New York Exposure

Taylor took me to New York City!  I had never been, and we had a perfect trip.  We met up with the Ithaca Ortons, who I just can't get enough of, and stayed with Lyndon and Christine Plothow.  I loved getting to know Lyndon and Christine - they were perfect tour guides  and I am so happy to have married into such an incredible family.

We did all of the important things...starting with the Shake Shack.

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It is bright in the City that Never Sleeps!  There were so many sights and smells and sounds to take in.  My favorite part, though, was being an Urban Aunt.  I loved playing with little Claire and smiley Cozette and personable Drew.

Lyndon and Christine let us stay in their cute little Manhattan flat, in Uptown right by the Columbia law school.  We actually liked sleeping on a single air mattress.  Our hosts were perfect.  Our stay was a little drizzly and cold, but we had lots of things to see!

We very much enjoyed seeing the 9/11 memorials.  It is crazy to realize that this little part of the American experience happened 12 years ago already.  I remember sitting in 7^th grade History, watching the news coverage of the Trade Center attacks. I appreciated the memorial – the two large footprints with a kind of waterfall, with all the names of the victims engraved in the stone.  Even more meaningful to me, however, may have been the memorial across the street, at the St. Paul’s Chapel.  This church hosted victims, volunteers, and rescue workers.  It was very raw feeling – it was a grassroots kind of memorial.  It showed the scratched pews where fireman slept in their uniforms, and George Washington’s memorial which was converted into a podiatrist’s stand.  I am grateful for my American Heritage.

 

 

The Plothows introduced us to Patsy’s Pizza, which was a little bit of Heaven.  We sat down, dried off, and enjoyed good Uptown Pizza. 

Sara and I braved the Subway, and made our way to Canal Street. It was so fun to look at all the cheap goods…which somehow were still too expensive for our wallets.  It was a dirty, shotty, eyesore of NYC….and I loved it. 

Lyndon and Christine gave us a great tour of the city, and the kids were troopers.  In the pretty light, we saw the Empire State Building, a little bit of 5^th Avenue, and the NYC Public Library.

 

 

I am so grateful that I married into such a good family.  I love these Sainsbury descendants!

A highlight of our trip was seeing the beautiful Manhattan temple, a little haven built into the bustle of New York City.  Sacrament meeting was wonderful, and I ran into old friends.

Another highlight was tasting the AMAZING Throwdown waffles from the "Waffles and Dinges" foodcart.  Apparently, the waffle we ate beat out Bobby Flay's (of the food network) cooking.  It was incredible....so we bought several.

Throughout our trip, we enjoyed several visit to foodcarts througout the city....couldn't get enough.

 

 

Wewere just tourists!  We loved the Met, 5th Avenue, Columbus Circle, Central Park.  We visited  Tiffany's (loved it), Plaza Hotel, Trump Tower, Broadway, and -of course - Lindtdorf Chocolates.

 

 

 

Taylor was a good little subway navigator.  He got us around without a problem.  We had several fun stories on the Subway.  At one point, I very gracefully fell into the lap of a BIG  man  - we were cozy.  Taylor loved chatting with strangers.  A large black woman got on the Subway, wearing a three foot hairpiece that looked like a caketopper.  My friendly husband complimented her on it, and then carried on a conversation with her about hairpieces.  

We heard so many different languages, and saw insights to so many different cultures.  One time, we heard a man speaking with a lovely accent.  My very friendly husband again said "I like your accent.  Where are you from?"  Turns out that this man is named Colin Broderick from Ireland, who is a pretty famous author and playwrite.

 

I was a little tired of my trusty coat by the end of the trip.  Nonetheless, we loved our little jaunt around NYC - can't wait to go back!!!