Back in Time

Now that I am safely home, and using the Internet that doesn't cost a small fortune, I think I will recount for you in further detail the cruise.  Relax, I'm not going to bore you with ALL The details, only the ones I've deemed interesting. And therefore you too should deem them interesting. 

 

Let's start with the NY side of things. 

 

I think it's safe to say that NYC is, quite possibly, one of THE most exciting cities ever.  When you first hit NYC for the first time, or for the first time in years, it takes some getting used to. People everywhere, noise constantly, and the hustle and bustle that never stops.  They say Las Vegas is the city that never sleeps. I'm willing to say NYC is also the city that never sleeps. 

 

Our hotel was in the Financial district which seemed MILES away from anything interesting.  On the one hand it was nice to be outside a bit (though you're never really "outside"), but on the other it kinda sucked we were so far from what I considered the "happening" part of NYC. Still our hotel was nice, small, and quiet. 

 

Walking out the front door of the hotel, turning slightly to your right and you would be facing one of the most beautiful bridges I've ever scene, the Brooklyn Bridge. It was quite literally just an arm length away from our hotel. 

 

I've always been fascinated by the Brooklyn Bridge and was really hoping to get some good shots of it. Unfortunately, they are fixing it and so most the shots I got include some rather unattractive scaffolding. On the day we were leaving on the cruise, the weather finally loosened up enough for SL SIL, Jack and I to walk over to the bridge and get some shots. 

 

Not great shots, but shots all the same.

 

 

Besides the original post I did about NYC 1.1 we did manage to do a lot of other interesting stuff while there.

On Tuesday we did the traditional Hop on / Hop off bus tour of the city. It was cold, wet and a little less interesting while your teeth chattered. Still, I stayed on the top of the bus and perservered. I didn't take quite as many photos as normal given the weather was less than perfect.  

The MomUnit was cold

We hopped off in Times Square to 1) see Times Square and 2) Find the nearest Starbucks for potty break and hot chocolate. 

While in Starbucks, SL SIL and I found this fun little app they had that allowed us to take photos of ourselves and have it sent to us in email.  She and I messed with it a bit, and finally got it to the point where I was actually looking at the camera instead of the timer.  Then we got the rest of our group involved.  Fun stuff Maynard!

It was lunch time by the time we found SL SIL's scarf guy and made our purchases. We asked the scarf guy where around there would be good to eat. He directed us to Virgil's across the way.  Once there, we noticed an Irish Pub next door to Virgil's that looked way more appetizing. So we ate there.

After lunch we needed to get a couple blocks away to hop back on the tour bus. Along the way, Miss Sacramento say a restaurant owned by Guy Fieri (the Diner, Drive-ins, andDives guy). Some of her best friends are big fans of that show and would get a kick out of the restaurant.  She started to take a photo of the logo on the window when she spied Guy Fieri himself in the restaurant. She bolted in. The MomUnit hot on her trail and me right behind.  Guy was nice enough to take some photos with us. Sadly, the MomUnit was too excited to actually get the photo in focus.  Still, you can tell who's who.

Tuesday afternoon our other two traveling companions would be arriving. We had arranged to have dinner with The Nephew and his lovely GF in Little Italy. 

Back in 2006, The Nephew and I had dinner there and he walked me around the neighborhood. I loved Little Italy.  Quite vibrant and smelled like Italy to me.  Now, Little Italy is getting littler and littler. Just 2 blocks now as Chinatown is taking over.  Sad.  

Anyhow, our crew met up with The Nephew and the GF at Angelo's in Little Italy.  To say I had died and gone to heaven with the food at Angelo's would be a little dramatic. But it was damn tasty. 

Tried the new panoramic option on the iPhone. Kinda funky.

After dinner, we walked over to a little place that had, in 2006, the BEST cannoli I had ever had.  I begged The Nephew to take us there again. The short walk did us some good. We sat down and we ate a fine assortment of cannoli's and other misc sweet things.  After that I swore I'd never eat again.

And we all know how that turned out.