Play by Play of our trip to NYC:
11-July-2007: Arrived at LaGuardia at 1100am. Got to Park Central Hotel at 12pm, but couldn't get to our rooms until 4pm. Checked in our bags and then walked to the Guggenheim Museum. We went through Central Park to get to the museum. It was only 44 block away (YIKES), and it was HOT! Stopped to eat in the park at the Boathouse and visited Alice's statue (Alice in Wonderland). Got to the museum and it was under construction so we couldn't see Frank Lloyd Wright's famous architecture. The rotunda was amazing (kind of gave us vertigo). Spent about 1.5hrs in the museum. There was a lot of WEIRD art there. I like modern art, but some of this was almost pointless. We decided to take the subway back to the hotel. Good thing because it poured on us. Ate at the famous Carnegie Deli where we shared a Woody Allen (cornbeef/pastrami on rye). It was as big as my head, and could have fed 4 people. Also had NY famous cheesecake. YUMMY! Finally checked into the hotel and later met the fam for dinner. That night around 11pm, we took the subway to Nolita (North of Little Italy) to find this bar called Sweet and Viscous because Interpol was having a record release party. Got to hang with Sam and Paul from Interpol, along with Chef Mario Battali. So that made 3 celebrities in 1 day! Got back around 3am and went to sleep.
12-July-2007: Got up early and had breakfast in some small French cafe that only had Italian waiters. Then walked to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It was AMAZING! We saw Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, Rothko, Matisse, Warhol, Pollack, etc. Got lots of pictures. Spent probably 3-4hrs there. We saw Joan Rivers at the museum. That's celebrity 4 in 2 days. Ate a gyro from a street vendor and felt like a real new yorker. Later that night we went to Devin's show. She was in 4 numbers. It was actually pretty boring because there was too much talking and not enough dancing. Devin was awesome though! Went to eat at this real French restaurant. Got back by 1am.
13-July-2007: Left the hotel by 730am. Got my Mom and fam to take the subway to the Empire State Building. What a wonderful view. So pretty. Then we went to Battery Park to take the ferry to Statue of Liberty. It was pretty crowded and that made me grumpy. Dev, Ross, and I took silly pictures with Lady Liberty. We didn't go to Ellis Island because we were all tired. Got back to the hotel and met up again at 7pm because we were going to see A Chrous Line on Broadway. I loved it so much. I can sing every word. We saw Bill Paxton at the theater (he's in Big Love right now). That's celebrity 5. Afterwards, we went walking around Times Square on our way to this Japanese restaurant listed in the playbill book. It was soooooooo good. Met my finicky father's approval. That night, Ross and I took one of those bike taxis back to the hotel. Man those guys work hard for $10.
14-July-2007: Getting really tired by now. We slept in and met at 10am at Starbucks. My Dad went on his own because he wanted to see Central Park and a museum. The rest of us went SHOPPING! We went to Macy's, Canal Street, SOHO, and Nolita. We ate in Little Italy at this place called Sal's. Food in NY is soooo good. Everything we had was better than anything in GA. Got back around 6pm and rested for awhile. Devin, Ross, and I went out while the parents packed (early flight for them). We walked down 5th avenue to the most awesomely fantastic place in NYC. It was the APPLE store with the huge glass cube and floating apple sign. There was a clear spiral staircase into the store. In it, there were these strange dancers doing tango around the stairs. I was filming them, but the staff made me stop. I got 30-sec worth. We then went to the meatpacking district to get into this place known for cool music and food. Well, turns out you have to be 21 to get in. We didn't get in. I know, I turn 21 next month! J/K. We ate and went back to Times Square to do some souvenir shopping. Dropped Devin off after 1am. They had to leave for the airport by 5:30am and Devin hadn't started packing yet.
15-July-2007: Last Day in the BIG APPLE. Got up around 10am and got ready/packed for 12pm checkout. Went to eat our last meal and spent a lot of time at Starbucks while Ross finished his homework. We went to the Museum of Natural History. Parts look exactly like Night at The Museum. The dinosaurs were awesome. But, my favorite section was of course the monkeys and apes. We also saw history of Asian people and history of Mexican people. Had to leave for the airport at 6pm. Our plane left 1.5hrs late and got back to ATL after midnight.
I didn't think I'd love NYC as much as I did. It had great food, easy transportation, and, surprisingly very nice people. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
