Forgive me. I'm typing this on my iPad on the Amtrack. If you've never ridden the train you are missing out. Good times. We'd def use Amtrack again.
Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary. Paul had told me he'd make a dinner reservation and did he ever. Monday he gave me a card with instructions to pack a bag for me and Emma and to be prepared to leave Tues at 6:30am. I had no idea where we were headed nor would he give me any clues.
We got up bright and early Tues morning and headed out. Cousin Jacob was driving the swagger wagon and I felt fairly confident he was taking us to the airport. Wrong!
He passed the airport exit and now I was thoroughly confused until he got to the south station exit and exited. The only thing off that exit is the train station and Chinatown.
The train? I'd never been on Amtrack before and the only training leaving at the time he told me was heading to Richmond VA. Richmond? What on earth could we be going to Richmond for? I was game though. Once I saw the list of stops on our train I realized we were probably going to NYC.
I heart NYC! We got to Penn Station and told me we needed to head towards 33rd between 7th & 8th. I figured our hotel was there until he said to look for a restaurant called Nick & Stef's. What? What is going on? We trucked along, did not see the restaurant, and Paul got a phone call. A car pulled up to the curb and we got in. There was even a car seat for Em.
We head out and the driver pulls up in front of a hotel. I get out, look up, and see Ritz Carlton. To say my mouth dropped open would be an understatement. We are Holiday Inn people, not Ritz Carlton people. I began to wonder if Paul had won the lottery or robbed someone without telling me. Niressa, the porter, took us up to our room on the 8th floor.
We opened the door and it hadn't been cleaned yet. She apologized profusely and called down to the desk. They upgraded us to a room on the 6th floor with a view of the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, Ellis Island, and the Hudson. Even Paul was impressed because he said that was the room on the website, telescope and everything , AND we got it with Marriott points. Paul used to travel A LOT for work.
It was slightly rainy and overcast, but we decided to go have a drink and snack at the bar to wait out the rain. Once it stopped raining we headed over to the World Trade Center memorial where they were giving out free tickets to go inside.
Okay, I didn't finish on the train because I started to get motion sickness. I'm home now on the laptop so I should be able to finish.
World Trade Center Memorial has more security than the airport. You have to go through metal detectors and send all your belongings through an xray machine. We were a little surprised. And I wondered, thinking about all the war memorials in DC, if and when they will do a memorial for the military and civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that's a post for another day. The WTC Memorial is amazing. I'll post pictures as soon as I upload them onto the computer.
After that we went back to the hotel (can you even call the Ritz Carlton a hotel? It seems like too mundane a word for something so magnificent) and got ready for dinner. There was a small Italian restaurant within walking distance so went there. Delicious of course! After dinner I made a pit stop at the RC bar to grab a glass of wine to take up to my room. We were all asleep by 9:15pm.
Saturday the weather was still a little rainy in the morning. We decided to eat breakfast at the RC and we were only slightly underdressed. I had a tank top and shorts on and we both had sneakers on (and I didn't even have good sneakers on. Since I didn't know where we were going I had brought old sneakers that I had worn for painting. Marriot points in the hizzouse!). Everyone else in the restaurant was in suits and ties and business clothes. haha $100 later (I know, right! We almost stroked out. I didn't even have a mimosa or anything!) we were on our way to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Neither of us had ever been. It only rained once when we were at the Statue of Liberty and then it was a pretty nice, but overcast day. Em was so good and slept through most of Ellis Island which allowed Paul and I to leisurely look around. If you ever get a chance to go I highly recommend it.
Wednesday was our anniversary and Paul had arranged for someone from the Babysitting Guild of NY to come watch Emma in our room. I was slightly, and by slightly I mean holy anxiety, nervous about it as we've never used a babysitter before (and Em is 18 months old lol) and especially one from a service in NYC in our hotel room. There was a mix up with the time so that didn't help my anxiety, but she got there, she seemed nice, and off we went. Em didn't even cry.
We started off the night with a cocktail at the hotel bar. Even Paul had one. Then we went to dinner. Paul started with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and I had lobster bisque. To say they were amazing would be an understatement. It was heaven in a bowl. Our main course was NY strip steak. I had creamed spinach with mine and Paul had macaroni and cheese. We also got a side of garlic mashed potatoes and I had another glass of wine. I've never tasted anything so good! I can never eat frozen creamed spinach again. Never. I think it was all better than Ruth's Chris. We should've shared the steak because we were so full, but it was so good. We actually talked about going to the bathroom to throw up so we could eat more. I know, disgusting, right.
The waiter, who was also amazing, cleared the table and brought back a clean spoon and fork for each of us. We didn't know what was coming, but we sort of grimaced at the thought of more food. Of course the RC hooked us up with a dessert tray of 9 mini desserts (key lime pie, 3 cookie type things, 2 brownies, 2 apple pies, and a chocolate cake) AND 2 glasses of champagne. I almost threw up right then and there. Paul doesn't drink champagne so I knew it'd be up to me to finish both glasses. We ate until I couldn't possibly ingest anything else and I drank the champagne. Through out this whole thing we watched a guy across the street in Battery Park jumping up the stairs. The one set of stairs was probably 2 feet wide per stair. The other set he hopped up on one leg. I was tired just watching him.
After dinner we decided to walk through Battery Park and try to walk off some of the 45,000 calories we'd just consumed. I stopped to tell the hopper how impressive he was because it was impressive. He was doing crossfit. Yikes! It was a beautiful night and it was nice to have some alone time. I noticed a lot of New Yorkers are super committed to jogging. Show offs.
We got back up to our room and Emma was snoring away. She's NEVER fallen asleep for anyone but Paul and I before. I was so relieved. The sitter said she did great, ate her $20 chicken finger dinner with no problems, had a good time playing, and drank all her milk. She slept till 5am and then came in bed with us and finally fell back asleep till 8am.
We left on Thursday and spent the morning walking around the Financial District (tons of pictures to come), enjoying a Starbucks, and having pizza for lunch. Our train left at 2pm and since we got to sit in the handicapped section Em was able to nap in her stroller. She was quite the little celebrity, walking up and down each car, saying hi to everyone on board. I think we are going to have our hands full when she gets older. lol The staff at the hotel was sad to see Em leave. She was given a stuffed animal every time we got back from somewhere and came home with a lion, zebra, giraffe, elephant, and monkey. She loved running around the lobby, welcoming new guests, and brightening the staff's day. What a little charmer!
It was an amazing trip. We can never stay in a regular hotel again after the Ritz Carlton. I have the best husband in the world to plan such a wonderful anniversary surprise. We'll see how he tops it next year! haha
No comments:
Post a Comment