Wow!!!!

Okay - I am not sure that there is a better time to be in New York City then October.

Our time in New York was really amazing.

Wed morning we headed over by subway to the Natural History Museum. It was great- glorious weather - very easy to find via the subway. We spent a few hours there (you could easily do four hours but we only had about two hours) - grabbed a hot pretzel and hot dog off the street and we were off to see Legally Blonde.

I had purchased tickets about six weeks ago - we had very good seats. One should know I am a lover of theater... all aspects of it - so I was very excited. I will say that the show was "okay". I am happy we went but would not recommend to someone who has not seen a ton of plays (It is coming to Orange County and I would not spend $$$ on it) - We both felt it was "okay". Paulette and her UPS guy (for those that know the film) stole the show - and that was really the extent of it.

We headed off to Tavern on the Green via a "pedi-cab" - it was a fabulous evening - just a perfect fall night - we strolled around the grounds a little prior to our seating - it was very um... fancy :-). Tessa and I had a lovely little table right on the window and I was excited for the sun to set and the twinkle lights to go on... the food was definitely mediocre. Again, I do not feel I would recommend it but having said that - I am very glad we went.

After dinner we took a fabulous carriage right through Central park. It was dreamy :-).

We got a car to bring us back to the hotel as I was very tired and not up for figuring out the subway at 8:30 pm and getting lost in NYC with my eleven year old daughter.

Thursday - we were up around 9:00 am and off for an adventure by 10:00...going to see family on Staten Island.

We left no mode of public transportation left unturned. We took the subway to the Staten Island Ferry and took that to Staten Island and then took the Staten Island Train over to where our family picked us up for a really sweet afternoon. It did take a lot longer then I had planned (two hours!). We decided to take the bus back into the city and left around 3:30 - we just got back by 5:30 to our room. It was a very long day of four hours of transportation but well worth it to see our family.

Tonight was Hairspray!!! We unfortunately missed our dinner reservations at 5:00 and grabbed a bit closer to the theater for our 7:00 pm show.What fun we had!

I definitely 100% recommend this show to all - Tessa and I had a blast - very talented cast and crew!

Tessa wanted to wait by the stage door after the show and it was really cute to watch her interact with the cast - getting autographs and pictures. I will share the pictures when I can upload them.

We headed off for our last night in the city and went to Ellen's Stardust Diner - a place where aspiring Broadway actors/actresses wait tables and sing while they do! Tessa had a milk shake and I enjoyed a glass of wine.

Back to the room by around and played cards and giggled and were finally sleeping by 1:00 am :-).

This morning it was another mass transit day - cab to Penn station - figuring out how to get to Newark to pick up our rental car (I did not want to drive in the city and the drop rate was around 150.00 LESS to pick up in Newark then in Manhattan as we are returning the car in Philly on Monday)...

It was a long morning of trains and lugging bags but we were in our rental car by around 1:00 pm ... and on the 78 west heading to Theresa's house.

We went to her store and grabbed a bit - it feels great being here.

We were in New York in August and Tessa did NOT care for it..she had a much different experience this time around :-).

A few notes:

The hotel was good - remember we were there on points - I think I might not have been happy if I was paying rack rate. I did like the location - it was great for being there for shows. It was OUT of Time Square (I have stayed at the Marriott RIGHT in TimeSquare and it is overload for me - I prefer uptown to Timesquare area but for those seeing shows it is a good location). Note: If you DO stay there please ask for a high floor. We were on the 3rd floor and at times I heard the subway in the middle of the night running under us. Higher up it should not have been an issue.


We are here till Sunday when we head over to Lancaster/Amish Country.

Hope all is well at home!

Love,
Dawn & Tessa