It's only taken me almost 2 months to write this blogpost, so some memories may be foggy! I uploaded the pictures right after our trip, but left the commentary for later. :-\
We were on our third day in the city. This was supposed to be our last day there with a tour of Top of the Rock and a Mets baseball game at Citi Field. They played the Milwaukee Brewers at 7:10 on June 28th. Our plan was to grab some dinner on the way to the subway station and then head on out to the game.
Right before we left for dinner, we got a notification that our flight had been CANCELED. Apparently, many in the city at that time were receiving the same notification. The best part was, there were no other options (per the email) and they had not rebooked us on another flight. Needless to say, I panicked a little. Dillon was supposed to be back at work on Thursday. We had appointments scheduled for the remainder of the week, and OH how were we supposed to get back to North Carolina? Charlotte, specifically, because our car was parked at the airport. I tried calling the Delta helpline and the wait was over 2 hours to speak to someone. I tried to get online and book another flight for the next day with any airline and there was absolutely nothing. No rental cars available. All the Amtrak trains were full. So, what to do? I found on the Delta webpage a place where you could text with a representative. We headed out to dinner and I was on my phone constantly trying to work out details. I finally was able to get a confirmation that we could all be on the same flight on Friday morning, but that meant 2 more days in the city. Oh, and remember, everyone else was canceled, too, and trying to find a room to stat in until they could leave. By this point, we were finishing dinner (at a lovely Thai restaurant, located underground, that every time the subway train passed, your water glass wobbled! Honestly, it was so fun!)
We walked over to the subway to catch our train to Citi Field (which was at the end of the line!) Meanwhile, I'm on the phone with our hotel, trying to book our room for the next two nights. We finally got the details worked out and we even got to keep the same room we were in and not have to move. What a relief! I guess if you have to be stuck somewhere, NYC is the best you're going to get.
We really enjoyed the Mets game, for some reason, much more than the Yankees game. I don't know if it was the fans, the stadium or the thought that we now had two more days of site seeing. Dillon and I enjoyed some hot dogs and beer while the kids munched on nachos. We learned our lesson about buying cheap tickets and moving around to different seats in the stadium. We've learned that it's fun to watch the game from different areas and not stay as stationary. This time, we stayed for the entire game and caught the subway back into Manhattan.
The next morning, instead of getting up at 4:30 AM to catch a flight, we slept. Until after 8:00. HA! We were all so tired and it was SO nice to not have to rush. We also had NO plans whatsoever and the next two days were left to doing whatever we wanted. In those two days, we did all the things we just didn't have time to do before. Lucas' choice was the 9/11 museum. Mine was the Roosevelt Tram. Charlie's was the MOMA. Dillon's was going into Brooklyn (we were able to hit up all the boroughs in one trip!)
We meandered through the city. We ate lots of good food, mostly in just little hole in the wall restaurants. We shopped. We "touristed". It was nice!
And then, we held our breath to see if our flight actually left on Friday. Thursday evening, no notification had been sent out, so we returned to our room early to pack our bags and get a good night's sleep. The next morning, it looked like our flight was still a-go, so we loaded up and headed out. The wildfires in Canada had flared up again and the smoke had weaved its way into the city. While driving out of the city, the sun came up a hazy red to light everyone's way in and out of NYC.
I love visiting there. I once thought, when I was 15, that I would go to college in New York, much like Felicity (for all you young 'uns, Felicity was a popular show in the early 2000's on the WB about a girl who packs up everything to attend college in the city, following after a boy, but soon realizes all the fun times and friends to be made in college...) but I now realize, that I'm a country girl at heart. It's fun to visit, but I like returning home.
I hope that we'll return again one day soon, when we and our pocketbooks have recovered!
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| Top of the Rock! |
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| Grand Central Station |
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| Stadium #7! |
