The big trip

The big news I've been putting off writing about is my trip to New York City a few weekends ago, which went off without a hitch. Aside from our flight back to Austin being delayed, and me not bringing the right shoes for all the walking we'd be doing, things couldn't have gone better.

I'd been wanting to see NYC for several years, even hoped I might get sent to a conference there for my previous job, but things kept coming up. When Becky told me her plans to go with her roommate, I asked to tag along and she agreed.

We stayed in what's usually an off-campus apartment for Juilliard students 64th St. When class is out for the summer, they rent them to tourists for cheap (one bedroom, one bath, pull out couch, TV, oven, fridge, microwave - $120/night). We got to check in early, so we had more time than expected to look around the first afternoon. We used it to walk Central Park for a few hours, then did some shopping at the corner store to stock the fridge with breakfast and sandwich stuff for the next four days, followed by Phantom of the Opera that night. Afterward, we walked to Times Square and had a couple Long Island iced teas before a cab ride back.

The next couple days are a blur of touring the streets, all kinds of notable buildings and landmarks, back to Times Square for more pictures and shopping. Friday it rained pretty consistently once we got to Little Italy in the afternoon, so we retired early that night only. Saturday was absolutely beautiful. On Sunday, we met some friends of Becky's for lunch and convo, and saw the oldest pub in the city, McSorley's. That night we went to the top of Rockefeller Center despite the cloudy conditions, and got ten minutes of clear weather for pictures. Even surrounded by clouds, the city was impressive from that vantage point. They had to kick us out to close.

Our last day was less eventful, simply because we'd run so hard to see everything since we got there. We went back to the library to see inside, since it was closed the first time we walked by it, and got some shots of the U.N. building and the rivers, then back to New Jersey for our flight home. We got in after 1am, and I had to work the next day. I took more than a hundred photos, supplemented by almost 400 of Becky's. Thanks, babe!