:: The 451 Family ::

:: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 ::

Whoever said going to New York City for only 24 hours wasn't worth it is so mistaken. Here's the summary, to be followed by more in depth stories at a later date perhaps:
Jules and I left Baltimore at 4:30PM on Sunday according to her car clock which means it was 3:30PM real time, hehe. Anyway, She ended up driving because SGTPPPR doesn't like the cold weather so I was afraid to risk that and also it's annoying to explain to valet dOOds that the driver's side lock doesn't work. But I think it worked well bc once we got to the city (in roughly 3.5 hours-not bad at all) I was navigator which is definitely a necessity as Jules was concentrating on "anticipating the green" and not hitting pedestrians and cabs. Oh and I also must mention the gazillions tolls on the way, the only one worth it is the Lincoln Tunnel in my opinion-it has entertainment value.
ANYWAY, We dropped the car at the parking garage-another thing, it's a myth that you shouldnt' drive into NYC, I highly reccomend it-just not at rush hour but that's common sense. Then we checked in at our hotel (Days Inn on Eight Ave right at Times Square!), it's not the nicest hotel ever (Jules' bed was held up with the phonebooks and we had no phone at first) but honestly, it's a nice place in a great location for not much money).
Then we went to the Empire State Building and paid our $10 to go up to the Observation Deck, AKA "Coldest Place On Earth". Man, that view is breathtaking (or is that the lack of O2?) and everyone must go up there at some point. If the barrier wasn't so high it would be super scary but looking down all of the "little" buildings almost looks fake. It's so cool. I wanted to call my family from 86 (?) floors up but oddly enough there is no reception up there.
We walked back to Times Square from there and at nite that area is so lit up you'd think it was daytime. We hit one of the things on our "To Do" list: The Virgin Megastore which lives up to it's name and I was a little overwhelmed by how many CDs and DVDs I wanted to buy. After some more hanging out we went to the hotel to make our sign and hit the hay/sack.
Not too much later (6AM) we got up and by 6:45 we were headed a few blocks over to Rockefellar Center which is where the Today Show is taped of course. Such a great moment when we were checking which way to go and this random guy walking by said, "Straight ahead, middle of the block", Did the bright yellow posterboard give us away? Well, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer weren't there which was a letdown for Jules but ok with me bc Anne Curry is the cool one in my opinion. Our sign said, "I have a DREAM...to be on the TODAY SHOW" I'll put the link up to our pictures later...But we did got on tv a few times, the best one is at the end of the show and I have it on tape, yay! But from 7-10AM is the coldest I have ever been in my life! EVER. I was stupid and forgot to put my sweater on before leaving which is like me leaving without my skin pretty much since I wear about 3-4 layers a day, haha. The temperature was said to be about 26 that morning but with no sunlight and wind I don't even want to think what the wind chill was. I've never shivered liked that before. But we stuck it out!
Then we hit the Rockefeller Center places on our list and went back to our hotel to warm up, pack up and check out. Great Moment #423 of the trip was when we got to check our bags at the hotel, So Great! Then we headed to the Subway to make our way to Ground Zero. Well, neither of us had ridden the subway before and I guess that was obvious bc the coolest guy ever who happens to work for the MTA saw us looking confused and totally took us under his wing and showed us the way and got us to our destinatiion. We even bonded over being Aquarians and he told me I'm a troublemaker;) Then we walked to Battery Park, saw the Statue of Liberty from the end of the island and then hopped on the subway again to make our way to Times Square again and check out the Ed Sullivan Theatre which is of course, where the awesome David Letterman tapes (by the way, we were unsuccessful in our attempts at getting standby tickets, it's ok though-next time!) We found that, I took a picture for some guy and then we ate lunch.
Got back on the subway (greatest thing ever if I may say so, $4 for unlimited rides! And unlike the DC Metro you only get charged to get on, none of that different price crap for different distances)...and headed to the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, well, really we headed ("On the 6" J Lo;) to Central Park West and crossed over to the art musuem which was....closed. Bust. This is also where I kept saying my Cruel Intentions quote, "I'm the Marsha F***ing Brady of the Upper East Side and sometimes, I want to kill myself" I love that movie!
Then we went back to Times Square, saw TRL, went to Rockefellar Centre to get gifts for our sister's and then back to our hotel to get our bags and get to the Parking Garage. We ended up leaving earlier than we had planned but by then we were SO cold and couldn't think of any more specific places to go and the thought of walking around outside was a bit unthinkable by then and we were also getting tired so we headed out.
Here's my time to dig the New Jersey Turnpike....Everyone is correct, that road sucks ass! It's a parallel universe that feels like you're in a void, moving through molasses and no thought processes occur. It's the weirdest thing ever. We didn't talk once during it and after it we noticed how crappy that part of the drive is. AND they charge for it, so ridiculous!
So, that's about it. I know I'm forgetting something. But this is long enough already. But to anyone planning their own trip to New York City.......TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!
XO,
scarlet

ps. seriously, i want to plan another trip but this time send away for Letterman and Live with Regis and Kelly tix ahead of time! Maybe even SNL!!!!!!! So awesome.

:: Miss Scarlet 3:57 PM [+] ::
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