Andreae Adventures: New York Trip 2011

After Thanksgiving, Bobby headed to NYC for training for work. I had plans to head out on Wednesday and come back with Bobby on Saturday. Natalie got to spend time with Grandma Lisa, Auntie Amanda, and Uncle Matt in their new house in Indy.

I had never gone to NYC, so this was a very much anticipated trip even though I knew I was going to miss Natalie like crazy! Also, a different part of this trip compared to any other I have taken is that I would be hanging out with Bobby's co-worker's wife, Miranda, who I have met once and have talked to pretty often on Facebook and follow her blog as well. I knew from meeting her once before and hearing about things she liked that we would probably get along during our adventures in the 'Big Apple.' I was right, I had a great time seeing all the sites with her while the guys were in training. We saw so much in such a little amount of time...my feet definitely felt all the walking we did. Before arriving, I was pretty nervous about the subway system and using a taxi, especially the subway! Only messed up 1 time on the subway (my fault), but was easily corrected. I kind of wish every city had a subway because it's so easy to travel on...for us easy with the NYC Subway app on our phones! I was expecting super crowded, freezing cold, rude people...which I really didn't find any until the very last day when Times Square was extremely crowded!

We found people to be pretty friendly and helpful. We had great weather the entire time we were there...cold but to be expected in December! Overall, it was much less crowded than I had imagined. I had always had on my 'bucket list' to go to Times Square for New Year's Eve, but not any longer. There is no way I could stand in one spot with so many people for such a long amount of time. I would definitely return to NYC, but only during Christmastime because I think all the Christmas lights and decorations make the city pretty magical. I think NYC is a place that everyone should at least experience once in their lifetime and I am so fortunate that I was able to go.

Wednesday, November 30th I arrived to LaGuardia airport midday and waited for Miranda to arrive so we could split a cab ride. After we arrived, the guys met us at the hotel, then we walked them back to their training and we headed to the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, then headed back to the guys' training to see their view from the break room. That night, we headed to Brooklyn to go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, but when we arrived, no one was eating in the restaurant so we headed down the street and found an Italian restaurant. This night was the night of the tree lighting, so we avoided Rockafeller Center/Times Square area.

View at the Financial District from the Staten Island Ferry

Statue of Liberty from the ferry

Just a little windy...:)

View from Bobby's training break room

The bull...fenced off due to the Occupy Wall Street protestors

Zuccotti Park where the Occupy protestors gather

Decorative Zuccotti Park

View outside our hotel room...9/11 Memorial at night

Construction of the new World Trade Center

The construction we had to listen to EVERY night until at least 11p, started back up at 6am...it was AWFUL (slept with earplugs every night and still could hear the noise)

Subway we used the most...Rector St/Trinity Place

Never saw a rat...only pet ones some guy had on his head

Thursday, December 1st Miranda and I headed to Times Square/Rockafeller Center/Central Park area. I think we walked around at least 10 miles. However long we walked, my feet were killing me! Of course, I didn't bring any other comfy shoes, so my feet hated me the rest of the trip! We saw a TON on this day while the guys were at training. Times Square was amazing to see in person both during the day and at night. We saw Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, 'the tree', Top of the Rock (amazing views both during the day and at night), Central Park (so beautiful everywhere you go), Sprinkles cupcakes, Grand Central Terminal. The guys met us in Times Square after training so we could go to the Top of the Rock for the night view of the city, then headed to dinner at a Puerto Rican restaurant, SoFrito.

Times Square

Festive fountain

Top of the Rock

Statue of Liberty view from Top of the Rock

Central Park

Empire State Building

The Ball

The Tree

Star atop the tree

$25,000 Barbie Foosball table in FAO Schwartz

Big Piano in FAO Schwartz

The Plaza Hotel

Hallway in Plaza Hotel...not allowed to take any photos in the main lobby

Plaza Hotel tree

Central Park

Grand Central Terminal

Times Square at night

Looking up into the elevator going up to the Top of the Rock

Looking at Central Park at night

Empire State Building at night

The ball...30 days until New Year's Eve

The tree at night

Awesome display on Saks Fifth Avenue facing away from the tree

Friday, December 2nd Miranda and I headed to the 9/11 Memorial. It had to be one of the most somber places I have ever been. So sad to know what happened on that day in 2001. It is still so surreal. Afterwards, we took an unexpected subway ride to Soho to see the Dash store from the Kardashians show. We had to wait in a short line to get into the store, but at least we can say we were there. We also came across a bath/body store called Lush that I have only ordered online because the stores are very sparse. I was excited to stumble across this store. I really liked the Soho area, but with it seeming to be a shopping district, I could definitely get into some trouble with this part of NYC. Afterwards, we headed back to meet the guys from their training and we headed up to Central Park because Adam (Bobby's co-worker) wanted to go to the Natural History Museum. After eating at the Shake Shack, we walked around Central Park briefly, then headed to the museum. We were in the museum for maybe 30 minutes because it was so boring and not at all what Adam was expecting to see. Afterwards, we headed to Times Square again to board our bus for the Holiday Lights Bus Tour. This tour was a lot of fun because we had a great tour guide and was a great way to learn a little history about the city while being able to see a lot of places without walking :)

Flag of Honor has all 3,000 names of the people that died on 9/11

Dash store in Soho

Central Park

Natural History Museum

Grand Central Terminal

Clock in Grand Central Terminal made of gold and worth $14 million

on the ceiling at Grand Central Terminal

Macy's

Traffic

Macy's

Tiffany's

Outside Yoko Ono's apartment building

Trump Tower

Harry Winston

Trump Tower

Fendi

Our tour guide

Mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa

Saturday, December 3 was our last day in New York and I was so ready to get back to see my baby girl (who was an "angel" according to Grandma while we were away). We saw the Brooklyn Bridge, High Line Park, ate New York pizza, Adam and Miranda left, Bobby and I headed to Times Square (which was a mad house), then headed back to our hotel to get a our bags and took a taxi to the airport. Every airport we were in on Saturday was dead with hardly any people around. I guess Saturdays are a good day to travel. Finally we arrived to Indy and headed back to Terre Haute on Sunday after spending the night at Matt and Amanda's. It was a great trip, but so glad to be home!