Hitting The Road Part 3-The End

Our last day in the city was really just a half a day because we had to drive the kids up to my brothers house for the night and make it back in for Craig Ferguson. There were still a bunch of places we wanted to get to but we had to narrow it down to a few. I also had recharged my camera battery so I was set to go.

This sign popped out at me as we went to get on the Weehawken Ferry. You can never really get away from Maine.
Of course, we went here. It was Saturday so it was deserted. They had been in reruns the week before so we couldn't try for tickets. I still wanted to stop by and show the kids.
This awning just taunts me. I should be working there. I should have had more of a plan in life instead of just happening into things. We should have moved to New York when we were young and stupid. It seems too late now. Anyway...
We only had time for one other stop. We got on the subway across from Letterman and it was the only time I was a little scared. It was too deserted except for the homeless guy living there who was clearly hearing voices.
Declan was obsessed with going to the top of the Empire State building. It would have cost almost $100 dollars for all four of us to go up. Grace had no interest in it so Tim took him up while Grace and I waited at street level.
Problem was, we only had one phone with us so we couldn't keep in touch and had no idea how long it would take them to get back. Turns out-it took them 2 hours. Grace and I spent a very boring 2 hours hovering outside of the building. We bought some postcards and ate at Wendys. It's really time for Tim to get his own phone.
We had to head back so we went back to the ferry. I had to get a picture of the billboard on their front. It's hard to make out but it shows the plane that landed in the Hudson surronded by our ferries rescuing passengers. A few days after we got back home, we were watching a documentary on it. Turns out, this rescue happened right in front of our hotel. Nothing this exciting happened while we were there though.
So, the kids trip to NYC was over. They both loved it. I'm going to encourage them to move there when they grow up so we can visit them. Tim and I still had to make one more trip in. Craig Ferguson started at 7pm and we had to drive an hour and back to drop the kids off at my brothers for the night. We planned it out but didn't figure on huge traffic on a Saturday afternoon.

This is the Jersey Turnpike. It was 3 miles from our hotel and it took us half an hour to get to this point. The cars were barely moving and no one seemed to be in any sort of lane. It actually cleared up a little after this and my brother lives in cow country so there was much less traffic. We dropped the kids off after I pried Grace's hands off me and we hightailed it back. We got back, changed in 30 seconds and grabbed our tickets.
It took us some more time to get there than we thought. Guess we should have figured it would be hard to catch a cab on a Saturday night. I sort of felt like we were on The Amazing Race. In the end, we were only 15 minutes late making it to Carnegie Hall. All we missed was most of the opening act so I was fine with that.
Here is the one picture of him I managed. People were taking all sort of pictures but I felt like I would get in trouble. He was awesome as always. We breathed the same air for a while.
We ate afterwards near Times Square and then we went back. We should have stayed later but we were drained at that point. I tried to get some pictures from the top of the ferry but it moved so much everything turned blurry.

He ended his show like this so I'll end my post with it. I love when he sings...

Hitting The Road Part 2

So, the next morning, we got up earlyish and took the ferry over to the city.
The Hudson river looks calm but isn't. It's like a mini ocean. The boat ride was a little rocky but very short. Before we left Maine, Tim and I made lists of the places we wanted to visit. Tim mapped it all out for us so we wouldn't waste time. As soon as the ferry landed, we got on the subway to go downtown and then work our way back up.

Our first stop was Ground Zero. The kids are starting to ask questions about what happened there and I'm not sure how much detail to go into. The last time we went to New York, it was 1999 and we took the PATH train into the bottom of the World Trade Center and then went to a couple stores inside. Things look a little different this time around.

One block down was what became my favorite stop-The Irish Hunger Memorial. The whole place-soil, grass, flowers, rocks etc.-was brought over from Ireland and set up here. We were the only ones there that morning and, if you could block out the skyscrapers around you, then it really felt like you were there. I called my mother while we were there and told her we were calling her from Ireland.
They also brought over the remains of a cottage from the time of the Potato Famine. This is a typical size but it's scary when you think of the average size of an Irish family. I hope it had some other rooms that they didn't bring over.

Our next stop was St. Paul's Chapel which is right next to Ground Zero but escaped any damage. It is full of all sorts of interesting gravestones and memorials. I would have loved to have taken pictures of all of it but my camera decided to die on me. It actually gave me a message saying "the battery is exhausted". This made me mad because I was the one dragging 2 kids around lower Manhattan and I was the one who was exhausted not my battery. Luckily, Tim had his camera so you can thank him for the rest of these pictures.

Tim's list included walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. We were all up for it except for someone...

Grace was not happy at all about it. The walkway takes you through the center of the bridge but she seemed to think we were going to be on the edge and we would fall right into the East River. In the end, we made it up to the first pillar before we had to turn around and go back.

I sort of suspended my "no pictures of me" policy a little bit. I just made Tim promise to take them from way far away. Here are Declan and I in Washington Square Park under the arch.

We always go to 30 Rock and the kids wanted to see where the Today show was. I made one of my only purchases inside the NBC store. I went straight to the clearance rack and bought a Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien t-shirt. It's a collectors item now.

Just across the way, Declan spied something-it was a Lego store! We have never been to one. There is a bigger one in Times Square but this one did just fine.

Declan was beyond excited. I also had a small victory while inside. We told them they could each get something. Grace went to the wall of Lego pieces and picked out all sorts of cool little pieces to make her own creations. Declan and Tim headed over to the Star Wars kits as usual. Here's where my victory came in. I want my kids to love Harry Potter as much as I do but they have always resisted. Finally, a few weeks ago, I just started reading the first book to Declan at bedtime. He made fun of me for it but he started to listen and like it even though he won't admit it yet. In the store, I pointed out to him the Harry Potter kits and he actually put back Star Wars to get Harry Potter.

One of the major things on my list was going to Katherine Hepburn's house. I know she wasn't home but I wanted to see it anyway. Slight problem though, this was the wrong house. We went to 244 East 48th St. but she actually lived at 244 East 49th St. Major fail that I didn't realize until we got home. Now we have 10 pictures of some strangers home.

There were other stops including FAO Schwartz which caused a major meltdown from one of them. We decided we were done for the day after that. It was a bit of a hike back to the ferry and we were all exhausted.

We were very happy to see the ferry. We still had another day in the city so we headed back to New Jersey for some overpriced room service.

The city did Grace in but doesn't she look like America's Next Top Model here?

Hitting The Road Part 1

We have never gone on a real family vacation. I know..we're terrible parents but we do live in Vacationland. Last March, Tim bought us Craig Ferguson tickets for my birthday. He was playing Carnegie Hall in New York City so we decided to turn it into a trip for us all.

The day before we left, our only car needed major overnight repairs and then I discovered our luggage was ruined. Apparently if you never use it because you never go anywhere, don't store it in the basement by the litter box. It will absorb odors. We got the car back early Thursday morning and after a quick trip to Wal-Mart to buy new luggage, we were off. I have made the trip between Maine and New Jersey countless times so it's old hat for me.
I love getting to the Massachusetts Turnpike because they still dispense a toll ticket. I remember when I was little, my father would always let me pull the ticket from the machine and then I would figure out how much we had to pay once we hit our exit. I was easily amused on long car trips. Once, my brother taught me how to swear at truckers on the CB radio we had but that's a story for another time. He also taught me if you give the finger to the truckers then they will honk their horns. I was 5 at the time. I'm getting off topic but these are my memories from my childhood family trips. Anyway, I love that toll tickets still exist somewhere because I don't think they'll be around much longer.
This is another childhood memory of mine but you can't see it though the rainy window. On our trips between New Jersey and Maine, we would always stop at Queen St. just outside Hartford. They have one of every restaurant there and we would always pick one to eat at and to let the dachshunds out of the car. Now, Tim and I always try to stop there but it always sneaks up on us.
We had a first on this trip. Tim drove into New York City. We wanted to stay in the city but it's very expensive and I was freaked about bed bugs so we found a nice hotel right across the Hudson in Weehawken, NJ. To get there, we had to drive down through the Bronx into Manhattan and go through the Lincoln Tunnel. The Bronx is shockingly nice, at least the parts I saw from the road.
I never could have driven there. I would freak out. Small confession-I have never really driven outside of Maine. Tim always drives so I just never have to do it and I never get to go anywhere by myself. For this trip, we actually got a GPS so that might expand my universe.
We hit the city right at rush hour but people were mostly trying to get out instead of in. Except for the Lincoln Tunnel. It was busy and had all these construction barrels up without any construction actually going on.
We got to the tunnel thanks to the GPS and the traffic cops. NYC roads weren't as scary as I thought they would be. I think we will do it again. As long as we don't have to park there.
We made it into the tunnel and headed towards Jersey. The kids really didn't like the idea that we were traveling under the river. Grace wanted to check for leaks.
The hotel was right by the tunnel so we were there in no time. We stayed at the lovely Sheraton Suites. The Bedbug Registry told me it was pest free.
The room has huge awesome beds. I wanted to steal the thick white cotton comforters but they wouldn't have stayed white for long in my house.
It even had a sort of separate couch area. I don't think we've ever stayed in a room this big.
It also had 2 flat screen TV's although the one by the beds seemed to just randomly change channels whenever it felt like it. I told the kids it was ghosts.
This is the nicest bathroom we've ever had. They just redid the hotel so everything was new. Yes, that is my luggage in the tub. If you're a freak like me, then you know that you have to put it there while you check the room for bedbugs. We were all clear so I went ahead and unpacked.
I found the room rates posted on the door. We did not pay anywhere near these prices thanks to Priceline.com. This was a sign of how expensive New York was going to be.
The view out of our window. Straight ahead of us was an office building. Then there were these condos stretching out into the Hudson. Tim told me that some football player named Eli Manning or something like that lived there. If you moved way over to the edge of the window and leaned your head against it, then you saw our view of the city. Declan was amazed by it and is now in love with the Empire State Building.
Right in front of the hotel, is a waterside walkway so we headed out there to start taking our tourist pictures.
Downtown.. we figured the cranes in the middle were Ground Zero and we turned out to be right.
Midtown was straight across from us. I like the Empire State Building but I'm more of a Chrysler Building kind of girl.
The ferry docked right next to the hotel and they ran every 20 minutes. We rested up that first night and headed into the city on one the next day...

Maps Showing Me The Way

Well, Blogger won't let me load any pictures tonight so I guess I have to make an effort and actually write something. Lately, I've started putting more effort into my Etsy store, Maine Days Designs and it is really starting to pay off. I seem to have found my niche and my map jewelry is really taking off. A lot of my sales have been custom jobs for places that are special for people. I think that's why they are selling-everybody has someplace special they would like to remember. I hope Christmas sales really take off because of that. I keep all the money I make in a separate savings account and I love watching it grow. All my little sales are more fun than my real paycheck. Tonight, a retail store up at Sugarloaf emailed me and asked me if I sold wholesale. I have no idea how that would work but I'm willing to find out. Meanwhile, is anyone interested in some early Christmas shopping?

Apple Soccer Sunday

It's apple picking time around here again. I love the idea of apple picking more than I do actually turning the apples into pies. Basically, I'm just creating more work for myself but it's always my idea to go.

There was a bad frost this spring that killed a lot of the crop but they were overflowing at our regular place. I decided while we were there that we are moving to a farm with an orchard.
This year they had those long pole thingies which made things more interesting for Grace. She even allowed a picture.
We went picking right after Declan's soccer game which is why he is still in his uniform. He doesn't usually have orange hair spray in his hair. It was some sort of team bonding thing. I think this is how the whole men painting their faces at football games starts.
We found some huge apples which made the picking go faster.
Now, I have a bushel of apples on my kitchen counter and no motivation to do much with them. Maybe tomorrow night I'll get going on them. I wish people around here liked applesauce.