NYC in12 Hours

Have you seen the YouTube video of the lady singing "A Mom's Day in2 Min" to the tune of the William Tell Overture? That is what today was.

Up at 4AM to be out the door by 4:45. Left late - so what else is new? Only 10 minutes though, and it was not me this time!!! Dropped off car, hopped on shuttle bus, check in luggage past the stated "45 minutes before take off" so we hope it makes it on the plane with us. Get to the gate to find they are about 10 min late starting boarding. Whew! Take a deep breath everyone!

Pretty uneventful flight. Land in Newark, luggage sighted as we sit in the plane, (thank you Lord!) get to the hotel by noon, and one of our rooms is ready. Yeah, thank you Hilton! Regroup, change out of early morning clothes, get directions and off we go.

Navigate the trains to get from Newark Airport to Chambers Street, then walk a few blocks to the WTC, St Paul's Church and Ground Zero. Chris was particularly interested in the construction going on there. Walk aimlessly a bit, stop at the information station (Laura's idea, not Gary's!) and next we are off on a walk to the ferry station. Some photos of Lady Liberty and a decision that a ferry trip would take too much time, and we are off again. This time it is on the subway for a short hop to Times Square.

Walk around Times Square looking for the Naked Cowboy, but I think maybe he does not work in the rain. (Did we follow TS Edouard up here?) A mandatory stop at ESPNZone and the Cubbies are tied with the Cards 2-2 in the 9th. Do we stay or do we go??? Ah well, got to go. Did the Cubbies win? We did not really have lunch (unless you count grabbing a 2 cheeseburger meal and extra fries for all 4 of us to share while walking nutrition) so we opt for an early dinner. Serafina on Broadway is the intended destination. Thanks longhrnfan and Mistadobalina for the recs. Dinner was mighty fine! (See pics over to the right) A couple pizzas, a salad, and some yummy desserts.

Back out on the street - next stop is Rockefeller Center. Some more Clark Griswold time up there! We are all suckers for a view from the top. Then on to the Majestic for the finale of the evening - Phantom of the Opera. And for the encore - more train navigation and Mets fans as company on the train back to Newark. I guess the Mets game let out at the same time as the play, and I guess they won. The fans looked happy. I did not ask, I was too tired to move that many muscles.

All in all a successful day. The really nice thing is that we do not have to rise at the BCOD (butt crack of dawn as the offspring call it) tomorrow. Staying 5 minutes from the airport has one advantage!

Good night and good golf! Marvin Zindler - eyyyyyyyyyye witness news!

Oh geesh! Good night all!

LO