Our last two weeks in New York City have expanded our view of the many diverse neighborhoods of the metropolis. While we’ve been moving quickly to explore as much as possible, it’s clear that three months will not be enough to see it all! There is so much to do and so much to experience!

We’ve seen two Broadway performances after entering online lotteries. We “won” discount tickets to An American in Paris and Kinky Boots. For $40 each we had up-front tickets to these Tony Award winning productions. An American in Paris is in its final days so we were glad to be able to see it before it ends. The show is set in post WWII France and features fabulous dancing and the music of Gershwin. Dad, you would have loved it!

We finished up our New York Pass with walking tours of SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, and Wall Street. We also did a tour of the fashion windows along 5th Avenue and a food tour of Hell’s Kitchen. Walking tours have been a great way to get to know the neighborhoods of NYC and each guide has given us history and tips that will help us return to each place with a sense of confidence. For example, in Chinatown, our guide Eric suggested great dim sum and dumpling restaurants we’ll visit later.

While in Little Italy we were able to partake in the San Genarro festival. See the pictures below of the food available at this 10 day event.

 

We finished up our New York Pass with walking tours of SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, and Wall Street. We also did a tour of the fashion windows along 5th Avenue and a food tour of Hell’s Kitchen. Walking tours have been a great way to get to know the neighborhoods of NYC and each guide has given us history and tips that will help us return to each place with a sense of confidence. For example, in Chinatown, our guide Eric suggested great dim sum and dumpling restaurants we’ll visit later. While in Little Italy we were able to partake in the San Genarro festival. See the pictures below of the food available at this 10 day event.

The United Nations General Assembly was here last week, which meant increased traffic in midtown and enhanced security and police presence. During our fashion windows tour on 5th Avenue, we were interrupted several times by motorcades accompanied by helicopters escorting heads of state through the area. Secret service agents were posted near the high-end hotels along the route. While the constant sirens and commotion were a bit unnerving, we figured it was probably one of the most secure places on Earth!

One of our goals while in New York is to attend the taping of a few television shows. It’s easy to get tickets through an online service called 1iota and we’ve seen several shows. Last week we were front and center in the studio audience of Good Morning America. Thanks to Eddie Lopez and Kay Wilkinson who sent us screen shots of our national television debut! We also attended a taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers and next week we’ll be in the live audience of Live with Kelly.

Steve has been training for the marathon in Central Park and has discovered something new with every six mile lap around the park. Last week he did an 18 mile training run with the New York Road Runners. This week we took in an IronStrength workout with Dr. Jordan Metzl on the deck of the aircraft carrier Intrepid.

Dr. Metzl offers free workouts at various locations throughout the City and over 1,000 people showed up to exercise on the Intrepid. Held at sunset, we did a strength workout followed by yoga accompanied by live violin music. The event finished with giveaways and great views of the night time skyline. Just one more “only in New York” evening!

A visit to New York City would not be complete without a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Our visit included a trip to Lady Liberty’s Crown, which involved climbing a narrow 354 step spiral staircase. Two days later we hit a highlight for Steve with a visit to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Red Sox. Yankees won and we saw the Red Sox’s David Ortiz (aka Big Papi) play his final game in Yankee Stadium and he was honored on the occasion.

One last thing…we have taken one more step toward being New Yorkers by joining the Westside YMCA. We now have a place to workout when the weather prevents us from enjoying Central Park. The facility is incredible, housed in a 1929 building that includes two indoor pools and a running track. We’re looking forward to regular visits over the next two and half months.

Thanks for following along! We love reading your comments and well wishes!

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We’ve now been in New York City for over a week, and we’ve been moving at the pace of New Yorkers. Our New York Pass has really come in handy. For ten days we have access to over 80 attractions and, of course, we’re maximizing this thing. We began the week with two days on the Big Bus, which took us on a loop of Uptown, Downtown, and Brooklyn, as well as a night tour of the city. While we enjoyed the views, we decided that we would avoid cars and buses (and thus, New York City traffic) from now on and stick to the subway and our feet as our transportation of choice.

The Big Bus dropped us off near the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, as well as the 9/11 Tribute Center.

Both sites presented the story of this tragic day, and we took it all in. At the Tribute Center, founded by the September 11th Families Association, we heard a live, first hand account of the day from a survivor. There’s really nothing more impactful than hearing the stories of those who were present that horrific day. We were certainly moved.

Our second day on the pass we explored the history of the city at the Museum of the City of New York and then took in all that is Rockefeller Center. Our backstage, all access tour of Radio City Music Hall introduced us to the famed theater and a cute blonde Rockette named Erin. We hope to be able to pick her out of the line when we see the Christmas Spectacular in late November. We also got a great tour of Rockefeller Center itself, learning about the history of the complex and its incredible, and sometimes controversial, artwork.

In the following days we used our pass to ride bikes in Central Park, attend a gospel service in Harlem, and take walking tours of Chelsea, the HighLine, the Meatpacking District, and Greenwich Village.

We also went on a cool architecture tour of midtown that helped us understand the details of this area’s historic buildings including the Daily News (where Superman worked), the Chrysler Building, and Grand Central Terminal. We also did a harbor cruise.

We finished the first half of our pass with a tour of Madison Square Garden, the Museum of Sex, and a nighttime visit to the Top of the Rock, the viewing deck at the top of Rockefeller Center. And we still have four more days of our pass to go!

Last night as we were atop Rockefeller Center we could see a mass of emergency vehicles just a few blocks to the south. As we learned just a few hours later when we turned on the news, there was an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood, which we had toured just a day before. We’ve heard there were no fatalities but 29 people were injured. Another explosive device was found just few blocks away. We are now intimately aware of the risks of living in a large city like New York. We promise to be careful.

In the next week we have tours scheduled for SoHo, Chinatown, and Little Italy, as well as Wall Street. We’ll take in Little Italy’s San Gennaro Festival, do a Fashion Windows walking tour, and a New York City food tour. On Thursday, September 22 we have priority tickets to be in the studio audience of Good Morning America. We are scheduled to be part of the 8:00 a.m. hour, so please watch our national television debut!!

As always, thanks for reading!

 

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Welcome to New York! (Cue Taylor Swift’s catchy tune)

We made our way from Prescott to the Phoenix airport courtesy of Steve’s generous parents Judy and Larry. After a fun evening at Tempe’s Culinary Dropout with wonderful friends including Bill and Sally McMullen, Joe Martinez, Nancy Van Pelt, Russ and Shelley Heath, and Skip and Nancy Roberts, we settled into an airport hotel to await our departure. After a fitful night and uneventful flight, we arrived in the Big Apple. Well, really we landed in New Jersey, but close enough…

We are now settled into our 500 square foot apartment at 90th and Central Park West. The apartment is small but functional. We have a small kitchen with a stove, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator.

The bath has a tub, so that’s saying something. The rest of the apartment is one room with a bed, a table, and a chair. We have a TV, a decorative fireplace, and two windows that look out on our quiet street. We are on the first floor, so we can watch the neighbors as they pass by, many walking dogs.

The best part of the apartment is its proximity to Central Park. We are about a 1/2 block from the park and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir which has a running track around its edge. Steve is enjoying morning runs on the track with beautiful views of the skyline from every direction. I’m struggling with plantar fasciitis which has seemed to get worse in these first few days of endless walking. So, only one of us is currently running…at least it’s the one who’s signed up to run the NY Marathon!

Our first weekend in the City has been about getting oriented. We’ve found the closest Trader Joe’s and stocked our little refrigerator with healthy food. Subway passes in hand, we’ve ridden the trains to Lower Manhattan and back. We even navigated some closed lines which meant we had to change trains, ride north to go south, and tolerate jam-packed cars like sardines. It hasn’t taken us long to feel like New Yorkers.

As expected we’ve also walked and walked and walked. Our wandering has taken us through Columbus Circle, Times Square, Penn Station, Chelsea, half of Central Park, and into Lower Manhattan. We explored Trinity Church and made a quick visit to the 9/11 memorial. Our 10-day New York Pass begins tomorrow, so we’ll re-visit many of these sites over the next days with more attention to detail.

Saturday we began a weekly tradition: watching Husker football with the NYC Huskers at Hudson Station. This Hell’s Kitchen bar hosts the Husker faithful each Saturday in the fall and 100s show up to cheer on the team.

They have a special menu that includes Nebraska favorites including runzas, fried cheese balls, and a strong drink called Elk Creek. Yesterday the Cornhuskers beat Wyoming 52-17, so it was a good day!

Today is the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the city is in remembrance. As we watch the televised ceremonies taking place several miles south, we can feel the sorrow throughout the city. Church bells will ring later today throughout the city to remind the millions of citizens and visitors of the enormous loss the city experienced on that day. Tonight the Tribute in Light will shine once again and we hope to catch a glimpse.

We’ve only just begun this amazing experience. Thanks for reading!

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