A Day in the City

The day after the parade was Monday, Memorial Day, and Ryan and I decided not to battle traffic on 95 so we weren't leaving until Tuesday. We tossed a few ideas around, but I really wanted to go into the City. It had been way too long since my last trip and we never really had the chance to go together. We went to Coney Island last summer, but as for the City itself, not so much. So we spent the morning saying goodbye to my mom and dad and brother as they got on the road and then hung around with Babci and Poppy until lunch time. Then we got on the train to head to New York City.

My cousin Jill lives in the City now as she is attending law school there. She offered to meet us when our train got in and to hang out with us and help us get around. It has been a few years since I have been there so I happily took her up on her offer! Our first stop....

Chipotle. I am dead serious. There are no Chipotles in eastern North Carolina and we have been craving it like crazy! In Alexandria we went there quite a bit and it had been well over a year since our last burrito. I always get the burrito bowls and a grapefruit Izze... oh it was heavenly.

Some of the sights we saw from afar, like the Empire State building, but others we really wanted to go to as neither of us had done them before. One was the World Trade Center Memorial. We took the subway to the area but the line for tickets was HUGE. We were sadly about to cut our losses when a guy reaches over to hand Ryan something. Like a good city boy (well, not really, but he lived in DC long enough) he said "No thanks" without looking. The old man then growled at us, "Son, take the free tickets!" We look and the man handed us three tickets to the Memorial for 5pm. He explained he couldn't go and would be coming back tomorrow and he had three tickets to get rid of. Looking at him he was obviously a veteran and I am convinced he recognized Ryan as one as well (the haircut tends to be a dead give away!). We were so touched and thanked him profusely... we could now go to the Memorial.

We did have some time to kill so we decided to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge, another big must see for me as I had never been! We went through a nice park and then watched some pretty awesome street performers before heading to the Bridge itself.

It was crowded! Oh man was it crowded. And warm... it finally hit the 70s and in all honesty it was the perfect day to be walking out in New York City. Even though the Bridge was packed we still walked across and took pictures. It is never that crowded in the movies :P

My cousin was an awesome tour guide! Thanks Jill!

All three of us on the Brooklyn Bridge. My husband never wears sunglasses....

The Statue of Liberty

Skyline

This picture became one of my favorites. We just had a great time together enjoying everything. After we got off the Bridge we made our way to the Memorial. After going through security (and by passing the HUGE non ticket holder line) we were finally there. As someone who lived less than an hour from the City during 9/11 it was extremely difficult for me to be there, my cousin too. Both of us definitely shed tears. My husband was extremely quiet as well... the reason he decided to join the Marine Corps in 8th Grade was because of what happened on 9/11. Now nearly twelve years later it was incredibly surreal to be standing there, looking at the giant fountains where the Twin Towers had once stood.

The Freedom Tower is basically in between the North and South fountain memorials. Standing below and looking up at the finished (at least on the outside) building made me feel so incredibly small. I have seen it from afar during its construction but being right there was a whole different story.

When we walked around and saw roses, mementos and other things it was just heartbreaking. As we read the names what got to me was how many had a woman's name with "and her unborn child" next to it. Each time we passed one Ryan wiped the pollen/dust from the surface of that name and paused for a moment. The Memorial is beautiful and I am so so glad we went.

We also saw the Survivor Tree... it has been there since before the 1993 bombings (also honored at the Memorial) and survived 9/11. It was transplanted during construction and recently replanted at the Memorial site. It is slowly starting to take root again and will be a constant reminder of Survival to all who see the Memorial.

The museum on the Memorial site wasn't open so after sitting for a bit we headed out. On the way out we saw a table giving away pins to the first 1,000 veterans or active duty military who came to the Memorial so Ryan got a nice pin that he wore the rest of the day.

After pausing (and in all honesty taking a needed smoke break to calm ourselves) we took the subway to Rockefeller Center to get me some cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. I ended up eating them in the car on the way home the next day and they were delicious! I got Red Velvet and my second favorite, yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

We walked by some shows and man I wish we had the time to stop and see them! It would have gotten us on the train home way too late, but I hope to see another Broadway show some day. I saw quite a few growing up (it happens when you're a theatre person and live not too far away) but it has been years since the last time I saw one.

We then got to see my cousin's apartment (nice!) and relax for a few minutes before going to a bar/restaurant nearby to meet her boyfriend for dinner. I also took the moment to photography my Magnolia stuff properly.

We had a good (if pricey, welcome to the City) dinner of burgers and beer while watching the Yankees/Mets game before Ryan and I had to get back on the subway to catch our train home. As you can see he is wearing his pin in this train picture!

We had a wonderful time playing tourists and got home in enough time to make sure Babci and Poppy were not worried about us being out too late! The next morning we all had breakfast before Ryan and I got back on the road. Luckily we planned it right and hit no traffic except for an accident right outside of Baltimore but even then we were only stopped maybe ten/fifteen minutes before we reached our exit.

Ryan's allergies developed into a cold that day which he then gave to me.... but we are both better now and I finally got to blog about our road trip! Whew.

Snowpocalypse Indeed

Sorry this has taken me a little while to write, but I wanted to upload pictures of the snow to prove my point and I can't find my camera! My room has turned into a black hole... I know it is here somewhere but I just am not positive where. Eek. Well I need to clean it sometime before Ryan gets here FRIDAY (YAY!).

Oh wait! Picture uploaded from my cell phone....



This was outside of our hotel on Wednesday the 10th. YIKES. Behind Ryan's car, that white lump in the background is a completely burried car! And it was snowing still so hard when I took that.

I took the train down on Tuesday, I left at like 6:30am with my Dad as he went to work. I was on the train by 7:20am and then in DC by 11:45am, only an hour late or so. Not bad compared to what would come....

So I get to Union Station and the metro is running for the first time in days. I manage to metro to Eastern Market and I found Ryan shoveling snow on 8th St. It was soooooooo good seeing him. He was still working so I went back to his room (and cleaned it, I am nuts that way) and waited for him to get off work. We grabbed some food and went to the hotel in Alexandria, about 10 minutes or so away. The snow started that night as we celebrated Valentine's Day. I gave him a red coffee thermos that's awesome (but he lost it in the snow the next morning) and we had some red wine in the glass I bought since the second glass shattered in my suitcase.

We went out around 8pm or so and cleaned off the car and went and got Ryan a snow scraper since he didn't have one. Boys. We meant to do a quick trip but with the snow we got turned around and shuttled to Route 66 and it took us nearly an hour to get back. Which was stupid as neither of us had our phones, I didn't have my purse or ID or money, and it was just stupid. But we got back ok.

Cleaning the car off the next day was torture. Some guys staying at the hotel helped us and we helped them with their car. We borrowed shovels from the front desk and somehow got out of our spot from over a foot of snow into the blizzard. Did I mention it was a blizzard??? So somehow I end up in the backseat sitting on Ryan's laundry between two tvs (that I gave him over a month ago and are still there) praying we don't crash as I can't buckle. Oh, and we had Dave in the front seat. Dave from Chicago who helped us dig out the car and needed a ride to the metro or Connecticut Ave. He got the metro. As you can guess I was not thrilled with the arrangement but Ryan said we needed him if we got stuck. Luckily nothing happened. His wife was glad we got him to the metro to go find her in the end. But it took us 2 and a half hours to do what would be a 15 minute drive!!!! No side roads or even minor highways were plowed so we had to stick to the still terrible main roads. We were the only car driving, everyone else (and there were not many) were in trucks and jeeps with 4 wheel drive. We had 2 wheel drive and slid around a bit. At times the wind was so bad it was literally white in front of us. Driving on the beltway during a whiteout is not fun. At all. But we made it. Finally.

So we grabbed lunch and I got a phone call that my train was cancelled. Crap. My parents were leaving Thursday to go to their new house in North Carolina for the long weekend and I had to get home. I got on a train for the next morning, but I had to pay $320 for a hotel room to stay over night! This was in walking distance of the barracks and metro, we couldn't drive anywhere and trains weren't running so I had no choice. It was that or the street. Ugh. It was worth having another night with Ryan but that was too much for a room for one night. I think they took advantage of me.

And of course that night I had cramps so bad I literally had to take half a percocet to not be in agony. Ryan kept soaking wash cloths in hot water and putting them on my stomach for me but I was so uncomfortable. Uggh.

The next day I get on what seems to be the only train leaving DC. Sold out of course. And all the trains after it are cancelled. So we get as far as Baltimore and almost to Wilmington (after leaving DC half an hour late) and we stop. Apparently we hit a snowbank and the air supply to a car was cut off... so we sat there two hours. Then an acela came and we got on that by crossing on a bridge between the two trains. I got a seat but some people didn't. Naturally the girl on the floor next to me was coughing her brains out, luckily I haven't gotten sick yet. Then we get to Phili and all of us not originally on the acela had to get off onto ANOTHER train that was already half full so people were on the floor again. We get out of the station in Phili, literally like going ten feet and stopping due to an electrical problem. More waiting. My three hour train ride became a seven hour train ride (with three different trains!). I got home by 6pm and my parents and Stefan left.

Saturday I went to the Anointing of the Sick mass. It was beautiful and very emotional. When Father Tom did the laying of the hands and blessed me with oil I can't lie, I got very teary. I even read at the mass which I hadn't done since Easter. I can only hope it helps. After I went to mass and Jill, my cousin met me there.

Ryan had 24 hour duty Sunday so no Valentine's Day for us. He did send me red tulips and blue irises (our wedding colors!) and chocolate covered strawberries. I love that man! But Jill came over Saturday night and we hung out, watched chick flicks, and drank Chocolate Lab (a chocolate sort of wine. GET IT!)

That's about it for now. Just working at the pharmacy, planning the wedding (invites are in! we went back to the Marine invites as homemade just wasn't in our budget or time frame), and just missing being with Ryan. Sorry for the longwindedness!