NYC - Celeb sightings & all

So, NYC was great.

Day 1. We arrived about 5 am, we took the AirTrain to Jamaca station & got on the subway. We had to transfer from the E to the 6, and then we walked from 96th street to 92nd street and from 4th Ave to 2nd Ave. Kind of a long walk, but we after all the yummy food we ate, we needed to walk (even though we did so much walking our feet were killing by the end of each day) When we got to the hotel, our room wasn't ready (it was only about 8am), so they gave us vouchers for breakfast and a key to the gym so we could shower & get ready for the day. The guy who served our breakfast was a CLASSIC New Yorker. It was great. He even told us ketchup was for Communists LOL!
About 11am we went down to the TKTS booth at South Street Seaport & bought tickets for a show that night.
Then we headed off to the Yankees/Indians game. Sadly, the Indians lost, but they had won the previous 2 games of the series, so I wasn't too surprised. It was fun though & our seats, were actually pretty good, considering how high up we were. Here's a sad moment when an Indians player got out.

I ate a hot dog for the first time since Katrina Wride cooked hot dogs for me & a guy she set me up with back in 2004 or 2005? It wasn't very good (duh!) but I was STARVING, so I put a bunch of mustard on it & chowed down.

We ate dinner at Brother Jimmy's BBQ which was between our hotel & the subway station.
Here's my dad's rib tips after he was done eating (holy cow, it was like a heart attack waiting to happen) I had the pulled pork sandwich & coleslaw, which was tasty.
After dinner we headed down to 45th Street to see Curtains, which was really good. It's ending in June, so I'm glad we had the chance to see it. After the show we were SO exhausted, since we had only had about 3 hours of sleep (on the plane) the night before, so we headed back to the hotel.

Day 2: Friday, it rained ALL DAY. We slept in a little & started off our day with a yummy brunch at the Corner Cafe & Bakery. The Tomato, Ham & cheddar omelet was delicious!
Then we headed down to Battery Park to catch the ferry out to The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. It was rainy, windy & cold, but at least it wasn't crowded. Here's a pic of my dad, sporting his Statue of Liberty rain poncho - the wind blew it up over his head & ripped the side, so he tore off the ripped piece & used it as a belt to keep it closed. classic. I'm not sure if we were laughing with him, but we were definitely laughing :-)
We took the last ferry off Ellis Island, and went over to Ground Zero. It's really just a construction hole now, but I was the only one who had been there before, so I was glad everyone else was able to see it. Then we took the subway up to Times Square. My dad wanted to see another Broadway show, so he bought tickets for Sunday in the Park with George. I had heard it was good, but that's about it. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. It was really good, but I think my dad & I were both more in the mood for a song & dance musical.
Before the show, we quickly ate dinner at the ESPN Zone. I think I ate the most UN-healthy salad ever invented. It had fried chicken strips and onion straws on it, plus I'm sure the dressing was NOT low fat!

After the show, we met Tasha and Aaron at Junior's near Times Square for dessert. I order one at least once a year, usually for Christmas or Thanksgiving, but I've never had a fresh piece of their cheesecake. (Brooklyn was not in my mission & if the Grand Central Station location was open at the time, I didn't know about it) Anyway, it was seriously amazing - more creamy than a thawed out frozen one. I couldn't even eat it all, it was so rich. But I enjoyed every bite I took.
Then it was back to the hotel to get some much needed rest for our aching feet.

Day 3: Saturday morning we ate at the Fetch Bar & Grill, which is next door to the Corner Cafe & Bakery. It has a dog theme, which was odd, but seemed to fit the neighborhood vibe. The food was good - I had a ham & swiss omelet. And then we were on our way to the Empire State Building. Word to the wise, don't go on a Saturday. I wasn't really surprised, but I wasn't thrilled about waiting in line for 2 hours & then fighting the crowds for a viewing spot at the top. When I went on my mission (Wednesday was p-day), we just went right up - no line. Our final tourist stop was Central Park. We went up to the Columbus Circle area & walked around a bit. Aaron wanted to eat street vendor food, so we had a few things like pretzels, hot dogs, popcorn & ice cream. Sitting on a park bench, enjoying the green grass & trees, watching people pass by, the carousel music in the background, it was all such a refreshing contrast to the fast paced city life. After that, we walked up to the church/ Manhattan Temple to take a few pictures.

...And that's when we had our Celeb sighting. We were standing across from the church/temple and who walks up, waiting to cross the street, but Will Swenson, of Singles Ward the movie "fame". He was with another man, a little kid & a lady. (Oh, and he totally had stage makeup on) Tasha walked up to him and asked if she could take a picture with him. He looked a bit surprised & said "with me?". He talked with a weird accent...I wasn't close enough to tell what kind of accent, but it sounded weird. The lady he was with turned to the side a little, & her profile looked like Audra McDonald. But I didn't think anything of it because, honestly, what would Tony award winning, Audra McDonald be doing with Will Swenson? Aaron & Tasha said the lady & other man were laughing when they asked Will for a picture. So we wondered, besides Will not being that famous, what was going on. Later, when we were eating an early dinner at Effy's Cafe, I pulled up a picture of Audra. Aaron and Tasha both said, "Yep, That's her". So, our question was answered. They were laughing, because Audra is WAY more famous than Will, and yet he was who Tasha asked for a picture! I wish now, that I had walked over to Will with Aaron & Tasha, because if I would have gotten a good look at Audra, I would have known that it was her (vs. just a quick profile view). Oh well, I'm sure they had a really good laugh at that one!
When I got home, I tried to find a connection between Will & Audra and low & behold, they were both in 110 In The Sun.
Side notes:
No need for an accent, Provo boy, grandson of Ruth & Nathan Hale.
His future wife, Amy Westerby was in my Marriage Prep class at BYU.
UPDATE:
Will must have been leaving the matinee performance of Camelot at the Lincoln Center, thus the makeup. Good for him, looks like he's doing well in NYC (co-stars include Gabriel Byrne, Marin Mazzie, Fran Drescher and Christopher Lloyd).

After eating, we walked over to the hotel, got our luggage & took off for JFK and got home about midnight.

Here's a little re-cap of the trip via text message between my mom, Angela and I.
Day 1. Wish you were here at the Indians game with us!






Day 2: I love you! (from Ang & Jack)






Wish you were here eating junior's cheesecake with us!
-Mail me one (Ang)
-Tasha says we'll just EAT your cheesecake!


-Mean. Your are mean. (From Ang)





From my Mom (pic of her snuggling with Madison)





Day 3: Wish you were here in Central Park with us!




And just for fun, one last highlight, this poster in the subway ;-)