NYC - Day 3

Okay I hate technology sometimes. This is my 3rd time writing this and hopefully my last. My Blogpress app is crap and won't let me open it to access my drafts. So here we go, again!

NYC Day-3

Since we had a late night we decided to sleep in and take our time. We all were up about 10ish. We kinda skipped breakfast so on our way to meet up with everyone for lunch we picked up some fruit from a street vendor (3 bananas for $1, Not bad compared to D.C. where they wanted $1.50 for 1 banana) and yogurt from the Kmart that was across the street from our hotel ($1.15 each, our hotel wanted $2.50). I miss my coupons and specials, I can’t wait to go real grocery shopping.
We took our time walking the streets while eating our snack before lunch. We love how the city has so much going on and people everywhere. You catch yourself walking really fast like you have somewhere really important to be, even though you don't. I guess we fit in pretty well and looked like we knew what we were doing and where we were going because we were asked directions 4 times in the 3 days we were there.

So we finally met up with Ryane, Erin and Camden for lunch and our fun filled day. We had a nice laugh trying to hail a cab on a busy street on a busy day. It took a few different street corners and a bunch of waving to finally get our butts in one but we did it and we took the cab to a place called Serendipity 3. It was a little cramped at first until you make your way upstairs where they have the tables and serve the food. Downstairs is an overfilled gift shop and up the narrow staircase is where the magic happens. The food was awesome. I had the sautéed chicken breast covered with chilled cucumbers, tomatoes and basil, yum yum. They are known for their desserts thanks to Oprah. We indulged in the iced hot chocolates. I should have splurged and ordered one for myself but I was trying to be good and share with Jeremy but then Pressley got a taste of it and drank pretty much most of it. She didn't want to share! BRAT!




After our bellies were full we rolled over to Dylan's Candy Bar. It was 3 or so floors of just candy and treats. I only saw one floor and was overwhelmed. They wanted $12.99 per LBS of candy. We had to get a small bag to just say we did, so "we did" and I would have to say I like the sweet factory 10 times more. It wasn't worth the money. They had a fudge bar that I didn't see, it was located on a different floor. It looked yummy(from the pictures I saw), maybe we should have made the trip down. This candy bar is owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren (clothing designer).



I would say if your in NYC and are bored or walk past it then stop in. There might be something you will like. Ryane bought her oldest daughter a bag of candy with brain gummies, eye balls and sunny side up eggs. They did have some pretty cool looking candy especially for Halloween. I'm more about taste then appearance I guess.

Once we split from the group we headed toward our hotel but on the way came across the New York City Public Library. It was huge. We walked for 5 minutes without seeing 1 book, we laughed because we couldn't find a book in a library. We did find the children's section of the library it had its own wing all by itself. Needless to say we spent 30 minutes letting Pressley run around amongst all the kids, books and pillows, oh and lady on her cell phone wanting quiet while in the kids section. Pressley was laughing and squealing with excitement. No apologies to you lady!

New York City Public Library

Halls in NYCPL

We made our way back to our hotel and rested up for dinner. We had to run through the rain it was so fun. It was a mexican restaurant that closed and turned into a bar that served mexican food after a certian time. So we had to run back to our hotel in the rain with our food in a paper bag. The lightning lit up the night sky all the way back. It was a super awesome last night in NYC.

Tomorrow we will be on our way to Jamaica.

(This post was from September 23rd 2010)

Jamaica MON!

I don't know if I'm just getting lazy or I just wanted to show you where we ended up?

YOU DECIDE!!!

Day 2 NYC

NYC Day-2

Jeremy’s younger brother, wife, (Ry’s friend Erin) and baby were in town at the same time as us. We were able to meet up with them for lunch at Rockefeller Center Cafe on Tuesday. It was a really nice restaurant with really good food. The peach sangria was yummy too!

Later that day we all got together to go to Yankee Stadium to watch Jamie play. We (Ryane, Erin, Camden, Jeremy, Pressley and me) made our way through the NYC subway system. It seemed like we walked through more underground subway tunnels than we actually rode on the subway. Don’t know how that happened! The stadium was cool. I had really wanted to see the old stadium before they moved but that never happened.




We sat across from a true New York heckler. This guy was so loud and crazy, I’m glad we weren’t below him. He was sticking his tongue out making raspberries and spit was going everywhere. It was NASTY! We had two babies who were more quiet. Erin got some garlic fries that looked really yummy and smelt pretty good too. We had to walk a few flights of stairs for them so I told her they better be worth it. Haha!

After the game we met up with Jamie and took a car back to their hotel. Of course we stopped at a bakery next to their hotel for some desert before bed. As if the hot dogs, corn dogs, fries and a soda wasn’t enough for me! I don’t remember the name of the place but Erin got the cheesecake with strawberry topping, I got the strawberry shortcake and Ry got the cannoli. I didn’t taste Ry’s but I will say the cheesecake was my favorite. The shortcake was plain with not much flavor or sweetness.



Jeremy, Pressley and I walked from their hotel at Time Square to our hotel across from Penn Station at about 12:30 a.m. The streets were much quieter at that time and so were the sidewalks. It took us less then 15 minutes to walk back to our room. There were just a few shady characters out on the streets. I try to always be aware of my surroundings. We felt safe and we got back to our room with no cool stories to tell.



Erin with Pressley and Camden in front of Yankee Stadium.

NYC - Day 1

NYC Day-1

We landed at JFK which was a ways away from our hotel. We purchased a week unlimited metro card for $27 from a little mart inside the Air Train terminal (Jamaica Station). We took the Air Train $5 one way for about 4 stops to the Subway then took the subway 10 stops to our hotel. Total travel time was about 50 minutes. We stayed at the Hotel Pennsylvania off 34th St. and 7th Ave. The hotel was my least favorite. I know not to expect much from NYC hotels but this was for sure way less then I expected. It was the cheapest I could find in the area we were looking to stay. The lobby was nice but always busy. They charged us $4 per bag to hold until we could check in. We had a 6 A.M. flight in, check in was not until 3 P.M. Jeremy had a 10 A.M. meeting across town until 3 P.M. We got in at around 8:45 A.M. had to check our bags which we had 2 backpacks and 2 carry-on bags with wheels. Me being as cheap as I am I didn’t want to pay a penny but I couldn’t cart Pressley, 2 backpack and 2 suitcases around for 6 hours all by myself. Jer talked me into dropping off the two suitcases so we each had a backpack. We made our way down the hall for breakfast. It was a no frills diner. Jeremy ordered an omelet that came with potatoes $17 and I wasn’t going to eat because I was not about to pay $20 per person for breakfast! Jer talked me into it, so I did. I got the 2 eggs with potatoes, 2 slices of bacon and a side of pancakes for $22. Oh did I mention coffee. Whoo hooo…. I thought “this is going to be way too much food for me so I’ll share with Pressley”, boy was I way wrong. The eggs must have shrunk during the cooking process… yet soggy, the potatoes were just yuck and the side of pancakes, ‘1 pancake’ a bit bigger than a silver dollar. It was cold and chewy and the waitress didn’t bring the syrup until all my other food was gone. Thanks! I would have bet a 100 bucks that there was alcohol in the coffee. She brought Jeremy a coffee after he declined. 2 creamers and 3 sugars later I drank it as fast as I could she had time to ask if I wanted more even though I was still waiting for my syrup. Errugh…. Jer took off for his meeting after he was done and Pressley and I tried to finish what was left of ours. We took care of the $45 dollar breakfast bill for 2 then I had to figure out how I was going to handle 2 oversized backpacks, an umbrella stroller with a baby in it. 3 sweaters and a few blankets. 10 minutes later I had us all packed in.

Where to? We still had 5 hours at this point. After walking in circles for what felt like an hour (only 5 minutes) we were back at the check-in line to see if I could get further than Jeremy did. It took the chick 25-30 minutes to push a bunch of buttons to tell me she had to talk to her manager. After 15 minutes of standing there with a tired baby she came out of the back room and said “we can get you in”. I was ecstatic! Pressley was too and decided to fall asleep, another 15 minutes of signing papers and other crap we had the keys, we couldn’t get our bags because Jeremy had the claim tickets, so we were headed to our room. The elevators were nice and clean and in working order and the hallways were clean and big, so far so good. You can’t judge a hotel by its cover (lobby/halls).

The rooms only perk was that it had its own bathroom. The bed was a double with minimal linens and pillows. There was a T.V. and a floor lap but no clock. There was a chair but no table or desk. The bathroom was okay in size but smelt like they had just painted it. Weird! The shower looked dirty, there was a used soap in the shower and its wrapper on the floor. Humm… The rest of the room seemed clean. I wore my sandles while taking my shower. The showers water pressure was so strong, I felt like I was being hosed down by a prison guard. The curtain stuck to my butt, couldn’t help but think of who else’s butt it had touched. The entire floor was soaked by the end of my shower. I didn’t know whether I should use my towel or Jeremy’s to dry it up (we only had two for the 3 of us). The only other thing I could think of at the moment was how thin the walls were and how much you could hear from your room. Every 2 seconds a door slammed and it would make you jump. After a couple nights of that you have to tune it out or you don’t sleep.

After Jer got back from his meeting it was a bit after 4 (I say 5 but we’ll agree to disagree) so we decided to get cleaned up and walk to Time Square for dinner. We went to Planet Hollywood since we had been there before and we knew the food was good. So were the drinks.

New York, New York!

Since I've been to New York City a handful of times now the excitement of just going has diminished, but being in the city is still great! We stayed in a different part of the city this time across from Penn Station and the Madison Square Garden on the corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

At this point we didn't have the eagerness to site see as much. Plus, I was there to work. I had a seminar to go to that lasted 5 hours and it was actually great and we were there to watch Jamie in Yankee Stadium. It was our first time at the stadium and I have to say it was very fan friendly. The fans weren't friendly, but the stadium was!



(Jamie pitching to Cano)

We also completed a six degrees of separation while we were there!



Susan Sarandon was sitting directly in front of us! She was in the movie "Bull Durham" (which was about the Durham Bulls), Jamie played for the Durham Bulls, I am related to Jamie and we were all at the same game! Circle complete!

It was pretty cool to see her there and she got a kick out of Pressley and Camden (who wouldn't they are cute as hell!)

Thanks New York!

Wined and Dined in Syracuse NY

Who can say they spent time with their dads best friend? Well that's just what Jeremy, Pressley and I did. While in 'Upstate' we spent some time with may Dad's best friend since college. He was in his wedding party and is the God Father to my older brother Chris. We were lucky enough to catch T.T. (Mr. Tom Terry) and his lovely wife Deah on Thursday, the day we flew into Syracuse, New York. They took us to a Ca..Razy...cool BBQ place that was super yummy. Some real BBQ, not Woodranch or Stonefire. Hahaa (fake BBQ) like back home. All Pressley wanted to do was eat their cornbread. She made a meal out of it. It was so warm, moist and fresh..probably the best I've ever had.

We chatted and got caught up on the newest things in our lives. And then had to make our way South for Freeville/Etna for Great Grandma Poole's big surprise. After a quick 3 1/2 days with the fam we headed back up to the Cuse to spend a bit more time with the Terry family.

After they wined us and dined us at a yummy Italian restaurant they let us crash at their place. We had an early flight out on Monday morning so we kept the partying/beer drinking to a minimum. Haha. Thanks for everything you guys!

As I was getting ready to write I started looking for pictures of this part of our trip and couldn't find any. So I asked Deah if she could send some to me and she didn't have any either! WHAT?!?! We didn't take one picture?!

Well we had a wonderful time and we'll just have to get pictures next time. I wouldn't be able to close with out mentioning how much T.T. misses my Pops. Everyone missed him on this 'Upstate' trip!

Here are some pictures of Pressley at the Terry's house that Deah found:

NYC is next.

My Upstate New York Experience

Along with all the fun Sara, Pressley and I had visiting with the Family, they took me to the local races on one of the nights! It was fun!

Pressley Grae Dancing in Jamaica!

Pressley Grae Dancing in Boston

Upstate with family

We all couldn't wait for this part of our trip. My side of the family lives in Freeville/Etna, we call it Upstate New York. This is my dads side of the family. My Grandma Poole, Aunt and Uncle Baylor and their boys and their families. We don't get to see them much but love when we do. Pressley is the youngest of her cousins but she is at the age where she was able to run around with them, play with their toys....oh and roll around/wrestle.

We didn't tell my Grandma that we were coming out, we wanted to surprise her. Last time we were out (same time last year) Pressley was only 6 months and didn't like to be too far from mom so she wasn't much fun. This time she was able to hug and kiss her Great Grandma Poole and even take a ride on the quad with mommy. (Uncle Dave Baylor has those pictures)

The first day we were here it was cold, cold, cold. We bundled up and went to the park and played around with her cousin Scotty. (Pressley is wearing her new Cornell University sweatshirt, thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Linda)

Pressley loves to swing

And slide!

So does Scotty!

Pressley and her cousins at the pumpkin farm.

Checking out all of the animals

They took the bus!


Visiting Great Grandpa Poole
(Press met GGpa Poole last year)

Kisses for Great Grandpa

Sharing her pacifier! Wish she woulda left it.

Giving Grandpa his toothpick. Uncle Christopher usually does it but he didn't make this trip so Mommy and Pressley left it.


Okay I had to include this.

This is Cheerio the pig, no he's not for breakfast!


Uncle Chris is gonna be mad! She LOVES Shawn & Scott, they got lots of hugs and kisses.

Shawn and Pressley at the farm AND Scott at the park jumping off the swing.

He likes to teach the kids cool tricks. Hahaa!

Thanks guys for everything. It's a bummer NY is so far from CA. Family should never be too far!

We are in NYC and almost at the end of that trip! The days go too quick.

**This is an old post that we couldn't put up due to no Internet.**

D.C. - "D"lightful yet "C"razy

Our D.C. Trip was a bit crazy!

There are chapters in this tale

Between Sept. 13th - Sept 16th

Chapter 1
"The Flight"

After getting up and checked out of our Cambridge hotel near Boston at 4:00am to catch our 6:05am flight, we got in the air with no problems. It was getting down and landing that took a while. Our flight was supposed to be around an hour from take off to landing, but after an hour past we were still in the air! Some more time passed when the pilot got on the intercom, "Attention passengers! We are currently in a holding pattern due to significant fog cover on the ground. We will let you know when we will be able to make a landing as soon as possible. Thank you!". Thank goodness we didn't have a connection flight to catch. The business men and women were freak'n out though! Then the pilot came back on the intercom, "The fog hasn't cleared so we are going to fly into Richmond and stay there until the fog clears at the Dulles Airport. Thank you!". Great! We have already been in 5 airports in the last 7 days at this point in the trip and now we have to sit and wait at one? Not what we wanted to do, not after waking up as early as we did that morning. After taxi-ing into the gate they told us we had to de-board the plane. Great, it's going to be a long wait for us, but as we exited there were signs of "Washington Dulles Airport" all around. We made it! The pilot forgot to inform us of the change in plans. Either way, we were supposed to land at 7:40am and we landed at 9:05am, but we arrived!

Chapter 2

"The Rental Car"

After kissing the ground of the Washington Dulles Airport we had to catch a taxi to get to the off-site rental car place. We had to get to Chantilly, VA which saved us about $50 a day on the car. So I tell the taxi driver where to go and we are off. It was only about 11 miles away so it wasn't a big deal, so we thought. We get to where we thought it was and there's nothing. No sign just car dealerships. So we take another circle around the block while Sara's on the phone checking if this place exists and our taxi meter is climbing. The guy on the phone assures us that he is real and we try again. Come to find out this place is inside a Chrysler/Dodge dealership with zero signage to help our search. So I pay the taxi off and I take a sigh of relief. Well, I needed to suck that sigh straight back up because the child safety seat I ordered and confirmed was not available. I was not happy (and you all know how upset I can get, haha). I told the man, "I need that seat. This doesn't work without it.". My scare tactic worked! They sent someone to another location to fetch the seat. Yeah, an hour or so later I had my seat for my daughter and I was ready for a meal and a nap. We had jumped yet another hurdle that our DC trip threw at us.

Chapter 3
"The Final Chapter"

Now that we a had a car to drive, we had control of where and when we wanted to go. We headed to Front Royal, VA to close out our first day to sight see and grab a bite to eat. It was very beautiful, being apart of the northern Shenandoah Valley.

We stopped by "Five Guys", the IN-N-OUT of the East Coast, for a late dinner and that ended our day.

On the second day, we decided to cruise toward Washington D.C. and on the way we ran across the Arlington National Cemetery, "Hey Babe, lets check it out first and then head to our Nation's Capital. It shouldn't take long..." I said thinking we could do both in one day...that didn't happen. We spent almost 3 hours in that Cemetery. Beautiful, with all it should be where the heroes of our country lay to rest.

We finally made it to D.C. the day before we had to leave for upstate New York. It was massive! It wasn't all bunched together like Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston and what we already know of New York City. We lost some pounds walking from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and back. It was a site to be seen and I was even able to see the Library of Congress to boot!

(snipers atop the White House...I think they were looking at me!)

Thank you D.C.! Goodnight!

Our Washington D.C. Marathon...

Arlington National Cemetery



So many head stones, not enough film in the camera! Makes you think twice about our freedom. Nothing is free in life!


Ted Kennedy's spot across from his brother John's spot. Simple yet big!


Our trip exploring our nations Capitol was pretty tiring. I think we walked 8 miles that day. We started our day in Virginia, where our hotel was, with a nice big breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Their pancakes are the best I've ever had! We drove to D.C. because we did the math and it made more sense to stay out of the city on this trip and to rent a car. In the city during the week (Monday-Thursday) rates for rooms triple+. A standard hotel wanted $538 a night in D.C., so we stayed 20 or so minutes away for $80 with breakfast included. We chose Cracker Barrel instead because we don't have that at home but we did snag yogurts for our early flight out. I think the rental car for the 4 days was around $100 after taxes and a child seat rental.

We parked at Union Station, which was a sight in itself. The cleanest station I've ever seen with shops and restaurants all over. So of course we started there and walked our way to the Capitol Building. (parking for 6-12 hours was $17)








One of the guards stopped us and asked us if we wanted to go in and told us how to get down there with Pressley and the stroller. It was big! We found the tour desk and found a free tour of the Capitol and the Library of Congress. It was an hour long which we didn't plan for but it was a nice start to our exploration. A lot of history in the buildings, city and art located in/at the Capitol.



Pressley found a window sill in the Capitol Building big enough to sit and take a little break.

In the Library of Congress we were able to see the book collection of Thomas Jefferson. Wow! They were inclosed in glass, so no touching. There were so many. I asked Jeremy if he thought Jefferson read them all and he said "oh yeah"! Then he reminded me that they didn't have much more to do than read. I can hardly get through 1 book a year with the time I have to read. Maybe I should spend less time in front of the T.V. and less time on the computer.






This trip to D.C. has sparked my interest in not only U.S. History but it has me intrigued by the historical figures interests and I now want to learn more.

So after the library we ventured out and just checked out all the older buildings and their exteriors as we made our way to Linclon's lap.
Just a few things on the way



This was a cool Art and Design building.




Smithsonian Institute.


Pressley and Mommy looking up at the Washington Monument while lying down. Amazing! It was a beautiful day in D.C.



Guess what this is...haha. Washington Monument




Pressley is tired of taking pictures, can you tell?



Do I have to say what this is? I thought we would be able to get around the White House to see more views but it was all blocked off and full of guards.



We ate dinner at the "Center Cafe" in Union Station to end our day in Washington DC.