Weekend in New York

One of the perks of living 2 hours from NYC is that you can go down there for a day or a weekend and its no big deal...or so we thought. We had a blast, but we did waaaaay too much for a weekend. We took Andrea down there for her first time to celebrate her birthday and get to know our neighbors in New York a little better. Next time I think we'll focus on just a couple things at a time. We took the train down to Grand Central Station in the heart of Manhattan, and hitched the subway to our hotel. Our room was just big enough for a queen bed, and a roll-a-bed and we shared a bathroom with some foreigners. It was totally worth the money we paid for it, and it actually wasn't so bad sharing a bathroom. The hotel was a couple blocks from Central Park and right next to a subway station, so it all worked out pretty well.
I couldn't stop thinking about how I didn't want to hold onto the metal bars on the subway, but when it was crowded we didn't have much of a choice. I am terrified of metal handrails ever since I was at the musuem of natural history and my hand slid across a gigantic squishy booger...that just gave me the chills just thinking about it.

We ate breakfast sandwiches on a rock in Central Park (you can tell which pictures were taken with our good camera and which ones were with the cheaper one, but a picture is a picture)
...And hung out in Belvedere's tower...we walked down Wall Street, through Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, and went inside some old churches. The pizza we had in Little Italy was awesome. I thought it was so crazy that walking just a couple blocks would take you into a completely different neighborhood where people dressed, looked, talked, and acted differently...so wierd. Joni had tons of fun with the camera, I really think she's got an eye for all things artistic...

One of the things I love about New York is that no one really cares or notices what you look like, how you dress, or if you are walking by yourself singing about "My Little Ponies". Craziness and uniqueness are just a way of life, and nobody pays much attention to anyone. If you park your car long enough in one spot, someone will even give you a unique new paint job.
While in Soho, which is kind of the modern artsy district, we went to this place called the Earth Room that our friends told us about. You had to push a buzzer for someone to let you in, then we walked up some creepy stairs and into a massive 2nd story room covered in 3 feet deep of dirt. How they got it up there I'll never know, but its been there since 1977 and they pay a guy to water it, rake it, and guard it every day. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. They didn't allow pictures, but thats okay because it wouldn't do the place justice.

One of my favorite places was FAO Schwartz. I forgot how cool toy stores can be, but these guys go all the way. In one area they have women dressed as nurses carrying life-like babies, and then if a little girl wants to "adopt" one they have to fill out the adoption papers like its all real. There's also a place where you can create your own muppet, kind of like with build-a-bear but with Muppets (the only place in the world you can do this). I'm totally doing it sometime, coolest idea ever.

We got back at about 10pm on Sunday night, and now we are feeling the effects of a long, event-filled weekend. We're going to take a couple weekends off before we go somewhere again, but we are definately going back to the city soon.

I am so excited for March Madness! Both of our Aggies are playing, and one of them is playing the evil Cougars. We have some friends coming over to watch that one, hopefully we can still be friends afterwards...haha. Good luck Aggies! I need something to cheer for given all the drama with my Broncos right now.