Day 4 - Big Boy Toys

This was a day of child-like indulgence! We started the morning off walking by Rockefeller Center and hitting the Godive Chocolate store. Ok... let me say it again so it sinks in... the GODIVA Chocolate Store. Oh my gosh! That place should be illegal! It's crack with a warm sugary center! I paid 4 dollars for what amounted to a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. The crazy part... I'd do it again! I washed down the peanut butter cup with a shake labeled "Milk Chocolate Decadence." It was so expensive and good that I labeled it "Picture Worthy." Sorry the image is a little fuzzy, but I had trouble holding the camera at this point...



After the Godiva store, we stopped off at the Apple store for a minute and then went into FAO Schwartz. Ok... the Apple store looked pretty... that's about all I can say. It was WAY over crowded. (yah, it's NYC, I get it.. don't care...) It was pretty cool... basically a big square room with all the Apple stuff you could imagine. Everything in the store was expensive. (part of being Apple) There was even a bar where Mac people could go ask questions of Mac experts. Apparently, this is widely used, because there was a long line to talk to the Mac Gurus. Honestly tho... it just made me happy to be a PC guy. The Mac culture is just too thick for me.


FAO Schwartz had every stuffed animal ever created by mankind... If you're into stuffed animals and are tired of building your own bear... go here. Harrison loved the huge keyboard (the one from the Tom Hanks movie "Big") and we got to get pics with life-sized replicas of R2-D2, Chewie, and Vader.







Toys R Us was the next big stop... I promise... this is NOT the Toys R Us you're used to. Does yours have a ferris wheel in it? Does yours have a life-sized animatronic T-Rex in it? ....... I didn't think so.






After Toys R Us we stopped back at the apartment to recuperate for a while, and then walked across the Brooklyn bridge. This was an awesome sight! Everyone should take a walk across this bridge at least once in their life.


I was "All Along The Watchtower"..... get it? (don't care... I thought it was funny... that's all that matters... Amy and Robert groaned at that one too... LOL)




That was it for this day... We had a blast, but we were TIRED. Robert and I only got about 4 hours of sleep this night though... at 12:30 in the AM we hit the IMAX and saw the late night showing of "The Dark Knight." We'd already seen it once on a regular screen... but we're from Texas. BIGGER IS BETTER! For those of you who've seen it, remember the pencil trick? The pencil was the size of a buick! It was great! For those of you who haven't seen this groundbreaking most wonderful Batman film of all time... slap yourself right now and then go see it. It's that good. YOU WANT TO SEE THIS ONE IN THEATRES! DO NOT WAIT FOR THE DVD, JUST GO.


I'll be posting more as I can. I was gone for a week... I've been back at work for over a week... and I feel like I'm still a month behind... but I have a lot more pics to work with now, so I'll be posting more ASAP. (Yes mom, I promise....)

P.S.

I forgot to mention... one of the best parts of STOMP! was that... after the show... we stopped and got a drink. While we were there, we met one of the girls in the show! Then, we walked about a block down the road and met two of the guys in the show! It was amazing to see them just hanging out on the street after the show. NYC is just a cool place.

STOMP!

The perfect follow up to Spiderman was the Off Broadway Show... STOMP! These guys rocked harder than anyone I've ever seen! Literally, this was the best live show I've seen in my life. This wasn't the watered down traveling version on the huge stage. As awesome as that is... this was at a small theater that is devoted to this show. It's been there for years... this place doesn't do other shows. The walls were lined with subway signs, dishes, pipes, street lights, trash cans, car doors, you name it. If you've seen anythign related to STOMP, then you know what I'm talking about. The theatre couldn't have held more than 1 to 2 hundred people and that's including the balcony. It was a small place. We were packed in like sardines, but it just didn't matter. The second the show started (with nothing but one guy and a shop broom) you were mesmerized. It was full of humor without anyone ever saying a word. That, combined with the pure adrenaline filled, awe inspiring, heart pounding, rhythms made it the show of the century. The sounds reverberating off of the walls echoed in our bones and by the time we left we were physically exhausted! The only downside was that there weren't any pictures allowed. So... I've got a pic of the sign that will be added as soon as I can get it off of my camera. I forgot to put the memory card in, so I'll have it up as soon as I can get a cable to get it straight from the camera.

It Just Gets Better!

Ok... Ok... the Lady Liberty thing was pretty cool. But to get off of the boat and meet Spiderman! OMG! Oh... wait... (nearly lost my cool there...) As I was saying... Harrison was excited when we got off of the boat and saw Spiderman. So... for him... I selflessly insisted that we get a picture with him. How could I, being a good christian man, deny a 4 year old of his dream!?!?!

Day 3 - Lady Liberty

We took the Ferry to Liberty Island. I have uncovered one of the great mysteries surrounding this beautiful monument... she really is naked under that Toga! I have photographic proof! See...

(They have glass in the ceiling so you can see the infrastructrue.)


Here's a few more pics for your viewing pleasure:

Day 2 - BIG Apple!

Plane ride went great. I broke down at the airport though... I couldn't stand it any longer... they had a VENDING MACHINE full of iPods, accessories, PSP's... it was too much for me! I was assaulted by technological sweetness! So... I bought an iPod. $267.00 after tax and I totally couldn't afford it. But now I'm swimming in 50gb of music I bummed off of Robert. It's the coolest thing EVER. I certainly don't stand out. Everyone in NYC has headphones on. It's like having your own theme music wherever you go... something I always speculated I was really supposed to have. It's truly wonderful when one of life's dreams come true when you least expect it. :-) Anyway, we made it in time to go on the "Circle Line Tour." It's basically a boat ride around the entire island. The guy telling you all the history was a little freaky. He was way too political and he kept plugging his book that apparently never sold any copies. But really... he was awesome in his weirdness and highly informative. Here's a few pics:



I've got one more pic here... (Just for you Julz) It's an advertisement for the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week." To put in perspective how huge this thing is... take a look at the windows with airconditioning units sticking out of it... someone lives there... I wonder how many bills they put down for that ad!

Good 2 Go

Got up at 4 this morning. Downed some coffee and got to the airport by 5:15. Security check-in took 5 mins. According to airport personnel, if we got here at 6, it would've taken an hour. So, here we sit, waiting on our 8:15am flight. The flight should take 2 to 2.5 hrs. I'm stoked! Ready to be in NYC.