Sister Trip-New York June 2023

DeAnna decided we should do a sister trip again this year since the Jones reunion fell through the cracks this Summer. We picked a hot place last year in San Antonio so Sherri pushed hard for New York this time. She had never been and really wanted to go. She had a list of must do activities and sites to see.

We all flew in on a Friday morning and started the adventure off by taking a bus and then the subway and then walking the last block or four to our hotel. It took us 2 1/2 hours but it was part of the New York Adventure. Our hotel was pretty close to Time Square so it was a pretty good location for walking to most places we wanted to see. Once we were settled in the hotel we walked around and explored a little and found a local pizza place that we were told was a must try for dinner.

Saturday we took a New York in A Day Bus Tour. It was about 6 hours and we got a lot of things checked off Sherri’s list that she wanted to see. We would get off and walk around a bit then get back on the bus and go to the next place. We saw lots of the city and then specifically, the Empire State building, Ground Zero, Rockefeller Center (we ate lunch here), Central Park, Times Square, several of the bridges, famous movie places and took a ferry around the Statue of Liberty towards the end. The weather was cloudy but not rainy so it was perfect. On our way back from the tour we found the Cake Boss Bakery. It is a TV show that is famous for their elaborate cakes and fancy Italian pastries. We each got 3-4 things to try then came back to the hotel and had a big dessert sampling feast. I thought the cake was good. The cannoli’s were delicious and everything else was ok. It was cool to see it in person and actually get to taste stuff.

Saturday night we went to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. It was really good. We all loved it. It was very well done and had really cool magic effects. The last time I went to New York I was pregnant with Matthew and we weren’t able to get to a Broadway play. That was the one thing on my list that I wanted to do and I wasn’t disappointed.

Sunday DeAnna found us a church to go to which happened to be in the same building as the LDS temple so we got to see that too. We found a yummy place to have brunch after church and then we rented bikes and rode them around Central Park. We made it around the entire park and stopped at a few places that you see in movies a lot of that Sherri wanted to see. It is a beautiful park. I would want to spend a lot of time there if I lived in New York. It is the only place you feel like you have a little space and can see a bit of the sky.

We walked from Central Park to our hotel by going down 5th Avenue. We went into a few of the stores like Tiffany’s, Gucci, Loui Viton, Trump Tower. We went into the Plaza Hotel and the Toy store (both from the movie Home Alone 2) We found a taco place recommended by our tour guide the day before for dinner. It was a pretty good authentic street taco. One of Sherri’s list items was to eat food from one of the corner street vendors. She said it wasn’t even though DeAnna and I both remembered it. We did get an ice cream cone and some nuts from a street vendor. When we got to the public library we found a little table and chairs and stayed there and talked for a few hours and enjoyed the good weather and pretty day.

Monday we were going to go to a building called the Edge and go to the top for a good view of the city (similar to the Empire State building). DeAnna was considering doing the adventure packet that lets you harness yourself to a staircase and walk up the OUTSIDE of the building the last 200-300 feet. Sherri and I were taking the elevator all the way to the top. However, when we woke up we quickly found out that our early evening flights had all been cancelled due to ‘weather’ and we had to figure out how to get home instead. By the time it was all figured out we had refunded my flight and changed DeAnna and Sherri’s flights to fly out of KC to their homes and we rented a car and drove from New York to KC. It took two days instead of two hours to get home but we had a fun road trip. I didn’t mind having our girls trip extended a few more days. Three drivers and no kids isn’t to bad of a road trip either. We drove through, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Several of those were new states to me that I had never been in so that was a bonus too.

Once we made it back to my house both of them flew to their next destinations from KC and the Sister Trip was officially wrapped up and in memory banks. As usual and as expected we had a great time together.