Big Pimpin’ in NYC

So we finally land in NYC around 12:20am (only missed that by 7 hours United Airlines!) and it is still raining but not very hard.  We get in a car to be driven to our hotel.  It isn’t a taxi, its not marked and there is no meter inside.  I immediately point this out to my husband and he asks the driver how much since there’s no meter and the guy says it’s a flat fee (which I don’t remember the amount now) but I’m skeptical and am pretty sure this guy is going to stick it to us.  We even had to pay the $7 to go over the toll bridge.  But its been a long day of travel - that shouldn’t have been - and we just want to get to the hotel.

We checked in to the Casablanca Hotel around 2:00am.  Its just a half a block off of Times Square so the location is going to be perfect.  As we enter our room, they have left this sweet note and a bottle of wine for us as an anniversary gift.  Nice touch!  The room is tiny but it has all that we need.  I can’t imagine that this is the size of some apartments that people live in here and have to pay an outlandish amount for rent!  I quickly take some pictures of the room, we unpack a little and then immediately climb into bed.

 

       

    

We actually woke up early (only 4 hours of sleep) and headed down to breakfast by 7:30am.  The “eating” area is called Rick’s Café (everything is Casablanca themed) and there is a nice assortment of breakfast pastries, cereals, fresh fruit, etc.  It is included in the daily rate.  And it remains open all day so that you can get drinks and snacks.

       

Back upstairs and I get in the shower and my husband decides to walk around and take a quick peek at what’s happening on Times Square.  He comes back, showers and then its off for the day.  We buy a double decker bus pass that several people recommended as a way to get around the city.  As we stood in line and waited, we noticed that the upper deck was full on the bus that was there so we decided to make the Empire State Building our first stop and walk since it was close.  My husband had purchased the Express Pass and when we first entered we thought maybe we wouldn’t really need it because the first set of stanchioned areas were empty but as we got further into the building….SCORE!  You would have thought we were super famous rock stars.  We would show that pass and they would whisk us down hallways past all the people waiting.  When the elevator would open and unload, we were the first to get on.  WOW!  I could live like this everyday.  My husband kept saying, “I don’t know how much extra we paid for this but it is worth it.”  Indeed!

The view from the top was incredible.  We purchased the “narrative” headphones to share so that we could identify some of the building better but it had too much story telling (in my opinion) as well and my husband got bored with it.  It did help some though and was only $10.  It was crowded up there and you had to wait your turn to get to the edge but it wasn’t too bad.  I imagine that later in the day, it is crazy packed and we would have been all sorts of annoyed with people.  I don’t remember exactly how long we stayed up there but I felt like it was plenty of time.  We exited the building again using the Express Pass…no waiting for us. 

    

WARNING!  Photo overload below

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you first enter the Empire State Building there is an green screen area to have your picture taken.  We’ve experienced this type of thing before and yes, I’m usually a sucker and always buy the picture if it turned out.  However, we were pretty sure that there was NO WAY this one would be any good.  They hustle you up there so fast, you barely have time to put your stuff down, the photographer says “Cheese” (which would be a running joke the rest of the vacation because we literally heard him say it every 30 seconds – that’s how fast they get people in and out of the photo area.)  Surprisingly, aside from the fact that my husband had on a green shirt & the picture had to be fixed so that it wasn’t all pixilated, it turned out to be a good shot of both of us.  Yes, I bought it!

And then went across the street and grabbed a quick bite of lunch at McDonald's.  Glamorous New York meal, huh?  But it was fine with me; it was quick and I knew we’d be dropping some big G’s later at our evening meal.  It was then time to find the boarding area for the Gray Line double decker bus and see the city.

To be continued…..

New York, New York

So my husband surprised me with a post on Facebook back in April (maybe, I don’t remember now) saying that he was whisking me away to New York City for our 18th wedding anniversary.  This is a big deal for two reasons; 1) I’ve never been to NYC but have always wanted to go and to see a show ON Broadway and 2) He’s been to NYC once before and did not care for it.  Too dirty, too crowded, too smelly he said.  But that man loves me and was willing to go again.

Friday morning (06-07-2013) we get up and get the final things ready for our trip.  This was one time that we weren’t on a “at the crack of dawn” flight – which perhaps we should have been.  He gets on line and sees that our connecting flight in Cleveland has been canceled.  WHAT?  So we throw everything into the car and head to the airport earlier than we had originally planned.  The lady at the United counter helped us secure getting on a different connecting flight to Cleveland but then we would also have to make a stop in Washington, DC and it will get us to NYC much later.  Originally we were to be there by 5:30pm.  But that’s okay, I mean that city never sleeps, right?  Well, supposedly because to Tropical Storm Andrea EVERYTHING was delayed going east.  Thus our flight out of Indy was now delayed 2 hours.  We finally get on board our plane – a little puddle jumper – and our view is of the propeller.  It felt like it could have the making of a disaster movie! 

           

But all was well and we landed in Cleveland around 4pm.  Sadly though we have a 2+ hour layover and I’m sorry but what a dumpy little airport.  We went to one bar so my husband could have a beer but there really wasn’t anything on the menu for me to eat (I know – my problem) and they wouldn’t let me buy the grilled cheese from the kids menu.  Now they WOULD let me by some turkey, bacon and cheese sandwich thing and I could remove everything and turn it into a grilled cheese sandwich but I’d still have to pay full price.  Ummm…no thank you.  I scouted out another bar and when he finished his drink we changed location.  Much better and I had some delightful; hot crab dip and crackers.   Finally it was time to board the next plane headed to DC.  Back in the air at 7:20pm.

It was only an hour flight but….our flight OUT of DC to NYC kept getting delay.  At first the board kept changing to “DELAYED” but then it said they were waiting on a plane.  Where is the plane that was originally scheduled for us?  Did someone borrow it and not return it?  Did the kids take it out for a joy ride?  We were supposed to board this flight at 9:40pm.  We FINALLY got on a plane at 12:39AM.  Needless to say neither of us were very happy.  United Airlines is now on our “Naughty” list.

Its best that this is what he was able to do in dc.

They said it was raining nonstop in NYC Friday night….and it was still raining as we took the “cab” from the airport to the hotel so….we probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything…but that should have been our choice to make.

So my first 1/2 day in NYC never happened.  It took 12+ hours to get there.  We did a search on  MapQuest when we got home and that’s how long it would have taken if we had driven.  And driving would have been cheaper.

Is it just me or are all flights getting screwed up lately?

Sunburst Memorial Half Marathon–Recap

This event took place on Saturday, June 01, 2013.

We left our house around noon on Friday for the 3 hour drive up to South Bend, IN.  I wanted to get settled in at the hotel and scout out the area while still making sure we were at packet pickup by 5:00pm.  Frank Shorter was going to be speaking and we have a picture of him & my husband from the 2010 RnR Las Vegas race!  We ran into quite a bit of construction on the way up there but it didn’t put us too far behind.  We stooped once in Kokomo, IN at a McDonald’s so that we could use the bathroom and my husband could get a sweet tea.  While there, we saw former Indianapolis Colts player Ken Dilger!  We would also see him later at our hotel.

We checked in to the Double Tree and each got a free walnut chocolate chip cookie.  SCORE!!  Unloaded everything in the room and then walked across the street to the Expo.  It used to be held in the College Football Hall of Fame but I was told that Coca-Cola made a sizable donation so now it is located in Atlanta.  But the building is still pretty cool. We got our packets and then went over to the South Bend Chocolate Factory. 

             

The hubs got a salad but I wasn’t really hungry however we DID get some chocolate for later!  Back to the hotel where my husband took a nap and I got my race stuff ready.  Just before 5:00pm, we headed back over to the Expo to hear Frank Shorter speak.  After he spoke, we got the picture signed and then I was able to have my picture taken with him also.

       

Next it was time to find an Applebee’s so that we could have dinner.  It was just south of town a little bit and since we needed to head that direction, my husband was kind enough to drive me back to the “Welcome” sign so I I could snap a picture.  Its nice that he “plays along” with my little endeavor! 

Back to the hotel after dinner to get things ready and then hit the hay.  Great thing about this time around is the start line is literally right outside our hotel so that means I get to sleep just a little bit longer than usual on a race morning.  The half marathon was scheduled to start at 7:30AM.

There was a chance of some severe storms overnight and then rain into the next day but everything stayed to the south of us. Got up and ready and stepped outside in time to see the 5K start.  Because of the winds, the starting line banner was taken down but the balloon arch survived. 

      

I like that they sang the National Anthem prior to the start of the half marathon even though they had just done it 15 minutes prior for the 5K.  The starting gun wouldn’t go off.  You could hear it; click, click and then finally someone into the microphone said “BANG” it made us chuckle.  Because the banner was down we almost missed starting our watches!  My husband started off next to me but was quickly gone after about 2 minutes or so.  This is a relatively flat course and once we got out of the downtown area, it had very pleasant scenery.  Plenty of aid stations that had both water and Gatorade.  We ran through some neighborhoods where the road seemed a little in need of repair but nothing too bad.  Around mile 6,we entered Pinhook Park.  This was the only time I saw a themed aid station.  Super cute that they were dressed as pirates.  And you (mostly) got to take advantage of this aid station – that also had GU gels – 3 times. 

After coming back out of Pinhook Park, we were running on Riverside Trail which follows the St Joseph River.  This was the most pleasant part of the race.  Nice shade from the trees as well.  It was really pretty.  We were on this for approximately 3 miles.  Then we headed back into town for the big finish in to Notre Dame stadium.  But hey, it wouldn’t be a challenge if there wasn’t a hill at mile 11.  Booooo

As you entered the campus area, there were signs posted along the course to encourage the runners.  I would have loved to have taken some pictures but I was already so far behind my normal slow pace as it was, that I didn’t.  Once I made the turn to the stadium, I removed my headphones.  The Notre Dame fight song plays as you run down the tunnel and on to the field.  That was pretty incredible. 

   

Got my finishers medal and found my husband right away.  Took a few pictures and then met his friend/fraternity brother who also works at Notre Dame and he took us on a brief tour of the campus.  We had actually done this several years ago but some of it I didn’t remember. 

  

Normally this is referred to as Touchdown Jesus

but today I called him Finish Line Jesus! 

First Down Moses

   

   

He and his wife were kind enough to drive us back to our hotel so that we didn’t have to catch the shuttle.  We had plenty of time to shower & pack up since I had asked for an extra hour on our check out time – although we really didn’t need it.  Then it was a 3 hour drive home.

Good event although for a race with such a long history, I was surprised that the Expo was so small and that there wasn’t as much actual food post race.  But they had popsicles and that was delightful!  I would definitely do this again especially to see if I could do it faster.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

A non-running adventure, plus the WLWC!

My husband’s nephew had recently graduated from high school (the last one of that generation to do so) and they were having an open house for him on Sunday May 26th.  So that Sunday morning, we loaded up the car and headed to Ballwin, Missouri.  My husband wanted to get a super early start so that we could see the start of the Indy 500 at their house.  (It isn’t broadcast locally in Indianapolis or the surrounding areas – don’t get him started on it!)   But we had been out late the night before so we didn’t leave the house until around 9:00am.  It is about a 4 hour drive – depending on who’s behind the wheel -  and we only made two stops.  Once to switch drivers so he could take a nap and then after about an hour we stopped for a quick bite to eat and he was back behind the wheel.

We didn’t miss too much of the beginning of the race and there wasn’t much to do since our SIL had most of it under control   The Open House was to start at 4:00pm.  Sadly the forecast was for rain and sure enough just after four o’clock, the rain started coming down in buckets.    But it didn’t last long and there were canopies set up and tables were in the garage as well.  It was a nice turnout and later in the evening,  so that my SIL could visit with all the guests, I started cleaning things up in the kitchen.  My husband’s other brother (who was in from Florida) started helping as well.  The next thing I know, the clean-up had moved outside and was spearheaded by the SIL’s Mom!  I felt bad because I felt like it was “forcing” people to leave before they maybe wanted to.  But at the same time, maybe it WAS time for some of them to go.

Cake made by the graduate's Dad!

The graduate, his sister, Mom & Dad

Family – Central Indiana Chapter, Florida rep & the Missouri Chapter

We woke up the next morning and were on the road somewhat early.  Stopped for gas (and coffee) before getting on the interstate.  On the way over to Missouri, my husband had seen some signs for the World’s Largest Wind Chime but I didn’t see them.  Well after a few hours on the road, he sees them again and luckily it was the same exit that had a McDonald's so he could get a sweet tea.  Got the sweet tea and then headed a few blocks south and sure enough, found the World’s Largest Wind Chime (of course, I’ll have to take their word for it).  We didn’t go in the restaurant but the area outside was very pretty and peaceful.  There was a handle so that you could pull the chimes to hear them.  After all it would take a substantial breeze to get those puppies rockin’! 

Glad we stopped especially since it wasn’t that far out of the way.  It now has us researching other “World’s Largest (things)” to see what else is out there!