New York, New York!

Over Labor Day Weekend, I had the experience of a lifetime! I can now mark this off of my bucket list! Kerri and I have talked about going to New York for a very long time. Well, we finally got to make that dream come true. And I was so fortunate to spend this experience with so many of my favorite women. So, the guest list consisted of Mom, Sally, Whitney, Ruth, Kerri and I. So, just so that I can come back to this blog some day when I am old, and the experiences have started to fade, and can relive them all as best as my poor writing will allow :). 

We left Thursday morning out of Bismarck, landing in New York after lunch. We found this crazy van driver who took us on what could only be described as the tightest van rid ever. I had NO idea that a big 15 person van could fit into those kinds of spaces! We never really went fast enough to get hurt if we crashed, but oh my, did we come close to some fender benders. Or maybe we didn't. It's hard to tell. He was the person that drove us back to the airport, too, and he drove the same way on the way back. And the trip was the same. So, maybe that's just how it goes...

We stayed at the Marriott Marque, which was RIGHT on Time Square. Like RIGHT there! We could walk out of the hotel and be on the square. It had a revolving restaurant on the top, and beautiful patio deck on the bar on the 8th floor. And elevators that were wide open in the middle of the building. Glass top to bottom. They were awesome!

Friday, we took the subway down to the pier, where we boarded a ferry that took us to the Statue of Liberty. For everyone that said that you really didn't need to go there, just drive by, they were completely off base. The statue itself was beautiful, and what a great experience to walk up to the base of it. The island itself was wonderful too. The best part, though, was that the ferry then took us to Ellis Island, and the Ellis Island Museum. To walk through a building that my ancestors may have walked through when they first came to America was astounding. And even if MY family did not come through, so many others did. To witness such a core part of the American experience was very reverent. And then we topped it off with dinner right on the pier, with the Staten Island Ferry floating by every few minutes. What a day!

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early to be on the Today Show. We dubbed ourselves "The Crazy Ladies From North Dakota". (OK, actually Ruth dubbed us that, but we went with it.) Being that it was Saturday, it was much less busy than during the week. But that being said, it is not nearly as big as you would think. It was actually quite small. We were able to get up right close and personal to the weekend crew. And we were all able to get on TV several times!!

Another highlight of Saturday was a stroll through Central Park on a horse drawn carriage. Our carriage driver was from Russia, so we were able to relate a lot of life in North Dakota to life in Russia. He shared a lot of great stories about his life in New York, and all about New York life. Though I might be a bit biased, I think that he went above and beyond to ensure that we got the full experience. 

Sunday, we took in our first Broadway play. We saw Chicago. It was amazing. I mean AMAZING. It was the perfect choice for our little bit crazy group. Again, the venue was not nearly as big as I expected. Maybe some of the more recent plays are in bigger theaters, but the quaint size seemed to make it even better. 

Sunday was also our first ride on the open top bus. We took two rides - one night tour on Sunday, where we went into the different boroughs, drove over some beautiful bridges, and got to see the NY skyline from a distance. It was absolutely stunning with all of the lights, the water, and the fresh air. These buses are double decker, and it was a bit crazy how close we came to some of those street signs!

Monday, we then took the bus down to Ground Zero and the 911 Memorial and Museum. This was by far the most humbling experience of the trip. The work that has gone into creating an environment that both respects and honors those that died during that tragedy, and also educates and informs all of us that remember it. To me, the most touching part was a room that just continually read the names and stories of all of the deceased. Many were read by their loved ones. This room was surrounded by another room full of pictures of all of those that died. The entire experience really gets you to think about life, your purpose, your value...

Bright and early Sunday morning, Sally and I walked to Grand Central Station. Sally came with me because all of the "moms" of the group were afraid for me to go on my own. I tried to explain that the whole place was full of 100s of other 35 year old women on their way to work or other important day to day stuff. But they didn't seem to believe me ;). The idea that so many people pass through this beautiful building every day of their lives is just astounding. The building was just wonderful. AND then on our way back, we happened to walk by the Public Library. And talk about wonderful buildings! Even though the main part of the library was closed for remodeling, what we did see was stunning. Just stunning. 

This is just a recap of some of the events. There was so much more! The spiritual feeling of seeing St. Patrick's Cathedral brought tears to my eyes. The food that we ate was amazing. Everywhere. I mean really everywhere. We tried so many different foods - sandwiches, pastas, breakfast buffets in our hotel (including the revolving restaurant!), appetizers, bagels, cheesecake (lots of cheesecake), cupcakes, coffees, specially made cereal at the Kellogg's restaurant, oysters, sushi, the list goes on and on. Watching Ruth and Mom get video taped as a fox chasing a rabbit in the Fossil store (OMG, the video brought me to tears over and over!). Going out on my own several mornings to just "take it in". Ending up in the middle of a "Brazilian Festival" - I mean really, we had no idea what we walked into, couldn't figure out why everyone was wearing Brazilian colors, what all the music was, until we had to ask someone. Shopping at the outlet designer stores. And just the "experience" as a whole - the smells (the good and the bad), the sounds, the different languages, the people. Having to put aside the "North Dakota Nice" to actually get anywhere down the sidewalk. And just spending the experience of a lifetime with some of the most wonderful women I have the honor to call my family!!  I wouldn't change it for the world <3 .="" nbsp="" p="">