That's "hola" as in "holler" but with an "a" at the end...
There was a time when I didn't know that, either...
Wow, what a trip! It was such a blast. Here's the play by play.
Saturday morning, 1:30 a.m.
Go to bed.
5:30 a.m.
Wake up, stumble around, shower, pack last minute things, make "London Fog" (that's what Starbucks calls it, at least. It's just Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar. And my version cost less than $.50. $4 a drink? I don't think so.)
6:15 a.m.
Kiss husband/kids goodbye (kids still sleeping...) Drive down to end of pipestem; wait for travelling buddies.
6:25 a.m.
Wonder if anyone's going to show up.
6:28 a.m.
Wonder if I missed an email that said to meet somewhere else.
6:30 a.m.
Liz and Uyen show up, followed by Shelley and Kristen shortly thereafter. Load up, drive off!
7:00 a.m.
Arrive in D.C., park, wait in Bolt Bus area.
7:05 a.m.
Run with Liz and Uyen to Starbucks for coffee. Yes, I've quit Starbucks, but for someone who's used to getting up at 8:30 instead of 5:30, coffee with shots of espresso necessary for survival.
7:15 a.m.
Still waiting in line at Starbucks... okay, people, let's not have lengthy conversations with the baristas... And baristas, stop flirting with the clientele and make my &$%#@-ing drink!
I did say I'm not normally up at 5:30 in the morning...
7:20 a.m.
Get drink, add lots of milk and sugar, run across street to board Bus. Thankfully, it's still there.
7:30 a.m.
We're on our way!
7:35 a.m.
Driver explains the rules of the Bolt Bus. No drinking alcohol unless you have enough to share. Make sure to wipe the seat if "your aim is less than perfect." No removing of shoes from ripe feet. Got it.
9-ish a.m.
Coffee has struck, must use bathroom on board. Aim is fine, no need to clean anything. However, Purell dispenser is empty. Mine is on diaper bag (did not bring!) Thankfully, Uyen came prepared. Crisis averted.
10-ish a.m.
Driver stops at rest stop in Jersey. Since it's Jersey, I stay on bus. ;) 10 minutes later, back on road.
11:30 a.m.
Arrive in NYC! Unload, thank driver, get bag, fight crowd on sidewalks.
Noonish
Unload at hotel, take a breather, plan route on subway map to CHINATOWN!
12:45-ish?
Head out to subway, find right train, board.
1:00
Arrive in Chinatown. Walk towards dim sum restaurant. Avoid crowds/vendors on sidewalks.
1:15
Arrive at Jing Fong restaurant.
1:17
Seated in restaurant. There is a couple seated with us--both from Europe. One from Germany, one from Sweden? I think? Food begins arriving immediately.
1:20
Eat. Mmm.... soooooo good.
At this point, lost track of time. Eventually, we're all stuffed, and leave the restaurant. I learn that Kristen wants to stop and buy a handbag (y'know, the Chinatown kind. :) At some point during the walk, Kristen turns around and starts following this little Asian guy down the street. We follow, and it seems like we're walking forever. They disappear around the corner, and we see they've gone into a shop. But the shop is empty, for the most part.... (And I'm thinking, "What the heck is going on?") We follow him into the backroom of the shop, and he opens a door in the wall (didn't look like a door--looked like part of the wall,) out come several gals, so that's reassuring. He takes us down a dark staircase, and opens another door. On the other side is a room, probably about 12 x 12, if that, full of people (30?) and handbags covering the walls. Woah! It was pretty crowded, so I stay with Kristen while everyone else heads back upstairs. Most people in the room follow suit, and it's a more comfortable space to move in. We shopped a while--Kristen found a couple of "Coach" bags, and I found a "Dooney" that was nice. Score! We go to leave, and have to wait for one of the "sales" guys with a walky talkie to unlock the door. We emerge, alive and well, with our new bags, and continue on our NYC adventure!Sometime later...
Take subway back up to Time Square. Walk around a bit, try to figure out Central Park is walking distance away. Kristen stops to ask cute cop for directions. ;) He lies and says it's only 10 minutes up, but we don't know any better, so we head on our way. (We're not sure exactly how long it took, since we stopped in a few shots to check out the souvies, but it definitely took longer than 10 minutes. Also noticed t-shirts were 7 for $10.99...
4:30-ish.
Arrive at Central Park. Enter park, find soft place to sit--sit on rocks. Relax. Ahhh...
4:45
Start to leave park, take subway back to Time Square; walk back to hotel.
5:15
Arrive in room, take few moments to relax before getting ready for dinner.
6:15
Supposed to be downstairs 5 minutes ago. No time to ask front desk to make up pull out bed, or bring more conditioner (yes, I meant to do those two things, and was irritated with myself for not getting down there in time to do so.)
6:17
Try to hail cab, little luck.
6:18
Car service car pulls up, says he'll take all 5 of us for $20 (cabs should only take 4, so it was a good deal) Liz and Kristen, (I think?) pile in front seat, rest of us in back.
6:30
Arrive at Eatery NYC for dinner, with a 6:30 reservation!
6:45
Finally able to order, waiting for food.
7:05
Food arrives, we devour. It was good, but nothing worth writing about. :)
7:30
Time to leave--gals going to 9 to 5, I'm off to the Rock!
7:33
Friends to meet have not yet arrived, other gals catch a cab and head to theater (though I'm told they gave up on the cab ride after 10-15 minutes of going nowhere, and proceeded to walk the rest of the way on foot. Thankfully, theater was pretty close.)
7:37
Paul & Fabienne arrive, and off we go!
8-ish
Sun begins to set, and we arrive in Rockerfeller center. It's very pretty.
8:30
At the top of the Rock! The view is breathtaking--cameras don't do it justice. You'd need an Omni screen, or an IMAX to get the scale and feel right, at a minimum! It was awesome! I tried to get some steady shots, but nighttime is tough with a camera. Finally figured out to use the top of the binocular thingies to steady the shot.
9:15
Wonder how far away Empire State Building is, if the view is any better, and how long it would take to get there.....
9:20
Leave the Rock, start heading towards Empire State Building!
9:45
Arrive at Empire State Building. Not as crowded as originally thought. Should be up there quickly.
9:55
Get off elevator at 80th floor (still 6 more to go, but that's a different elevator. Boring ride by the way... Rock was better.) Get in back of HUGE line... start to worry about time.
10:10
Halfway through line, still worrying about time.
10:13
Staff guy announces elevator line will take about 30 minutes. Or, the stairs are open. Only 6 flights. Should take 2-3 minutes. We leave the line.
10:14
Up first flight of stairs. Piece of cake.
10:15
Up 2nd flight. Not too bad, I can do this.
10:16
Up 3rd flight. Really? 3 more?? Grrr...
10:17
Up 4th flight... Omigosh, this sucks.
10:18
Up 5th flight. Only one more! You can do this!
10:19
Start 6th flight. Legs burning. Look up, and 6th is really 6th and 7th and 7.5th! What a scam!
10:21
Exit staircase. Force to climb 4 more steps to viewing level. %$&@#!!!
10:22
Catch breath, see view (through crowds of people,) have to catch breath again. ;)
Eh, it's no better than the Rock. Still awesome, though. But way more crowded, with far less space for all the hundreds of people trying to look. Really windy.
10:28
Watch seagull flying over head.
10:29
Watch said seagull use the air above our heads as a toilet. Crowd goes, "Woah!!!!!" and duck for cover. Wind blows seagull poop away.
10:30-ish.
Hear from gals at show, but between wind and reception, hard to hear what's going on. Decide to leave ESB.
10:45
Legs hurt. Tired of walking all day, yet still feeling energized. Stop in Walgreens to buy gatorade. Tastes so good.
11:00
Arrive back at hotel. Roommate isn't feeling well. Off to corner deli for drugs (Pepto Bismol and such.)
Sunday, 12 a.m.
Chat about show, Mommy hood and who knows what else with roommate.
1 a.m.
Get in bed, read gossip magazines, still chatty.
1:30 a.m.
Sleepy time.
8:30 a.m.
Wake up, throw clothes on, head downstairs to get good table for breakfast. Eat.
9:35 a.m.
Get in line for elevator... It takes forever to show up.
9:45 a.m.
Head back to room, shower, pack, leave. Receive text message from Jeremy that swine flu confirmed in the city. Remind everyone to thoroughly wash hands. Eyes roll. :)
10:40 a.m. (I think.)
Uyen and Liz split from us to get ready to catch bus. Kristen, Shelley and I get on subway to go to Staten Island Ferry.
11:20 a.m.
Arrive at Staten Island Ferry terminal.
11:30 a.m.
Ride ferry across river. Feel wind blow through hair, bask in warmth from sun, take pictures of Statue of Liberty.
12:00 p.m.
Disembark. Get Slush Puppies (I got red! I think it was supposed to be watermelon, but it just tasted like sugar water.) Wait for ferry to take us back.
12:30 p.m.
Back on ferry. Enjoy view from other side of the ferry. Get hot dogs and nachos to munch on en-route.
1:00
Back at the terminal. Start schleping to subway.
1:15
On subway. Plan to buy cheap t-shirts in Time Square, then head back to hotel for bags before getting bus.
1:30
Arrive in Time Square. Packed out. Takes a while to walk through crowds. Running out of time.
1:40
Shelley and Kristen head back to hotel to get bags. I look up, t-shirt place is two blocks away. Buy shirts quickly and head back down towards bus. Buy hot nuts along the way (will later almost choke on said nuts... but I survive. Ha ha, nuts!)
2:10 p.m.
Arrive at Bolt Bus stop. Load up, find seat. Kristen and I go for NYC slice before leaving. Mmm... pizza.
2:25
Back on bus with slice in hand (well, in a box, but you get the idea.)
2:30
Bus leaves. Back to DC!
2:45
Stop somewhere downtown. Another stop. Boo. Use stop as opportunity to get book from suitcase. Yay for reading material!
3:00
NOW we're headed to DC! Driver relays rules whilst in Lincoln Tunnel. On this ride, we can tap on driver's shoulder and whisper in his ear to ask him to raise/lower temperature on bus. Guys, no such luck. :P
7:00
We obey rules and arrive in Washington DC!
7:15
Leave bus terminal. Parking only $10?!?!? Sweet. Drive home.
7:40
Arrive home, Kristen and Shelley get their things. Goodbyes are said, and I go in to see my kids/hubby. Amazingly, house is still standing, kids aren't filthy, and they're even dressed! House is even picked up, and front lawn mowed. Awwwww.....
Glad to be home. Had an awesome time, but missed my family. It's good to be home. :)
Final thoughts:
~I will definitely do the Rock again. Empire State? Ehh... maybe. But only if I were willing to pay extra to go up the additional 20 stories. That might be cool. But it was too crowded and not well organized, so the "experience" wasn't as nice as at the Rock. Plus, the Rock had this cool light room that sensed where you were in the room and lite up accordingly. It was like being in a video game....
~We're quite proud of ourselves for figuring out how to navigate via subway, but weren't very happy they diverted some of the trains we wanted to take.... We managed, but it was a pain. Oh well.
~The dim sum was AWESOME! Will definitely be back for that. And store-bought/frozen just isn't the same. No comparison.
~Uhh... I got the handbag bug! Will have to stop in Chinatown again for more bags! Hey, I don't even care if they're not the "real" thing. Since I can't afford the "real" thing, I don't mind having something that at least LOOKS nice (and, as far as I can tell, is pretty well made.)
~Central Park definitely demands more time than we gave it, but it was nice to see at least a little of it, and enjoy the sights and sounds that go along with it.
~Souveniers in Chinatown are much cheaper than in Time Square. Except for t-shirts--those were the cheapest right around 48th and Broadway (in Time Square.)
~While the city may never sleep, drugstores do. They were all closed by the time I got back to the hotel, unfortunately. The one near the ESB, though, was open 24 hours, but that would have been a little bit of a hike from the hotel. So if you need essentials, or just cheap drinks, stop there before heading out for the night.
That's all for now. Two hours is enough time to spend on one post.
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