NYC Part Deux

We were exhausted but I felt like I tossed and turned all night - the heater/ac unit in the suite sounded like a dog (big dog) drinking from a water bowl all night and then another unit in the room sounded like someone was snoring/heavy breathing/asthma attack. But whatever - we were in NYC and ready to start the day; we cabbed it over to the ABC Studios and grabbed a very tall Starbuck's before heading inside and being told that we had to dump the coffees - I guess Regis and Kelly fans have a tendency to throw their coffees at the show hosts?? Our caffeine fix would have to wait until after the show. After setting off the metal detector numerous times we were inside with all of the ladies - what a gaggling bunch they were and it made for some wonderful people watching! My sister and I were escorted off to the side to a little lounge area (no coffee though) because I work for The Walt Disney Company and had an associate assist with our tickets - we felt a little special…we were joined by 1/2 a dozen or so other guests; let's see there was the lady with the very short bangs who thought she was all that and her friend who seemed like she had been up all night long and had the most intense frown lines across her forehead and then their other friend with the snow jacket on and silver dancing shoes on! We were seated front and center - a little disappointed that Kiefer Sutherland was going to be shown via video as he had taped his segment a few days prior. Regis does not work on Friday's but his guest host was Howie Mandel who was hilarious! Kelly is such a tiny little thing - she can't weigh more than 100 lbs and her arms are amazing - whatever workout she is doing - something with a ballet bar, blah blah - I give her credit - she's in amazing shape - her waist is soooo tiny! She was very sweet and interacted with the audience during commercials and even took photos with a few of her "stalkers". Yes, my sister and I were on TV! My sister won the trivia - the caller on the phone who answered the question correctly picked #3 and it was her number! She jumped up and down and you could hear me screaming in the background - she did not even know what she had won - I think she though it was the trip but it was actually a $500. gift card for Omaha Steaks - YUM! I could not stop laughing - it was just too funny that she won this and she'll be sharing some steaks with us in CA.
After the show we set out to find a Starbucks and then hop onto one of the double decker buses that tour the various areas of the city - allow you to get off and on at various stops. Our first stop was Greenich Village for pizza at John's Pizza - we had heard it was the best and we would agree! We were freezing and really wanted to put our hands right on top of the piping hot pizza pie! After warming up and filling our empty stomachs we were off again to our next stop which was Ground Zero. We spent time in St. Pauls looking at the tributes to those that were lost in the devastation to those rescue workers that worked tirelessly to make sense of it all. It was an amazing place - a beautiful church in the midst of sky scrapers…historic old tombstones that were weathered and so unexpected a scene in this urban setting. My husband and I had honeymooned in New York City 22 years ago and at that time visited the top of the World Trade Center and to see the area now and in comparison to the visuals that you see on television do not compare. It was a very sobering afternoon being reminded of the horrific tragedy that took place not so long ago. So much so that neither of us were in the mood to shop so we hopped back on the bus and made our way back up from Battery Park, the Pier back Uptown where we were dropped off at Rockefeller Center. It was 5pm and my sister suggested that we go to the Rainbow Room. I was not sure I was ready for the look over by the "Mall Cops" but what did we have to lose? Well, it was a pleasant site to see that everyone in line for the elevator looked like we did - not overly dressed or under-dressed. We were whisked up to the famous Rainbow Room where we left our coats with the coat-check and were seated in front of the fabulous view of the city at sunset. We enjoyed our cosmos and mixed nuts and were so tempted to order the $28 hamburger but no we restrained ourselves. Afterwards we walked past the Christmas tree that was coming down shortly and walked a few blocks to St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was really gorgeous inside and out - so much history and we both lit candles after walking around and admiring the architecture and sense of peace by all of the other visitors. We saw so much and did so much in this one day - my feet were killing me! We enjoyed a nice dinner and called it a day, walked back to our hotel for a little R&R.