A Tourist Weekend

<---- Chillin' the the man-voiced Lady Liberty -me, Jen, Leslie and Chad








My good friends from Kentucky came to visit me this weekend!! And they drove. 11 hours. How is that for being a good friend!?

Leslie is good at a lot of things: singing and making people laugh just to name a few. But her real secret hidden talent is bringing out the tourist in those around her. She is a tried and true tourist herself - if it were 1985 she would have no problem wearing the brightly printed shirts with a fanny pack and huge sunglasses. (well, it may not be 1985, but she still wears the huge sunglasses!) And what is so fun about her, is without being pushy, she brings out the hidden tourist in us all. I think we covered the ENTIRE island of Manhattan this weekend. ON FOOT. No lie. We walked all over Central Park. We saw the Great Lawn, the Lake, Strawberry Fields (the John Lennon memorial), and Shakespeare Gardens. We learned that even though it looks cool, a rickhaw ride around the park is $50 and those beautiful horse drawn carriages are $35 (per half hour, per person!) So we walked.

We stood in Times Square, overwhelmed by the neon lights, honking horns, getting knocked over by the masses of people. The smell of hotdogs and pretzels and the sounds of 15 different vendors flooded our senses. There was a short period that we got stuck in a web of pamphleteers (for those of you who don't know what a pamphleteer is: they are the people on the streets handing out flyers for anything from comedy shows, discounts at local stores, church tracts, and surveys. These people stick the flyer in your face, if you lose and make eye contact, or worse yet, take their flyer, not only do they bombard you with questions and their pitch, but every other pamphleteer within 15 yards sees you are a sucker, and swarms in on you, until you are surround and can no longer see the street.)

We spent an afternoon at Ground Zero, amazed by the memories and personal memorials that line the inside of the church across the street. The church itself has an amazing story. Located not even 100 yards from the Twin Towers, it was the only building on the block that was not damaged by the blasts. Not even a single window was chipped. The only thing that fell was a 150 year old tree in the front lawn, that served a shield from flying debris. The church became a refuge for volunteers and victims alike. It was incredible to be standing in such a place of sorrow and hope. It made me very appreciative for the people in my life who have always been there, supporting and loving me. (Let me just take a moment now to both honor the fallen and to let those who are a part of my life know that I love you and appreciate you for what you mean in my life.)

After Ground Zero, we made our way down to Battery Park and The South Ferry, which would have taken us to the Statue of Liberty, if we had time. But our day was running short and our feet were close to falling off, so we settled to enjoy the view from afar and then headed back to get ready for the evening.

We had purcashed half priced tickets the day before to see Alter Boyz. By the time the show was over, my cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. If anyone has an opportunity to see this show, it is a must! The musical was spoof of a religous boy band, and it had me crying I was laughing so hard.

It was a great weeked full of NYC adventures, incredible site-seeing, lots of pictures and sore feet. Thanks Leslie for being a great tourist, and dragging us into your world!