NYC - THE ASSAULT

Last weekend the Boss and I crossed one thing off our bucket list, a full blown trip to the Big City. We arrived Thursday afternoon and went back on Sunday staying in the W Hotel in Times Square off Broadway. Trip was sponsored by our Venture miles and home renovation! Many thanks to the Google Maps App which had all of the train routes and compass pointing me in the right direction. Here is a brief rundown of our mission to ingest as much of NYC in four days as possible. I hope you are warm and comfortable. Here is a pic with one of the new world trade center towers that we saw.

• Tons of subway travel. I love subways so we used this system to-and-from the airport and everything in between. Which also meant a ton of walking. We never took a cab and the Boss confided at the end of our trip that she was sad that she had never hailed a cab. Normally, I'm a sucker to make her dreams come true, but this one didn't happen. No crazy people or encounters on the trains. It was largely a model showcase for the MTA to these tourists. 
• Accidentally went to Brooklyn. TWICE. I thought the sign for DUMBO (not the Disney Elephant) was talking about me. 
• So much walking demanded some Gellin insoles for the Boss's boots. Apparently they were not made for walkin. 
• Snackbox in Times Square. Best donuts I've ever had. Period. Heck, go there just for that. Coconut Creme and Peanut Butter. The texture was amazing. Krispy Kreme really is white trash. This place has ruined my opinion of all other donuts... not that I'm going to quit eating them anytime soon. 
• LDS Temple. Its awesome. You should go... but it may have technically been the priciest thing on our list. Steve Young basically told Jerry Rice the same thing. 
• BTW we met a great couple there that we hung out with off/on for several days: the Today Show, Empire State and the MET.
• You know I don't do names on here, but one of our new friends is a full-on doppelganger for Stephanie Meyer. I was half expecting her to get stopped over it. 
• And no, for once in my life I did not ask any embarrassing questions about it. (although I should have).  
• LOTS AND LOTS OF PIZZA. DURING THE DAY AND LATE AT NIGHT. By far the best was John's on Bleecker Street. It was condemned last year for infestation... its that old and yes there was still a serious line to get in. Its that good. I'm that much of a tourist. Go look it up. It was fantastic. Thanks to "The Sweat" for that recommendation. 
• Second place was some dive directly southeast of the Empire State. Yes, the pizza made me giddy. 
• Jersey Boys - This musical had everything you'd want in a Broadway show, good story, laughs, lots of fun music and tons of swearing. Yes, leave the kids at home for this one and rat me out to my Bishop so I can become the hymn book coordinator. 
• TOURIST JUNK SHOPPING IN CHINATOWN - I have no idea what possess people to want to buy lame tee shirts, statues and knock-off designer bags from theses places. Hence, the reason I still find my wife full of mystery. But hey, this whole trip was not just for me. 
• MoMA - I'm sure the Boss would say "I have no idea what possess people to want to blow $25 to look at kids paint splotches and see pointless works of art where silence is a 4'33 song." And she is totally right. I actually had more fun at the San Francisco and DC MoMAs than this one. Its got all of the Picasso's, etc. but I want the truly crazy stuff like rooms filled with machines cutting paper into art. 
• The MET - Don't know what to say. Its the MET. We went and saw nothing good. Nothing good? What do you mean!? We saw priceless works of art.. we ate pancreas!? (name that reference!)
• Grand Central Station - Nice architecture. Lots of trains, beams of light and a clock. 
• 9/11 Memorial - The museum was not yet open, but the waterfalls in the foot prints of the two towers was spiritual and haunting. The holes seems to just drag you down to the sorrow of that moment and the water has a cleansing aura. Very well done. The new towers look cool, it will be nice to see the whole thing completed. BTW - they are making a killing off the entry fees.

• Wall Street - Yep. Satan and his minions are there with a ton(s) of gold beneath the Fed according to the Museum of Finance. The bull statue was cool, except for all the annoying people trying to get a picture touching its balls. At least I saw no one treating it like the Blarney Stone...
• Cheese-steak Cart - Famished and wanting after the EPIC FAILURE of Champ's deli to produce a sandwich worth eating (yes we actually threw away $18 worth of food. Why? Because we were better than it) we found this cart. Cheese whiz, peppers and steak? It was bliss. 
• Found Fletcher Street. Seemed like a tiny alley that time forgot.Took a picture. Apparently its getting a make-over. Go Fletcher Street!  http://www.lowermanhattan.info/construction/project_updates/30_fletcher_street_79675.aspx
• Slept in twice. Time well spent. 
• BUT DID NOT SLEEP IN on Friday for THE COMMUNIST TODAY SHOW.
• My precious Broncos Sign was made for free. "Mile High Madness | Go Broncos!"
• My precious Broncos Sign did not make it into the broadcast even though they said it would
• The only reason they asked us to be in that "so called fame shot" was becuase my wife is so beautiful... and we had Stephanie Meyer with us.
• Boss shook Al Roker's hand. I had chills. 
• Hear the news delivered from a communist perspective. I was tempted to try to get the crowd to start chanting DRAGO! DRAGO! DRAGO! 
• Stayed wayyyy too long. I ran away to Walgreens and got warm for a good clip of the time. 
• FAO - It was just like Big. The piano was there and its all 30+ years old and completely jumped the shark. 
• Dylan's Candy Bar. Tons of candy, loud music, kid friendly with a bar upstairs. New York!
• Serendipity 3 - The home of the original iced hot chocolate. Yes, I know that's an oxymoronic food but I didn't invent it. Worth the 45 minute wait? You bet. It was charming and the bizarre Summer Bries sandwich was delicious. 
• I can't believe I've typed this much already and you are still reading. You deserve THE TRIPLE CROSS. (name that reference!)
• Starbucks truly is on every other corner and the lines to get a stupid hot chocolate are insane. 
• Seems like 1/3 of all women were wearing spandex or tights. Often with no skirt and no it was not always attractive. Yep, that questionable look may be coming soon to your hood. 
• Saw lots of hipsters with ironic modes of transportation and popular counter culture clothing... Good for them. 
• Peanut Butter & Co. This was a pleasant surprise next to NYU in "THE VILLAGE" (Greenwich). I had a maple peanut butter bacon sandwich and it was jaw dropping or locking. Boss got the Elvis. Even better. 
• Central Park. Its nice. But to a guy from Colorful Colorado, it doesn't do much for me. Bought some chestnuts that were roasted, but not over an open fire. They seemed awfully bland. No wonder I've never had them before. 
• It was fun to muse over how many times this place has been mangled in super-hero battles while walking around. 
• Did I say we ate a ton of food? 
• I should also mention we walked it all off. I weighed less after the trip than before. So did the Boss.  
• EAT THAT NEW YORK CITY!!! I DEFY YOU!!!

My biggest take away from the trip was how much fun I had with my wife. Take any couple with nearly 15 years of history and get them in each other's faces for 4 days non-stop in the NYC pressure cooker and tempers could flare. Quite the opposite for us. I wish I could do nothing but tour the world with her. But alas, these are the days of our lives and at least I get to spend a few great ones like these with her alone once every three years.

Now go and do all the stuff we did. Seriously. The list is not long enough when you are with someone you love. Here are some of the pics. Don't tell anyone who we are.