trip to New York, part 1

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate saying goodbye?  And how much I hate flying?  I do.  To both of those.  I did cry (only a tiny bit in the car and I hid it on the way to the airport) but was quickly fine after saying goodbye.  Todd had Graham drive us to the airport and after they dropped us off, they went to his parent's house to help them with something.  From there they came home to let the dogs out, then went to Mom's and Bill's for dinner.  They stayed alone the first night and all camped out in my room, with the exception of Graham, who slept in the playroom.

We made it to Long Island (Commack) around seven, got to the hotel and were eating dinner by eight thirty.  There was diner in the parking lot of our hotel, and we just walked over to eat and walked back.  It didn't seem like a diner, because the food was fancy and the atmosphere was nice.  We shared a meal, complete with dessert, and there was so much food that we took it back with us to the hotel so I could eat the leftovers for lunch on Monday.

We made our plans and figured out where we were going for the next day, and we called it a night.  I fell asleep so fast, I didn't even watch Gilmore Girls for more than twenty minutes.

On Sunday morning, we got up and ate breakfast and had the hotel shuttle take us to the train station.

This was Deer Park train station (they said it like dee-uh pah-k).  We boarded the train and headed into the city.  The destination was Penn Station.  From Penn Station, we switched to the subway (all underground at this point, and there are multiple levels of the subway station) and got off somewhere in Brooklyn.  Because we were going to church!

For YEARS, I have been watching the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir on YouTube videos, and I've sung so many of their songs in my church choirs.  It was totally surreal being there and worshiping alongside so many people of different races.  I crave that kind of service, and I spent a good portion of that morning in church moved to tears.  I know you find that hard to believe.  ;)  The church has three services: nine a.m., eleven a.m. and one p.m.  The seats are all taken too, and fills from the front to the back.  Todd was in heaven because we sat right behind the tech booth.

We sang so many songs, and it was an amazing morning of worship.

Right before we left, the lady that had sat next to me hugged me and told me she loved me.  I said it back to her, of course, because I do love everyone, and I will see her again someday in heaven.

From church, we walked around Brooklyn.  We found a place to go for pizza and just went by foot.  It was gorgeous that day, and about sixty five degrees outside.

I loved Brooklyn more than any other part of the city.  Everything was so pretty and quaint, and we had the best lunch that day at some little pizza place, and we ate outside.  From lunch we found a Starbucks, because Todd's phone was dying and we sat at the window and people watched until we had a hundred percent charge on our phones.  A strange man yelled at me for skipping line at the bathroom (I didn't SEE a line, so it was accidental).  #rude

We walked around the city for the rest of our time in Brooklyn, and at about four, we got on a subway and headed to upper Manhattan.

I decided that I hate Times Square.  It's for the partying type of people, and the only type of party I enjoy is at home, in my pajama's and with a good movie on the tv.  We somehow managed to walk through there twice, and it was more than enough.

I loved Rockefeller Plaza.

Here we are, about to video call Jonah.

 

We walked all around the Plaza for a good long while, and we went in the Lego store, which was amazing.  We finally found a good place for dinner, but when we got there, the line was too long to get in, so we went to plan b and ate at a place with no line.  My foot that I fractured last year was KILLING me and I needed to just sit for a long time.

We got back on the train around seven and got back to the hotel by about eight thirty, after a scary shuttle ride in which the driver took us through the property of a mental hospital.

On Monday and Tuesday, Todd had class and I stayed at the hotel.  I read, I watched a movie and shows that I like, I caught up on Bible study and I read an entire book.

On Monday night for dinner, we ate at a Japanese steakhouse.

We had another interesting shuttle ride, in which Todd had to navigate our driver, because he was new to the area.  Try doing that with someone who speaks very little English.

On Tuesday night we walked to Chick Fil A nearby us, but it was not open for business yet.  We continued walking around the block, going to Lowe's and then back to the hotel, before deciding on going back to the diner we ate at on Saturday night.

The next morning we had plans of eating breakfast and heading into NYC for the final part of our trip.  I'll write about that tomorrow, though, I have a list of things to do that's a mile long.

Love to all!