Lori's Trip To New York October 2017 - Post #1

 Well, you know, life happens and you get busy! I was going to start these the end of Oct '17, but then there was the awful event that happened there (thank goodness we missed that, we were there earlier in the month, so sad for the people involved and I wanted to wait a good while and I guess I did!!) My good friend, and ex co-worker Kimberly, and I planned a, 4 night 3 day, trip to New York City, not nearly enough, I know, but we aren't young! We did plenty, we felt, and may go back some time for more!!!

We flew out of San Francisco, so I drove from Placerville to her house in Sausalito the day before and her Hubby drove us to the airport the morning of, to drop us at the curb. Pretty sure we left on time, and movies to watch on the plane so all was good there!! However, upon arrival in NY that evening is when the TENSION began!!!!! Kimberly had wanted to take a Taxi to Hotel, but I had looked up the cost and thought a Super Shuttle sounded cheaper, WELL....... yes, BUT......... was I WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

Not ever flying into NY before I had no idea!! We collected our luggage and waited as told for our Super Shuttle Driver person. Only to find out we were at the wrong baggage terminal??? What? But that is where our luggage came out!!! So eventually he came to us and we hopped in, okay, fine, I thought, we were the only people in there, I thought cool. This is good. Oh no, you go to every other place in that huge airport and stop and pick up many people until the bus is completely full before you leave this huge airport!!! Then you take a tour of the entire City and drop all these people on the Bus off all over the city at their Homes or Hotels and GUESS WHAT!!!! We were FIRST ON and then LAST OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So do you think Kimberly may have asked me if the Taxi may have been a much better idea, regardless of cost, for a ride from the airport???

Anyway, we stayed at "The Hotel at Times Square" 59 W 46th St.

  Obviously it was pretty late when we finally checked in. When we finally got to our room, tired, traveling girls we were, Kimberly was not happy at all with the room, too small, and when stepping into the bathroom, being asthmatic, she instantly smelled mold, and there was, it wasn't good!!

So she called the front desk (mind you, I just wanted to go to bed) anyway, we had gotten the last room they had, cause it was so late, and nothing they could do till morning!! So time for bed, Thank Goodness!!!!!

So, of course, the next morning, a different desk clerk, that knew nothing whatsoever about the night before call from us, but assured us when we returned from our outing for the day, we would be transferred to a different and nicer room, and it did happen and was great the rest of trip!!!! 

We decided to walk to Central Park and Kimberly had heard about a Restaurant near there called Sarabeth's that she would like to try out.

So we had Brunch there. It was delicious and here is a picture of our meals.

Kimberly had some nice fluffy pancakes and sausage and I had French Toast with coconut and pineapple and a Mimosa to drink. It was a bit pricey, but you've got to try stuff, right?!

That Monday was a holiday that we had totally forgotten about when planning our trip. There were a lot of police around the City and preparations were being made for a parade, so streets were being closed, etc. It was also a bit of a drizzly, rainy day. We just wandered through Central Park a ways anyway, which did not have very many people around.

We came upon a Carousel and got all excited, but it was closed!!! Well darn!!
I tried to get a picture or two, anyway, of what I could!!

                                                   
     

Then we took a taxi to the One World Observatory which is best described here:

One World Observatory is at the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The Observatory is located on the 100th, 101st and 102nd floors of One World Trade Center. One World Observatory offers views of New York City’s iconic sights, surrounding waters and skyline. The guest experience goes beyond the amazing view. Take an incredible elevator ride to the top. Guests can explore three levels of the Observatory filled with innovation and inspiration which include CITY PULSE, SEE FOREVER(TM) THEATER, SKY PORTAL, special exhibitions, VOICES and FOUNDATIONS and ONE restaurants.

A kind of funny story, but not to Kimberly at the time! You go up in their Sky Pod Elevator which climbs 102 stories in 47 seconds!! As the elevator takes you up, the walls of the pod show a movie that reveals the transformation of New York City from unsettled lands to today’s remarkable forest of skyscrapers. So Kimberly did not know what to expect, I guess, once we entered the pod, and she cowered down, and shut her eyes, (there is no guide with you, and it was a holiday, and zero visibility at top, so few people wanting to visit, etc.) in other words, she panicked big time!

It was no big deal and she missed the whole movie thing on the walls and it was over in 47 seconds!!!!!

We were there a good while but when we did end up leaving, since it was a slow day, we spoke with the elevator guide and they allowed us to go down and then, back up and down again, so Kimberly could experience it, AGAIN with EYES OPEN, this time, and see it, and realize how cool it was !!!!

            It is that tall, skinny, building there from this postcard I bought.
       A closer view of it here on this bookmark I bought in their gift shop.
                                                       

This place "The Buzz" was where they would do a speech about various things throughout the City that the audience would like to know about; very interesting!!!!

 As I said we were there on a zero visibility day, but we hung around for a while and eventually some clouds cleared a bit here and there and I got a few photos to turn out. 

This was very interesting and we would highly recommend it!!!!

This is inside The Oculus structure which is the Centerpiece of The World Trade Center Transportation Hub that is next to the Observatory and near the 911 Memorial.
 So very interesting, also!!!
 There is a big shopping mall, cafes, etc.

After all that excitement, still a drizzly day, we looked up movie theaters and there was one nearby so we went to see the movie "The Mountain Between Us".
 Gosh what a great movie that was!!
Go see it or rent it, a good one!!!!
Anyway , then that evening, on the same street as our Hotel we found the Restaurant "Pig 'n Whistle" and Kimberly had a cheeseburger:

I had the pulled pork sandwich, it was so good.
We sat on their balcony and looked out at the street and there was some music playing. We would have definitely gone back there again if there had been a chance!!!!

 Anyway , that was about it for the first day, so more on Day 2!!!