Needless to say I did not eat any more of my burger and was afraid of birds the rest of the trip. Here are a few pics from the boat

We didn't have time to actually visit Ellis Island but Caleb ran off the boat while they docked so he could say he at least went there and went inside the museum. Once back, we dashed over for Caleb to be able to see Ground Zero. It has changed so much since I was last there. I went with my youth group in 2003 when it was still just a hole in the ground with flowers and pictures and letters against the grate. Now there are cranes and the beginnings of new buildings. After Ground Zero, we walked down to Wall Street.

That night we went to a restaurant called Buddakan. My friend Lindsay used to work there AND a chef from my favorite tv show Top Chef, Dale, works there as the chef. The food was FANTASTIC- seriously the best food either one of us has maybe ever eaten. PLUS, they brought out Dale and I got to meet him. He was soooooo nice. AND, to top it off, Kelly Ripa sat across the room from us. How much cooler could that place have been? It was awesome!! After dinner we walked around Chelsea Market before heading in for the night.

Sunday we slept in which was SO nice. When we woke up we wandered around Time Square a bit and found...

Then came the main event. We got on the subway and headed to the bronx...

After our tour of Yankee Stadium, which by the way our tour consisted of all loud, obnxious locals..... and us..... we were like true New Yorkers and ate pizza in a hole in the wall place in the Bronx. Delicious. After that we headed back and made a stop at the Museum of Natual History. It was PACKED- I've never seen so many people in a museum.

Sunday night we went to see the Lion King. When I was little my dad took me to see the tour of it in Dallas and I remember it being one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I was hoping Caleb would like it as well. It was great, better than I remember it when I was a kid. Caleb liked it to!

After the show we ate at Stardust diner, where all the people who haven't quite made their big break on broadway yet work. They sing to you while you eat. After that we wandered around Times Square for awhile and had a blast!

Then we made a detour over to Rockefeller Center

Monday was our last half day. We got up early and headed to the Empire State building. At first we were just going up to the 86th floor but then decided to go on up to the 102.

Unfortunately that was the end of our New York adventure. We had to catch a bus back to DC, to the snow and sleet, to work and to school - reality. Although neither one of us wanted to come back, we feel so refreshed. Sometimes you just need to get away for awhile. Plus, I can't think of a better way to celebrate our 1st anniversary. Traveling and adventures are something I love, and to be able to share those passions with Caleb- I can't think of anything better. As we drive out of NYC, we said that it may be 5-10 years before we get to do anything as fun/cool as this trip, but that gives us 5-10 years to plan something really amazing!