New York, New York

 In the Fall of 2003, My mom decided to plan a girls trip for Laura, myself and mom. Laura had received her LPGA tour card in October of that year, and I was set to graduate with my bachelors degree from Eastern Illinois University. If you're going to visit NYC Christmas is the time to go. The city is lit up, beautifully decorated and minus the heat, it doesn't smell too bad. These are the important details, people. No one wants to visit NYC in August...hot garbage!!!

I don't recall they day, it was later in the month, but before Christmas. We went to Indianapolis the night before and stayed in a hotel to be prepared to catch our flight early the next morning. And wouldn't you know it, we slept in. I've never jumped out of bed and gotten ready to fast in my life. You know we were hightailing it, when you see a picture of Gigi wearing her glasses and NO makeup. It was a crazy busy morning. And you won't remember this but in 2003, just two years removed from the 9-11 attacks in NYC, TSA was kind of crazy. We got to the airport and the line was crazy long, because everyone had to take off their shoes and remove a million things from their carry-ons, etc. I marched to the front of that TSA line and argued with an agent to get through security yelling at them about how we were going to miss our flight. I have no idea what got into me, because that is not something I would EVER do, but I did. Ask Aunt Laura, she'll tell you. So somehow, we managed to get on that flight. We made it to NYC later that morning...unfortunately our luggage did not!!! 

We checked our carry-ons in at the hotel and had to go shopping. On night one we had dinner reservations at the famous Tavern on the Green. That also meant we had to stop at a Walgreens and grab some makeup, hairspray etc. Good times!!! Dinner that evening was wonderful. The restaurant was decorated so beautifully the most gorgeous trees and so many lights. You could see them twinkling in Central Park as well. 

The next day we did more shopping and toured Times Square. The window displays at Macy's were just amazing. I loved them so much I made sure to take Mitch and Grandma Tootie to NYC by train one year when we lived in Jersey. I had to see them again. And Macy's is where the Miracle on 34th Street is set...Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. It's about as Christmas as you can get. The old wooden escalator at Macy's was fantastic. It was an experience all in itself. I wonder if it's still there? Maybe someday I'll take my girls. We went to Times Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza, FAO Schwarz (famous toy store) and the Empire State Building. We wanted to go to the top but it was a 2-3 hour wait and we knew that wouldn't leave us enough time for dinner plans. 

The second night we had theater tickets, I think we saw the Tony Award Winning musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie. It was supposed to be starring Delta Burke (Look her up) but instead we got the understudy. It was still a fantastic show.  The third night we went and saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Ashley Judd, and Ned Beatty. It was amazing. A few days later after we got home, I had to watch the movie starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. So good. I love old movies.  That night after the show we took a bike taxi back to our hotel that was fun. The immigrant driver was weaving in and out of traffic. My life might have flashed before my eyes that night. The next day we headed home, just in time for the holidays and more family time. I know it was only a few days, but I always treasure that memories from that trip with my mom and my sister. Makes me want to do it again.