Wednesday, July 30, 2008

It's a heck of a town!

Well everyone, so sorry you've had to look at the barfing lady for so long. We've been in sort of a blog funk, but hope to be fully recovered from said barfing and said funk. (Also, sorry for the serious lack of comments on everyone else's blogs as of late!)

So, last weekend to celebrate finally feeling like normal people again after killer morning sickness, Shane and I packed it up, shipped the little bambino off to Grandmas, and flew to New York! It was a blast! Here are the highlights:

*Disclaimer: Don't be too quick to judge that we are wearing the exact same clothes in every picture...our luggage got lost. Luckily, our friends Jimmy and Jen were kind enough to let us borrow their underwear and toothbrushes. You did say that was ok, right guys? :)


*Warning: Kind of long and lots o' pictures)


We flew into Cincinnati on Wednesday, planned to fly to JFK that night and then rent a car and drive to Palmyra. Unfortunately (and fortunately really) our flight got cancelled because of crazy weather in New York. We were actually happy though because we got to fly into Rochester instead of JFK which was only a 30 minute drive to Palmyra instead of 5 hours. Also, while waiting in the airport, we got to meet this ladySome of you might recognize her...Pat Summit of University of Tennessee fame. She has been the head coach of the womens basketball team there for over 30 years. Also (and I copied this from Wikipedia) her career win-loss record as head coach is 983-182, making her the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history. So, she's pretty famous if you keep up with that stuff. I actually don't really keep up with womens NCAA, but I even knew a little about her. Anyway, she was VERY nice and down to earth, especially after Shane flattered her by saying she was the John Wooden of womens basketball. Ironically, she was on her way to California to play in John Woodens golf tournament.

After staying the night in Cincinnati, we finally made it to Rochester only to find our luggage had been sent to JFK. Oh well, Shane got two free Delta Skyteam shirts out of it which you will see him sporting in many a photo (and which I think he'll burn and vow never to wear again after being forced to. Don't worry, we washed our undies in the sink, just to put your mind at ease!)


Upstate New York is BEAUTIFUL! In Palmyra, we got to see the Hill Cumorah, The Book of Mormon Printing Press, the Palmyra Temple, the Smith Family Farm, and of course the Sacred Grove. It really is a special place and solidified even more to us the gravity and truthfulness of what took place at all of these sites.

That night we drove to Manhattan and man were we happy to drop off the rental car and not have to drive in that city! It really is a crazy place, but has so much flare, history, and personality. It really is the city that never sleeps. We had so much fun just walking around and seeing all the sites and people.

Friday we saw: Statue of Liberty (from Staten Island Ferry), a bit of Brooklyn, Chinatown, Little Italy, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Time Square, and the Empire State Building (sort of, we didn't go to the top). Also, I always tease Shane because he knows everyone and no matter where we go, he runs into someone he knows. Once again, he didn't fail me and as we walked the streets of Little Italy, we ran right into one of his sisters (Patty) best friends. Small world for Shane I guess.

Saturday with the MacFarlanes: Harlem-Shane had to see Rucker Park which is famous for street ball , the Bronx-Yankee Stadium (old and new), the Manhattan Temple and Central Park.






Jimmy and Jen, we really can't thank you enough for letting us crash at your place and for showing us around! Thanks again for the good times. You're the best!