NYC

Just got back from New York. In short, it was so awesome, and we loved it. We got a steal of a deal at the Hyatt in Jersey City. The hotel was right on the water and we had a beautiful view of the New York Skyline from our room. In my opinion, this was a great time to go to New York-- the heat had died down and it's not really the big tourist time so we didn't have to wait in any long lines for anything. Both Derek and I were sort of bummed we missed out on a chance to live there, but in the end, taking a job doing what you want to do is probably a better choice than going in debt for more school in one of the most expensive cities in the country even though it is also one of the most fabulous cities in the country. We saw so much, ate some of the best food, did a ton of walking, and honestly had a blast. Here is the run down in short (if I am capable):

Saturday, August 27th:

• Arrive in New York and fight our way through the subways with our suitcases.
• By the time we got to our hotel, we had time to enjoyed the view and then crashed

Sunday, August 28th:

• Sacrament meeting with what would have been our ward if we had moved out there-- seems like a super cool ward
• Mets vs. Astros game (don't judge us for going to a baseball game on Sunday...the devil aka Derek made me do it)
• Walked around Greenwich village, saw the NYU law school, what could have been our apartment complex, and did a little shopping (which was also fabulous)

Monday, August 25th:

• Went to the top of the Empire State building to see the view
• Hit up the United Nations Headquarters where they had the funniest sculpture of a twist gun (which I found so fitting for the UN)
• Dropped by St. Patrick's Catheral
• Walked around Grand Central Station, the Rockefeller Center, and Time Square
• Saw a small portion of Central Park (my absolute favorite part of NY)
• Hit up Serendipity for some Frrrozen Hot Chocolate

Tuesday, August 26th:

• Ferry to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty--we found some family records at Ellis Island in their data bases which was really neat
  
• Yankees vs. Red Sox Game (that's right--there is so much to see in New York and some how Derek convinced me to go to two baseball games?)
  

Wednesday, August 27th:

• Metropolitan Museum of Art- the roof garden was so cool--they have this sculpture of a balloon poodle
  
• Spent more time walking around Central Park--we rented a row boat and rowed ourselves around the lake
• Little Italy/Chinatown
• Caught Legally Blonde the musical- not the best musical I've ever seen but it was definitely interesting seeing it in musical form

Thursday, August 28th:

• St. Paul's Chapel-oldest building still in use in New York, George Washington had a pew there
  
• Trinity Church
• Wall St/The US Stock Exchange
• Federal Hall- where George Washington was inaugurated as President. It was our nation's first capital before Washington DC.
  
• Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace- was actually really neat, and Derek really enjoyed it. They have all kinds of artifacts from his life in a museum and the house is put together exactly the way it was when he was born there with mostly original furniture.
• Then, we sadly packed our bags and headed for home in Utah (because we really do live there even though we've hardly been there long enough to unpacked our house).
  

As you can see, we had a great time. We saw everything and yet almost nothing at the same time. There was still so much that we wanted to see, but didn't get to. So we are already planning our must sees for our next trip to New York.