Best trip EVER...Part 1

Wow what a vacation! I went to visit my cousin Gen and her husband out in Massachusetts. Originally I was suppose to be gone for 6 day but ended up being 7 days due to horrible weather (or bad karma if you ask Gen's husband KC). The first day I got to see where they live in Springfield, MA, go to their local grocery store- who by the way makes the BEST pizza I've ever had! Visited Coldstone for my 1st time ever, got to see the outside of the Basketball Hall of Fame building. We then came back to their cute apartment that I fell in love with..took a tour of their apt building, met some local squirrels. Gen and I chatted it up for hours...I think we talked and laughed so much all 6 days that we could have set a Guinness World Record! ha We ended that night with some bday cake that night for KC birthday. Yummy ice cream cake!

Next day we got up to take our bus ride to the big city....my favorite city! NEW YORK!!! The bus ride was fun, chatting again with Gen, watching Lady Gaga videos, being really loud, laughing at everything....well I laugh always no matter what! hehe I probably sounded like a crazy tourist, freaking out over everything. Example: look at the taxis, the food stands, parking garages, pigeons, Petco, billboards, TV in the elevator, police men/fireman, the calories posted everywhere you eat at (I hated that), people, dogs, tall buildings... We checked in out hotel, met Gen's bf for the weekend, Arnold, you can read more about him on Gen's blog.

We picked up some lunch at TGI Fridays right in the middle of Times Square, I had the perfect view outside my window over looking all of the tourists. I got introduced to the world of Broadways shows and we picked up some tickets for Jersey Boys. We walked, walked, walked and walked some more...we headed over to Central Park, saw the Strawberry Fields Memorial dedicated to John Lennon. I felt a strong presence at this time, I had a feeling that my grandma J tagged along with me there. Very spiritual for me here.

We headed to different parts of Central Park that looked very familiar to me from movies BUT apparently I kept guessing the wrong movies...KC and Gen kept correcting me!

Me: OH!!! I know where this is from, Notting Hill!

KC: Uh that was filmed in England.

So funny. Yea I'm not the best at remembering things or just remembering period.

We headed over to F.A.O Schwarz, which I kept calling it "Feo Schwarz". We saw Diedrich Bader there with his family, I had no idea who he was, but Gen and KC seemed way excited to see him and they knew all of his films...me...not so much.
We made our way back to Times square to see Jersey Boys, which was so much fun! Like being at a concert and WOW those singers are amazing. 2 rows of me was this 80 year old man that was rockin out the whole time was pretty funny, dancing along to all the songs, so cute! For my 1st Broadway show I was overwhelmed with the amazing cast, production, dancing, music, then I ended up crying! Haha then again when am I not crying!

The next day we headed over to Times Square again to pick up tickets to another Broadway show. This day seemed even more crowded then the day before...probably because it was Saturday. We then took the Subway down to the Statue of Liberty...which I was surprised how small it is. Then we walked over to Battery Park where I felt I witnessed the craziest thing ever...buying a knock off purse!! Wow I felt like we were doing a drug deal, the guy wouldn't look at us in the eye, kept scamming the park for cops...I ended up not even saying anything I was so nervous! This guy offered $65 for this purse I was eyeing out, Gen barked right back at him "No!" we started walking away then we was like "Okay, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35" Meanwhile I'm not saying anything and Gen and KC keeps saying no....finally I did end up paying $30 for the hot Coach purse I wanted. What a experience!

We made out way over to Wall Street and saw the famous Charging Bull, which I did guess that one right. I knew that was from Hitch, so of course I had to pose with it! Love it!

Saw Ground Zero and the fire station there across the street. I was expecting more there and not just construction everywhere kinda weird.

Took the Subway back to Times Square to see Billy Elliot...which was my favorite! Seriously, everyone needs to go see that show. Those kids are so amazingly talented, the music was done by Elton John and it was GREAT! I hadn't seen the movie, so I think I enjoyed it more. And yes I did cry in this show too!

When we got out of the show, it had started to rain. By the time we picked up our luggage and walked over to our bus stop it was pouring down rain! Twenty mins later when are bus arrived we were totally soaked thru our coats. We ended up just laughing the whole time! Bus ride home was the usual...Me and Gen talking about everything and anything. Love this girl so much!!!

Next day: Boston (to be continued)