New York, New York!!!

The "I HEART New York" t-shirt REALLY says it all! I COULDN'T agree more!!!!

Duane and I flew to NYC Friday night for a quick weekend getaway (before Delta COMPLETELY takes over, and things get TOTALLY messed up!). It was AWESOME!!!

We got to our hotel (the Belvedere) at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning. It wasn't as BRUTAL as the Paris arrival a few weeks ago, but MAN was I ready for bed!

We got up Saturday morning, and headed to the TKTS office at the South Street Seaport. We were able to get tickets to "9 to 5" and "Blythe Spirit"...more on that later!

After lunch at the Heartland Brewery (I had the bbq chili, and an apricot ale...YUM!), and a brief stop at a police car/fire engine car show we discovered, we headed to the ferry for the statue of liberty and Ellis Island.

the car from "Starsky & Hutch", and the police cruiser from "The Dukes of Hazzard"

Manhattan from the ferry

Coming to NYC in June is WAY different than coming in February. WAY more tourists! After standing in line for about an hour and a half (from the line to get tickets, to the line for security, to the line to board), we FINALLY took off. I've never been to the statue of liberty. I have to say that it's REALLY cool!!!! We walked around the island for awhile (tickets to go into the museum at the base were LONG gone by the time we got there), took about 200 pictures, then headed to the ferry station.

After we got back on the ferry, we headed to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was AWESOME!!! My favorite part was the "restoration of the facility" exhibit! I LOVE that "renovation-y" stuff...very cool. They had AMAZING photos of what things looked like when it was abandoned, as well as artifacts, and miscellaneous items found in the building in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Wow!

After Ellis Island, we had dinner at a lovely trattoria near the hotel, then changed to go to "9 to 5" at the Marquis Theater. It was a HOOT of a show! Very much in keeping with the movie, but with lots of cool new tunes. I LOVED it!!!

Alison Janney was AWESOME as Violet Newstead, and Megan Hilty as Doralee, and Stephanie Block as Judy were FABULOUS as well. I have to say, however, that one of my FAVORITE characters was Kathy Fitzgerald as Roz Keith. She STOLE the show...dowdy , with an inner passion that was HILAROUS to see unfold...TOTALLY awesome!

After the show, we walked around Times Square for awhile. I LOVE Times Square. It's VERY touristy, but SO fun, and SO bright, and SO shiny! After trying to move through the huge crowds for about 20 minutes, though, we headed back to the hotel, and went to bed...EXHAUSTED!!!!

Sunday, we did a TON of walking! We started with a ride up the elevator to the "Top of the Rock" (the Rockefeller Center). It had GORGEOUS views of the city, and the sun started to come out while we were up there, making the views of Manhattan even MORE gorgeous as our time there progressed.

After the "Top of the Rock", we went down 5th Avenue, watching the Puerto Rico Day Parade as we went, and ended up at the flatiron building (I LOVE the flatiron building!). The Snapple Big Apple Barbecue Block Party was taking place in a park nearby, so we had some AWESOME bbq from one of the participants (from Texas, I believe).

We took a TON of pictures at the flatiron, then, after walking around the base of the building, headed back to Manhattan for "Blythe Spirit" at the Shubert Theater.

What can I say about "Blythe Spirit", except that I LOVED IT!!! Rupert Everett, Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole...it was FABULOUS! I would TOTALLY go and see it again (even better, I'd LOVE to be in it!).

My FAVORITE part was when Angela Lansbury threw a sandwich that she was holding during an "epiphany", and it landed behind her, in the bookcase. Not particulary fun in and of itself, but, APPARENTLY, she "ad libbed" the move, and Rupert, and ESPECIALLY Jayne Atkinson, who played Ruth, broke character and started to laugh!

Jayne had to turn away from the audience to get back into character...I LOVE it when actors do that...it reminds me of all the times Harvey Korman "lost it" during the Carol Burnett Show...PRICELESS!

I also REALLY liked Susan O'Connor's interpretation of Edith, the maid...she STOLE the show! Mousey, and hyper, and strange, and FABULOUS!!!! What a fun show!!!

After the performance, we had dinner at Junior's. Our table faced the "stage door" for "Blythe Spirit" and "Next to Normal", and we were able to see Susan O'Connor and Rupert Everett as they left the theater...TOTALLY cool!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to "regroup", then spent the evening walking through Central Park.

If I had to live in New York City (which, at one point, I TOTALLY wanted to do), it would have to be somewhere near Central Park...it's SO green, and SO calming, and SO..."park-y"! What a wonderful space, and what an AWESOME place to just "hang out"!

lanterns outside "Tavern on the Green"

We made an early night of it (mostly because our feet, knees, legs, and backs were KILLING US from all of the walking we'd done!!!). New York may be the "city that never sleeps", but we were in bed by 9:45!!!!

Monday, we got up, had bagels and coffee at a gourmet grocer near the hotel, and then headed to La Guardia to come back to Minnesota. The flight was TOTALLY full, but we managed to BOTH get on the flight, so it was all good!

What an AWESOME trip! I can't wait to go back again...SOON! We invited Tena to come with us, but she had too many comittments keeping her in Fairfield. The only thing that would have made this trip better would have been having her there too!!!!

Hope YOU had an awesome weekend as well, and that you got to enjoy something that YOU'VE long admired and wanted to do!!!