36 Hours in NYC

We made it though our whirlwind tour of New York this past weekend:

Saturday morning we flew into JFK, arriving at 7:15 am. We took the Airtrain and then the subway into Manhattan. We got slightly lost trying to find our hotel but managed to find it and drop off all of our luggage. Right out side our hotel was a street fair where we got breakfast (chocolate and strawberry crepes) and knock-off sunglasses. We then headed to lower Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Unfortunately, much of the subway in lower Manhattan is under construction and thus closed, so we had to take the bus, which was quite packed. We also went to the Skyscraper Museum. Too much over my head, but Daryl enjoyed it. After we left the museum, we headed to Little Italy for lunch. We ate at an outside cafe which was very good. After lunch we headed back to the hotel to check in and take a nap before the Turner Annual Dinner.

The Annual Dinner was held at Chelsea Piers and was amazing. Quite possibly the best banquet food I have ever eaten, with the best service. Each table of 8 had 4 waiters so they were never trying to balance the plates and everyone at the table was served at exactly the same time. Desert was a chocolate/hazelnut mouse cake...again amazing.

On Sunday we went to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was very nice. I don't think that i have ever been to a mass with so many people or priests. The cardinal said the mass, but there were 4 priests assisting him and during communion, another 10-15 priests came out. After mass we saw the "Gay Pride" parade, which went right down 5th ave. Quite an eye-opening experience. We were still uptown, quite a bit away from the village and it was still crazy. Daryl video taped the "Big Apple Corps" and we will post the video later. After the parade we headed to the UN for a tour which was interesting and we finished up with some shopping around Penn Station before heading back to JFK to catch our flight home.

All in all, a very good, albeit exhausting mini-vacation.