On our way, day 1

Dan at the Hour Glass Bar

Hour Glass on the Wall above our table

Time Square


It’s been a long day so far, but well worth getting up at 3 am…well I was awake at 1:30 am not feeling to good so that was my wake up time. We decided to have a town car come and get us and take us to the airport considering the time we need to leave for the airport.. 4 am. Our flight left at 6:30 am. The price was not that much more than a taxi and it was a very comfortable ride. We fit three big suitcases into the trunk which I though was amazing. We decided to bring three full size suitcases because we always have to much to bring back home and usually end up buying something in Italy. This time we are better prepared. I do know that I probably brought to many clothes..always do and my Mom told me not to! Sorry Mom…After we checked in we went to the Alaska Airlines Board Room for some breakfast snacks. Dan is a member so it was great to have a healthy snack before we left on the flight. Our plane was a Boeing 737-800 and it was nice. We had the first two seats on the right side of the plane next to the bulkhead. They were very comfortable and reclined nicely. When we took off, we circled over Vancouver Lake and then started making the turn to the east. Our circle took us over a friends house and our house so that we neat to see from the air. We flew right down Salmon Creek. I was very tired so after our breakfast….scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes and fruit I crashed for a nice two hour nap. It was great not having anyone sit in front of us so that I could put my feet up on the wall. It was the perfect distance for my legs. I had my neck pillow, ear plugs and eye cover so I was very comfortable. We each had our own small video screen on the wall, probably about 8” x 8”. The choices were music, HBO, movies, TV or games. He watched a movie and then turned on the NY Mets baseball game. I just relaxed and rested most of the way. It got a little bumpy over Milwaukee and the Great Lakes but didn’t last all that long. When arrived to NYC with a big noisy landing..not my favorite part of the ride. We were the 2nd and 3 people off the plane and walked a short distance to baggage claim. We had reserved a town car in NYC also, but he went to the wrong terminal so we had to call the company and he finally arrived about 15 minutes late. He was a nice young man from Morroco and he was a very good NY driver. I was impressed how he maneuvered through the streets and cars to get us to our hotel. I got my first glimpse of the Empire State Building as we crossed the Queensborough Bridge. Impressive to say the least. Just like Sleepless in Seattle…ahh. My first thoughts about NYC as we drove to our hotel were…Wow there are a lot of cars on the roads and Wow there are a lot of buildings along the way. And then as we approached Manhattan, it was Wow these are some Big Big buildings and OMG look at all the people…Wow. OK how many times have I said WOW? I hope I made my point..this small town girl was thoroughly in awe of what she saw. We had no problems checking in and getting to our room. It is an older building and has been remodeled. The rooms are a bit small but then how much time will we be in there anyway? We were getting hungry so we decided to head out to find a place to eat. There are restaurants all over the place. We just kept walking and looking and finally Dan asked a Traffic guy where to go and he told us to go up a few blocks and we would find restaurant row. There was every type of restaurant that you could imagine. Italian, Spanish, Thai, Chinese, Steak Houses and it goes on and on…We finally picked out the Hour Glass Bar. The food was very good and the ambiance was fantastic. Each table had hour glasses hanging above the tables that measured an hour because it is in the Theater District you are limited to an hour to eat. We didn’t have to worry about it tonight as it was not very busy. The service was great and it was nice and cool in there. We were going to go for a bit more of a walk but I was not feeling up to it so we came back to the hotel. I’m hoping that tonight I will sleep well and my nose will quit running! One can only hope. We have a big day planned for tomorrow and I am anxious to check out the city. Signing off till later tomorrow