New York Day 1

A week from tomorrow, I will be arriving in Daytona Beach to start our new life there. It is kinda silly that we would be on vacation now, but here we are....New York City! We have talked about going to NYC for many, many years, and never made it closer than a layover at the Newark Airport in 2014. We decided, well before we knew anything about Daytona, that we would go on vacation in April (I would have preferred May, but it was pushing it with our 3rd grandbaby due May 15). So here we are.

Who would have thought that on the 9th of April, there would be a chance of snow in New York City, but here we are with a cold rain and threat of snow. It doesn't matter though, it's New York.

 We are staying at the Tryp Times Square hotel on 48th Street. One of the great things about being a Wyndham employee (my day job) is the great discounts at any of our hotel brands. This location is awesome. It's one block from the M&M store in Times Square, but it is on a fairly quiet street. Great location and Lisa said she loves how comfortable the bed is!

We arrived early in the day, and our room wasn't ready yet. They took care of our luggage though, and we went out to explore. Since Times Square was so close, and the weather was dicey, we headed to the TKTS booth in the middle of Times Square. If you've seen or sat on the big steps in Times Square then you know where it is. They have discounted tickets for shows that day or night. Since it was early, we went ahead and got tickets for the musical Chicago. 7th row, on the aisle....50% off. It was a great deal and a great show. It started raining just before the show, and stopped raining, shortly after the show ended. Had a great time.

After we got our tickets, we had a few hours before the show started, so we went for a walk through Times Square and then over toward Rockefeller Center. On the way we saw the Radio City Music Hall, then went for a walk through the Rock. There are some restaurants and shops underneath, and we exited out on the other side. It's April, and they are still ice skating at the ice rink!

When we exited the Rock, in front of us was an amazing view of St Patrick's Cathedral. I had heard a lot about the Cathedral, but knew very little about it. It was absolutely amazing inside. The stations of the cross, the friezes of the different saints, the different areas of the church, all were awe-inspiring. We walked through the entire church. From the stained glass windows the the gigantic marble statues and the art, I could understand why everywhere I looked there was some sort of fundraising going on. It seemed like there were four or five different churches within the once church. Very interesting to see the difference between how Catholics deal with their buildings compared to a Protestant church and I appreciated how they were open to sharing the building with the community.

Dinner was at a Sushi place near Times Square called Haru Sushi. Perfect for a light dinner as our day was starting to wind down. It was definitely a long day, but a very good start to our vacation. We ended the early evening at a restaurant/bar called Swing 46. It is over on 46th street in Hells Kitchen. Met a couple of very friendly bartenders and we hope to go back one evening for the Jazz they have there.

Tomorrow is another day. Not sure what it holds for us other than we are going to the Wyndham Midtown 45 resort to check things out there.