Connecticut 

Woke up early this morning to start what will likely be our busiest day of our trip. Our friend at The Fuller Cup even invited us to drop in an hour before they opened for our sugar free vanilla iced lattes before our drive to New York! Talk about amazing customer service! I called her as we left the hotel and she had our drinks waiting with a big smile!So this morning we drove through Connecticut to get to New York for our day trip. We decided to have breakfast here and with the help of Yelp decided to go to “The Place To Be” in Hartford. Cute little place, horrible coffee. Sat next to three little old Italian men that we decided were likely mob bosses trying to blend in, ha ha.It was a pretty drive after we drove through what looked like an area you kept your doors locked and didn’t stop for anyone, ANYONE. Not even the cute little Italian mob bosses.Another thing we discovered about Connecticut is that no one seemed to know what a post card was and I may have had to check a mirror to see if I’d somehow grown a second head with the looks we got when asking where we could find some. Somehow we found some at the gas station on our way back to the hotel, when I had pretty much given up on the idea.Enough about Connecticut already, somebody pinch me I’m finally getting to go to….

NEW YORK!!!

I was actually on hangouts with our three little girls when we came over this bridge, so we all got to see the New York City skyline together for the first time. We found a parking garage online last night and parked in Queens and took the ferry into Manhattan. As soon as we got there we walked straight to Times Square. Talk about sensory overload. I did have to call the girls back on hangouts to show them the ball that we watch every New Years, okay, so usually not Mad, because she’s typically asleep long before then. But she did get to watch the 2017 ball drop and was excited to see it with us like this. We hung around Times Square trying to take it all in as best as possible and even popped in a few shops for a souvineer. Grabbed our granddaughter a New York book from a famous little book stand there. And got our littles the oh so popular right now fidget spinners.We took the long walk to the Harley Shop to scoop up something for my dad and a little further to the very overwhelming three story candy store, Dylan’s for some goodies for our favorite lil monsters.This is where I’ll also say I’m thankful we walked 14.5 miles today,  because food! We shared a cereal crunch ice cream at the famous, Milk. That honestly tasted like milk, the powered kind.We shared some of a NY bagel, actually we got a flagel (flat bagel sandwich). Snagged a pretzel from a street vendor to split. And on our walk to the ferry tonight we hopped into a small pizza shop that we smelled a block away for a slice of traditional New York style pizza that I had to use 34 napkins to soak the grease off of before I took a bite. So enough about food already, there is so much more to New York and we only had a day. We intentionally avoided certain things, for example, the statue of liberty, because we want to experience that with our kiddos. But we did find the Beattles “Love” spot for a quick picture.We did happen upon the Trump tower that we only realized we were by because of the overwhelming presence of police, secret service, cement barriers, and a make shift police station around it. Though let’s be honest, anyone that knows us knows we aren’t fans, so on to the next spot!We finally made it to Central Park and the sky was excited to welcome us with a downpour for about ten minutes.Then the skies gave us a break and we got to see Central Park in all its glory.

We opted to not bother with the shiny yellow New York Taxis, and headed below ground to the subway. And New York didn’t let us down, we got to see a big ugly sewer rat while waiting. And what would a subway ride be without a stranger trying to sleep on your husband and taking selfies with your tired new friend?

Now when we got off of the subway we reached the somber part of our day. Walking towards ground zero. I can’t begin to tell you how unprepared either of us were for the emotions that would slam us so suddenly fifteen years after 9/11. But they did. Honestly I had tears in my eyes just walking towards it. Imagining the fear that so many innocent New Yorkers, tourist, and Americans felt that awful morning. Especially as we approached the North pool.Seeing the actual size of it, that no picture can properly prepare you for and all of those seemingly endless names of the innocent lives lost.Reaching the South pool and seeing a flower left by a loved ones name.And an American flag by another.Really, if you ever make your way to New York, be sure this is a part of your day. I remember vividly where I was that fateful morning. The horror of watching it that evening on the news with my then five year old son. Nothing at all can prepare you for the moment of actually walking up and seeing the memorial in person. And the beauty and pride of New York looking up at the new building that stands in its place. As we walked away from ground zero both of our phones died. So we had to kick it old school and find our way back to where we started without the help of our trusty phones, or in this case, not so trusty. We found a coffee shop to sit in and charge our phones and our own batteries before we drove the 3.5 hours back to our hotel. New York was incredible. I loved sharing this experience with my love.When we got off of the ferry back in Queens I snapped this photo before it was out of sight.And a couple more of the skyline at night.I can hardly wait to make a trip here with my dad and another with my husband and our lil monsters. Because we fell in love with New York.