Waking up in a City that never sleeps- NY!

After a week of training for work in Minnesota, I caught a flight to JFK, to meet up with my hubby and spend 4 days in this city!
Flying into JFK at night was pretty amazing, we flew over the city and the lights from Times Square were glowing like a beacon down below.  I landed, had my suitcase and was out the doors in a yellow cab within minutes.  Then we hit traffic-at 10:00pm, thanks goodness the cab ride was a flat rate as we sat and crawled. An hour later I arrived at the hotel Chandler- a wonderful boutique hotel, located near it all.  I was exhausted, so settled in I climbed in to bed- set my alarm for 8am as Frank was landing at 6:30am and we had whole day of site seeing to do!
7:30 am and knock at the door woke me up- there he was!  An hour from landing, getting through customs and catching the subway. Whew, I was up and at em.  Out the door by 8:30- New York here we come.  Being well located out hotel was on 5th ave- we started the walk up to the library as I had to see the lions out front- first stop The New York Library:

 Carrying on down the street - next stop was Grand Central Station- this huge station is super busy, and standing watching was amazing how it is just buzzing.  The main hall is incredible with the constellation ceiling and so many people.  There is also a huge food hall underneath the main hall- very impressive.

Onwards up 5th avenue towards the park- there were all the huge, expensive stores to be seen- Saks, Nieman Marcus, Dolce, Trump etc- crazy ornate store fronts and did I mention HUGE.

Of course as we approached the park we were both starving- my google map was great - I had marked all the great places to see and eat and looking at said map we were a few minute from Sarabeths- one of my places to eat.  Of course it was on Park Ave, so there was a line up- but there was not a wait for the tables inside- so inside it was.  The streets are super noisy anyway.  After a good omelet breakfast, we were ready to conquer Central Park.  The carriage and horses were tempting, but after stepping into the park and realizing its sheer size, we knew bikes were the only way.  We backtracked, got our bikes and were on our way.  Of course we wanted to go clockwise- but the road only goes anti-clockwise- so we reversed our plan.  First stop the toy boat sailing pond- how many movies has that been in; and the Alice in Wonderland statue.  The state was impressive, although there were a whole lot of us waiting to take a photo as one mom let her kids stay on the statue and hang out as long as they wanted- no regard for anyone else!

 Continuing our ride- next stop was Belvedere Castle- pretty stunning views of the park although still hard to capture its magnitude.  Then we came to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - one of our main destinations of the day.  Walking our bikes around to the front ( you are not allowed to ride bikes on the paths, only the main roads.)  We had a hard time finding a spot to park the bikes- every phone, bus pole were taken!  After a few enquiries we found out that there is an underground parkade with bike racks- down we headed and parked and up to the main entrance to the museum.  Staying in line to pay- the "suggested price" is $25 per person- we had heard not to pay that- but any donation will do.  The lady in front of us gave $1; but we felt our Canadian guilt seep in and we donated $10 (a whole lot more than most around us).  Then we were in- this museum is HUGE, we really had no idea where to start or what to truly see.  The music exhibit seemed like a good start- plus it was enroute to the bathroom (all that hydrating watched up to a person!)  The music exhibit, then the armoury, medieval art, photography and ending with the Egyptian wing; we saw quite a bit.  But then decided we had to do a little more riding as our bike rental ran out at 4pm.

Riding back in to the park- we cut across as we were too tired to cycle the entire park and over to Strawberry Fields.  We found the Imagine park and sat for a while as a guy belted out Beetles songs, and watched so many people come and go.  A quick side trip across the street to The Dakota Building to where John Lennon lived, and then we were back to the park entrance, bike drop and back walking down 6th ave to the hotel.

Of course there are sites to see on every street- we passed by the LOVE statue, Radio City Music Hall and Magnolia Bakery - yes please I need a cupcake.  NY is known for cupcakes and of course there are cupcakeries on each corner.

It was a long walk back and we were so ready for a nap.  At the hotel we asked or concierge if there were any good comedy clubs around- he had some tickets for us and so booked us at the club and a place for dinner.  We had a little nap and then we were ready for the evening.  We walked to dinner at a great place the called Banc- great tapas style dinner was had and then we were off to the comedy club.  It was a pretty intimate setting and we got to see 8 comedians- it was a really fun night.

After this we thought it would be a great idea to walk up to Times Square- seemed like a short walk, but it was 27 blocks up!!  An hour later we arrived to the BRIGHT lights that are Times Square, at midnight we could not believe how many people and craziness was going on.  It was so bright and so busy- absolute crazy!  We sat and watched people for a while and then we were done- we caught a cab back to the hotel as we could not walk a second more.  Back and crash.  We have another full day ahead tomorrow- a good night's sleep sounds about right.

Observations after day one in this city, the walk and don't walk signs are a rough guideline, people here do not wait for the sign, as most streets are one way- you look up the street and if there are no cars you walk- regardless of the sign.  These traffic lights are also not pedestrian controlled- you walk/don't walk when the street says.
Everyone loves to honk in this city, they all honk if the light turns green and the car in front isn't halfway though the intersection yet. They honk if the car in front stops for- say a pedestrian, they just honk and honk!
Everyone is in a rush- it seems to have kept most of the New Yorkers pretty skinny - there were no fat people in this city :)
Most streets are one way- which makes Jay walking pretty easy. They are also all on a grid so you have a very difficult time getting lost in this city.
Lastly for such a huge concrete city, there are a lot of green spaces to be had- we passed many parks and many small community gardens along our way today.

Oregon

First week of August and our annual trip to the Oregon coast!
We decided not to leave on the Friday night as we usually do, due to the fact that we always seem to get stuck in traffic in Seattle and spend 7 hours doing a 4 hour trip (normally staying at the Red Lion in Olympia).
Saturday we left bright and early and arrived at the border to a 3 minute wait (yay Nexus).  Then we were off - after a couple of hours our first stop was Starbucks for a coffee and snack; then on to Portland and a lunch time stop at VOODOO donuts TOO.  I had investigated this and found there is a second location that does not have the hour line ups.  So we arrived and managed to get a dozen donuts in no time flat.

Then we were on the road again and 45 minutes we arrived in Salem.  We drove to the Super Walmart, Subway and groceries were in order.  After an hour of shopping the Chandlers had caught up to us and we packed their car with all the groceries and on to the coast.

Arriving in Neskowin exactly at 5pm, just in time to pickup the key and make our way to our house- "Mermaid Cove" for the week.

After unpacking and realizing that none of us wanted to cook we were back in the cars and off to Pacific City.  We arrived and had a 2 hour(!!!) wait at the Pelican Pub before they would serve us.  So we sat and enjoyed the sunset- the kids all climbed the dune and we waited.  After our 2 hour wait we were eventually seated and had an okay dinner.  The views are what we come for but I think a 2 hour wait is crazy- especially when we could see lots of empty tables.  So at 10pm we were done and done and back to the house.

The house was pretty chilly when we got back and we realized the heating was not working- luckily there was an indoor fire and wood to be had- so a nice cozy fire was in order.  Then off to bed.

Monday and we were socked in.  A very foggy day was ahead of us.  The kids all headed to the beach, the young 'uns building sandcastles and the older ones skim boarding the day away. Denise and I headed down the beach for a lovely foggy walk.  We spent the day lazing around and having an all round relax.  Then the kids all headed down to set up for the fire- what day would be complete without a campfire (no fire bans here!)

Tuesday we woke later- had a bit of a laze about.  Then we were off shopping- the outlets were calling our names.  We all got a bit of shopping in (not too many bargains as the dollar is not that great for us at this time.)  Then we carried on south to our favourite Fogerty Creek.  After a great hotdog bbq lunch we started our agate hunting.  Not too many agates to be found- it seems that there have not been enough storms and the agate hunting is not too good right now- boo.  So with a tiny handful of stones we left a while later and back to those for some afternoon chilling and of course a campfire.

Tuesday was another gorgeous day on the coast!  It seemed like the ideal day to head to Taft beach- we arrived to a bit of a windy day- but the tide was out and it was gorgeous.  We settled in the kids skim boarding and the little ones floating out on the river.  They made it to the other side and then a gust of wind took their floaty and we realized they were running and running and not seeming to catch up to it.  We watched for a while, then Denise decided to cross the river and go help.  By this time the tide was not the way back and the river was getting high.  A lot of running and catching up to the floaty ensued, Denise caught up to them but by this time there was no coming back, so they had to cross on the highway bridge- Ian went to rescue them!  What a scary thing.  But all safely back we hung out some more- all the while I was burning to a crisp- I guess the 50spf didn't suffice.
After a few hours we were back in town and doing some Lincoln city shopping- antiquing, candy land the ushe!

Later after a dinner of steak, it was casino time.  Denise and I headed to the outlet mall beforehand, to get some quick, quality shopping in (sans kids)- and then it was casino time.  The craps tables were not our friend though and we were done after a couple of hours - the sunburn had really set in by then too- so home we went and bed.

Wednesday dawned another gorgeous summer day and we stayed around the house- took a walk in the Neskowin village- always so quaint!  After lunch we had the Louden family stop in - what a treat to see them after 9 years!  A great catch up on the beach for a few hours.  Then they had to leave as they had to make it to Woodburn and outlet shopping for the boys.  We had picked up pizza for the kids in town and they had pizza, while we headed off to the Hawk Street Cafe for an anniversary dinner for the Chandlers.  As always the meal did not disappoint - halibut for me was so good, mahi mani for the boys and seafood pasta for Denise.  We  also met a very interesting lady - who had an affinity for the Beatles and talked our ear off for some time- hilarious!  Then we waded back across the river and back in time for a night of games and hanging out- another amazing day on the coast.

Thursday seemed like a good day for a road trip- Newport bound we packed up the car and headed south.  The hour or so drive down the coast was stunning- the skies blue and the views as always breath taking.  We stopped in Depoe bay for a look at the ocean and to see if we saw any whales.

Then on down to the waterfront in Newport.  After an amble along Front street we had a lunch of pizza, hotdogs and clam chowder for some; we spotted all the sealions; then headed with the kids to Ripley's Believe it or not.  That was interesting for sure...

A bit of "antiquing" found me a good book stash :)  Then home to Neskowin.  After another amazing dinner we headed down for our bonfire on the beach.  Another wonderful day on the coast.

Friday- our last full day, we woke up to fog.  The day was a lazy day- we went to the outlet mall quickly for a few last minute things.  Denise and I popped in to the Christmas store and I got my tree ornament.  Then we were home with Papa Murphys pizza and our last night was spent packing and chilling. Saturday was an early morning departure.  Until next time....