My First Trip To New York City!

So far ... so good! The NEW YEAR is off to an exciting NEW start with a NEW president and my first trip to NEW YORK and Tom's first trip with me!

I was scheduled to go to New York City in early January for a facilitation job. So, Tom and I decided that this would be a great opportunity for him to join me and spend a few extra days having some fun. This was my first trip and I can't wait to go back. We stayed right on Times Square and I worked on Times Square just a few blocks from the hotel.

Tom planned the trip and packed a lot of fun into a few days:

Day 1: Arrive in NYC, taxi to hotel in Times Square, walk to Rockefeller Center to see iceskaters and Christmas tree, then on to Rainbow Room for drink with view of Empire State Building and then to a great deli for a late bite to eat ... he didn't warn me about the Pastrami sandwiches :)

Day 2: Walk to nearby law firm where I would be facilitating a session for a group of 18. Conference room overlooked the new swarovski crystal new year's eve ball. At about 10 a.m., it began to snow and I thought ... this is the perfect trip! After work, we headed for an early dinner at a french restaurant our friend Gayle recommended and then for drinks and to see The Fantastiks! It snowed the whole evening.

Day 3: Coffee and then on to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) where we spent 1/2 a day and could have spent longer. Then, to an afternoon show of Wicked where Tom got us wicked good seats ... 4th row. Then, we took the subway to join Kate & Tim (Kate is a former student and employee and a great friend) at one of their favorite Italian restaurants.

Day 4: Liberty & Ellis Island, Wall Street, Ground Zero and then to Soho to meet Laura (another former student, employee and great friend) at Balthazar, one of her parent's favorite restaurants.

Day 5: Last day ... Central Park and Grand Central Station (where we ate at the famous Oyster Bar and whispered across the hall) and then to LaGuardia airport to catch a US Airways flight home to Tallahassee. Tom was leaving to go to Richmond. Two days later a US Airways flight had to do an emergency landing in the Hudson River ... everyone survived and it is being called Miracle on the Hudson.

It was a fabulous trip and Tom did such a great job packing so much fun into such a short amount of time. Thanks, Tom ... I can't wait to go back to New York with you!