NEW YORK

It is on my Bucket List to see a Broadway play in New York City. Now I can officially check it off my list. We left Richmond for New York at 6:00am. That means that I had to be up at 3:30am. We flew Jet Blue. The plane was very small. I must say that it was the scariest plane ride I have taken. The plane made a funny whining noise and lurched and tipped. I was really scared. Ashli just said in her ever calm way, "What can you do about it now. Just relax." (After we got home, she told me she was very scared too but she stayed calm so that I would calm down. Who takes care of who?)

When we arrived at JFK, we were like deer in the headlights. Again, Ashli took control and got us on the right airtrain to the subway station. Then we boarded the E train to 42 street. I had never been on the subway before and I was a little freaked out. It took about 30 minutes to get to 42nd street. There were so many people crowded in that little train. People were standing practically on top of each other and ME. When we finally reached our destination, I could not believe the people. All running and moving in great herds. When we finally got on the street, we had no idea which way to turn. So we started walking, then turned around and walked the other way and then TA DA there was our hotel. Happy Day!!!! It was only 9:30 and check in wasn't untill 4:00pm but we went and asked about putting our bags somewhere. Our room was ready and they checked us in right then. We went to our room and decompressed.

Then we left our bags, got our directions out for the day(The night before we left we went to a website that showed us step by step how to get to our destinations.) and headed for the subway. We were pro's. It wasn't scary anymore because we had a place to go back to. We went downtown to the financial district and it was amazing. The buildings were so tall and close together. We saw the stock exchange.(People looked a bit stunned and there were reporters everywhere.) Our real destination was the Statue of Liberty. We bought a City Pass so we were able to skip ticket lines and get right on the ferry. It was surreal to actually see the Lady. I didn't know that Ellis Island is a totally separate island from Liberty Island where the Statue stands. We could have spent all day at Ellis Island. I have a new understanding for our ancestors as they came through Ellis Island. How scared they must of been, but determined to make a better life for their families.

We walked to Ground Zero and were a little disappointed that they didn't have a memorial or something down there. It was strange to see such a big open space in the middle of such a crowded city. They are working hard on the new buildings.

Then we made our first mistake. We went to a New York Skyride in the Empire State Building. It was so bad. Very lame and a bit nauseating. It was kind of like the Star Wars ride in Disneyland only without the delight of Disneyland.

We then headed for our hotel and got ready for Wicked. I was so excited!!!!

Wicked was wonderful. We absolutley loved it. The stage props and actors were perfect. I would love to see it again . I saw a Broadway Musical!!!

After the show we went down to the Empire State Building to see the lights. Yes we rode the subways at night. It wasn't a bit scary. There were still lots of people out and we stayed with the crowds. I can't even explain the beauty of the city lights from 86 stories up. We took pictures but they didn't turn out very good.