New York City: 5/5-5/9

We just got back from visiting Josh in New York City, and we had a blast -- despite the fact that someone broke into Josh's apartment on our very first day there, but I'll get more into that later.

Our flight left out of Austin at 7:00 am on Thursday morning.

After landing at JFK airport, we waited in line for a taxi, which then drove us to Josh's apartment in Williamsburg, which is one of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn.  His apartment is just like what you see in the movies.  The outside door is between a convenience store and a Mexican food restaurant, and when you go inside, you walk straight up the stairs to his apartment on the 2nd floor.

Here's a picture of the inside of his apartment...all 300 square feet of it.  And if the thought of living somewhere that small is not crazy enough, two other guys are moving in later this summer.

After dropping off our things, we walked down the street to grab some lunch and then took the subway into Manhattan to do some sightseeing.  We started at Ground Zero and ended up Rockefeller Center where we met up with Josh.  He is currently interning for a record label that offices in the Rockefeller Center, so we went up to see his office (a.k.a. the intern pit) and meet some of his coworkers.

We also got to see the view from an office that used to be P. Diddy's.

After grabbing dinner, we headed back to Josh's apartment and soon realized that someone had broken into his apartment while we were out.  They had either picked the lock or had a key to the apartment and took Ben's work computer, Josh's MacBook, and Ben's backpack -- which contained my iPad, Ben's Bose headphones and MP3 player, Ben's iPod touch, all of his phone chargers, my old TI83 calculator that he uses for work{random, I know}, 2 magazines that I never even had a chance to read, Ben's razor, and a ziploc bag full of q-tips {again, random, but very much missed}.  We called NYPD, and before long, Josh's 300 square-foot apartment was full of officers.  8 to be exact.  3 officers, 1 supervisor, 2 detectives, and 2 forensic guys.  I was so shaken up that I could barely fill out the paperwork on what was missing, and after they left, I started crying and told Ben that I was ready to go home.  He assured me that everything would be okay and finished the night off making a bunch of phone calls.  We put a hold on all our financial stuff until we could get to the bank that next morning to figure things out and all called the landlord to see about changing the locks and adding another deadbolt that next morning as well.  We didn't get to bed until after 1:00 a.m. that night.  It was definitely a rough start to the trip, but everything else was great.

Before leaving for NYC, I created a list of things that I wanted to do and see {and of course forgot to bring the list with me} so as to make the most of our long weekend there.  We did SO much.

We went to Ground Zero.

 

One of the steel t-beams that was found in the rubble after 9/11.  A symbol of hope, faith, and healing.

Obama had been there earlier that day for a wreath-laying ceremony, so the news crews were everywhere.

Shep Smith and some other lady that I don't recognize with Fox News.

We went to Rockefeller Center.

We stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral and got there just in time for the Lord's Prayer.

We went up to the top of the Empire State Building.

 

 

We went to the world's largest Macy's.

I asked one of the sales clerks if it was always this busy, and her response was that it's usually busier.  Yikes!

We didn't do much shopping, but we did ride the escalators up to all 9 floors.

We walked by Madison Square Garden and through Penn Station.

 

 

We went to the Lego Store near Rockefeller Center.

 

 

A replica of Rockefeller Center's Lower Plaza.

We walked by Radio City Music Hall.

 

We went to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue.  This is the outside...

And this is the inside...

We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge.

We went to Times Square during both the day and at night {but unfortunately my camera was dead during our night visit}.

 

We went to the FAO Schwartz toy store.

My idea of fun: an entire section of dress-up clothes.

Ben's idea of fun: an entire wall of construction equipment.

A Barbie foosball table for $25,000.  What a steal!

Johnny Depp and the Statue of Liberty made of Legos.

Me {and all the little kids} on the Huge Piano.  We thought about buying one for the house, but considering it costs more than our house, we ultimately decided against it.

We definitely stopped by the candy bar for the few things on the way out though.

We went out on the pier near Josh's apartment to see the Manhattan skyline at night.

We took a ferry out to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

 

And then took it to Ellis Island to tour the immigration museum.

The Registry Room...where new arrivals waited to be inspected and registered by Immigration Service officers.

 

We went to the American Museum of Natural History.

The dinosaur exhibit was definitely Ben's favorite.

 

We went to a beer garden in SoHo.

We walked through Chinatown.

We crossed the Williamsburg Bridge {all 1.2 miles of it} on the walk back to Josh's apartment.

We went on a bus tour around the southern half of Manhattan.

It was nice to give our feet a break from all of the walking, but we were amazed at how much of the tour we had already seen on foot.  No wonder our feet were killing us!

My absolute favorite part of the trip was Central Park.  It really is as gorgeous as the movies make it out to be, and if I ever go to NYC again, I'm bringing a blanket and plan to spend most of my time just hanging out there.

I loved all of the flowers, too.  Tulips are my favorite, and they were everywhere!
Zuccotti Park...

In front of the Church of St. Peter...

Central Park...

Madison Square Park...

Bryant Park...

Rockefeller Center...

City Hall Park...

And what's a vacation without a lot of good food?
Burgers and a chocolate shake at Dumont Burger in Williamsburg.

Meatballs and mashed potatoes at The Meatball Shop in the Lower East Side of NY.

Hot dogs from a vendor off the street.

Sandwiches in Zuccotti Park (near Ground Zero).

 

Looking up.

Dinner at Five Leaves NY in Williamsburg.

 

A pizza lunch near Central Park.

Fried chicken at a local place in Williamsburg.

And just because this blog post doesn't have enough pictures, here are a few more of my favorites.
So many taxis...

Painting an advertisement for "The Hangover Part II" on the side of a building...

Park Avenue...

Live music at the subway station...

A rat down in the subway tracks...

The Wall Street Bull...

Me & Minnie...a picture that cost me $1.  People will do anything for a buck in NYC.

A guy pretending to be a statue at Battery Park.  If you put money in the jar in front of him, he'd move.

Another statue walking down the street listening to his headphones.  After I took the picture, he winked at me.

Needless to say, we did a lot in the 4 days that we were there.  We saw a lot, did a lot, and had a blast.  NYC is a great place to visit, and I'd love to go back.