New York City

Without further ado, my adventure to the City that never sleeps... trust me, it doesn't...

Saturday, June 7th I got the guts to explore the Chinatown bus that drives just to New York and Boston. $30.00 round trip isn't something to complain about. There was nothing exciting about the bus. I texted, read, and listened to my Nano for three and a half hours. When we finally arrived in Chinatown New York, I was left to fend for my self in the suburbs of the city. My first mission: getting a taxi. I walked and followed everyone else. When they put their hand in the air to wave one down, so did I. Apparently your arm is a very powerful force to taxi drivers. Later on during my trip I actually learned that when the taxi's cab light is on he's on duty. When it's off, he's off duty. Maybe that's why it took me awhile to get one.

Sunday, June 8th I awoke from sleeping on the floor at the Waldorf hotel. I was bunking in with my mom, sister, Shelby, and Cathie, our neighbors across the street who are also in Girl Scouts. We had to be at breakfast at 8am. This meant for five girls we had some serious hustling to do in the morning. This wasn't the first time all of us had bunked together. We should be pros at this by now with eleven years of Girl Scout trips behind us.

After breakfast we took a walk to the MET. From the Renaissance era, to the 19-20th impressionists I really enjoyed it. This best part was the observation deck which overlooked the entire city. Although it was triple digits outside, it still completely took my breath away.

The girls had tickets to go see Grease on Broadway so I took a cab back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. During this time there was a Puerto Rican parade that approximately 2 millionm people were attending. My cab driver told me he could only take me a couple of blocks and then I would have to walk. Walking was great. I was able to take pictures of Radio City and the NBC studio. I might have been in the parade once or twice from trying to get from one sidewalk to the next.

Sunday night our group went to the infamous Bobby Flays Mesa Grill. It was outstanding. Incredible food, and liquor. The Girl Scout leader bought all the adults tequila drinks. This gave us the extra boost to explore Time Square afterwards. When I say this city doesn't sleep, it really doesn't. Here it is on a Sunday night and everything is open like it's a random Tuesday. It still ceases to amaze me when reminiscing on my walk down 3th street.

Monday, June 8th came as we had to meet up at 7.00am. Making our way down Park Ave, and then heading towards 5th Ave, you really try to get a sense of how people actually live in the city. The cabs, the trends, the lack of communication. It's a completely different world. As we hiked 10 blocks we arrived at Rockefeller Center where the Today Show was being taped live. I will always be a journalist at heart so this touched home for me. We didn't see any of the cast outside, but it was truly amazing to get a glimpse through the windows and see the lights and cameras. We had a little time to spare so my mom tugged at my arm to guide me in the direction of Fox News and to see if Fox and Friends were taping their morning show. She was lucky enough to not only be on Fox and Friends, but to sip blueberry martinis with the meteorologist last summer when she my dad, and the Jones visited New York. However on my morning I didn't have much luck, but it was a great experience to see their studio as well.

Rockefeller Center was followed by a 9.00am tour of the NBC studio. This was out of this world. We got to see the set of Cohen, SNL and Brian Williams. The Scouts also volunteered my for an audience participation skit where I had to read a teleprompter. Wow, this really took me back to my days interning at NBC in Orlando. How ironic.

When the tour was over we ran all over the gift shop like tourists do grabbing little knick knacks here and there. We can impersonate tourists really well because we see them everyday in Orlando. However, we didn't have the fanny backs or the British accents.

Our next stop for the day was Madaam Toussauds. This place is mandatory for all visitors to go through when they're in the city. I haven't laughed, screamed, or had the time of my life like we did in this wax museum in a really long time. By the end of the tour you have a hard time depicting who's waxed and who isn't.

For lunch we went to a well-known fab favorite for all the stars, Serendipity 3. It was fun. Frozen hot chocolate drinks and chicken salad sandwiches. Very chic.

By then, I knew my trip was coming to an end so all fourteen of us headed to the hotel to relax. Although first stopping in the worlds largest store, Macy*s at Herald Square. It was a treat to see how their bridal department differed from our's. I gathered up my belongings at the hotel and flagged down a taxi, (which by now I have become a true expert) and headed off into the sunset in the direction of Chinatown and wished them a wonderful time at Top of the Rock that night.

I can rave about New York all I want because I don't live there, and I wouldn't want to live there. Their drivers are insane, their accents are horrendous, and their sales tax is at 11%. But damn, it's a great place to visit!