Ok, time to unveil those summer vacation plans... I know folks just love to read about where someone else is going!
We were fortunate enough to have had two extraordinary tropical island vacations the past two years. While there's certainly nothing wrong with that setting, we figured we had to do something a bit different this year... so it seemed time to head for the hills, the Rockies to be more precise... but that's Part 2... and we'll save that for later... since in just a few weeks...
We are off to 2007 Summer Vacation Part 1! This trip came together quite quickly and spontaneously. This past Christmas my brother's family and I decided to surprise our Mom her 70th birthday. However, my parents do NOT like surprises AT ALL... so we couldn't just show up at the door... so a few weeks ago, on Mother's Day, I "surprised" my Mom with the news. I planned on it just being a long weekend... but then Todd's company forced him into taking vacation time (long-ish story, but just go with it)... so I talked Todd into come along with me and extending the trip to a week... so while the Rockies trip is quite nice, another week away gives this year's vacation destination(s) a bit more of a WOW factor...
... however, sitting around a fairly sleepy NJ suburb (with my parents no less!) is not exactly WOW material, so... we are off to Manhattan for two nights!
You may recall our last trip to NYC in October 2005 (and the last time I/we saw my parents) was... ummm... memorable... a whirlwind, one-day tour of the city amidst the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammie (dumping 6 inches of rain in 24 hours). So Todd's first visit to NYC was primarily underneath an umbrella... or with one out in front of us as we walked against gale-force winds. Todd never did see the top of the Empire State Building (picture, left)... not once!
We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather is better this time... if Mother Nature still has a grudge, we hoping that at least one of days is a good one... though whether can tend to linger... I don't suspect we'll be lucky enough to escape some good 'ole East Coast humidity.
While I am surprised to re-read all that we did manage to see in that first trip, we didn't really do all that much beyond running from place to place and getting soaked to the bone. So we decided to plan a couple of activities in advance...
While we are no Yankees fans (well, except when we were there to see them be on the losing end of the 2001 World Series), we still thought it would be pretty cool to go to Yankee Stadium. Alas, the Bronx Bombers are out of town... but the Mets are... so we are headed to Shea (before that stadium gets replaced in 2009). Also, as a tennis fan and despite living in NJ for 20+ years, I will get my first ever glimpse of the National Tennis Center as well as the iconic Unisphere, which, among other things, served as the backdrop for the finish of the first ever Amazing Race.
With another night in town... it will absolutely surprise no one, that we are going to see a Broadway show... Todd's first Broadway show on Broadway. The dilemma... which one show to see?!?! We see quite a few Broadway touring shows each year.... 12 of which are currently on Broadway, so it seemed like we should see something we have not seen before. I was considering opening it up to a vote and/or advice here... but figured that would just complicate it even more. So I managed to narrow it down to about 6 shows and we finally decided on The Color Purple with American Idol winner Fantasia. She has received rave reviews (well, of course, not in a recent issue of EW) since taking over the lead role of Celie and given the show quite a box office boost, so we are looking forward to it... though it was really a tough decision.
There's a whole bunch of other stuff on the unofficial agenda... but I'll save that for the trip recap.
I guess that's it... oh, another funny thing. Well, not really. I purchased the round-trip plane tickets... and Todd was insisting on paying for his ticket. But then I said, why don't we wait and see how much the hotel is going to cost? We decided to go with a mid price-range hotel in a good mid-town location... nice, but not super schmancy... Todd paid for the 2 nights hotel... and let's just say I got the better $$$ end of the deal.
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