New York Trip: Part I

Our original plan for day one:
- leave around 8/9 for Jersey - check into hotel (we were staying at a hotel right out side of New York)
- take bus into the city to go to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty
- break with the boys and let them go to the Daily Show, while Katy and I hang out around Time Square
- once boys were out of Daily Show, give them Jude and we head for our Broadway Show. They go back to the hotel and we meet them there later.

Our Actual Day:

We started the day on the right foot. We were packed and on the road by 9:00 and on our way to the hotel. We had no traffic and got there in great time. We were check in and ready to go to New York around 12:00pm. The last time Ryan and I stayed in New York, we got a hotel in the city. This time, we stayed in a hotel right outside the city. It was a short bus ride to New York and you missed all the traffic, didn't need to take a train and was considerably cheaper.

On our way up, we had a change in plans though. Instead of going to Ellis Island first, we'd tour the Time Square area first instead. We didn't want to have to rush through and be at the mercy of the ferries. In addition, as far as where things were located, it made more sense to stay in the Time Square area, instead of going to the bottom of the island and then coming back up.

So, upon getting off of the bus in New York, we went right for Time Square. We were all hungry, so of course grabbed some pizza. Jude had fallen asleep in his carrier on the way in, so it was also nice to put off anything Jude-related until he woke up. Around the time we were finishing up lunch, Jude was waking up, so we took that opportunity to go to Toys R Us!





We had all been to the Toys R Us before, but we all love it. Plus, we all thought it'd be interesting enough for Jude. Of course, he only 'got' so much of it, but he seemed interested in everything going on around him. He was looking all around and just taking it all in. Also, Uncle Bryan and Aunt Katy got Jude an awesome book called "The Day You Were Born". It was a signed edition and oh-so-adorable. I really recommend it for anyone to buy!




Following TRU, Katy and I did a short search for some Broadway tickets. We had planned to buy them in advance... but didn't. So, instead we figured we'd get some the day of. We had plans to see Phantom of the Opera, but were really open to just about anything. After a little search, we decided to worry about it after the boys were in their show, so went on to our next stop.

We stepped in to the M&M Store and the Hershey Store (where Ryan and Bryan 'worked' in the Hershey Factory and made their own tub of chocolates.






I believe around this time is when Bryan and Ryan needed to start finding their way to their show. I'm not the best person to really reflect on it, but they say they had a great time. The show (when I watched it afterwards) was funny and they said the whole experience was interesting and entertaining.

Katy and I on the other hand had considered strolling through Central Park, but it was already getting dark... we thought about the Central Park zoo, but at 5:00 it was probably closing... plus we still needed to get tickets. As the sun was going down, the weather was also getting chilly. Tickets at the actual theaters was higher than online, so we were being stubborn (and cheap) and refusing to buy them. So, we took refuge from the cold (and gave Jude a few minutes to get out of his carrier and move around) in American Eagle while using the internet on my phone to try and get some will call tickets - of course, you can will call the day of... THEN we decided to instead stand in the TKTS line - which proved to be a great idea! The line, which seemed forever long, moved quickly and we ended up getting pretty AWESOME seats for Mary Poppins (more to come on that later).

While in line we considered things to do after the line. We talked about checking out a museum or shopping... neither of which we had any set ideas on...

We were still trying to stay out of the weather for a little and so decided to grab a snack. We somehow decided on TGIFriday's and boy was that a bad idea. I mean neither of us were starving and we KNEW it'd be much more expensive on Broadway (or was that 7th Ave.?) but figured what-the-hell. It was DEFINITELY not cheap and all we got was an appetizer... but oh well. It killed some time and topped us off.

We still had plenty of time left until the boys were done and so we headed to 5th Avenue. Katy was most interested in seeing the Disney Store and we were both interested in taking Jude to FAO Schwartz. As luck would have it, Disney is relocating to Time Square... so the store was closed. But really this worked out fine for us. We trucked on down to FAO Schwartz and did a little tour around there.










I must say, FAO Schwartz was the MOST mom-friendly place we stopped that day. In addition to having one of those family sized bathrooms, they had a nice changing pad/station and a chair (which was beneficial as a breast feeding mother).

Plus, as everyone knows, they have the Big Piano! It was not very busy, and they let everyone take turns. Most of the people in line were clearing out when we got there, so we had a lot of time to ourselves on the piano. Jude wasn't heavy enough to make noise on the keys, so we let him crawl around while I made noise for him. You might be wondering "crawl around?? really??". Well, yeah. Don't Judge me.

Around the time we were wrapping up there, it was about time to do the Jude trade off. We treked back to Broadway and met up with the boys. Gave them Jude. Made sure they knew where they were headed and confirmed all the bus info for OUR return trip.

Then it was our turn! My show on Broadway! Our show started at 8. the boys had finished up shortly after 7, and so we were getting there with just a little time to spare. We weren't sure what to expect with out tickets, but were under the impression there were decent.

There were actually pretty GREAT seats! We were in the orchestra section, like right in the middle, a little over 1/2 way back. Pretty much right in the middle! Aside from the fact that I'm pretty sure that I had the tallest man ever in front of me - we couldn't have asked for better seats.




The show itself was mediocre. It was not at all terrible, but not the BEST either. I did enjoy it though and the set was AMAZING. It was set up as a giant doll house with moving rooms and one of the curtains served as the 'front' of the house. We both were very impressed by the set.

For some reason we both seemed to under estimate how long the show would be. We had our bus schedule with us and thought we'd have no problem getting the 10:50 (??) bus. We were wrong. We actually rushed out in the middle of the clapping and briskly walked to the bus station which was right down the street. We got there JUST in time. It was no big deal if we missed it, but would obviously prefer not to wait about 45+ minutes.

Bryan met us at the bus station in New Jersey, and it was so nice to be able to relax in the hotel.

That night before going to bed, Ryan got sick. Like throwing up sick. We were all worried. Not only for him, but for our second day. Would we go home early? Would he be ok? We just weren't sure... we figured we'd wait until the next day to really make the decision about what we'd do.