A View From the Top

On our first full day in The Big Apple, we headed up in order to check out the full scope of the city. Our first stop was Top of the Rock.  I had never been here, but I enjoyed the views.  It was also cool that the elevator had a glass top so you could see exactly how far and how fast you were going. The observation deck was well laid out and offered a great view of Manhattan.  I especially liked the thick glass partitions.  They allowed the kids to safely see everything without us having to lift them.

Later that evening we went to the top of the Empire State Building.  We decided to do this so that we could see the city lit up at night.  It was an awesome view, but it was sooooo cold.  We stayed up just long enough to get a good look and then came down immediately.  Brandon, Sandy, and Bailey went to the top about twenty minutes after we did and they said it started snowing (flurries) while they were up.  That's cold!

Good Eats in The Big Apple

It's a good thing that my mother-in-law has been to NYC a number of times.  Not only does she know how to get around, but she also knows where to go for good food.  We were certainly well fed while in the city.  Although we ate at a number of interesting places (including numerous visits to street vendors)- there were three that really stood out to me.  The first was the Carnegie Deli.  This restaurant was lined with photos of all the famous people who had eaten there.  The food was good, and the portions were massive.  I couldn't even come close to finishing my meal.  The Carnegie Deli is the home to the most fantastic cheesecake that I have ever tasted, and for this reason, it makes my memorable meal list.

The second restaurant on my list of memorable restaurants is Sylvia's.  I'm glad that Melanie knew about this place because I would have never found it on my own.  Sylvia's is a soul food restaurant in Harlem.  It is located about a block from the Apollo Theater and a short walk from Bill Clinton's New York office.  The waitress said that Clinton and other politicians eat there frequently.  The president has even gone there twice.  Anyway, the food was good southern cooking and was delicious.  Brian says they have the best hot sauce that he has ever tasted, and we ended up buying three bottles to take home with us.  An interesting thing happened while at Sylvia's.  Melanie went to freshen up and came back with a lady that she had met in the restroom.  The lady had family in South Georgia and we soon discovered that her Aunt had been my fourth grade science teacher.  Who would have thought that we would have made this kind of connection in Harlem?

The last memorable restaurant was Bubba Gump's in Times Square.  The food was the same as any other Bubba Gump's, but it was the location that set this one apart.  Our table was beside a large window that looked out on Times Square.  We were able to see all of the activity taking place.  At one point I saw the creepy Elmo on the corner in front of Toys R Us.  I looked across the street was another guy in an Elmo costume.  That's right- two Elmos across the road from each other competing for tips.  In my mind I imagined an Elmo turf war, but it never happened.  The Elmos stayed on their respective corners.  Anyway, all of the food in New York was good and the dining experiences were overall positive.

The Great White Way

I think that we went to Times Square almost every day during our vacation.  All of the theaters for the Broadway shows were located here, many shops and restaurants were here, and most subway lines had a stop here.  It was a short walk from our hotel to Times Square, so that made it easy to get to.  There was never a shortage of activity in Times Square.  On the first day that we were there, we saw a lot of children's characters in costumes.  The first one we saw was Elmo.  Of course the kids wanted to "go see" him, and they did.  Elmo was friendly to the kids and gave them a hug- and then he turned to me with a money bag for his tip.  Yep- all of the characters in Times Square were there as a job and expected tips.  It was hard telling the kids NOT to go see Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, and Cookie Monster- especially since we usually encourage them to do so at places like Disney World.  There were also people there who just flat out asked for money.  One guy had a sign that said he needed money for booze and weed.  The most interesting, though, was the guy with a guitar who was wearing his underwear, a cowboy hat, and boots.  On his underwear was written "The Naked Cowboy".  A little ways down was another guy with a headdress banging a drum.  His underwear let us know that he was "The Naked Indian".  That's something you don't see in South Georgia.  If someone tried to pull that here they'd be "The Naked Inmate".  Times Square was always good for people watching.

Right off of the main square were the two theaters that we went to to see our Broadway shows.  The first show that we saw was "The Lion King".  It was really well done.  The second show that we saw was "Annie".  It was also spectacular.  Melanie went later in the week to see "The Book of Mormon", and she gave it high reviews.  She stated, though, that it was most definitely NOT for kids.

New York, New York

This year our school system gave us an entire week off for Fall Break.  We made the most of this by traveling to New York City with Granny Mel.  We were in the city for six days, and we packed a lot into our time there.  We went to every borough except Staten Island, saw two Broadway shows, visited three museums, and saw many other sites.  Brian's cousin Brandon and his family were able to meet up with us for a few days, and that was great.  I always enjoying seeing them.

I am going to be doing several posts about our trip.  The one obvious thing that we didn't do was to visit the Statue of Liberty.  We didn't go here because it was being renovated and visitors weren't being allowed inside of the Statue.  We'll save that for another trip. We also were not able to see the 9-11 Memorial (we did try, though).  Other than that, we were able to see and do pretty much everything that we wanted to do.  The kids had a great time.  Owen especially liked it.  I think that he was impressed by the public transportation.  He was always asking to take the Subway or to hail a taxi.  One time when Owen asked if we could take a taxi, Brian told him to go ahead and get one.  Brian was just teasing with Owen, but Owen didn't know that.  Owen went close to the road, held his hand up, and tried to whistle.  It was kind of cute.  Posted here are some pictures from our trip.  The first picture is of our family in Times Square.  There is also a picture taken on the subway.  We stayed right down the street from Radio City Music Hall and also very close to Rockefeller Center, so we passed those places often.  They were putting together the skating rink at Rockefeller Center when we were there, so we got to see that.  

Olivia's Arm

A few weeks ago I wrote about all of the issues that I had been having with Owen (scarlet fever, ear surgery).  Wouldn't you know it that as soon as Owen got back to "normal", Olivia started having things happen to her.  First she got strep throat.  We went to the doctor to get some relief for that.  On the very day that she went back to school (after the strep) I received a call from the school nurse stating that Olivia had had an accident on the playground.  Apparently Olivia came down the slide too fast and didn't get her feet under her in time.  She put her arm down to catch herself and fractured her radius.  We took her to the emergency room where they took x-rays to confirm the fracture.  The orthopedic surgeon said that it is fractured in such a way that he will need to monitor it frequently to make sure that it is healing like it should.  It should heal fine in the cast as long as Olivia isn't too rough with it.  Needless to say we have had to withdraw from gymnastics (we switched to dance) and there will be no recess or PE for awhile.  Olivia doesn't seem too bummed about this, though.  She is getting along fine with her cast.  She got to choose the color of the wrapping and picked blue- to everyone's surprise.  Hopefully, her bone will heal soon.

Jacksonville Marine Corps Half Marathon

Quincy and I ran the Jacksonville Marine Corps Half Marathon on the first Saturday in October.  This was my first half marathon of the year, and it was Quincy's first half marathon ever.  The course was every bit as fabulous as I remember it being, but the weather this year was brutal.  The heat and humidity absolutely drained me and took a serious toll on my finish time- which was 2:12:12.  This is the worst that I have ever finished.  The good news is that I have three more half marathons lined up between now and the end of the year, so there will be plenty of opportunity for growth.  I do need to say that I am super proud at how much Quincy has accomplished since she began running.  This was one tough race, and she did it.  She said that she got a little extra "push" at mile 11 when she saw Brian and the kids cheering her on.  Despite the rough conditions this year, this race remains one of my favorites.  This is due to the wonderful military presence, the great course, and the awesome swag that you get.

Grandparents Lunch

Olivia's school recently hosted a Grandparents lunch.  Olivia was excited to have her Granny Mel, Gigi, and Papa all in attendance.