New York, Day 1, 9.21.07

Day 1 of my trip started on an early note ... 4:00 am to be exact. That really is not a humane hour to have to wake up I must say. My Aunt Dorothy arrived at 5:15 to drive us to her son's house who would in turn take us to the airport. By a little after 6:00 we arrived at the airport both asking why on earth we were there at this insanely early hour. The rest of the group arrived via bus from Mankato and after checking in we headed to our gate. Our flight was on time and there were no bumps. In fact we got into LaGuardia about a 1/2 hour early AND ALL our baggage arrived. We traveled to our hotel by bus and took about a 1/2 hour to settle in then met up to walk to Central Park.

We wound our way through a very small portion of the park ending up at the infamous "Tavern on the Green." Central Park is beautiful and certainly a haven for the residents but it just isn't the same as our parks here. You don't hear the birds and you can't smell the grass and trees. You still smell the city and it is very odd to someone used to the fresh smells of our Minnesota parks. At Tavern on the Green we enjoyed cocktails in their center outdoor courtyard area and then ventured back to our hotel to get ready to go to dinner.

For dinner we ventured to Carmines -- a WONDERFUL family-style Italian restaurant in the Theater District. The food was so yummy. The bartender was quite generous with letting me sample the wines until I found one to my liking. My favorite entrees were the Vodka Pasta and the spaghetti and meatballs (the BEST I have ever had). After dinner we headed to the Majestic theater to see Phantom of the Opera. We had orchestra seats and were quite close to the stage to it was neat to have such a close-up view of everything. The production was amazing and flew by very fast.

On our way back to the hotel we ventured through Times Square. I have been there several times in the evening but it still amazes me how that area lights up like the middle of the day. We got back to our hotel and I collapsed into bed exhausted at about midnight.

I have some great photos to share but have to figure out how to get them out of my new camera and onto my computer. Days 2-4 yet to come.