New York City or BUST!

So. .I may have mentioned earlier that my friend and coworker, Cindy and I have been tossing around the idea of "kidnapping" our totally country bumpkin (in the best sense of the phrase) hubbies for about 6 years now. I decided after I went to New York City about that long ago with another coworker. .that everyone should go see it at least once.  We have talked about it several times a year ever since. .the hope being. .that with another guy along. .maybe the boys wouldn't feel so "out" of their elements!

Times Square. .totally a favorite place of mine!! It is so bright with lights..that you can hardly tell the difference between night and day

Shortly after the new year, we decided that this was THE year (I'm still not really sure why THIS year. .but it was so deemed). At first we weren't going to tell them where we were going, just get the tickets and make them wait. .yeah RIGHT! I am THE queen of "can't keep a secret". ."wanna know what I got ya for your birthday. .huh. .huh. .huh??" "Really, you DON'T want to know???" "Hmmmmph!"

The secret lasted about 2 weeks TOPS!

The people are everywhere here. .and they are all tourists. .snapping photos. .just like me! The tall building with the lights in the center back is where they drop the ball on New Year's eve

We let Lane pick the dates. .since he is the most tied to his farm/ranch operation. It had to be between harvest and planting and calving and a lot of other things. .And when he picked November, I have to admit I was nervous that the weather would be bad and we would have to reschedule! We were excited, however, to see the great fall colors of the eastern US. Thankfully, the early snowstorm that hit NYC, happened 2 weeks prior to our trip! And the colors were still beautiful!

I was tickled with the Bubba Gump Shrimp sign. .we actually ended up enjoying a great meal there Saturday night!

We bought a flight and hotel package in June. .as well as trip insurance!! Cindy's dad had died from an unexpected accident earlier this year. .and Lane's parents aren't in great health either. So we thought it would be prudent to have a backup plan!! We didn't expect to be the ones dealing with a dying grandparent and subsequent funeral so close to the trip. Additionally, I mentioned last week that there is an awful epidemic of stomach flu in our community. .and we had 4 vomiting children over the course of the two weeks. .the last 3 getting sick all on the same day. .approximately ONE week prior to our deparature date! I got a head full of gray hair worrying about who was next!

Ice skating rink at Rockefellar Center. They moved the Christmas tree in on Friday. .it was set up under tons of scaffolds on the platform you can see at the very back of the photo. It still needed to be decorated.

With plans for the grandparents to tag team the crew. .we headed out for Wichita after work last Wednesday. .our plane left at 6 am Thursday morning. And as well as everyone slept, we should have just left here at 3 am. .we would have probably gotten just as much sleep!!

Did I mention that all the bright lights totally captivate me?? I loved the trees and their lights!

It's an amazing thing to feel all your responsibilities and worries become as faint and as obscure as the ground below as you soar above the clouds to a new destination. We changed flights in Minneapolis. .and there I checked two items off my "first time for everything" bucket list. .you know. .that list that we all have that doesn't necessarily contain a list of goals we wish to accomplish, but rather a list of things that you may have never considered doing until you were checking them off. I have NEVER consumed an alcoholic beverage before 9:00 am. .CHECK. .Ikes Restaurant in the Minneapolis airport serves up a phenomenal Bloody Mary. .CHECK. Thankfully, Jeremy and I decided to split one, in case it was totally nasty. .cause this one arrived in a jumbo mug with a 5 foot length of celery coming out, in addition to a skewer that contained. .an olive, a pearl onion, a pickle, a 1/2 pound hunk of Velveeta, and a meat stick? Really??? It was incredibly yummy!! I highly recommend it!

We never got by this lego store while it was open. .the sign is made out of Legos. .and you can kind of see the bins that go straight up the wall filled with multiple colors of legos. .every 8 year olds' dream!

We hit JFK airport by 2pm and to our hotel several blocks from Times Square by midafternoon. Of course, Jeremy was still quite skeptical of how enjoyable the trip would REALLY turn out to be, and so when the first thing that he saw on our nightstand was TWO pair of earplugs. .I was sure that we were in trouble too!!

This was made out of legos too. .pretty impressive. .Devin was impressed!

We met Lane's brother for cocktails in a revolving restaurant (too cool) and then ate at a sushi bar for supper. Jeremy was really a good sport. .his brother took us to a sushi place in Houston a LOOOOONG time ago. .and he turned green and refused to eat it. I reminded him that he eats oysters on the 1/2 shell and sardines for goodness sake. .how bad could it REALLY be?? We both enjoyed it a lot. .we tried such things as fried duck rolls, tuna rolls, plain tuna sashimi, salmon fixed several different ways, tempura (deep fried stuff. .I think ours was octopus or something with tentacles), and eel (our fave). .we also choked down a sip of Japanese saki. .some type of rice vinegar wine. .my perception was that it tasted like rubbing alcohol laced with a little suntan lotion. GAG! I also made another discovery. .Asian people are so petite and thin because it's impossible to eat enough to get fat with two little sticks balanced in one hand! They are starving to death! It was likely some sad little China man crushed his chopsticks in his hand in disgust only to figure out that he could eat MORE and FASTER, if he tied the chopstick pieces together in a manner resembling the common FORK! Amen brother! They didn't have forks there. .so I mostly looked around quickly and scooped it up with my fingers!

There's the crystal ball that will be dropped over Time's Square at midnight to ring in the new year. .It really isn't very big at all!! And apparently sponsored by Toshiba!

The hotel was really very quiet. .and we slept like logs that night! The next day included hanging out with Lane's brother. .walking the residential streets near Central Park. .and hopping a bus for a tour. .oh. .and spending a couple of hours waiting on Lane to replace his phone in a Verizon store that kept telling him it wouldn't be long! New York minutes aren't fast. .contrary to what you might believe.

The city was actually having several Veteran's Day parades. .and we ended up right in the middle of one as we crossed the parade path in our hop-on bus. .

HA! We got off the bus near Ground Zero, in the hopes of seeing the new memorial. The line was REALLY long. .and we opted to skip out and head for supper. We ate in a little place called the Pawn Shop. .which was a prohibition bar. Once upon a time, people would go into the pawn shop and use their code to get to the back room where the dancing and alcohol were. When the cops busted the place, the liquour disappeared out of sight and they could never prove that anything illegal was going on there! We tried some more unusual foods. .oysters on the 1/2 shell. .not my fave. .fried oysters, Kobe beef appetizers, lobster tacos, and several other things that are gone from my memory already! Skip left for home Saturday morning. .and we hit the ground running!

The new Freedom Tower being built. It should be finished sometime in 2012. .and will be the tallest building in North America. There is a huge crane on the top of the building. .and there will be another layer on top of what is there now, as I understood it!

I came home with about 350 photos on my camera. .so I will have two more posts soon with some more photos. .and some more stories! Thanks for dropping by!