NYC

I took a trip to NYC with Brandi.  I won a trip from the Montana Ballet Company! A trip for 2 for three nights, airfare and hotel paid, plus a broadway show and dinner!  We had a blast!

Our first day there, Friday, was a rough traveling day.  But we made it, and we were determined to have dinner at Little Italy.  This is on our way to the Subway. 

Our dinner was amazing. We ate at Agnelo's on Mulberry. I had lobster ravioli in a vodka sauce, and she had canneloni.  Delicious!

We had NY cheese cake and a canolli for dessert -- couldn't choose just one! 

The next morning we headed to The Met!  We walked through Central Park and *tried* to work on our selfie skills. 

It was fun to see all the colors, and the people enjoying the lovely weather. 

We saw several horse-drawn carriages.  

We watched this boat race for a while, and daydreamed about who lives in those buildings. 

The Met stairs are always busy.  So many people! 

This is one of my favorite pieces in the entire museum.  From far away, it's just a man's face.  

Up close it's made of 1" squares, each it's own tiny composition. 

We looked for color everywhere, in this sea of gray and black.

The Real Van Gogh! 

After the museum, we tried some pizza.  Delicious again!

This is our Hotel.  The Hilton Midtown. The same hotel that President Elect Trump held his election night festivities just a few days earlier.

Saturday night we went to dinner with Brand's Cousin and to the Broadway show "The Book of Mormon" which was hysterical!

Sunday morning we went to the 9/11 memorial when it opened at 9 AM. 

The new World Trade Center is so beautiful!

The Memorial Museum was our favorite attraction of the trip.  It was so well done, with attention to detail in every exhibit and a lot of personalized respect for the victims. 

This is the last pillar.  As the clean up efforts were underway, people came and posted signs/painted messages on this pillar. 

The letters of this quote were forged from the steel from the pillars of the buildings. 

In tact box pillars from the original buildings.  

The concrete stairs in between the stairs and the escalator were the actual stairs that the survivors used to evacuate the collapsing buildings.  

There is a hall way dedicated to the art that came from this event.  This quilt was amazing -- each square was personalized and special.  It was created from several seamstresses all over the nation. 

A mangled beam from near the point of impact. 

The plane shaped hole is so eerie to me.

The exhibits that meant the most to me where audio displays where we heard the black box recording from Flight 93, and from survivor's stories of the day.  I didn't take pictures in many of those places because it either seemed to invasive or it was too busy to get a good picture.  

Right next to the memorial is the transportation hub building, which is white and airy, designed to be like a dove of peace.  It's amazing inside, such a stark difference to the memorial and to the rest of the gray/black around the city. 

It's huge too! 

We had lunch and found a Sprinkles, so we had a world-famous cupcake for dessert. We split one salted caramel cupcake, and a mini red velvet cupcake.  Both were incredible!

Next was the Statue of Liberty boat tour. We had a bit of an adventure finding the right boat tour, and ended up on a "party boat" tour that was off the beaten path.  This is from inside the boat, commemorating our random silly time. 

But in the end, we got to see Lady Liberty up close and we loved it!

Our selfie skills are not improving much. 

We got the heck out of there (Pier 36 was a long way from where we wanted to be!), and headed to the Financial District for a beer and a look at the Charging Bull statue.  Frauncis Tavern is the oldest building in Manhattan.  

A beer (and mule in a glass!?!) with truffle oil french fries really hit the spot. 

We found the Charging Bull statue, and Brandi thought it was hysterical that there are two lines for photos -- one at the head and one at the testicles. 

We knew right away which line we wanted to be in!  We were making Kevin proud with our choice. 

Then we went to Chelsea Market to shop a bit. We were told that Amy's Bread has the best red velvet cupcakes in the city.  

We had dinner in the meat packing district, and then headed to Times Square for some sight seeing.  It's so busy!  This was at 11 PM! 

I could not stop thinking about how much energy goes into lighting that place up!

Mike and I were here when it was David Letterman at the Late Show, and now it's Steven Colbert. 

Monday morning we went to the Empire State Building when it opened at 8 AM.  No lines!!

I thought this shadow was funny. I am immature. 

Brandi and I wondered if the workers who built this knew that they were making something so significant and historical. 

South Manhattan. 

North Manhattan -- see the Chrysler Building? 

Another attempt at a Selfie with a background.  Shadows are hard. 

We walked down 34th Street to do some shopping, and caught this view of the Empire State Building from Macy's. 

Macy's was beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  The window displays were just beginning to be festive. 

The boys play a game where you yell "Bongo!" every time you see a yellow car.  In Bozeman, we can go miles without seeing one.  In NYC, you can't go 5' without seeing several!

Before we knew it, we were at La Guardia waiting for our plane to take us home.