NYC...part II (Days 3-5)

Okay so where was I, that's right Day 3 in NYC (that's Friday)

Friday morning we got up extremely early to get stand-by tickets to watch Conan. We get up at around 5 am, take the subway and sit in line outside NBC studios until 9 am when they hand out the tickets. Sorry there are no pictures of us in line, but I can tell you we discussed riveting topics like: Sports, Television, Movies, Netflix, Family life, etc. Those things you just can't incorporate into pictures.

After getting our tickets we walk around time square.






Here is MTV Studios







While in Times Square I had to go to the large Toys R Us to see all the neat toys that I can never find in LA.






Here is Lego Jack Sparrow










Here is the Lego Empire State Building with Lego Kong (I love legos by the way)










Having been up for a really long time, we were getting hungry so we stopped at Carnegie Deli before we took a TV and Movie tour of the city.




Here is probably one of the bigger turkey sandwiches you will probably see....the picture still doesn't do it justice.





So onto our tour. One of the first buildings we saw is both the ending building from "Crocidile Dundee" or the Building where Borat poops outside of in "Borat: Cultural Learning of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan"



Here is the penthouse building where Lois Lane lived in the original "Superman" Could a news reporter really afford to live up there?






Here is the top of the Plaza Hotel. Seen in movies such as "Home Alone 2" "North by Northwest" "Big Business" and "Almost Famous" just to name a few.







Here we have the New York City Library, seeing this all I could think of is "Get her Ray!!!!" - that's Ghostbusters for those of you who don't know.






About halfway through our tour we got to make the stop that I was waiting for all day, The Cosby Show House! These are the steps they used for the establishing shot each episode. Growing up on that show I have to say this was a highlight.







Here is the apartment used in Friends, the tour guide made the bus sing the theme song....I refrained.





Here is the firehouse used in Ghostbusters, as well as Hitch, I did not see Hitch






Here is an interesting place, it's home to the first Cappuccino maker in America brought over from Italy. It's also the bar used in Godfather II in the scene where Michael Corleone men attempt to strangle Frankie Pentangeli. "Michael Corleone says Hello!"



Leaving the tour early we went back to watch Conan. Unfortunately for us, this is as close as we got to Conan on this day. Too many of the regular ticket holders came, and thus our stand by tickets were useless.


After a quick nap at the Waldorf Astoria (spoken with a British accent) we went out to dinner in Chinatown.





After walking around a bit we settled on this place.







After dinner we decided to visit the observatory deck of the Empire State Building






If only you could see what we were looking at....







Here is a look of Lower Manhattan at night (I suggest clicking on the picture to seeing the full view)






Here is the Chrysler Building










The World's Largest Macy's








Day 4


Day 4, we slept in before going back to Yankee Stadium to watch the Angels play. The crowd wasn't that bad, but this angel fan got ejected for throwing something





Here is a picture of my least favorite Angel pitching to Johnny Damon






This is pretty much the only time you'll see me in a non-Dodgers jersey, but just like John stepped up in San Francisco I decided to do the same. Jim and Jen don't have jerseys because: Jim wanted to show off his favorite polo and Jen "forgot" to take it out of her purse.


Following the game we went to have a nice steak dinner.








After dinner we went to see the "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" It was hilarious and I highly recommend it. See if you can be an audience participant as well.








After the play we grabbed some desert. I went with the peanut butter fudge cheesecake. I think it put me in a coma.








Day 5


The Day started with John, Jim and I waking up early again to go see the Statue of Liberty. Jen decided to sleep in. Here is a subway car that passed us...many did as we were waiting for the 1 train.







After waiting for a lengthy time period we checked the schedule and found there was no 1 train on the weekend. We were not thrilled but ventured on and eventually got in line. Here is John looking around at some other tourists.



After waiting for a bit we finally got over to the island. The Statue is quite impressive. I would have liked to have seen it went it was covered in its original Bronze color.




Here is a neat picture of the statue and the Manhattan backdrop.







Here are the three of us on Liberty Island







Here is Ellis Island, I heard at the gift shop you can still pick up an immigrant orphan!







So after the boat trip we came back and met Jen at Virgil's BBQ in Time Square for our last meal.






After lunch we walked Jim back to his subway stop, killed time and then went back to the Waldorf to catch our shuttle.






Overall it was an awesome trip that went by way to fast. ---I'd write more but this blog to look enough as is.

Trip to NYC (Days 1 +2)

Upon arriving in New York on Wednesday morning, here is how my trip went






Here is the first picture my camera took in New York, its of a fountain/waterfall combo thingy...it just looked nice


Then we went to the "Top of the Rock" (That's Rockefeller Center) That's Central Park from above...obviously.





Still on top of the building, but looking the other way, toward the Empire State Building.






Here is our hotel, well the door to it a least. A common occurrence on this trip was John holding the revolving door shut so Jen couldn't get out....funny every time!




After checking in at our hotel we took the subway to Yankee Stadium for a Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees game.





Curt Schilling warms up for the Sox, no bloody sock, I was pretty sure that meant they were going to lose...





Yep, they lost, but at least the Yankee fans were nice and respectful........oh wait.






Day 2:

The next day started with Jen going to meet a friend for lunch. With the whole city at our disposal, what do me and John do?




Go to Central Park to play catch of course!!






Here is a picture of John admiring the scenery and views that Central Park provides.






After playing catch, we took the subway to the World Trade Center (This is one of the numerous pieces of artwork around Ground Zero)






Here is some of the construction.








Here is a drawing of what is being built there now.












After the WTC site, we decided to visit the Natural History Museum.



Here is a seismic map showing all earthquakes from the past week. I'd hate to live in that sea of yellow circles!





Following the museum, Jen wanted to lounge and me and John wanted to play catch, so back to the park we go! There wasn't any scenic shots for us to admire this time.












Saw this in the park...I just found it funny for some reason.






After John's cousin Jim came in from DC, we all went to Serendipity for dinner and deserts. Here is my Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate drink...mmmmmm (Yes like the movie!)


Come back tomorrow (hopefully) for the remainder of my trip. It's late and I'm tired right now......don't judge me.

Three week update blog

Yeah I've been ignoring the blog for the past couple of weeks, and I do apologize for that. Lets see if I can get a few blogs in a row going. Here are some topical updates:

My foot:










I had the stitches pulled last week, and am back to wearing normal shoes, although it hurts if I have to push off or if I step wrong on a step or edge. I was able to bowl and play softball again, so my stint on the disabled list is over.

The Dodgers:









Being a ticket package holder is fun, although its a lot of games, haha. So far I have been impressed with the team, despite a few glaring holes, i.e. no power threat, a void at 3b for much of the season, the big free agent pitcher on the DL since mid April. Despite all that they are still in first place with a decent lead compared to other divisions. I think the things that have made the difference though are: nomar's incredibly clutch hitting, martin's ability to call great games, a dominant bullpen, and the call up of Andy LaRoche....well maybe just his walk-up music:

I heart Andy LaRoche now!

Denver's Draft: B (could be an A, could be a D)
Denver as usual took at least one player with off-the-field character issues, who had huge talent while playing, but couldn't straighten himself up when he left it. On the plus side at least, we did draft defensive line players that we desperately needed. With our two corners and a fast linebackers, that was all that was missing. Hopefully Cutler matures fast and keeps the offense going.

New York:
Just over a week til we get to go. Unfortunately John's company canceled his meeting and thus didn't need him to go out. What that meant was that John no longer had a free hotel room and we were forced to look for something since we had all bought our plane tickets already. I suggested this:

The luxurious YMCA in Harlem. Shared bathrooms, locks on your doors, iron on the fences. Everything you could possibly look for in a room right? Well apparently not, so we are staying here instead:









Its supposed to be nice, we'll see.

My next post will be funnier as well...this one is lame, but I said I would blog today.