week 36 1/2

Watch out - picture overload!

This past weekend, we were New York bound with my nephew Josh. We had a great time exploring the city and doing a ton of things. A ton.

After a 3 hour weather delay in Baltimore, we finally made it to our Hotel Thursday night around 10p. I figured the first thing one should do in NYC is see the Statue of Liberty, so Friday morning we were up and headed over!

I luckily planned ahead and we were able to secure tickets that got us up to the Crown of the statue. They only allow 245 people/day in the crown. Impression? Much, much smaller than we thought it would be. And very, very hot and humid within.

Narrow spiral staircase...

Two very sweaty people 335 steps later...

See how small it is. Those windows are at the top of the crown just below the points sticking out. We could barely stand up straight. There were 5 of us up there and I was starting to feel claustrophobic.
I've always wanted to hike to the top and knew Josh was probably the only person who would do that with me! The rest of that first day we stayed in lower Manhattan and walked down Wall St, stopped at the WTC new construction site, toured through China town and the craziness of Canal street and then through Little Italy. I wore the poor kid out on the first day. Did I mention it was probably 90 degrees and extremely humid? It was Josh's first experience with humidity. I wouldn't let it stop us though!

Here we are in Times Square later that night...

And here we are at dinner after Eric arrived and met up with us...
Um, so I got tired of taking pictures after day One. What can I say? I'm a very bad camera person. But seriously, then this post would be far too long.

Day Two consisted of biking in Central Park and around the city. We found a place that was doing free kayak rides in the Hudson. Josh and I couldn't pass it up. Eric took pictures.

I might have gotten a little wet... I wonder what people thought the rest of the day when they saw me; not to mention the people at the restaurant where we stopped to eat the best Reuben sandwich ever!

We hit a Mets game that afternoon...


and saw a Broadway show that night - Million Dollar Quartet.

Day Three was 5th Avenue and shopping. Eric left early afternoon and Josh and I hit the Museum of Natural History - very cool. We also saw another Broadway show - Billy Elliott. I'm pretty sure I liked the shows far more than Josh did. But I'm perfectly fine with that. :)

Day Four was sleeping in and trying not to be dead from walking in heat and humidity for 3 straight days. We got to the airport 2 hours before our flight. The thought of walking any further was too much and we finally just packed and left.

It was a great trip with a great nephew! Thanks for the memories, Josh!!