NYC...there's something about you.

Last week Joe, Lucy and I took our first trip to New York City. Let me preface this entire post by telling you that I was working. My company was doing event registration for the American College of Cardiology's New York Symposium so I was there to run a computer and hand out name badges. That being said, my flight, our hotel rooms and my meals were paid for...not such a bad way to do Manhattan. We stayed in the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers which was literally just blocks from Times Square and Central Park. It was great! Joe took Lucy everywhere in the back pack we have and Lucy was a total charmer.

I should note that I was too nervous to take my nice camera, so the pictures aren't the greatest. Oh well.

Here's a picture of Lucy visiting me at work where the conference was.

Here she is in the back pack. That pink suit was very warm and she wore a hat and just hung out looking at everything or napping (I dare you to tell me those lips aren't the cutest thing you've ever seen).
The animal life at Central Park is NUTS. The squirrels are huge and not afraid of anything and the pigeons are even worse. Any of you who understand how much I love birds will know how much I enjoyed that.

One evening we took the subway (which is really not that bad and in my opinion way nicer than the one in Boston) down to the end of the island and then took the Staten Island Ferry (which is FREE!) out and back. It was a nice ride and we got to see the Statue of Liberty as well as a great view of the City.

This is supposed to be a picture of the Statue of Liberty. It's a combination of my Pentax camera, low light and the dirty windows on the ferry. It was actually fairly impressive in person.

After taking the ferry ride we walked back up some ways and went past the World Trade Center site. There wasn't really anything to see as it's a construction site now, but there was still a very sad feeling there. We also walked up Wall street and saw the Stock Exchange (I guess there's a sad feeling there too!) and then went to the top of the Empire State Building. That was something I've always wanted to do and it did not disappoint. Lucy got hungry while we were up there so I fed her. I think the top of the Empire State Building is probably the coolest place I've ever nursed a baby.

One of the days when Joe and Lucy were roaming around they went to Grand Central Station and for some reason there were hundreds of Santas. Fat santas, skinny santas, girl santas, boy santas, ugly santas...you get the idea. We kept seeing groups of them all through the city, it was pretty entertaining.

On Friday night one of my co-workers volunteered to babysit Lucy, so Joe and I got to go out. Joe was lucky enough to get us reservations at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants, Bar American when someone else canceled. It was SOOOO good. Food to die for. I had tuna and Joe had pork (of course) Bobby Flay was even there standing in the open air kitchen. Definitely one of the best meals of my life.
When we left the restaurant we walked through Manhattan and saw the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. It was so huge and so beautiful. Joe and I celebrated out 7th anniversary on the day we flew home, so it was really nice that we got to go on a date in New York.

As good as the trip was, the flight home was a nightmare. We were only 18th in line to take off and they had turned off the engines because it was going to be a while, when suddenly someone at the front of the plane got sick and we had to turn back for a medical emergency. We sat there for 2.5 hours before even taking off. We were on that lovely plane with our 6 month old baby for 8 hours. Luckily she is a total angel. She did so well. She slept a lot of the time and other times just played and smiled. The woman sitting next to us wanted to take her home and I don't think that's usually what happens when a stranger gets seated near a baby on a plane.

Brad stayed with Joe's parents while we were gone and had a great time. They brought him to the airport to pick us up. He was waiting at the bottom of the escalator as we came down from the terminal and it was so very cute how excited he was to see us. I did miss him and was really happy to see him. It's good to have a break sometimes and makes you appreciate what you have. Brad and Lucy really missed each other and were happy to see each other.

Anyway, it was a great trip and worth working my tushy off for a couple of days. I hope to go back some time soon...maybe without any kids!