New York trip

As a lot of you know, Bret and I went on a fun/business trip to the Big Apple! Bret was going for a CME (continued Medical Education) conference, and I was going for the sights and the shopping! We left John and Marilyn, (Bret's parents) with the kids on a Thursday afternoon catch a flight to New York! We took our first New York taxi to the hotel, and I must say those guys really know how to drive! They aren't hesitant at all! I couldn't believe how fast they were going in so much traffic and such narrow streets, with sooooo many people. The cab driver said New York in December is the worst time. So many people come to the city! He wasn't kidding. Radio City Music Hall!! I've seen this place and heard it mentioned so many times in all those old movies I watch, I just had to see it. Our hotel was only a block away! We went and saw the Rockets Christmas spectacular show there, it was incredible!!!!! Again LOTS of people!

We were only about two and a half blocks away from Rockefeller Plaza! We saw the wonderful tree and the ice rink, and NBC studios! A lot smaller than it looks on TV. Was pretty cool. Fifth avenue was only one block away and that is the shopping mecca of this area! I went to Sacks, and Armani, which I really felt out of place in, a little country bumpkin like me. The Trump building is on that street. Very nice building, also the biggest Gap store I've ever seen, and Anthropology, JCrew, The NBA store, NIKE, and many many other stores with big names to numerous to mention. I must say I felt the most comfortable in the Gap and the NIKE store, I got some cute clothes in the Gap, and new running clothes at NIKE. Armani was just amazing and ridiculous. Definitely out of my league, it's for people who can afford to spend $1,500 on a single dress, and $800 on a pair of shoes!

Times square was soooo cool! I stood where I've watched on TV for so many years, the ball drop on New Years Eve! It was just incredible during the day, and even more spectacular at night when you have all the lights from the billboards and buildings, and sooo many people! Speaking so many languages! We went to lunch at this little French bistro, and there were two little old Italian Lady's sitting next to us that were jabbering away in Italian. Our tables were only about 4 inches away from each other. Tiny tables too. Every where we ate it was like that. They try to pack in so much in such a little space in New York. After a few days of it I was ready to come home though. Don't like crowds to much.

We went to the top of the Empire State Building! This is taken from the Observation Deck. Beautiful view! We had a long wait to get up there, but it was worth it. We saw the statue of Liberty, and all of New York and beyond. It was very cold though. After the observation deck, we went up even farther, to the very top. It was all glassed in though so the view was better off the observation deck. Just fyi :0

Our many activities included going to see "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway! I loved the show! I was wishing Amber was with me, I know she would have loved it. The singing talent was amazing and the costumes were just incredible! A really interesting twist on the story of the Wizard of Oz too. I've always loved Broadway musicals and this is my new favorite!

Sunday we slept in a little and started packing up to fly home. I was getting a really bad cold, and wasn't looking forward to spending all day flying in and out of airports. When we were waiting for our flight to leave New York we were sitting next to the windows in the terminal and a little gray mouse came out from under the chairs. I've never seen a mouse in an airport before. It was pretty funny! He ran around looking for a free meal and about scared this one girl to death when she saw him run at her shoes. Pretty funny!

We came home to happy healthy kids and a very tired Grandpa and Grandma.