Day 1: Getting There. 8,002 steps. 3 flights of stairs. 3.74 miles. 3,718 calories.
Back in March, we were at our electric company's annual meeting...basically a meal and an update on how the company is doing. They give away door prizes of all sorts...coffee pots, power tools, gift cards, etc. The grand finale of the night is when the company gives away 2 round trip tickets to a lucky winner from a drawing! Clay and I had never won a thing in all the years that we have been attending, but we always hope to hear our name called out of the drawing. This just so happened to be our year! We were the lucky winners of 2 round trip airline tickets to anywhere in the U.S. Talk about excited. I think I squealed and embarrassed Clay, but hey, it's not every day that you WIN two airline tickets! I say "we" won the tickets, because what is mine is his and what is his is mine (Clay actually won the tickets).
Thank you Deaf Smith Electric Coop for the airline tickets. We LOVED our trip!
So, that night we pulled up the Southwest website and started to look at where all we could go in the U.S. We threw around several ideas, but I think we both knew from the get-go where we most wanted to visit! New York City was the pick!
We began to plan and look and look and plan! I have to give it to my husband, he did the majority of getting everything organized and planning out our itinerary for our trip. We knew that NYC would be an expensive trip and since we had the free airline tickets, we really wanted to make sure and make this our DREAM New York trip. Who knows if we will ever make it back to the Big Apple.
I dropped my precious babes off with my mom and we finished all of our last minute things. The day was finally here! We left from the Amarillo airport on Saturday, July 30th (Happpppppppy 11th anniversary to me and my main squeeze! YAY) Everything was going just terrific. We made it to the Dallas/Love Field airport with a little over an hour layover before our final leg on to the La Guardia airport. I even mentioned to Clay (bad idea) that, "WOW, everything is going so great and on time...we are lucking out!" NEVER mention those words in an airport until you are actually at your final destination and all luggage is safely in your possession.
We left Dallas on time and had great seats! It was just a terrific airport day. We were OVER half way to NYC when over the speaker we hear the pilot come on and say that he was sorry but there was an air traffic control delay and that we would not be able to land in NYC, so he was turning the plane around and heading back to Dallas. La Guardia was gridlocked and they had a shortage of workers. The pilot said in his entire career (over 37 years), he had never had this happen to him. Well, everyone on the plane started re-booking tickets for later flights, but since we had won these tickets, we couldn't do that. The flight attendants kept reassuring and reassuring us that we would all be taken care of, and when we landed back in Dallas, we would have numerous supervisors come aboard and give us our options. Well, we land and no one comes to help or give us information, so we are told to get all of our things and to get off the plane because supervisors would be out in the airport waiting for us. Yet again, supervisors are nowhere to be found. Clay and I and the rest of the 200 passengers aboard all are just standing around with no one there to help, so we all begin going to various ticket counters around the airport. During the search for help, they come over the loud speaker and announce that if we would like to get our luggage that we must get it within two hours or it would be sent on to La Guardia on the next available flight whether or not we were on the same plane. Clay had razors and I had shampoo and lotions over the allowed carry-on amounts so we didn't even have the option to go and get our luggage so we just let it go. When we finally find a ticket counter, let's just say no one was wanting to help and no one was trying to help. About this time, another voice comes over the loud speaker with a great message for all 200 of us. It said, "All people who were aboard the La Guardia flight, you are in the way and you need to move." Bahahaha, talking about poking a hornet's nest. NO ONE was happy about that message. We all do keep our cool amazingly and try to make a single file line to the one ticket counter that we were finally directed to. Clay and I finally make it to the front of the line and we were told that there would be no way for us to get out until Monday. We were crushed. So, after begging and crying a little, we finally got a different option. They found us a flight to Indianapolis that could get us to NYC the next morning at 6:00 a.m. Not the best, but it would be better than Monday. The only issue was that the flight that would get us to Indianapolis was full and standby was our only option. Clay and I decided to give it a shot. So, we wait another hour for this flight and wouldn't ya know it...not a single standby ticket became available. Back to square one. By this time (probably 4:00 p.m.-ish), all other departures and arrivals to and from La Guardia have been cancelled for the rest of the day. We decided that we might become slightly unkind if we ventured back to our original ticket counter lady, so we found a different counter and a really sweet guy named Troy. Oh Troy. He was so kind and he really did his best to get us to NYC as quickly as possible. He made a few "illegal" (his words, not ours) clicks and finally got us verified on a flight to St. Louis that would get us to NYC by Sunday evening and also gave us advice to be at the airport 2 hours before the first flight of the day took off (a direct flight to La Guardia) in a chance that we could get on the standby list and maybe get on a full direct flight to NYC around 6:00 a.m. the next (Sunday) morning! We were hopeful about the standby, but we also had a definite flight later the next day just in case...assuming La Guardia didn't become gridlocked again by the time that flight was scheduled to arrive. It was the best we could do.
Happy Anniversary to us! We were going to be spending our night exhausted and kinda ticked, but in better shape than 90% of the other people who were on our flight (they were all stuck until Monday), so we try and just be happy and know there was some reason that God didn't want us in NYC just yet. We head on down to the airport Chili's for a very romantic dinner. We are seated beside a table of very loud very drunk women on one side and a table of men who were very angry and very disgruntled at the very loud very drunk women on the other side. In our exhausted state, this all becomes quite hilarious. We finally finish our meal and head out to find a cozy chair to spend the night in, hoping we could get a few hours of sleep. We did find these amazing lounge chairs (I wish I had one in my house).
With nothing else to do at 8:00 p.m. in the Dallas/Love Field airport, we people-watch and laugh, Clay types down all of the day's events so we can reminisce about our struggles one day, I try and read, we drink Dunkin' Donuts coffee (anniversary dessert?) and we just giggle about all the day's events. Before we left for La Guardia the first time, the airport WiFi was working just great on our phones and Clay's laptop, but for the life of us we could not get it to work again. It would look like it would connect, but nothing. Nada. Nope. A lot of the hustle and bustle had died down at the airport around midnight, so we decide to try and nap for a bit. We set our alarm for 3:00 a.m. so we would have time to find the standby gate for that morning flight. We loop all of our bags and my purse around our legs, because stolen bags is the last thing we wanted to deal with. Ahhh...after a long chaotic day, it felt nice to close our eyes. Clay and I just doze off when all the sudden here comes a lady with a stinkin' JET PACK vacuum cleaner. She isn't just vacuuming around the area, OH no, she vacuums UNDERNEATH our chairs and feet! Y'all, this lady took her job very seriously. She vacuumed all around and under us! After what seemed like a century, she finally jetted on down the walkway a ways from us so the noise wasn't so alarming. We settle back down again and finally slip off in a light sleep and wouldn't ya know...here comes a fella driving a gas-powered floor buffer. This thing went flying by and made us sit up in our seats wide awake! I am guessing that someone had died previously that day in the spot directly beside our seats, because Mr. Buffer Man drove back and forth approximately 45.6 times. Holy Cannoli...
Day 2: Finally Got There. 20,866 steps. 20 flights of stairs. 9.75 miles. 4,340 calories burned.
At this point, it is about 2:30 a.m. and we both have a mutual understanding that sleep in these comfy chairs was a good idea in theory, but in reality...ha. We decide to go find a departure screen and find the gate number for the direct La Guardia flight later that morning. We find the gate and I am bound and determined to be the first in line, but am just sooooo in need of a nap. I decide my best option is to sprawl out on the tile floor right in front of the ticket counter so I could be the first person in line to get on standby. Finally, a little nap. I think I slept for about an hour when other people start bustling around. They had the same idea, but thankfully, we beat them to the punch. Finally 5:20 rolls around and we successfully get our names on the standby list...somehow 2 other people got on standby before we did, but we are still hopeful. TONS of people keep getting there and they start the boarding procedures. Keep in mind that all flights to La Guardia after ours the day before had been cancelled, so there were going to be about 600 people trying to get to La Guardia on booked flights today...not to mention the luggage (wherever that may be at this point). I try and remain positive because it is 6:00 a.m. and surely someone overslept. Everyone boards and the 2 other standbys get on. Then they call Clay up...just Clay. We decided to go ahead and let him go and I would just catch the flight through St. Louis later that day. Clay could go ahead and find our luggage and get our metro cards and what have you. We would rather him be in NYC alone than me...he is a much better subway map reader. There is no telling where I would have ended up never having been to NYC before. We thought it best to split up in case the St. Louis flight was delayed or cancelled so that we would only need one standby seat for Plan B (or F or whatever at this point) if it came to that. They try and get all of Clay's information pulled up to print his boarding pass, all the while the jetway people are yelling for the ticket lady to hurry up because it was time to close the gate. Since all of the turn-around chaos and being transferred to Indianapolis and then to St. Louis, our information had gotten lost and they could not find a thing on us. She runs to the gate and has a discussion with them and the next thing we know she tells us BOTH to run to the gate and get on that plane. We didn't have boarding passes or anything, but somehow they got us on board. YAY! We of course couldn't sit together and ended up in the back of the plane in middle seats, but we really did not care, because HEY, we made it on.
The entire flight, I think we were both just waiting for the plane to turn back around, but 3.5 hours later we land at a rainy La Guardia! Hooray!
We get off and dreadfully walk to baggage claim. Our luggage had to have been lost after all the transfers and delays. Well, our luck starts to turn around. We find all of our luggage. Hallelujah! Off we go. We find our way to the metro card kiosk and purchase the cards and head to find the Q-70 bus. We got on and it dropped us off at the Subway.
Neither of us have ever ridden a subway before, but Clay did an amazing job of studying up on it and he knew right where to go. We hopped on and then read a little note that said the subway runs a different route so they can work on maintenance on weekends. Oooy. Clay isn't worried, though...this will just drop us off a couple blocks further away than where we had planned. Did I mention earlier that subways have tons of steps? It's totally cute dragging 3 suitcases up and down those steps. Ha. We get back up to street level and Clay knows the way. Y'all should seriously hire him to plan y'all's (is that a word?) trips and be your tour guide. He is the best. We found the route (use Google Maps, Google Earth, and the NYC Transit app...they are your best friends in NYC) to our apartment and off we went...in the pouring rain...with 3 suitcases and our Today show poster that we made ahead of time. We get it covered up and head on. PUDDLES everywhere. Every time we crossed the road and went off the curb, our suitcases went cannon-balling down into the puddles, splashing us and everyone around us. It is sooooo humid and hot, too. Clay and I are humidity wimps now...we have been living in the desert for 11 years. Ever pull a suitcase down the sidewalk by Time Square? I should win a trophy for not taking someone out or getting beat up for running over someone's foot.
We make it and hauled our luggage up 2 flights of stairs to our ADORABLE New York City apartment! God had protected and successfully gotten us to our destination. Right on his schedule! Here are some pictures of our cute little New York City apartment.
We came in, gave a sigh of relief, took showers, and rested up for a few minutes. Then we were off for our first day of discovering NYC!
Saw the Hudson River for the first time.
We walked around in Central Park for just a little bit.
Day 2: Finally Got There. 20,866 steps. 20 flights of stairs. 9.75 miles. 4,340 calories burned.
At this point, it is about 2:30 a.m. and we both have a mutual understanding that sleep in these comfy chairs was a good idea in theory, but in reality...ha. We decide to go find a departure screen and find the gate number for the direct La Guardia flight later that morning. We find the gate and I am bound and determined to be the first in line, but am just sooooo in need of a nap. I decide my best option is to sprawl out on the tile floor right in front of the ticket counter so I could be the first person in line to get on standby. Finally, a little nap. I think I slept for about an hour when other people start bustling around. They had the same idea, but thankfully, we beat them to the punch. Finally 5:20 rolls around and we successfully get our names on the standby list...somehow 2 other people got on standby before we did, but we are still hopeful. TONS of people keep getting there and they start the boarding procedures. Keep in mind that all flights to La Guardia after ours the day before had been cancelled, so there were going to be about 600 people trying to get to La Guardia on booked flights today...not to mention the luggage (wherever that may be at this point). I try and remain positive because it is 6:00 a.m. and surely someone overslept. Everyone boards and the 2 other standbys get on. Then they call Clay up...just Clay. We decided to go ahead and let him go and I would just catch the flight through St. Louis later that day. Clay could go ahead and find our luggage and get our metro cards and what have you. We would rather him be in NYC alone than me...he is a much better subway map reader. There is no telling where I would have ended up never having been to NYC before. We thought it best to split up in case the St. Louis flight was delayed or cancelled so that we would only need one standby seat for Plan B (or F or whatever at this point) if it came to that. They try and get all of Clay's information pulled up to print his boarding pass, all the while the jetway people are yelling for the ticket lady to hurry up because it was time to close the gate. Since all of the turn-around chaos and being transferred to Indianapolis and then to St. Louis, our information had gotten lost and they could not find a thing on us. She runs to the gate and has a discussion with them and the next thing we know she tells us BOTH to run to the gate and get on that plane. We didn't have boarding passes or anything, but somehow they got us on board. YAY! We of course couldn't sit together and ended up in the back of the plane in middle seats, but we really did not care, because HEY, we made it on.
The entire flight, I think we were both just waiting for the plane to turn back around, but 3.5 hours later we land at a rainy La Guardia! Hooray!
Hey Look... It's Donald Trump.
Neither of us have ever ridden a subway before, but Clay did an amazing job of studying up on it and he knew right where to go. We hopped on and then read a little note that said the subway runs a different route so they can work on maintenance on weekends. Oooy. Clay isn't worried, though...this will just drop us off a couple blocks further away than where we had planned. Did I mention earlier that subways have tons of steps? It's totally cute dragging 3 suitcases up and down those steps. Ha. We get back up to street level and Clay knows the way. Y'all should seriously hire him to plan y'all's (is that a word?) trips and be your tour guide. He is the best. We found the route (use Google Maps, Google Earth, and the NYC Transit app...they are your best friends in NYC) to our apartment and off we went...in the pouring rain...with 3 suitcases and our Today show poster that we made ahead of time. We get it covered up and head on. PUDDLES everywhere. Every time we crossed the road and went off the curb, our suitcases went cannon-balling down into the puddles, splashing us and everyone around us. It is sooooo humid and hot, too. Clay and I are humidity wimps now...we have been living in the desert for 11 years. Ever pull a suitcase down the sidewalk by Time Square? I should win a trophy for not taking someone out or getting beat up for running over someone's foot.
We make it and hauled our luggage up 2 flights of stairs to our ADORABLE New York City apartment! God had protected and successfully gotten us to our destination. Right on his schedule! Here are some pictures of our cute little New York City apartment.
This is the road we lived on for the week.
The view of the little courtyard behind our apartment.
We came in, gave a sigh of relief, took showers, and rested up for a few minutes. Then we were off for our first day of discovering NYC!
We saw lots of fancy car dealerships.
Saw the Hudson River for the first time.
We walked around in Central Park for just a little bit.
We then went to try and find Kevin McCallister at The Plaza Hotel..."Guests of The New Celebrity Ding-Dang-Dong stay at the world-renowned Plaza Hotel"
Then we got a NYC hotdog from the Nathan's food truck. It was the sauerkraut dog. Super delicious!
Then we hopped on over to 5th Avenue for some more sight-seeing and window shopping.
Had to go and see Trump Tower.
Went and saw St. Patrick's Cathedral. What a work of art!
We then went to Rockefeller Plaza. Check out the Van Gogh ear swimming pool art display.
We saw Radio City Music Hall.
Then we went down to Times Square. Such a high energy, high volume, crazy, fun, packed place!
We finished our first day at Justin Timberlake's restaurant "Southern Comfort". Maybe it's because I am a real southern girl or maybe the food really just wasn't that great...this was the only meal we had in NYC that just was okay (and the most expensive). We would probably never go back and wouldn't suggest you go with all the other WONDERFUL dining options around the city! We had fried pork belly and brisket fried rice. Doesn't brisket fried rice sound amazing??? They missed the mark here, but someone should try this and knock it out of the park, because come on...it is a good idea.
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