Just Got Home from NYC before the Microburst Hit

Troy's parents came out to visit yesterday morning and let me run up to New York overnight.  I flew out before their flight landed and just left the van parked at the airport for them to pick up.  My friends helped me get the kids off to school while I made it to the airport.  (I really have been blessed with wonderful friends.)  All of the flights to JFK were so full that I might not have been able to make it up there to meet Troy.  Instead I took a flight to Newark and rode the Airtrain to New Jersey Transit and took the train into Penn Station in Manhattan.  They charge $12.50 for the train, but it was much more comfortable than the subway.  I sat upstairs so I could see the landscape along our route.

After arriving in Manhattan, I window shopped at H&M and then walked up to Times Square and bought a TKTS ticket to the matinée performance Billy Elliot (50% off).  I stopped at Junior's for a chicken salad sandwich before heading over to the theater.  The history of the British coal mining strike was interesting and the choreography was great, but I couldn't stand the dialogue due to the frequent profanity (even from the little kids).  I wouldn't see the show again.  Troy was in meetings all day, so I headed down to Greenwich Village after the musical ended and got a small cannoli and chocolate marshmallow cookie from Rocco's and headed to the park to munch and wait for Troy.  He and a coworker came down to watch the Flying Karamazov Brothers with me since there was a $20 at 20 special going on.  The ticket total was $21 including the facility fee and their normal prices are over $60.  The promotion applied to a bunch of off Broadway shows, but there weren't many I was interested in seeing.  It looks like they run the special a couple times a year, so I'll have to go again next time.  During the show, Troy and his coworker each caught a ping pong ball that the guys had been juggling with their mouths - yuck!  He washed it at intermission and asked them all to autograph it after the show.  We stopped at Tue for Thai food on the way back to the subway and were disappointed with the food even though the reviews were good.

We took the subway back to the same Holiday Inn in Long Island City and I was amazed at the beautiful view from the room.  Troy had been given a 14th story room facing Manhattan and the view made up for the noise of the subway!  This morning I watched the weather report and it said a storm with heavy wind gusts was coming in the afternoon, so I decided to fly out at 11 rather than wait for Troy to get off work.  I'm so glad I did because they had a microburst which knocked down trees and caused havoc with traffic.  Troy's flight has been delayed for 3 hours.  Instead I got to enjoy visiting with Lee and Bonnie and attend a baby shower with friends tonight.  I decided to be adventurous and walked to the E train instead of the Q train that we usually use and saw a little more of the neighborhood around the hotel.  I still wouldn't want to wander around the area in the evening, but felt comfortable this morning.  It was interesting to watch all of the high school kids getting off the subway and walking into their huge school with bars on the windows.  What a different educational experience those kids have!

I flew home from JFK airport and stopped to get a picture of the seating area by Gate 14.  This is our favorite spot to relax in between flights.  I enjoyed watching the clouds float by during the flight home (when I wasn't sleeping).  My favorite seat is the window seat for sleeping and viewing!