We started the trip off by checking into the wrong Hilton hotel...seriously! Who knew there were so many Hilton hotels in Times Square?!? Clearly not our cab driver since we had given him the address and he still got it wrong. Had I been paying attention and not gabbing I would have caught it but even I missed it. So after a couple cab rides we finally arrived at the right hotel! After dropping off our bags we had a delicious dinner at Ilili which proved to be a great recommendation from Heather's boss!
The next morning we awoke to a busy day! We headed first to see the Bull on Wall Street and the Stock Exchange. After making fun of some tourists that were having their photo taken "grabbing the bull by it's balls" I had to laugh when I later learned from Jack that doing that is good luck! Guess we have another excuse to go back! So here we are...probably being made fun of for having our photo taken NOT grabbing the bulls by his balls.
Next we caught the ferry to Liberty Island. This was the one thing on "the itinerary" that Heather was determined to do. Back in '98 when she visited us I made her take the free Staten Island Ferry instead which sails right by but not to Lady Liberty! She has never forgotten and wasn't going to leave NYC having NOT taken the actual tour over to Liberty Island. It's a tough call deciding what was the highlight of our Liberty Island trip though. Making the nightly news or watching security at the ferry check in ask Dan to remove his hoodie and seeing the look on their faces when he gave them a sneak peak of his nipple and asked if they really wanted him to remove his hoodie since he had nothing on underneath it!!! Thankfully Dan's hoodie was the least of their worries. Apparently, while we were dilly daddling in the Liberty Island Museum thinking we were so cool because we had it all to ourselves, a massive evacuation was taking place that we were clueless about. Finally a team of security officers raced in asking us what we were doing and telling us we needed to "evacuate immediately" and get on a ferry. Helicopters were hovering above and people were even being told they couldn't access their belongings placed in lockers because apparently the bomb sniffing dogs had sniffed out a suspicious item in one of them. After cruising the harbor for over an hour the coast guard finally gave the clear that the ferries could return to NY to disembark. Of course news people were lined up waiting to interview people as they walked off the ferry and without skipping a beat Heather grabs me and rushes to the first open news person she could spot muttering "this is going to make sitting on the ferry all that time worth it"! haha! And this is where Heather's five seconds of fame began... A few hours later Heather's brother who lives in NYC texted her a still shot of us on the evening news. We were dying!!! What was more funny was the way they edited Heather, granted she was purposely acting a bit dramatic to be funny but boy did they capture some drama. Clearly my responses didn't make for good news such as telling the news lady I wasn't scared because things like this have become more common. haha! Heather will indeed tell you this was the highlight of her whole trip!!! :)
Here are the pre evacuation shots...
On the ferry, thankful to have a seat...
Heaven forbid this beauty gets left out of the blog post!!! This is the screen shot Heather's brother captured while watching the nightly news segment about the evacuation...lol!
After finally getting off the ferry we headed over to the 9/11 Memorial and then grabbed a bite to eat at Shake Shack. Heather and Dan had never eaten there before so that was a must do!
Next we did the High Line walk starting at the Chelsea Market and heading uptown. It's such a great walk. I had read many great reviews about it but had never done it since the pathway was completed after we left the City. Loved this parking lot shot. Only in NYC...
Later that night, after a nice dinner we headed to a lounge in Chelsea to meet up with some friends of mine that Jack and I had met in Bora Bora. It was so great catching up with Farhad and Mattias! I just love them! Heather's brother Mark also connected with us which was nice!
The next day was our midtown day! We did Top of the Rock, 5th Ave, Eataly, and the Flat Iron District. Jack had recommended Eataly which was really fun to walk through but a complete zoo!
Later that night we headed out to see Kinky Boots on Broadway (another recommendation from Jack) which was fantastic! Afterwards we grabbed a slice of NY pizza!!!
Thankfully the weather on both Saturday and Sunday was postcard perfect! Trees were blooming, skies were blue and temps were great. We started Sunday off with a great brunch at Sarabeth's on Central Park South and then rented some bikes to circle around Central Park on. I still laugh thinking about Heather and I trying to get up the hill on the upper end of the park. Half way up we were both completely winded but instead of looking like dorks pulled over gasping for air we casually play it off that Heather is hot and needs to remove her hoodie (and yes, she had a shirt on underneath hers...lol). I encouraged her to make it the slowest hoodie removal ever so we could catch our breaths! haha. We couldn't believe all the seemingly overweight people zipping right past us up the hill! Best quote though had to be when we arrived at Strawberry Fields and I ask if anyone wants a photo, Heather replies, "yes, with the strawberry fields. Where are they?" LOL!!!
After a nice bike ride we headed over to The Met. Thankfully we all had the same interest in seeing the modern art and photography section. No need to waste our time walking around a bunch of stuff no one cared about. Nope, we went straight to the good stuff like this beauty that Dan captured...
I wish I had my nice camera for this shot though as I loved it.
And I spared everyone a photo of the bright red lips Heather and I examined...and then later realized were not the lips we thought they were...
I really was hoping to stop in and see Lesley for a bit and thankfully we were able to squeeze that in after doing the Met! We all had a lovely visit with her and later that night did dinner with one of Dan's friends!
The next morning we took our time packing up and thankfully the paparazzi had subsided after Heather's nightly news appearance...lol...and before we knew it we were all back in reality...but thankfully my reality includes returning to my amazing family! Thanks for the good times Heather and Dan!!! That was So. Much. Fun.
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