Somehow, I tricked him into a 6am flight. Still amazed at that one!
But it was perfect – we landed at LaGuardia a little after 7:30am and had the entire day ahead of us!
Got our luggage and called the car service… within minutes we were on our way into the big city!
Even though I always use the Dial7 Car Service when in NY, sometimes you still end up with a foreign driver.
But the cars are always clean and safe!
Since it was so early, our room at the hotel was not ready yet, however, Otto, the head bellman, was quick to lock up our luggage so we could get on our way.
A few minutes later and we were in the middle of Times Square.
He didn’t exactly look thrilled in the photo – but to be honest, he was a bit overwhelmed with everything. So much bigger and better than he ever imagined!
Over the past couple of weeks, we had compiled a list of places we wanted to see, most of which I have seen over the years, but also some new ones for me.
I had grand plans of planning it all out on a map so we didn’t waste any time (or steps), but I never had the chance.
So we found a café, had a bagel and a cup of coffee and then got our bearings.
We headed over to NBC Studios so we could go on the NBC Experience Tour. Which I had done back in 2001 and it was pretty good. They were just getting to debut HD on some of their shows and I found the tour to be interesting. So I wanted to do it again.
Good thing we got there when we did! All the tours were sold out until 6pm. So we signed up for that one and wandered around a bit.
We happened to spot the New Years Ball – we didn’t realize it stayed up year round.
Out of fear that the Madison Square Garden Tour would also be sold out for the day, we hiked over there.
That is where I will be working tomorrow – the Jordan Brand Classic.
We were able to get a tour that started about an hour later. So while waiting, we walked over to the Empire State Building to see what the ticket situation was there. Found out you just come and go as you please – no advance ticketing.
On our walk back to MSG, we had the idea to do the Empire State Building tomorrow night after work. Since we would be just a few blocks away. Plus we were going to do Top of the Rock this afternoon when we returned to NBC. So this way we would get a birds eye view from one place during the day and the other place after dark.
On to our tour of MSG. Dave was giddy with excitement as he grew up watching sporting events on TV being played in this very arena.
For the most part we knew what to expect since we had been on tours of other arenas and since we both work in them all the time. But we still had a great time!
They were setting up for tomorrow nights game.
WOW!
They might think about upgrading the locker rooms a bit if they think they are gonna lure LeBron here!
Seriously – the Rangers locker room?
Even the worst team in NHL has a better one!
We had a nice time on the tour.
Even though the place is kinda a dump, I appreciate the historical value.
That can never be replaced.
It was only mid-day and we were pooped!
The hotel had left a voice mail stating our room was ready, so we walked the 12 blocks back.
Got checked in and up to our room.
I was disgruntled as ever!
TV didn’t work, the extra towels and pillows I had pre-ordered were not awaiting us, nor were the extra hangers.
After a few phone calls, a maintenance man came up and figured out the problem with the TV. It was plugged into the outlet, however, the power cord was lose coming out of the TV. Ok, one problem solved!
As much as we wanted to nap – nope!
We only have so much time before we have to go home.
We decided to walk towards Central Park as we had a few Seinfeld spots we were looking for. On the way we found a nice little café and had wonderful chicken club samiches.
Then we found the Soup Nazi! It has been closed for years. I was afraid it might be gone, but it was still there!
From there we walked to Central Park but didn’t enter. We just observed it as we walked towards FAO Schwartz. We went in there for awhile to look at the insane toys. I got a pair of crazy toe socks. Socks with toes, so I can wear flip flips when it’s cold out.
We wandered up 5th Avenue. Peeked inside Trump Tower. Goodness it doesn’t seem as fancy as the first time I visited it – back in 1989 I believe.
We window shopped at the usuals… Tiffany’s is always one of my favorites.
Then we stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
As always, I went in to make a donation and light a candle. I say a little prayer for safe travels on the rest of my visit.
A mass was being said, so we didn’t linger long out of fear of lightning striking. But we stayed long enough to admire the amazing craftsmanship.
We ventured back to Rockefeller Center. And looked for the theatre used in a Seinfeld episode where Kramer talks Jerry into being a bootlegger. “Death Blow” was the movie. Based on the research I had done – it’s location HAD to be what is now the Anthropology store.
Next we headed to the Top of the Rock!
Look close for the Statue of Liberty
He really just wanted a photo of the hot chick behind him
It was crazy cold up there!
We still had about an hour before our tour at NBC, so we headed over to Dean & Deluca. We sat there and had coffee in attempts to warm up a bit.
We peeked in the windows at the Today Show studios. We only wished our friend Bettes had been filing in this weekend on the Today Show so we could stand on the plaza with silly signs to embarrass him.
Then it was time for our tour!
No photos – sorry.
The tour was good, but not at all what it was in 2001.
All in all we had fun impressing people with our useless TV knowledge.
After the tour, we practically crawled back to the hotel. And someone thought we would actually use the gym this weekend?
Our plan was to freshen up and go out do dinner. I mean it was around 8pm on a Friday night in New York City!
Yah… well, we caved. Ordered room service and watched Dateline NBC murder.
We felt like losers, but at least we were doing what we really wanted to be doing.
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