4th of July New York weekend

One more post for today (and it's going to be big, but I promise to not post all 114 pictures from New York. You can always just skip the narration if you're getting bored.) So... A little over a month ago we decided we would spend the 4th of July weekend in New York this year! Thank you again April and Mark for giving us the excuse of having someone to meet up with there. Our trip started with driving to Salt Lake Thursday evening and catching our flight at midnight. This meant we arrived in NYC at about 6:30am running on about 1 hour of sleep. We were very pleased and surprised that our hotel let us check in when we arrived at 7:30am in Manhattan. No problem and they had our bags carried up for us and everything. AND it's this French hotel so everyone there had a sexy French accent. It made me wonder if that was a requirement for getting hired there.


This was the lobby of our luxurious hotel




Our room wasn't quite this big, but the decor was the same. Very chic and sophisticated. A plush bathrobe for each of us, down comforter, perfect temperature, big plasma screen TV, a safe to store our valuables (ha, ha...as if!)


When we got to our room I tried calling April's hotel to have them come meet up with us. I was about to make my 2nd attempt calling because nobody picked up the first time, when our phone rang. April and Mark were down in the lobby ready to go! Things were working out better than planned. This was going to be our only day with Mark and April before they headed to California the next day so we tried to fit in as much as we could.

After a quick shower we hurried down and headed off to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for what April was calling our "Proud to be an American Day". I had my first ride on a subway and it was especially nice to have Mark and April showing us the ropes and making sure we were on the right train. Although we didn't climb up inside the Statue, the views were great from the ferry and we also got a good history lesson at the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island.











The Immigration Museum






Ryan checking out some views (of more than just the city)







After returning from the ferry and getting some lunch in Times Square we went on to Central Park where we did quite a bit of walking. It was beautiful though. If I lived in the city I could see myself escaping there as often as possible. At the park we rode the carousel, took a stroll down Literary Walk, and a few other scenic sights before getting back on the subway and going to the Empire State Building.





Times Square was big and loud and PACKED with tourists and Ryan told me later that he couldn't help thinking, No Wonder we're having an energy crisis! But...it was still cool and fun to see all the lights. Even in the day time they seem to be running full force. It's just crazy to think that New York isn't the only city running that many lights at once. Just think about Vegas!











Here is cute April doing what she wanted to do most in Central Park...ride the famous carousel!












And here's us doing what we wanted to do most in Central Park







April and Mark lookin' cute in front of Bethesda Fountain.



Empire State Building was crowded, but not unbearable. It does seem a little overrated, but I guess everyone's got to do it once. After that we went to Hard Rock Cafe (the food is better over in the Sacramento Hard Rock!) and then rushed to the subway to our fireworks viewing destination. Lucky for us April has a friend who has a friend who has a friend (yes, that's really how it went) with an apartment right on the waterfront in Brooklyn. The view of the city and the fireworks could not have been better.

Cute again!

Oh, no! New York is sliding down, down, down...
just me trying to be artistic or something.

Day 2

Saturday morning I had planned for us to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but we were so exhausted from the night before, instead we slept in until about 8 and woke up to have breakfast in bed. Below is a picture of our delectable array brought straight to our door exactly when we asked for it. They leave a menu in your room the night before and you just check what you want and what time you want it and put it on your door knob and voila! it magically appears right on time the next morning! (Of course, that was the most expensive breakfast I've had in my life, but it was totally worth it.) I almost think whole hotel experience is often my favorite part of a trip wherever we go.
We did eventually make it to the American Museum of Natural History and Science (like from the movie Night at the Museum) and I especially enjoyed the Hall of Human Origins and the Rose Space center.




Next to Ryan is the planetarium/theatre where we watched a space show. All around the planetarium they have exhibits that show the relative size of things in space. It was cool.



We saw lots and lots of fossils and a huge replica of a blue whale and a scary looking crab that Ryan told me really gets that big. We could've spent a couple more hours there, I'm sure, but it probably would've required stopping to take a nap in our hotel.

After The Museum of Natural History we were supposed to go to The Museum of Modern Art , but we only ended up getting to spend about 45 minutes there because they closed earlier than I remembered. At least we did get to see some Salvador Dali, one of Ryan's favorites.

On our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, we stopped at the huge FAO Schwartz store on 5th Ave and were tempted by a few things for Lisa. I just had to put this picture in because I thought a life-size model of Hagrid, Harry and Ron made completely out of Legos was pretty darn cool.

In the evening we went to see Chicago on Broadway and afterward went out to a little overpriced Italian restaurant. It was fun to dress up for the show and it reminded us how much we miss going to theatre. We haven't taken the time to do much of that lately, but we really enjoy it. We were almost wishing we would have planned a show for both nights we were there, but when you're paying Broadway prices that could really add up.

Day 3

On Sunday morning we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We sat outside before going in to eat a quick bite of breakfast (a granola bar for Ryan and a warm pretzel with cheese from a street vendor for me. Mmmm!) and these little seemingly harmless birds were more determined than the ducks at the Rexburg City Ponds! I had to take a little video of them racing for every little crumb I dropped. The funny thing too was that it wasn't until after we got home and I watched the video in our quiet apartment that I realized there was so much noise in the background. I guess you just get used to it while you're in it.



Inside the museum we saw the great Temple of Dendur that they brought over from Egypt (old hat for Mark and April! I could see why this exhibit might not be as cool to them after they've seen so much of the real thing.) and we spent a good amount of time in the Modern art wing to make up for my mistake with the Modern Art Museum the day before. It was very cool to see some of the original works of artists like Salvador Dali and Picasso.





Ryan thought all the people lining up in front of the temple to have their picture taken were funny. He didn't know I was taking his picture, too.


















The roof top garden had some interesting modern art being displayed that we had some fun with.






















Our visit to the museum went by pretty fast and we headed back to the hotel to gather our things and catch our bus to the airport. After about 15 hours of travel (including flight delays and stopping to sleep at a rest stop for an hour so we didn't fall asleep at the wheel!) we finally arrived back in Rexburg. We were tired, but certainly enjoyed it while it lasted.