New York City

Our day started with breakfast downstairs at the hotel. We had free vouchers thanks to my Hilton Diamond VIP status. Yes, there are better places in NYC to have b’fast, however, this one was FREE!

Today was a big day – Dave was going to ride on the subway for the first time!

And he got the full NYC Subway show!



A man played the violin on our first trip.  Later in the day there was a panhandler begging.





We were headed to the Upper West Side to Tom’s Diner. Which is the “coffee shop” that is in almost every episode of Seinfeld. Well the exterior of Tom’s Diner is featured. And considering Seinfeld is something we have discussed and watched since the day we met – this was big for us!

And guess what we found?

A bunch of other people taking photos of the diner!

We are experts at taking our signature pose self portrait, but I think the excitement had us a little off today. We took about 20 pics before we got it right!

We sat at the counter and had some coffee.

There were some pieces of memorabilia…

I went to the bathroom and was beside myself! There was not a “square to spare”!
How perfect was that?!

More pics…

While on the Upper West Side, we looked for the following but never found:

H&H Bagels (where Kramer worked), the Kosher Bakery (chocolate babka and the black & white cookie) and Champaign Video (Rochelle, Rochelle and where Elaine’s 15 year old beau worked)

Next we headed down W. 72nd St to Central Park. Just before we crossed Central Park West, there was this amazing building on our left had side. Very ornate.

We entered Central Park and sat down in Strawberry Fields to people watch.

And did we ever see some sights!

One of our favorites was a homeless person completely flip out because a man and his little boy sat on “his bench”. Wow – did the expletives fly!

It was while we were sitting there, that it hit Dave – DUH! That fancy building we had just passed was The Dakota! Where John Lennon lived and died.

We strolled thru the park – which was full of activity since it was a nice spring Sunday morning.

Next we picked up the Subway and headed to Grand Central Station.

From there we took “The 6” down to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Then we headed over to the Financial District to check out Wall Street.

Today, we took the Subway as much as possible. Our bodies were hurtin’ big time!

We went over to the site of the World Trade Center and stopped in the Memorial office where there lots of photos and pieces from the day. Also models of what the memorial will look like.

Now off to SoHo and Little Italy.

Just as we were entering Little Italy, we saw this foot rub place.

We stood on the sidewalk debating… I don’t remember the price, but it was like $12 or something for a 10 minute foot rub. I didn’t care if we did it or not, but I know how much Dave LOVES to get his feet rubbed. He didn’t want to do it alone, so I agreed to get it done too.

Meanwhile, the Asian ladies inside had come out and began to give us cheaper prices to entice us inside.



Once inside, it was a whirlwind! We were whisked into this back room and we were both a little panicked. What have we gotten ourselves in to?

They took us to the last beds in this dark room and told us to lay down.

A lady rubbed Dave’s feet. She even took his socks off and used oil.

An old man did mine with my socks on and it hurt like hell!




Those 15 minutes where likely the highlight of the entire trip for Dave. He loved it!

Feeling a bit refreshed, we walked thru Little Italy.

We decided to have an appetizer since it was late afternoon and we never had lunch.

Terrible service, excellent food!






On our Subway ride back to Times Square we were finally able to get a pic of a guy falling asleep.

And believe me, it is SO easy to fall asleep on the Subway!!!






Once back at the hotel, Dave filled our hot tub up for me to soak my piggies while sipping wine. Ahhh… this is vacation!

It felt so good that I actually broke my rule and got IN the hot tub. (I never ever sit in a hotel tub)

After resting we decided to go to dinner. I had a surprise in mind. I had seen a Shula’s a few blocks away. It is my second favorite behind Morton’s. So we headed over.

Closed for a private party!
Seriously!???
I was so pissed!

We wandered around grumbling and ended up at some chain-like micro brewery. We were both so exhausted that it didn’t really matter.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to do final research on our quest for tomorrow - Dave wants to go to Coney Island and ride the Cyclone!

New York City

Jordan Brand Classic - ESPN

This morning we went down for breakfast and then I got ready for work.

After I left for work, Dave headed over to the Paley Center for Media.

It’s a cool TV museum of sorts – basically I love it because they have a ton of old TV shows – pretty much any show you can think of – you sit down in your own cubicle and watch old TV shows.







From there he went over to ESPN Zone to watch the Cavs game.

Meanwhile, my day was going great! I was working with Alex, so that always means it’s a good day!

That evening, Dave headed over to Madison Square Garden to pick up the game ticket and media credential I had waiting for him.

Dave had an awesome time at the game and exploring MSG with his credential.
He was like a kid a candy store!

After the game, we ventured over to the Empire State Building.
The photos didn’t turn out very well.

We walked back to the hotel to drop off my work bag and then headed out for “a slice”. However, we never found a good place. We had some cardboard with cheez on it and then went back to the hotel.

We watched a bit of Saturday Night Live so we could see the sets we had seen on the NBC Tour. But fell asleep almost immediately.

Columbus > New York City

I am working in NY this weekend. I promised Dave years ago that one of these days I would take him with me since he has never been. Thanks to another losing CBJ season, his schedule was wide open!

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.

Columbus

Today I had my first meeting about Red, White & Boom!

It’s the fireworks show that is in Columbus every July 4th weekend.

Fort Myers

April 11th – 14th


Over the next few days, I didn’t really do a lot of anything. Which was pretty weird.

For the most part, I hung out with cousin Harry.

He loved the window in the kitchen. It was right at his level so he could watch the lizards scurrying about in the jungle of the yard. He could also watch the birds frolicking in the fountain.

          

The cool tile made a nice napping place.

I ran errands each day and made dinner.
That was pretty much it.

I also started on my quest to gather as much information as possible for my insurance claim. I exhausted every resource I could think of…. I gathered as many news stories as possible from the internet and my old contacts at the local tv stations and newspapers. Additionally, I was able to obtain police reports from the accident scene and even got a letter from the Florida Highway Patrol stating there was no way I could of possibly made it to the ship on time.

I can become rather vigilant when I am told I can not have something I am deserving of. And right now, mom and I deserved a vacation!

On Wednesday, I met my friend Tony for lunch. We went to Nino’s in Fort Myers – a place we have met many times over the years. It was one of our favorites back in the day (when we worked together).

He still works at WINK – so he got me caught up on the gossip and goings-on there. And he also told me all about the excitement of being a daddy-to-be. His wife Laura is due in October.

So it wasn’t the vacation I had hoped. But it was relaxing.

Additionally, I got to explore more of my home state of Florida.

And someday, hopefully mom and I will get to enjoy that cruise!

Fort Myers

This morning we loaded up the boat and took our visiting family out off Sanibel.

We stuck to the back bay off Sanibel since it was rather windy and choppy.
Cousin Eduard has traveled the world, but had never been on a boat before. He was a little green around the gills for most of the day.

For lunch we went to one of our old ‘favorites’ on Pineland.

However, the past few visits have quickly proven it to fall quickly from our ‘favorites’ list.


Unfortunately, there was a long wait, it was hot and the service was terrible. But the food was at least tasty!




It was a nice family day though.