My Bite Out Of The Big Apple

I have a travel bug. It normally strikes around the holidays. Two years ago I went to New Orleans. Last year I went to Las Vegas. And this year, the destination was New York City.

I went with a good friend of mine, Deniece. (She's going to do a guest post on here with her take on our trip and I'm sure she could be coerced into giving up a few insights about me.) Deniece and I met in college. We were roommates for a year and she's always been there for me. She's the absolute best! Miss her like crazy...and trouble just isn't the same without her. Be nice everyone.

People that know me tend to think I'm a little anal retentive when it comes to making plans and following a schedule. I like to know what I'm doing and what is going on...therefore I'm a gal that lives by the list. From the moment we planned the trip I had the first few days planned out. We're arriving at this time. We're taking this shuttle from the airport to the hotel. We're seeing this show this night. We're taking this tour on this day. Poor Deniece....she fell into line though bless her heart. I also started a packing list a good six weeks prior to leaving. You can never be too prepared. Anyway, all of my planning only made me more excited about this trip.

We left Dallas on Sunday morning and landed in New York City around mid-afternoon. The flight was good. We had the row to ourselves so there was no having to be nice to someone new. Not that I wouldn't have been nice. It's just ...oh nevermind. We had the row to ourselves. There wasn't a lot of turbulence and the take off still made my tummy do a little flutter. I think I'd be completely happy just taking off and landing. That's my favorite part of flying.

We stayed at the Hotel Newton. It was located Uptown near 96th Street. It had the highest rating for economy hotels on Expedia. We were particularly interested in how clean it was and how friendly the staff were. We were pleased with both. About three days before we left my mom asked me if our room had a bathroom. I said "Well of course!" What kind of hotel has rooms without bathrooms. Apparently the Hotel Newton. Thankfully after a quick check with the very friendly reservation guy all thoughts of having to share a public restroom were laid to rest...our room had a private bath. This hotel was great and I would recommend it if you're going to be traveling to New York City anytime soon. If you're going to be spending most of your time out on the town and just using your hotel room to rest each night then you'll like this hotel. If you need things inside of your hotel to keep you busy then you'll probably just want to find somewhere else, but for our humble needs it was wonderful!

Sunday night we went to see a Broadway show. We saw Beauty and The Beast. It was so beautiful! I've loved this Disney movie for a long time (I even went through a serious "crush" phase on the Beast...I had sheets, stuffed animals, a Belle barbie doll...you get the picture) so I was thrilled to be able to get tickets to see it. We had great seats. They were pretty much center stage and we were row R so we were back a little, but it was still fantastic. The set and costumes were so detailed and, like I said, beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed myself that night.

I should throw in the fact that I had my first taxi ride while in New York. If you've ever ridden in a taxi, then you know that there are these little leather straps hanging from the ceiling of the car. I'm very up close and personal with why these are there! The driver was a nut!!! Some of you might be recalling the I'm That Driver post...well this guy was ten times worse than that! We wove in and out of traffic at high rates of speed. We tested the brakes every few hundred yards. Life passed before my eyes several times. And all of this took place in a matter of minutes. The ride back to the hotel after the show was even worse. I would have slid straight under the passenger's seat had it not been for those dandy little leather straps. All in all, I think that a New York City taxi ride is something everyone should have to experience. While it was certainly scary at some points it was fun and I'm glad that I got to do it!

Well, that concludes this portion of the story. My fingers are kinda starting to cramp, but I will be back with more thrilling details!