So I went to NYC with my work family for the day and had a absolute blast. We woke up extra early, on our day off mind you, and all piled into Tina's van and made our way to our first stop, Hoboken NJ!
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| Carlo's Bakery AKA: Location for TLC series Cake Boss! |
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| Some of the many tempting treats! |
Once there we arrived on the corner of Carlo's Bakery which is the famous Bakery from the TLC series "Cake Boss". We stood in line while others took the van to park it. It was crazy to see just how many people were in line for a pastry or what not from this bakery. We noticed a funny sign in a doorway close to the bakery and snapped a quick pic. Once inside we were treated to the most beautiful scene of pastries, cakes, pies, tarts, and deserts to tempt even the most skilled dieter LOL! I ended up getting a chocolate dipped canoli and a chocolate peanut butter cupcake, which I saved for the trip home! When we left they had to erect partitions to shift the customers around as the line was now past the curb and wrapping around the side of the building.
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| Me with most of the group waiting for the right sub to NYC |
From there we headed to the local subway station and made our way into NYC. By then we all had a little bit of sugar in our system from the bakery so we were ready to go! We ended up getting of very close to "Ground Zero" so we decided to go check some things out in the area. We contemplated going the few blocks away to see the site of the controversial Mosque but never made our way there. Instead we checked out the 9-11 Memorial wish is free to the public. It was amazing to see all the information crammed into a space not much bigger then some studio apartments. They hope to have the new completed memorial by fall of 2011 I believe and I hope I get a chance to go see it!
A few of the girls were interested in what has been nicknamed "an illegal purse" so we headed to Battery Park. You see there are these guys, which at first glance you might mistake for a common homeless person, that go around the city with carts and trolleys and what not full of trash bags and tarps. Inside are very very cheap, yet impressive, knock offs of name brand glasses and hand bags like Prada, Gucci, Coach, etc etc. We made our way through the subway tunnels to Battery Park. We walked through and one of the girls found a purse they liked and bought it.
While in the park I got the chance to see two new experiences. The first was the memorial for the armed forces and the second was lady liberty. I have been to NYC a small handful of times and this was the closest Ive been to seeing her with my own eyes! We also found a water fountain that sprayed in different timed intervals and that was fun to see and take a few pics with.
From there we decided to go make sure we knew where our theater was and needed to grab a quick lunch. We made our way to time square and searched for the Lutz-Fontaine Theater. On our way to the theatre we made our way through China Town and Little Italy. After locating the theater we found a quick pizza joint and then it was off to get in line for our show. I don't normally do the whole musical thing, yeah I know I know insert stereotypical joke here where I should love them because I'm gay, but I decided to give this one a try since it was about the Addams Family and I was glad I did. The main theme of the show is Wednesday has fallen in love with a "normal" boy and the show explores the implication on both sides of the family. In all it was great and I would love to go see it again.
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| My ticket from the NBC Experience Tour |
After the musical it was off to NBC studios for a tour. It was really kinda neat to walk through the experience. Our two tour guides were a hoot and the one named Michael was ohhhh soooo hot LOL!! We actually had to go through a type of Airport security where they make sure we didn't have any bad metal objects on us as we were unable to take any kind of pictures or video while in there unfortunately! We started by seeing a short video recapping the history of NBC and then were escorted to one of the first stages where they film some of their sports programs. It was interesting to learn the tricks they do to make the sets look bigger on TV and also how they show windows and shots of NYC when the set and said windows are in the center of the studio on the 8th Floor. We next got to see the set for SNL which was great to See up close and personal. Its sooo small in comparison to what you see on tv. Funny thing was that once we left the tour we all wanted to go home and watch SNL. Interesting thing about SNL, most very successful programs are moved to their west coast location where it is cheaper and easier to film but SNL has remained at their NYC location since day 1! From there we were taken to a mock new room where my friend and another stranger got a chance to record their own news story and weather broadcast.
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| The Ferris Wheel! |
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| Superman saves the day! |
After the tour we headed to the Toys R Us store! Oh my god! Three levels of toys and a huge ferris wheel in the middle of it all to boot! Sadly I didn't find the two things there I was sure I would find! But still WOW! Corner upon corner of the store dedicated to a specific toy line instead of a 8' section on a counter in a regular store! There were also some amazing sculpts and props all over the place. There were even people in superhero costumes so the customers could get their picture taken with them. the Iron-Man costume was the coolest since his chest light up. I didn't grab a pic since others were paying for the same luxury!
We all had to go to the restroom by this point so the hunt was on. Now this makes me just a little curious and I have to sidetrack from my story for a bit to entertain it. Working in customer service I hear the first side of this complaint all the time. If a man were to walk into a woman's restroom it is revered as the most disgusting act a man can do in public. Literally I heard a story recently where a customer complained about the design of a woman's restroom and how the paper towel dispenser was in plain sight and may encourage a man to get a towel in the women's room and that just nasty. . . . . . . . . . But I digress. At the restroom in toys R Us there was a line for the women's room and a moderate one for the men's room. I witnessed three girls come in and literally each shove a man out of the way so they could use a stall! If a man ever tried that in a women's room he would first be slapped senseless and probably arrested for lude conduct!
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| Hotel from Home Alone 2 |
Ok where was I? Oh yeah my NYC visit! After Toys R Us we hunted for dinner and found a cool little bar and grill and then headed over to Central Park to make our way to the Apple store. Sadly it was too dark to get any decent pics of the Park but did manage to get a pic of the hotel next to the park that was used for Home Alone 2: Lost In New York! Shortly after there we came upon the Apple store which was absolutely amazing! It is all underground except for the entrance. the entrance is a hugs glass cube about the size of a small house that has a glowing apple logo in the middle of the cube. In the middle of the cube is a spiral staircase leading upstairs as well as a elevator in the middle of the staircase that is straight out of the Jetsons. It is nothing more then a glass tube that the staircase encircles with a platform that raises up and down. I did manage to pick up a new connector for my iPad while there which will allow me to connect a SD card or USB cable for a camera to my iPad so I can send photos there right away instead of having to wait till I sync it again!
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| Heading back to Hoboken |
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| Empire State Building at Night |
Drained and exhausted we made our way back to Hoboken via crowded subway car after Subway car! When we got back to Hoboken I had the opportunity to snap a few more night times pics of NYC from the river in Hoboken. My favorite was a pic of the Empire State Building which reminded me of the movie Percy Jackson.
It was a great day! If you would like to see more of the pics and are my friend on facebook you can follow this link to see all the pics from the day!
Link to Chris' Facebook Pics of NYC Trip
While in the park I got the chance to see two new experiences. The first was the memorial for the armed forces and the second was lady liberty. I have been to NYC a small handful of times and this was the closest Ive been to seeing her with my own eyes! We also found a water fountain that sprayed in different timed intervals and that was fun to see and take a few pics with. 
From there we decided to go make sure we knew where our theater was and needed to grab a quick lunch. We made our way to time square and searched for the Lutz-Fontaine Theater. On our way to the theatre we made our way through China Town and Little Italy. After locating the theater we found a quick pizza joint and then it was off to get in line for our show. I don't normally do the whole musical thing, yeah I know I know insert stereotypical joke here where I should love them because I'm gay, but I decided to give this one a try since it was about the Addams Family and I was glad I did. The main theme of the show is Wednesday has fallen in love with a "normal" boy and the show explores the implication on both sides of the family. In all it was great and I would love to go see it again. 
Ok where was I? Oh yeah my NYC visit! After Toys R Us we hunted for dinner and found a cool little bar and grill and then headed over to Central Park to make our way to the Apple store. Sadly it was too dark to get any decent pics of the Park but did manage to get a pic of the hotel next to the park that was used for Home Alone 2: Lost In New York! Shortly after there we came upon the Apple store which was absolutely amazing! It is all underground except for the entrance. the entrance is a hugs glass cube about the size of a small house that has a glowing apple logo in the middle of the cube. In the middle of the cube is a spiral staircase leading upstairs as well as a elevator in the middle of the staircase that is straight out of the Jetsons. It is nothing more then a glass tube that the staircase encircles with a platform that raises up and down. I did manage to pick up a new connector for my iPad while there which will allow me to connect a SD card or USB cable for a camera to my iPad so I can send photos there right away instead of having to wait till I sync it again!
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