Sabbatical Blog: 9/4 New York City

9/4 New York City
We began our day with a search for some breakfast food (not just a bagel, but a place we could get eggs and such). There is no such place in Times Square. We ended up at McDonalds 2 blocks away. We’ve also discovered that New York City is not exactly stroller friendly.

After breakfast, we headed to Rockefeller Plaza to take the tour of the observation deck. We’ve been told that this is the best view of the Empire State Building. It was, and it was also interesting to learn about the history of Rockefeller Plaza. Which was apparently built during the depression. After the observation deck, we headed back to the hotel, and rested up a bit before getting packed up for flight.

On our way out my best friend Adrian gave me call and said they’d stop by to say hi on our way out. Adrian and Akiko (his wife), Mother-in-law, and sister-in-law were all in New York City for the US Open. We knew about this before, so it was good to at least say hi before we venture off to Paris.

We took a $66 cab ride from the hotel to Newark Airport. Despite “rush-hour” traffic, it was a surprisingly quick drive. I think we made it to the airport in just a little over 30 minutes. We picked up a few Euros at the airport as well as some Wok and Roll for dinner.

We flew out on Continental. We finished boarding on time, but we were an hour late in leaving. The airport must have had many delays that was pushing us back. It was a decent flight, but we’ve discovered that they don’t exactly make it traveling with children friendly in that their were many loud announcements, the didn’t dim the lights until they were finished selling their duty free stuff. And upon arriving in France, they’d already brought up the lights, and were making several announcements. You’d think for a Red-Eye flight they’d keep things dark for as long as possible. Essentially we went from 9:30 PM to 10:00AM.

The view of Central Park from 30 Rock.


And the view of the Empire State building from 30 Rockefeller Plaza.


Kylie checking out the view from above.


Me and the empire state building.


Adrian, Akiko, and us outside the W Hotel. It was good to catch up with them for a bit in NYC. I think it's great to connect with friends even while you're travelling. I'm glad Adrian checked his voicemail!


Traci and Kylie at the airport while waiting for our flight.