New York Part I: A Day in the City

At the end of May, my soon-to-be brother-in-law (who at this time actually is my brother-in-law) graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. My mom, my dad, my sister and I decided that this was a special enough of an occasion for us to take a trip to New York to witness it, especially when we heard that President George W. Bush was to be his commencement speaker! So my sister got the bright idea that if we were going to NY anyway, why not splurge a little and spend a day in NYC together? Only my sister and I were up to this, so we decided that we would fly JetBlue on a red-eye flight so that we could arrive in the city early in the morning and have all day to toddle around, and then we would return to the airport that evening where we would pick up my parents in order to drive to West Point. Our goal was to spend less than $100 each during our day in the city, so Heather did some internet research to find out all of the fun things we could do for less than 100 bucks.

Our flight was really nice, I definitely recommend JetBlue. On their red-eye flights they pass out kits that help you sleep during the flight, it included an eye-mask, minty lip-balm, hand cream, and ear plugs. They also pass out Dunkin Donuts coffee! And during the whole flight, you get to watch an enormous amount of channels provided by Direct TV. My only complaint was that Heather and I believed we were going to be able to watch the American Idol finale that was airing that night, but when we got on the plane at 9 pm the plane was playing tv on NY time, so we missed the finale! AAAAARRRRGGGG. But compared to all the other fabulous things we got to do that weekend, missing the event was a minor incident. But still, aaarrrggg.

When we got off the plane, we both felt a little gross, and Heather was seriously about to faint because she was so hungry. (Don't ask me was she was so starving, JetBlue provides for you very well I thought. :) We cleaned up as much as we could in the bathroom before the bathroom cleaning lady started hmmmming and hahing that we were taking up so much space, so we left the place before putting on our make-up. Ok, I know its very fickle, but I got a little anxious about not having make-up on because Heather and I always like to dress the part of whatever adventurous places we go to, and because NYC always puts images of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail into my mind, I was kind of thinking we would try to look cute in the city....but Heather was pretty set on NOT stopping in another bathroom before we went on with our day. That was another minor aarrgg.

Our first stop was the Today Show in Rockefeller Plaza. Thoroughly enjoyed it. We spent about a half hour, and saw the whole cast except for Anne. Katie Couric was really nice, and every bit of free time that she had she spent taking pictures with fans and signing autographs. Even though we don't agree with her ideals or values, Heather and I still felt very privileged to be able to see her in person before she quit on May 31. A very cool surprise at the Today Show was seeing Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Wolverine) in person!

When we felt like it was time to move on from the Today Show, we went in search of a good place for breakfast off of 5th Ave. We found a small place that was offering such things as bagels and egg rolls. Heather opted for the bagel, I for the egg roll. I wouldn't say I would want one again, but since I was in New York I though I should try something that is kind of unique to New York. (What is an egg roll? Basically just a roll with a scrambled egg in it.)

Next we made our way to Ground Zero. That was...I don't know if there is a word for what you feel when you look at the site now. It was a weird feeling of sorrow and anger mixed with a sense of helpless compassion because as Californian who knows no one who was immediately touched by the disaster, I feel disconnected from the sorrow in a connected kind of way. I feel diconnected because the strikes hurt real people, individuals and families, and that day will always be very personal for them and them alone. But at the same time I feel connected because the strike was not intended to be against individuals but against a nation and a cause, a cause that most of those who are parts of this country will stand up for and fight for at any moment in time. The site of the towers is HUGE. It grieves you to see the destruction - of souls, of bodies, of buildings - that went on that day.

On our way to Lady Liberty we decided to walk through the financial district. My greatest desire of that walk was to see the New York Stock exchange. In the middle of our walk we stumbled upon the site of George Washington's first inauguration as President. That was an extremely pleasant surprise!

We had to wait in line a REALLY long time in order to get onto the ferry, but Heather and I found ways to amuse ourselves, like we always do. First, I ran out of line quickly to buy an "I-Heart-NY" t-shirt....for five bucks you can't pass that traditional souvenier up. Next we started people watching. And it was that exercise that amused us for the rest of our one hour wait.

After we got onto the ferry, it was so amazing to watch Lady Liberty as we got closer and closer to her. From a large distance, it didn't really spark that much emotion in me because I've seen the statue so many times on television, movies, etc. But as we got closer and closer, and saw the Statue in all its height and glory, a huge wave of patriotism swept over me. I did listen to the ferry's recording of a woman narrating our trip to the Statue, and when she got to the part of describing the reactions of so many immigrants as they caught sight of the Statue of Liberty for the first time after their long voyage across the Atlantic, I have to admit, tears came to my eyes. They didn't last long, but my sense of patriotism lasted a really long time as I continued to gaze up at our symbol of freedom. It was really cool.


Heather and I spent about twenty minutes on Liberty Island, we fully circled the Statue of Liberty and also paid $0.25 each to get a telescope view of the NYC skyline. On the way back to the city our exhaustion caught up with us (we hadn't gotten much sleep on the plane and had been running around ever since), and so we both started nodding off on the top deck of the ferry. As we compared notes later, we realised that we were both at that REALLY SILLY stage of sleep where you fall asleep for thirty seconds and then jerk awake as you catch yourself from falling into your own lap. After we both woke ourselves up as we neared the dock, we started laughing SO HARD at what we must have looked like to onlookers, because Heather had been nodding her head up and down as she tried to keep her sleepy body stable and I had been jolting from side to side. Very funny.

We opted to go to the Empire State Building next. It was lunch time, but we didn't think we were that hungry, so we decided to skip. However, upon exiting the subway, we caught a glorious whiff of some kind of delicious edibles. We turned to where our noses were pointing us, and there was a street stand that sold hot nuts. Of course we bought some cashews to share, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed nuts as much as I did then. Yum!

The Empire State Building is huge. Overpowering, and very cool. But once I stepped inside, all the intimidation left and suddenly I was living Sleepless in Seattle. (It's funny, the whole day I felt like I new New York really well because I had met it so many times in movies.) The trip up the building was pretty much uneventful, although we did get to share an elevator with a bunch of U.S. sailors. Pretty cool, I guess. :)

Stepping out onto the observation deck was AMAZING. It was my absolute favorite site that I saw that day. And the side that pointed toward the Chrysler Building and Central Park was my favorite of all of the four sides. I really think I could have spent the whole afternoon there, just gazing, but we had a full schedule and after about fifteen minutes had to keep moving. But here is the sight that I loved:



We then decided to head for our dinner destination, Hard Rock Cafe, via Broadway and Times Square. That area was cool, but by that time my feet were aching and I couldn't get my mind off of the food I was about to experience, so I didn't come away with an overawed impression of Times Square.

Hard Rock was sooo good. It was my first time, but Heather had been often enough to know that it was one of her favorite restaurants. I chose their twisted mac 'n cheese, and after tasting that I don't think that I will ever be able to go back to the Kraft kind. It had juicy pieces of chicken and the greatest spices in addition to all the cheese. OHHHH, so good.

Ok, now another glimpse into the fickle life of Hayley....while we were waiting for our food to come Heather and I decided to take a trip to the restroom, and unbeknownst to her I brought along my makeup bag. After ten hours in metropolitan New York, I was determined to finally try and look the part. When I came out of the bathroom I confessed to Heather what I had done, and she just laughed at me.

We did not get any dessert at Hard Rock, so when we finished our entrees it was time to stand up again and begin our exploration anew. My feet were VERY cranky with me that I had allowed them only an hour to rest, and they gave me a whole bunch of trouble the rest of the night as we walked what seemed like a bazillion of miles. Our next adventure was in Central Park. All we did was walk through it a little bit, but just enough to observe little New York families letting their kids vent their energy after having had to store it up inside their little New York apartments all day. I think the whole time we were walking through the park Heather and I were both imagining what it would be like to raise a family in romantic New York. Here's me in Central Park:


Our next target was a little but very popular dessert place called Serendipity. Its a cute and romantic little cafe featured in some of our favorite movies such as One Fine Day and, of course, Serendipity. We walked probably two miles from Central Park in order to get to the place, and when we finally arrived my feet were giving me their thanks for promising rest for at least a short while. However, it was much more busy than we imagined and keeping in mind that we had to meet my mom and dad at the airport in only a few hours, we decided that it would not be prudent to endure the one and a half hour wait to get our seat. :( Poor feet. (Not to mention poor tastebuds...I got a glimpse of one of the desserts that was being served and promised myself that I WOULD come to Serendipity again at one point in my life.)


Instead of dessert at Serendipity we decided we would stop at the Lindt Chocolate store and each get a truffle, and then our last stop in the city would be the Godiva Chocolate store where we would each get one of their delicious chocolate drinks. We traveled on foot like three more miles it seemed to get to these places, on the way stopping at F.A.O. Schwarz (that popular toy store seen in movies...remember the huge piano in Big?) and probably our third Sephora for the day (Heather loves Sephora). When it was finally time to head for our last destination, the Godiva Chocolate Store, we had trouble finding it, and it was getting kind of late so I was worried about missing out on the yummy dessert. But Heather is just like a man, she will NOT stop to ask for directions. We found ourselves back in the Rockefeller Plaza area, and our eyes caught the NBC Experience store. It dawned on Heather that the store might sell The Office memorabilia, so we went inside and Heather bought an Office shirt for herself and we chipped in on a "World's Best Boss" mug for my younger brother. Thankfully Heather was able to 'lower herself' enough to ask the cashier where the Godiva store was, and he gave us good directions. So we finally made to the site of the store. Was it closed because of the late hour? It was a nail biting time as we approached to shop from the side.....fortunately for us, it was open!!! Glorious chocolate drinks.

After that, our day in the city was done. We actually looked forward to our subway trip back to the airport to meet our parents, because it meant sitting down. Well, unfortunately, the subway was much busier at that time of night than we would have imagined, so the majority of the trip we were standing. When we finally got to the airport and were traveling on the AirTram to get to the right terminal, Heather and I were kind of slap-happy and started making fun of my hair cut. I had just had it done the night before and the day in the city apparently wasn't good for the styling, so we ended up thinking I looked like Jim from The Office. Here's my Jim picture:

When the picture was over, we frantically started re-styling my hair because we realised that this would be the first time my parents would see it. So in order to avoid a "HONEY, you cut you HAIR off!" we had to make it look cute. Thankfully our efforts were a success, my parents loved the cut.

And our New York City trip was done.

Next to come, a narration of our weekend at West Point.