My New York Trip

I am flying home from New York today.  This is not my first trip to New York so I wanted to make sure I saw some sites I had not seen before.  Being the holiday season I wanted to see the store front windows decorated.   I also got a chance to see the play "The Nutcracker" performed by the New York City Ballet as well as the Rockettes (found a 2 for 1 coupon on EBay) at Radio City Music Hall.

What I really wanted to see was the 9/11 Memorial site.  I linked on the attractions button on the right side of the blog and signed up for the Heroes of the World Trade Center tour.  I saw some sites I was previously unaware of.  For example,  American Express had a separate memorial for its employees called the eleven tears memorial for the 11 employees they lost.

I went to the 9/11 Memorial site.  Seeing the large cascading waterfalls you can’t help becoming emotional. Looking at all the names inscribed brought tears to my eyes.  Our tour guide on the Heroes Tour told us that her friend was working in Tower 2 on 9/11 but she convinced her to play hookey and leave work in order to go shopping.

I had never been ice skating in New York so we went to Bryant Park, which is sponsored by Citibank.  For showing my Citibank credit card we got 10% off our ice skate rentals.  The best part is I didn't even fall.

The entire trip was wonderful including staying in the corner room of the Intercontinental Hotel on the 29^th floor.  I was lucky enough to be upgraded for FREE and in addition I had two FREE nights on my three-night stay.  I must admit the view was pretty spectacular. 

Maria and I, along with our friends Russ and Alma, ended our trip last night with a visit to John’s Pizza, which is written up in the tourist books.  We all had to do the touristy thing.

If you are new to an area don’t be afraid to do the touristy things but also don’t be afraid to go off the beaten path and try something new.  We found a great Thai restaurant right by the hotel.